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Maryland Junction Today
On May 1 2004 I had the pleasure of touring what is left of Maryland Junction,
Ridgeley Yard and Knobmount Yard with my friends Gerald Altizer and Doug Yoder.
While not much is left of these facilities, there were a few great surprises.
This page is a great supplement to the Fall & Winter 2004 Western Maryland
Railway Historical Society Blue Mountain Express (WMRHS BMX) issue that I wrote
on Maryland Junction. If you are at all interested in modeling the WM, I
encourage you to pick up that 48 page issue, as it is chock full of photos and
facts about Maryland Junction, Knobmount Yard and Ridgeley yard throughout the
ages. the issue is Volume 33 Numbers 3 &4 (double issue). I receive no
compensation if you purchase that issue.
Warning, the grafitti on some of the buildings in the photos in this
section contains images and language that may not be appropriate for young
children.
If you find the information here useful or enjoyable, please be sure to drop me
a note in my guestbook.
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In this Section
Engine House
For photos of the former Western Maryland diesel engine house, click
here .
Commissary
The former commissary building is in poor shape internally, but is still
very sound structurally. For photos of the building , click
here .
High View of
Knobmount Yard
Knobley Mountain offers some great locations for photographing former WM
locations such as the approach into Knobmount Yard from the West. For
photos and maps of the area , click
here .
Knobmount Scale
House
The scale house has seen better days, but is still standing. For photos of the
building , click here .
Knobmount
Icing Platform
The icing platform is on its last legs, but it is still very much present. For
photos of the platform, click here .
Knobley Tunnel
Knobley tunnel looks good enough to run tracks and a train through. For photos
of the tunnel, click here
Pictures with a caption and border, such as those to the right and
below, may be clicked-on to see a larger version.
 Commissary-Area Panorama Panorama looking towards knobmount yard. This is a very large image, and may take a bit to download. Pete Brown, May 1, 2004. Stitched in Paint Shop Pro 9, November 7, 2004Be sure to check out my collection of Railroad-related desktop wallpaper here.
For additional information that did not make it into the BMX, look below and at
the other specific pages. Corrections to the BMX article can also be found at
the bottom of this page.
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 829 at Coaling Tower WM 829 at MD Junction. Unknown Photographer. Scanned from Negative in Pete Brown Collection
 Coaling Tower Detail of the coaling tower top. For more information, including my scale drawings of this coaling tower, see my Fall / Winter 2004 BMX Article on MD Junction Unknown Photographer. Scanned from Negative in Pete Brown Collection
 Machine Shop Foundation of the old machine shop. The roundhouse was located adjacent to this in the distance. Pete Brown, May 1, 2004
 Roundhouse Foundation of the old Roundhouse. Pete Brown, May 1, 2004 |
Some Information about Items Removed when the WM
Dieselized
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Structures listed as removed as part of AFE (Authorization for
Expenditure) 136-55 in response to dieselization:
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Lockers in old lobby building
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Cinder platform
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Water station at coal tipple
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Water station at well #4
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Deep wells
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Filtration plant
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Coal tipple
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2 – 10,000 gallon oil tanks
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4 – 20,000 gallon oil tanks
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Pump house for oil
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Pump house pumps, etc.
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Roundhouse
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Turntable
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Arch brick shed
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50 ton sand plant
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Dry sand plant
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Ash pits and conveyors
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Concrete pump house and contents
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Brass shop
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Flue shed
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Yard lights
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Toilet
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Air and steam lines
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Master Mechanic’s office
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Air Inspector’s office
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Inspector’s office
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Shop oil tank 10,000 gallons
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Shop oil tank 8,000 gallons
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Shop oil tank 8,000 gallons (2)
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Power house
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Power lines to shops
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Flood lights
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Some of the equipment listed as removed as part of AFE 134-55 dated June 21,
1955."Retire shop machinery and other miscellaneous facilities. Relocate
certain machines and switch gear in back shop and new diesel shop.
Dieselization has eliminated need for these facilities"
Machine Shop
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Car wheel press
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Slotter
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Horizontal boring machine
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Wall jib crane (3)
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LeBlond engine lathe
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American engine lathe
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Vertical turret lathe
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Engine lathe
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Driving wheel lathe
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Planer
Roundhouse
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Traveling crane
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Boiler washing plant
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Drop pit tables (2)
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Power circuits for tables
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Traveling crane
Babbit Shop
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Furnace & table
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Jib crane
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Pipe furnace
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Forge
Foundry
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Jib crane
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Centrifugal pump
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Various small tools
Brass furnace
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Additional information about Maryland Junction may be found in the Fall / Winter
2004 BMX Volume 33, Numbers 3&4, pictured below.
My thanks to Don McFall for the wonderful maps, layout and editing, to Bob
Shives for the valuation tables and photo help, Bob Parks for the original
plans on which my roundhouse drawings are based, and to Denny Wertz for the
original plans on which my coaling tower drawing is based.
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Also as a response to dieselization, AFE 239-54 dated December 28, 1954 retires
several unspecified pieces of equipment from the following shops: Machine,
Blacksmith, Electric, Tin, Air Brake, Reclaiming Shops, Roundhouse, Scrap Doc,
Engine Cleaning Department, Car Department and Oil house.
Maryland Junction BMX Article and Plans Correction
As with any article, there are some corrections to the content that went to
press. My apologies for any confusion the errors may have caused.
Coaling Tower Diagram
On the coaling tower diagram on page 35, I made a lot of corrections to update
the plans to "as built" as opposed to "as designed". One that I missed,
however, is the location of the small hoist house next to the car unloading
shed. If you look at the photo on page 34, you can see that the house was built
on grade instead of up on a mound as designed. The as-built version has the
hoist go through the bottom of the hoist house as plan, but the elevation is
lower and the building appears to be a bit shorter. The elevation of the
unloading shed is correct to the best of my knowledge.
Coke Gondolas
The gons on page 6 are hauling coke, not stones. I didn't realize that coke
looked like that in B&W until Don McFall pointed it out to me.
Overall Map
The overall map on pages 32 and 33 is dated 1935. Leo Armentrout pointed out to
me that this map must be dated at least 1950/1951 due to the configuration and
presence of the interchange tracks at the top of the map near the end of the
C&O Canal. Thanks Leo! I feel that this map is actually a combination of
eras, and would best be used to provide an overall feel for how the three areas
related to each other. For specific track configurations for the terminal and
yards, see the individual dated maps elsewhere in the issue.
Coaling Tower Plans Availability
The Coaling tower diagram is available in N, HO, S and O directly from the
WMRHS. The current version is Version 2, as pictured in the BMX. I was unable
to print version 2 of the O scale, so that uses an older version. For that, I
recommend the O scale modeler pick up the O scale version, but use either one
of the other versions to identify details and placements.
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