Abandoned stations of the NEC

[Ryan]

Yeah, Halethorpe has high platforms going in. West Baltimore looks like a dump, though.

 

[jis]

Monmouth Jct. was located where Midway interlocking is located today.

(null)

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Why was the gauntlet track needed?

 

[PRR 60]

Why was the gauntlet track needed?

To permit freight trains, which can be wider than passenger trains, to clear the high-level platforms.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Why was the gauntlet track needed?

To permit freight trains, which can be wider than passenger trains, to clear the high-level platforms.

But why aren't they used at other high-level stations outside the NEC?

And what are ghetto bars?

 

[Thunder Road]

I found this picture of the platforms:

The signal bridge you can see looks like it is about 800 yards north of the current platform, right next to the MDoT salt dome. I think that the salt dome area is where the parking for the station was located.

Here's a picture from the north end of the platform, where you can see the Beltway overpass in the background (and a bonus E60 with ghetto bars!).

Wow! Great pics! Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Thunder Road]

In the first years of operation I believe some Amtrak trains used to call at Rahway too.

Other abandoned station between Newark and Trenton that were never served by Amtrak include Adams, Deans, North Rahway, Colonia, Elmora, South Street and maybe I am forgetting one or two more. Don't quite remember if Monmouth Jct. had a real station at some point. Maybe it did.

Wow, I had no idea there used to be so many commuter stops. Do you have any pictures of these? It seems like even the slightest remnant of these is impossible to find.

 

[Acela150]

Why was the gauntlet track needed?

To permit freight trains, which can be wider than passenger trains, to clear the high-level platforms.

But why aren't they used at other high-level stations outside the NEC?

And what are ghetto bars?

Their used at Union, NJ

It's a term for the bars covering the cab windows.

 

[AlanB]

Why was the gauntlet track needed?

To permit freight trains, which can be wider than passenger trains, to clear the high-level platforms.

But why aren't they used at other high-level stations outside the NEC?

Once you get off the NEC, there aren't too many high level platforms to be found. But where they exist, it could be that the platform is on a siding, or that it's a two track main and the platform is only on one side of one track so freight uses the other, or they could have gauntlet track installed.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Why was the gauntlet track needed?

To permit freight trains, which can be wider than passenger trains, to clear the high-level platforms.

But why aren't they used at other high-level stations outside the NEC?

And what are ghetto bars?

Their used at Union, NJ

It's a term for the bars covering the cab windows.

So they're supposed to prevent damage from vandals? I guess the engineer can still see through them easily.

 

[AlanB]

So they're supposed to prevent damage from vandals? I guess the engineer can still see through them easily.

No, it was to prevent the engineers from getting hurt during a time period where people seemed to be throwing large rocks at the engines which would shatter and hurt the engineer.

I believe that some of the MBTA locomotives in Boston still have those guards on.

 

[Ryan]

Suspending cinder blocks from overpasses such that they hung at windshield height was also a thing back then.

 

[bmorechris]

Baltimore has a number of old stations on the NEC. I compiled this info a while ago and it is in a .kmz file (google earth), so its really just a map and I don't have record of where I found this info. There are also mentions of some of these around the internet, I have compiled the ones that were easy to find. One of the sites that used to host some info and pictures has unfortunately disappeared.

Starting in East/North (from NY) and going towards West/South (to DC):

1. Biddle Street Station Map =%40folder_description+%22Pennsylvania+Railroad%22&page=7&results_index=0"]Picture

From the picture it looks as though the bridge is on a slight curve, which leads me to think the view is actually from the intersection of N Wolfe St and E Preston St looking Southeast. Apparently when its closing was announced, the PRR information dept claimed the station did not exist.

2. Pennsylvania Avenue Station Map

This station was in the middle of the B&P tunnels as a short air gap. I think there were some pictures floating around where someone snapped some going through the tunnels and it showed an old staircase that was perhaps the access from the station to the platform but I cannot find anything now. One of the very few mentions about this station is an old 1995 Baltimore Sun article about a book a local historian wrote about Baltimore Penn Station. It says in the book there is a picture of the station, but I can't even find this book online. The guy who wrote it apparently works for a local bank so if someone really wanted they could probably get in contact with him.

