"Street Trackage"
All photos by Adam Paul


Looking in vain for a train is this segment of Street Railroad trackage on Wicomico Street in Southwest Baltimore.

Today, the concept of a train operating along a city street is as unusual to most people as a fish out of water, and in most ways this is true, as the last known operation of actual railroad service along any of the city's remaining street trackage was about 1997 along Wicomico Street.  However, there was once a time when a significant amount of the city's frieght traffic operated along the streets along the rails.  Street laid railroad trackage was common in many places, including, but not limited to:
 
Street (from entry to end)
Operator
Discontinuance
Monument Street (Fallsway to Central) Northern Central / Pennsylvania early 1970's.
Central Avenue (Madison to Eastern) Northen Central / Pennsylvania early 1970's
Guilford Avenue (Madison to Saratoga) Northern Central/ PRR/ Conrail ca. 1995
Pratt Street (Parkin to East Falls) B&O / Chessie ca. 1970
East Falls Avenue (Pratt to Aliceanna) B&O /Chessie ca. 1970
Fleet Street (East Falls to Boston) B&O / Chessie ca. 1982
Aliceanna Street (East Falls to Boston) B&O / Chessie ca. 1982
Caroline Streeet (Aliceanna to Thames) B&O / Chessie ca. 1982
Boston Street (Fleet to Clinton) B&O / Chessie 1985
Haven Street (Lombard to Eastern) B&O 1960's.
Light Street (Pratt to Key Hwy,) B&O / Chessie / CSX 1989
Key Highway (Light to McComas) B&O / Chessie / CSX 1989
Wicomico Street (Monroe to Scott) B&O / Chessie / CSX 1997

In addition, numerous other streets, paricularly those in Fells Point, contained short stretches of street trackage as well.  These tracks provided crucial direct access to factories and suppliers located deep within the city, as well as the city docks at the Harbor on Pratt Street, and could be considerably busy during their operation, particuarly at night.

However, as many of these suppliers closed their doors and relocated, and others turned to trucks to ship and receive cargo, the importance of these rails began to wane.  Among the earlier ones to go was the stretch along Pratt Street passing the Inner Harbor, a route that had the added benefit of offering a detour around the Howard Street Tunnel (you can bet that CSX wishes it was still there right now in light of the recent Howard Street Tunnel fire).  Gradually, other once vital portions of this track were judged to be unnecessary by their operators, and have since been left to be gradually paved over in stretches and spots.  In 1985, the Chessie System officially abandoned all of the remaining Fells Point Trackage, once a labyrinth of connections and spurs.

The last three sections of operating street trackage were the Key Highway-Light Street section of CSX routing, a portion of the Guilford Avenue trackage, and the Wicomico Street Spur trackage.  Eventually, even these three segments would bow out.

First to go was the Key Highway stretch, which was no longer needed once McCormick moved all of its operations out of its Light Street Location and into its newer Hunt Valley properties.  Guilford Avenue was still used from Madison Street to Centre Street to supply the Sunpapers with newsprint.  However, when the Sun built a new headquarters for its printing operations near the Hanover Street bridge, the use of the spur became erratic, until finally being abandoned altogether by 1995.  Today, new Central Air Conditioning units stand where the spur was once located.  The last spur to see use however was a six block stretch along Wicomico Street, which still served a drywall manufacturer at Wicomico and Bayard Streets, where despite the presence of several spurs offshooting it, any cars were simply left to be loaded in the middle of the street.  The last observed use of this stretch was in 1997, although the segment appears passable should use of it be necessitated.

So what remains of Baltimore's Railroad Street Trackage?!?  PLENTY!

Depite several years passing since their use, almost all Baltimore Streets that once operated trains along them show some sort of evidence of this former operation.  Wicomico Street and Guilford Avenue still remain useable, although many spurs have long since been covered, removed, or made impassible from either patch paving or rail damage.  Key Highway recieved a startling amount of rebuilding in the mid-1990's and bears little resemblence to the street it once was, although spurs can be observed in spots.  Central Avenue still retains portions of rail and spurs visible in many areas, although most of Monument Street recieved a major concrete resurfacing.  Finally, the Fells Point Trackage still remains in many disconnected spots.   Interestingly, in some points, the rail on Belgian Block Streets has been removed, and the blocks patched in with new blocks, creating a mostly natural look.  Boston Street in trendy Canton, however, was victim to a beautification project that involved the removal of virtually all traces of the old rail line, thus destroying a good bit of the true historic charachter of the artery.

However, instead of relating where these "ghosts" do exist, perhaps it is more effective to show where they exist, in the following photos:

SURVIVORS:
CLICK ON ANY OUTLINED PHOTO FOR A LARGER, HIGH QUALITY VERSION

Wicomico Street's track still retains a number of interesting switches and spurs leading off of it.


A mish-mash of Rail, Belgian Block, Brick, asphalt, and popcorn mix make up the Southbound flow lane of Central Avenue above Orleans Street in East Baltimore by Dunbar High School.  Below here, the trackage fanned out into a sprawling network of spurs and runarounds, before it was paved over with an asphault median only recently.


A two block stretch of street trackage remains along Eden Street in Fells Point, although pretty well severed from serving any real use.


Just adding some truly authentic scenery to an otherwise "prettyfied" historic landscape is this service track along Thames Street in Fells Point, one of the few street tracks following a curved street.


Track along Guilford Avenue runs along a "Service Drive" for a few blocks before resuming its run in the center of the street.  Diverging track coming off in background was the lead to the spur used by the Sunpapers, the segment's last customer.


Rails at the B&O Museum at Mount Clare dead end now at this bend in the Parking Driveway, but once continued straight ahead for a lengthy run in the middle of Pratt Street.


Thinly veiled is the rail that once ran along Key Highway, ultimately leading to an interchange at Pratt and Light Streets.  Portions of the spur remain exposed, while parts on the Northern end look like this.

Although the guideways have been smoothed over with Popcorn mix, it's still easy to tell that there was once a railroad spur here, particularly at the end.  This is the spur that once served the McCormick plant on Light Street, and was the last use of the Key Highway track in the 1980's.  In the backdrop, the "mainline" remains uncovered.


Little Buren Street near the City Jail is one of those odd thorofares where it is nearly impossible to tell where the street ends and the sidewalk begins.  Nevertheless, this trackage used by WM and PRR trains offers numerous clues of a once busy past, including the interchange onto the Monument Street trackage above.


KNOW OF SOME STREET RAIL?!? CONTACT US!!!