Okay, folks. I have a geography question for you. According the the book Baltimore And Ohio Railroad In the Potomac Valley, by Martin J. McGuirk, Sand Patch is show on a map on pages 11,12, and 46 as being squarely between Harpers Ferry, WV. and Cumberland, MD. However, on Fort Wayne Railfan, shown here....http://www.fwarailfan.net/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=481, halfway down the page, Sand Patch is shown on the other end of the line between Connellsville and Cumberland. So, did Kalmbach publishing make a typographical error (the book is from the ClassicTrains: The Golden Years Of Railroading series), or is Sand Patch so long that it overlaps both ends of the route? I would really like it if someone could enlighten me! Sorry if it seems like a silly question; I am not an expert on the B&O, but I am trying to learn...
One of several errors in that book. Running geographically north out of Cumberland, the B&O (now CSX) followed Wills Creek to the summit of the Alleghenies. There was a gentle rise through the Cumberland Narrows (not Cumberland Gap --- that was a long ways away), Corriganville, Ellerslie, and Hyndman, where there was a helper station. The steepest part of the grade began at Hyndman and ran through Fairhope, Glencoe, and Mance to Sand Patch Tunnel. The Summit of the grade was just west of the tunnel. The line then continued down a somewhat less steep grade to Garrett, Rockwood, Confluence, Connellsville, Pittsburgh, and ultimately on to Chicago. You can ride the line today on Amtrak's Capitol Limited. Eastbound provides more daylight viewing than westbound.
"Trying to learn" is a good thing & should not be discouraged. You are wise to check your sources against other sources. Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's accurate. On the positive side, it should be said that the book includes some great photos.
Tom
(edited)
Welcome to the Trains forum!
Here's the link to the old forum post that included the map in question:
http://www.fwarailfan.net/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=481
For comparison, here's another grade pictoral that I found:
The bridge centric websites often can fill in some history:
http://bridgehunter.com/pa/somerset/csx---sand-patch-tunnel/
Perhaps someone has an old employee timetable that might show grades. Other milepost data for the CSX Keystone sub is transcribed here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020713043907/www.trainweb.org/csxtimetables/Baltimore/Keystone.html
The Google Maps terrain view of the area looks formidable:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.8134476,-78.9203309,12z/data=!5m1!1e4
I learned a lot from this brief research - thanks for posting!
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
You can see the route between Connelsville & Cumberland in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfkHlIoJOcg
It can be like watching paint dry, (2:43 minutes long) but it shows the route in winter. Sandpatch is at 1:44. #30 passes a freight with helpers as it approaches Sand Patch and shares the tunnel with an intermodal.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it!
Thanks for the information; I really appreciate you taking the time to respond!
Thank you for the information!
Check out the July issue of "Railfan and Railroad." There's a BIG article by Stan Trzoniec on Sand Patch. Lot's of good information and photos. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Back in the 1970's or 1980's, Trains had at least 1 long article on Sand Patch, which included a map, IIRC.
"Baltimore & Ohio's most famous mountain grade", by Biery, Tom, from Trains, May 2005, pg. 56 et seq.
The last 2 are still available as back issues from Kalmbach.
RailPace magazine also did at least 1 of its "Train Chasing Guide" (?) articles on it in the late 1990's or early 2000's , which again incuded a map. If anyone's interested, let me know and I'll see if I can pin down which issue(s).
- Paul North.
Firelock76 Check out the July issue of "Railfan and Railroad." There's a BIG article by Stan Trzoniec on Sand Patch. Lot's of good information and photos. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Paul_D_North_Jr Back in the 1970's or 1980's, Trains had at least 1 long article on Sand Patch, which included a map, IIRC. "Sand Patch revisited - a visit to Sand Patch in 1978", by Rettberg, Bill, from Trains, January 1980, pg. 44 et seq. "On location: Sand Patch's east slope - where to see trains on Sand Patch", by Kelly, Bruce, from Trains, October 1997, pg. 68 et seq. Railroad blueprint: Sand Patch, Pennsylvania "Baltimore & Ohio's most famous mountain grade", by Biery, Tom, from Trains, May 2005, pg. 56 et seq. The last 2 are still available as back issues from Kalmbach. RailPace magazine also did at least 1 of its "Train Chasing Guide" (?) articles on it in the late 1990's or early 2000's , which again incuded a map. If anyone's interested, let me know and I'll see if I can pin down which issue(s). - Paul North.
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