3. Lafayette Avenue Station Map

Super obscure, finding very little about this station. This short blurb in this book on Baltimore history mentions that it was end of the line before the B&P tunnels were built, which makes sense with it's location.

4. Edmondson Station Map

Station building still exists, it is the red roofed building just to the west of the tracks. It is now a pizza place or something.

5. Gwynn's Run Station Map

Talk about a random location for a station stop, this is along a stream (gwynn's run) in the middle of what is now parkland. Little to no evidence this station even existed except for a mention in this book and in this historic list of coordinates of locations in Maryland (mentions Gwynns Run Station PRR but nothing else)

6. Frederick Road (formerly Carroll) Station Map

Again, not too much about this station, but there is some info floating around about it. One is an old lawsuit about shipping goods to the station, another is a complaint from 1917 about the condition of the station and how the express trains of the day caused the accommodation trains that stopped here to be severely delayed.

 

[CHamilton]

bmorechris, your list is amazing. I grew up in Baltimore, and my grandfather was an engineer on the PRR, but I never heard of any of these stations. Thanks so much for compiling them.

 

[afigg]

4. Edmondson Station Map

Station building still exists, it is the red roofed building just to the west of the tracks. It is now a pizza place or something.

This is likely the abandoned station on the western side of Baltimore that was mentioned earlier in this thread. IIRC, there are some hints there of a one time platform or access. It is just north of the West Baltimore MARC stop which is undergoing parking expansion and some upgrades as the early stage of a much longer term project (project website) to rebuild the area around the station.

The plan is to make the West Baltimore station a stop on the light rail Red Line which will provide direct access to downtown Baltimore and the Inner Harbor area which would make West Baltimore a major MARC stop. If there is a long enough high level platform by then, there might be a push by Maryland to have some Amtrak trains stop at West Baltimore.

 

[Texan Eagle]

So they're supposed to prevent damage from vandals? I guess the engineer can still see through them easily.

No, it was to prevent the engineers from getting hurt during a time period where people seemed to be throwing large rocks at the engines which would shatter and hurt the engineer.

I believe that some of the MBTA locomotives in Boston still have those guards on.

Almost all locomotives on Indian Railways have the windshield grills even today, to protect from vandalism since for some reason a lot of folks in India believe that throwing rocks at trains and bringing them to a stop is a valid way to protest against any issue that's troubling them, it may not have anything to do with trains or railways.

 

[Michael061282]

the former Pawtucket/Central Falls station just east of Providence is a really cool looking abandonned station (or it was the last time I rode through there 4 summers ago), although Amtrak never used it.

 

[ne52]

Baltimore has a number of old stations on the NEC. I compiled this info a while ago and it is in a .kmz file (google earth), so its really just a map and I don't have record of where I found this info. There are also mentions of some of these around the internet, I have compiled the ones that were easy to find. One of the sites that used to host some info and pictures has unfortunately disappeared.

I also had no clue about most of these. Thanks for the research Chris

 

[Tracktwentynine]

To elaborate on the Capitol Beltway/New Carrollton station, it was located a few hundred yards north of the current New Carrollton platform. If you look at aerial photos, you can see the concrete cap on the east side that blocks the stairs that went to an underpass to access the southbound platform.

The New Carrollton WMATA Orange Line station opened in 1978. The New Carrollton Amtrak station did not open until 1983. There was a 5 year period when WMATA served New Carrollton but Amtrak was still serving Capitol Beltway.

I read somewhere that the reason the easternmost track swings so far out from the current island platform at New Carrollton was so it was straight when it went through the Capitol Beltway station, and that appears to be accurate from looking at the aerial photos.

 

[jis]

Iselin was located on the other side of the Parkway. One could argue about whether Metropark replaced Iselin or Menlo Park. I think of it as replacing both, sort of.

BTW you can see remnants of the platform of Colonia and South Street. Remnants of stairs a Adams are also visible.

