Depot: (
Satellite, the land is now occupied by the Post Office)
Old Roundhouse: (
Satellite, now the Cumberland Shopping Center)
Yard: (
Satellite)
Roundhouse: (
Satellite)
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Marty Bernard posted
B&O Queen City Station and Division Offices, Cumberland, MD on July 27, 1970, Bill Howes photo.
Marty Bernard shared |
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Bruce Lagree posted
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Cumberland Md 1862
FrTimothy J Ferguson: Looks like St. Luke's Lutheran Church [the Clock Tower church] in the background - that was my Shaffer ancestors home parish. My 2x Great Grandfather George Shaffer helped build the church circa 1850. Thanks a lot for posting - I glad to have the photo.
Tom Dunne shared |
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Tom Dunne commented on his share
B&O tub coal cars... |
B&O used to have some very picturesque roundhouses.
Michael McKenzie
posted five images with the comment: "The first Roundhouse / Shops in Cumberland were located at the end of George Street. In the area of present day McDonalds and Rose's Department store."
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I presume that the roundhouse in the lower-left corner belonged to Western Maryland.
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| 1901 Frostburg Quad @ 62,500 |
This is the third of three photos
posted by Mark Hinsdale with the comment:
"Cumberland's SD50's"
During my time on the CSX Cumberland Coal Business Unit, (1993-1996) which presided over the former B&O and WM coal routes in northern West Virginia, the SD50 was the mainstay of our assigned locomotive fleet. Deemed troublesome throughout their careers on Chessie and Seaboard, they finally found an application that they were suited for, as long as the mechanical pros at the CSX Cumberland Locomotive Shop could keep them close and look after them. SD50's were extensively used on both the daily coal and empty hopper trains across the torturous Mountain Subdivision between Cumberland and Grafton, as well as regular use on merchandise trains Q316 and Q317 between Cumberland MD and Russell KY. Here are a few images of the EMD's at work.
3) A view of Cumberland Yard and a typical SD50 trio about to be assigned to an empty hopper train for Grafton WV, taken from the Administration Building window... 3-94
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I notice it still has part of its roundhouse. It also has a hump yard. I can't remember if this is one of the CSX hump yards that Hunter Harrison has closed.
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MP Rail Photography posted
The CSX Cumberland Locomotive Shops and roundhouse in Cumberland, Maryland.
August 21, 2022
Cumberland, MD
MP Rail Photography shared |
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James Carl Trivett III posted
CSX Cumberland MD shops, 9-11-2023 |
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Timothy Yarnall Sr. commented on James' post
My home for 38 years! Best years of my adult life. The knowledge, talent, work ethics under those roofs world class!!! |
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Mike Lusher posted
Cumberland Shops, 1961. |
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Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Nerve center of Cumberland yard. West Hump still is. Building in tact, hump is gone.
Dave Ori: Per the 1966 Metropolitan Guide for Cumberland B&O operated 55 through trains daily plus an additional 20 extra trains such coal, ore and grain making it up to 75 trains daily. Of course, the volume of traffic fluctuated day to day.
David Robey: I do believe that building is now closed. There is actually a formula the use to figure if a hump yard is efficient if I recall a hump operation needs to handle 12 to 1500 cars a day to be profitable. Another thing that didn't help Cumberland was the age of the infrastructure and current traffic flow not alot of manufacturing going on in the east anymore.
Bill Rettberg Jr.: I saw the reasons why Cumberland hump was closed, and no doubt it had lost traffic, but they were classifying both eastbound and westbound trains. now those same trains are pulled apart and assembled by one remote controlled unit, and the process takes much longer. I really don't go there to watch trains anymore, but I do get to the area to hike and play golf. Watching the inefficiency on display now is painful. On my radio, they still refer to the yardmaster by calling West Hump. If that building is closed, where does the yardmaster operate from these days?
David Robey: Bill Rettberg Jr. A lot of what CBL does now is actually block swaps on trains that are switched other places and reassembled in CBL the YM is in the old Callers Building near the safety stop
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Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Cumberland ready tracks, 1967
Bob Lemmert: Right to left, Tabby, Middle and Piker out bound tracks, middle still covered with snow.. The inbound freight track fuel spots has all the engines on. |
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Bob Lemmert commented on Bill's post
1970's view from Sand Tipple. |
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Eric M Ziegler posted
Mexico Farms, Rebuilding the East end of Cumberland Yard, 9-5-10
Eric M Ziegler posted, same comment
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Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Once again, just sitting on the hill at the west end of Cumberland yard in the early Chessie era, was a great spot just to watch things moving about. Try sitting there today, if you can find a spot among the trees and bushes. Not much to watch if you do. |
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Bob Weston posted
Photo of CSX's (former B&O, Chessie) Mexico Tower at the eastern entrance to the Cumberland, Md. yard. Photo by R J Weston, 23 July 1994. |
To confirm the tower near the left side of this aerial was the Mexico Tower, I searched further East all the way to a
former underpass for a branch line.
