The Pope's Creek Subdivision was originally built by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. The company was organized on December 19, 1858, and began surveying the route May 3, 1859.[2] Construction started in 1861 but progressed slowly until 1867, when the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and its ally, the Northern Central Railway (NCRY), bought the company.[3] The PRR at the time had access to Baltimore via its own lines: the NCRY from the north and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad from the northeast. However, it used the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) and its Washington Branch to continue southwest to Washington, D.C. The PRR and B&O were rivals, and the Maryland General Assembly refused to grant a charter to end the B&O's monopoly on Baltimore-Washington travel. However, the existing Baltimore and Potomac charter allowed exactly that, via the clause that allowed branches; all the PRR had to do was to take the line within 20 miles (32 km) of Washington. The PRR obtained a charter for the section in Washington on February 5, 1867.[4]: 335
Thus the new Baltimore-Washington line opened on July 2, 1872, and the required "main line" to Pope's Creek on the Potomac River, immediately relegated to branch status, opened on January 1, 1873.[4]: 339 [5]: 46
Passenger service from Bowie to Pope's Creek ended on October 29, 1949.[6]
Ownership of the line passed from the PRR to the Penn Central Transportation Company in 1968 and to Conrail in 1976. When Conrail was split in 1999, CSX Transportation was assigned the line.
Current operationedit
Parts of this article (those related to Chalk Point coal delivery) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2022)
The Pope's Creek Subdivision currently runs from its interchange at Bowie with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor main line, to the Morgantown and Chalk Point Generating Stations (both generating stations now closed). A wye track exists to allow trains to enter Amtrak's main line and go north or south, so that a second engine or cab car is not needed. Amtrak limits these trains to late night/very early morning runs and no more than 160 cars. The line is mostly single tracked, with long sidings in Collington, Upper Marlboro and Brandywine. At Brandywine the Herbert Subdivision branches off, carrying a single track to the GenOn Chalk Point Power Station.[7][8] If the train continues straight through Brandywine, it will reach the Morgantown Generating Station. This line currently hosts 2 to 3 trains a week (a down and back rock train to Aggregate Industries in La Plata and a rock train to Chaney Enterprizes in Waldorf and an occasional local serving a few businesses in the Waldorf and La Plata area).[citation needed]
The Navyspur that branched off at White Plains (between Waldorf and La Plata) going over to Indian Head, was in service from 1918 into the 1960s. After decades of non-use and efforts to start a tourist railroad, the spur was converted to a rail trail in 2008.[9]
^Baer, Christopher T. (30 June 2003). "PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY DISCONTINUANCE/LAST RUNS OF PASSENGER SERVICE BY LINE SEGMENT" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society.
pope, creek, subdivision, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, j. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Pope s Creek Subdivision news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message The Pope s Creek Subdivision is a CSX Transportation railroad line in Maryland running from Bowie to Morgantown where the Morgantown Generating Station is located and the Chalk Point Generating Station 1 Bowie Junction where the Pope s Creek Subdivision left meets the Northeast Corridor right The Bowie interlocking tower no longer operational has been restored and is part of the Huntington Railroad Museum Contents 1 History 2 Current operation 3 Future conversion possibility 4 See also 5 ReferencesHistory editThe Pope s Creek Subdivision was originally built by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad The company was organized on December 19 1858 and began surveying the route May 3 1859 2 Construction started in 1861 but progressed slowly until 1867 when the Pennsylvania Railroad PRR and its ally the Northern Central Railway NCRY bought the company 3 The PRR at the time had access to Baltimore via its own lines the NCRY from the north and the Philadelphia Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad from the northeast However it used the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad B amp O and its Washington Branch to continue southwest to Washington D C The PRR and B amp O were rivals and the Maryland General Assembly refused to grant a charter to end the B amp O s monopoly on Baltimore Washington travel However the existing Baltimore and Potomac charter allowed exactly that via the clause that allowed branches all the PRR had to do was to take the line within 20 miles 32 km of Washington The PRR obtained a charter for the section in Washington on February 5 1867 4 335 Thus the new Baltimore Washington line opened on July 2 1872 and the required main line to Pope s Creek on the Potomac River immediately relegated to branch status opened on January 1 1873 4 339 5 46 Passenger service from Bowie to Pope s Creek ended on October 29 1949 6 Ownership of the line passed from the PRR to the Penn Central Transportation Company in 1968 and to Conrail in 1976 When Conrail was split in 1999 CSX Transportation was assigned the line Current operation editParts of this article those related to Chalk Point coal delivery need to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information June 2022 The Pope s Creek Subdivision currently runs from its interchange at Bowie with Amtrak s Northeast Corridor main line to the Morgantown and Chalk Point Generating Stations both generating stations now closed A wye track exists to allow trains to enter Amtrak s main line and go north or south so that a second engine or cab car is not needed Amtrak limits these trains to late night very early morning runs and no more than 160 cars The line is mostly single tracked with long sidings in Collington Upper Marlboro and Brandywine At Brandywine the Herbert Subdivision branches off carrying a single track to the GenOn Chalk Point Power Station 7 8 If the train continues straight through Brandywine it will reach the Morgantown Generating Station This line currently hosts 2 to 3 trains a week a down and back rock train to Aggregate Industries in La Plata and a rock train to Chaney Enterprizes in Waldorf and an occasional local serving a few businesses in the Waldorf and La Plata area citation needed The Navy spur that branched off at White Plains between Waldorf and La Plata going over to Indian Head was in service from 1918 into the 1960s After decades of non use and efforts to start a tourist railroad the spur was converted to a rail trail in 2008 9 Future conversion possibility editThe Maryland Transit Administration conducted a study in 2009 to evaluate the feasibility of MARC Train passenger service on this line 10 See also editList of CSX Transportation linesReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pope s Creek Subdivision P0 Popes Creek Sub the RadioReference Wiki PRR Chronology 1859 PDF PRR Research Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical amp Historical Society March 2005 Retrieved 2010 07 04 PRR Chronology 1867 PDF PRR Research Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical amp Historical Society June 2004 Retrieved 2010 07 04 a b Wilson William B 1895 History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Philadelphia Henry T Coates Schafer Mike Solomon Brian 1997 Pennsylvania Railroad Osceola WI Motorbooks Intl ISBN 0 7603 0379 7 Baer Christopher T 30 June 2003 PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY DISCONTINUANCE LAST RUNS OF PASSENGER SERVICE BY LINE SEGMENT PDF Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society HB Herbert Sub the RadioReference Wiki http www multimodalways org docs railroads companies CSX CSX 20ETTs CSX 20Baltimore 20Div 20ETT 20 234 201 1 2005 pdf CSX Baltimore Division Timetable McConaty Nancy Bromley 2008 12 05 Trail Officially Open Maryland Independent La Plata MD Archived from the original on 2012 03 26 Retrieved 2011 06 30 Southern Maryland Commuter Rail Service Feasibility Study PDF Baltimore Maryland Maryland Transit Administration 2009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pope 27s Creek Subdivision amp oldid 1199249017, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