 

[bmorechris]

I forgot about the good old internet wayback machine, here is the link to the page with info about the old Baltimore PRR Stations (Link to all of the railroad related pages from that site). I see now that I even missed one, so here is an updated list.

google earth .kmz file

Starting in East/North (from NY) and going towards West/South (to DC):

1. Biddle Street Station Map Picture

From the picture it looks as though the bridge is on a slight curve, which leads me to think the view is actually from the intersection of N Wolfe St and E Preston St looking Southeast. (The history page linked to above claims it actually was over Biddle Street, which I guess is possible, but just doesn't look like it to me from the picture) Apparently when its closing was announced, the PRR information dept claimed the station did not exist.

2. Pennsylvania Avenue Station Map

This station was in the middle of the B&P tunnels as a short air gap. I think there were some pictures floating around where someone snapped some going through the tunnels and it showed an old staircase that was perhaps the access from the station to the platform but I cannot find anything now. One of the very few mentions about this station is an old 1995 Baltimore Sun article about a book a local historian wrote about Baltimore Penn Station. It says in the book there is a picture of the station, but I can't even find this book online. The guy who wrote it apparently works for a local bank so if someone really wanted they could probably get in contact with him.

3. Lafayette Avenue Station Map

Super obscure, finding very little about this station. This short blurb in this book on Baltimore history mentions that it was end of the line before the B&P tunnels were built, which makes sense with it's location.

4. Edmondson Station Map

Station building still exists, it is the red roofed building just to the west of the tracks. It is now a pizza place or something.

5. Calverton Road Station Map

Almost no information about this station, except that it existed and for not very long.

6. Gwynn's Run Station Map

Talk about a random location for a station stop, this is along a stream (gwynn's run) in the middle of what is now parkland. Little to no evidence this station even existed except for a mention in this book and in this historic list of coordinates of locations in Maryland (mentions Gwynns Run Station PRR but nothing else)

7. Frederick Road (formerly Carroll) Station Map

Again, not too much about this station, but there is some info floating around about it. One is an old lawsuit about shipping goods to the station, another is a complaint from 1917 about the condition of the station and how the express trains of the day caused the accommodation trains that stopped here to be severely delayed.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

To elaborate on the Capitol Beltway/New Carrollton station, it was located a few hundred yards north of the current New Carrollton platform. If you look at aerial photos, you can see the concrete cap on the east side that blocks the stairs that went to an underpass to access the southbound platform.

I'll look for it next time I'm heading north.

The New Carrollton WMATA Orange Line station opened in 1978. The New Carrollton Amtrak station did not open until 1983. There was a 5 year period when WMATA served New Carrollton but Amtrak was still serving Capitol Beltway.

I had forgotten that, but you jogged my memory of still stopping at Cap. Beltway after the Orange Line was open.

I read somewhere that the reason the easternmost track swings so far out from the current island platform at New Carrollton was so it was straight when it went through the Capitol Beltway station, and that appears to be accurate from looking at the aerial photos.

Sure makes sense.
Thanks for all the 411.

 

[shinkansen]

Yeah, Halethorpe has high platforms going in. West Baltimore looks like a dump, though.

Isn't West Baltimore still in use. I believe it is completely being rebuilt, I thought it was still open to MARC traffic.

http://www.mdot.mary...ore_ExecSum.pdf

http://www.baltimore...MasterPlan.aspx

 

[shinkansen]

OT:: There's the Havre de Grace, MD Station that was used until the early 80's. It's located between N. Juniata Sttreet and N. Adams Street.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=havre+de+grace+md&ll=39.550881,-76.095179&spn=0.001909,0.004128&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Havre+de+Grace,+Harford,+Maryland&t=h&z=19

 

[Ryan]

Yeah, Halethorpe has high platforms going in. West Baltimore looks like a dump, though.

Isn't West Baltimore still in use. I believe it is completely being rebuilt, I thought it was still open to MARC traffic.

I never said that it wasn't in use, just that it looked like a dump.