But when I looked on a satellite map to find the location of that tower, I discovered it would be in the middle of today's hump yard. So, for once, I looked at the newest aerials, instead of the oldest, to find the tower. I spent over an hour looking for it because the 1984 maps were high resolution and each map covered a small area. And then I discovered that it is still standing!
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Eric M Ziegler posted
West bound coming to Mexico Farms, Cumberland MD yard, Tower was still maned and 3 strings of coal loads waiting to go east. Summer 1995
Mike Norris: Great picture. Does anyone know why it was called Mexico yard??
Todd Crone: Mike Norris it wasn't. The yard was Cumberland , the tower was known as Mexico after Mexico Farms right next door.
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The tower is obscured by the signal bridge.
Note the yard tower.
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Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Eastbound leaving CSX Cumberland yard.
[I think the comments are discussing why a NS train is on CSX tracks, but I don't understand them. Fortunately, it is a public group so you can read them yourself.] |
I must of made a mistake searching, and I wrote notes for this depot a second time.
Bill Rettberg Jr.
posted three photos with the comment: "Three images from a trip I made by train back in 1968. I took an RDC car out of Camden Station, down to DC, and west to Cumberland on the Metropolitan. I would spend the day shooting around the yard and shops, and return on the eastbound Metropolitan, and an RDC back to Baltimore. Long day, but fun for a 17 year old. Even more fun is that I would ride up front with the engineer on the Baltimore bound RDC. I was the only revenue customer one time. Top photo is the westbound Capitol in Cumberland. The other two shots were taken on the west end of the yard at Virginia Lane."
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[Note that train orders are being hooped up.] |
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| 1949 Cumberland Quad @ 24,000 |
Depot:
Railyard:
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Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Not many manifest trains bypassed Cumberland yard. but this one did. 396 was hot! Auto parts for Baltimore and Wilmington GM plants.
Chuck McAbee: 396 had a caboose in the middle of the train - it was the 'cut' car between the Wilmington and Baltimore auto parts. At Bayview a yard crew would go out on #1 track to make the cut behind the cab that let head end of the train depart to Wilmington. Yard crew would then crossover at Bayview behind 396 and go couple up to the Baltimore set off that was on #2 track an pull it down to Penn Mary and switch out any Ordered cars and take all the unordered cars down to Grays Yard.
Steven Ford: Chuck McAbee There's not one auto assembly plant left on the East coast . From Tarrytown to Norfolk all gone.
Michael Reel: Remember this train coming into Willard and being one of the hottest trains out there next to the Baltimorean and Philly trailer trains.
Daniel Valentine: 396, 397, 376 and 377. All heavy, all bypassed Cumberland.
Dennis Parks: 396 had a limit out of Walbridge, cars left over went on 398 which left GTW Lang yard and pick up at Walbridge. |
Bill Rettberg Jr.
posted two photos with the comment: "Two classics from my early days. These were taken on my second trip to Cumberland in June of 1968.Photo on the left is my favorite all time photo of a railroad scene without a train in it. This is Baltimore Street. It had a full time operator and a crossing watchman. The operator is coming out to wave an eastbound through town. he will be using a green flag. If it were westbound, flag would be yellow. Crossing watchman is getting ready to stop the vehicle traffic. Guy leaning on rail was a local. Shot below is crossing watchman at Baltimore Street. Train is eastbound."
Michael Rembold: Great pics! The old Queen City hotel in the first pic, and check out the pick ups on the auto car in the second.
Michael T. Kubes: Michael Rembold ,my grandad James Edward Kubes worked that crossing for many years (50s-60s) I liked to visit the “shack” ,especially in the winter with the pot belly stove👍👍👍..TNX for sharing the “”pics”….There is a large wall picture at the Rocky gap hotel/ casino (basement floor) of the Baltimore st. Crossing and guard…(about 1954)👍
Steve Johnson: That’s my dad with his back to the camera in the second pic!
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Neither aerial photo above of the depot went far enough north. So I downloaded them again. In this case, the newer photo had a better view of the tower.
I noticed that Michael called Old Queen Hotel is gone.
It was gone in the Sep 2019 view, but appears in this view. I used this to confirm that I had the correct crossing.
Eric M Ziegler
posted five photos with the comment: "Cumberland MD shop, 2 SD 70 MAC's, Memorial Day, 5-24-24."
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May 28, 2024: "
CSX To Re-Install, Improve Hump at Cumberland" CSX plans to spend $32-$40 million to replace a hump yard that was closed out in 2017. [
WCBC] (
source)
Rick Rowlands: They removed all of the switches and stub ended the yard in 2020. So here it is 4 years later and its going to be put back in. Well at least it will all be new now! But really, if you don't want to use it, just leave it sit because the next manager is going to have completely different ideas.
I have never understood the penchant of the railroad industry to remove the very thing that they need to operate. You never see truckers advocate for closing roads! [But truckers don't have to pay property taxes for their roads. We should have nationalized the mainline tracks and their dispatching in the 1980s. Than railroading would be like trucks and airplanes.]
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