RAILFAN GUIDES of the U.S.

 

Todd's Railfan Guide to
BALTIMORE MD
Railroad Yards

In General
Yards
Floobydust
 

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In General

Baltimore has a fair number of yards, but many do not have good access other than an overpass shot if that.

The Canton RR used to have the majority of the Canton Yard complex shown on the USGS map, up till the state built the Fort McHenry tunnel in the late 80's.  When I-95 came through, the Canton RR shops and engine storage were demolished, and most of their business was handed over to Conrail, then NS.  Canton still serviced the line heading out to Eastern Stainless, but traffic went way down.  Within the past 10 years or so (as of 2016), traffic has picked up to the point that the state built a small facility along Newkirk Street, and took over much of the switching responsibilities for Penn-Mary Yard.

CSX has most of the yards in the Baltimore area, they are all former B&O yards:
     Penn-Mary - it's on the eastside.
     Bayview - also on the eastside.
     Curtis Bay - on the south side of town, car shop at north end.
     Seawall - small yard adjacent to Curtis Bay yard.
     Riverside - just to the south of the downtown area, includes diesel storage and maintenance facility,
               (MARC diesels live and get worked on here too)
     Winans - a small but sometimes busy (in the am) yard west of town.
     Mount Claire Yard - goes under Washington Blvd in Morrel Park.
     Locust Point - to the east of Riverside, services the port.
     Laurel - down in Annapolis Junction (not very busy most of the time).

Grays yard in Sparrows Point was for the Patapsco & Back Rivers RR, but CSX and NS bring stuff in and out.

Norfolk Southern has a couple:
     Bayview - just like CSX and adjacent to it.
     Canton - adjacent to CSX's Penn-Mary.
     The Flexi-flo yard - on the far side of the North Avenue light rail shops, it was cleaned out in 2012 and is no longer active.

Yards no longer around:
     Western Maryland's Port Covington Yard.
     Pennsy's Orangeville Yard - was used for engine service.
     Pennsy's Wise Ave Yard - only two thru tracks exist now.

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&t=h&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108670877067729118954.00048e6b24ead11e1e4f2


Yards


CSX - Bayview Yard

GPS: 39.2986 -76.5505

One of two yards on the CSX mainline between Philadelphia and DC, the other is Winans yard on the south side of Baltimore.  Traffic in and out of Grays yard, the Dundalk Marine Terminal, and transfers to the Canton RR move thru here.  Through trains just keep on movin thru.


CSX - Curtis Bay Yard

 


CSX - Locust Point Yard

 


CSX - Mount Claire Yard

 


CSX - Penn-Mary Yard

GPS: 39.2716 -76.5547

The above coordinates are for the throat of the yard at Holabird Ave.

With the lack of business at Sparrows Point, and the closing of the Chevrolet Assembly plant, CSX doesn't have much need for this yard.  So the major player here is the Canton RR, who has their headquarters and engine facility here on the Newkirk side of the yard.  The fence prevents you from getting good pictures of engines stored next to the buildings.





 


CSX - Riverside Yard


CSX - Seawall Yard

 


CSX - Winan's Yard

 


NS - Bayview Yard

GPS: 39.2967 -76.5417

Norfolk Southern's Bayview yard is NS's main yard for Baltimore.

Amtrak's NEC comes thru on the north side of the yard.

BAY tower, still standing, is about where the "D" in "DC" is.

Tracks to Canton yard veer off just off to the left side of the map.

DC and Manassas are off to the left, and NS's freights share the NEC after hours. 

The north end of the yard is not used as much as it used to be.  Very little can be found there any more.

The yard office and the NS Police are located off Lombard St, and you are forewarned not to enter the yard at any point, the police are most non-forgiving!


NS - Canton Yard

GPS: 39.2693 -76.5613

A former Pennsy and Canton RR yard, it has seen engines with Penn Central and Conrail paint before becoming a Norfolk Southern yard.

Canton yard is mostly now an endpoint for Consolidated Coal, and a few local industries. 

Before the Fort McHenry Tunnel was built, the Canton RR had it's huge complex on the west side of the yard and was a GREAT place for railfanning.

The B&O used to cross the Pennsy where the dotted red line is, and passenger service came thru here to load them onto ferries. 
This was way back in the early 1900's.

Up until the early to mid 90's, there used to be another ship loading facility down at the bottom of the map at the dotted green line.




NS - Flexi-Flo Yard

 


P&BR - Gray's Yard

 


WM - Port Covington Yard


PRR/Conrail - Orangeville Yard

More information at: http://www.navpooh.com/orangeville.html
The roundhouse here at one time had 30 stalls, the turntable was a 100 footer.
It took care of power previously serviced at Mt. Vernon, Biddle Street, and Bay View.
By 1982-83, the facility and yard had been pretty much abandoned by Conrail.
During the years I got to visit the yard, I saw MP-54 commuter cars, and E-44 and GG1 electric locomotives among others.
Not sure of the USGS map date, but it is at least from 1969-1976 prior to when Conrail was formed.





 





  


 

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