Railroads in the Monumental City

Biddle Street was the only PRR passenger station within the city limits east of the main terminal at Pennsylvania (once Union) Station along the Corridor, though it was NOT the only PRR Station in East Baltimore. The Pennsy also ran a service to Sparrows Point during much of the 20th Century along a now abandoned route that stopped at Orangeville, Highlandtown, "Fifth Avenue," Colgate Creek, and Sutton in Baltimore. Also, during the days of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad from which the Pennsy derived, the Baltimore routing swooped south to use present day Boston and Fleet Streets to reach its terminus at a station at Fleet and President Streets. The station house survives today as Baltimore's Civil War Museum.

But I digress. On to Biddle Street.

The Biddle Street "Station" was little more than a shelter and platform during its lifetime. It is not believed that the station area ever housed a true "station" staffed with ticketing and baggage agents. The platform appears to have sat just South of the bridge over Biddle Street, as shown in the map above. One would assume that at some point, a platform was constructed on the opposite side to better serve Westbound trains more safely, but this is just conjecture.

In the prime of the railroads during the teens, the station was serving a dozen and a half trains a day, mostly locals to Perryville or Philadelphia. By 1958, however, the stop was only serving a single train daily, eastbound to Philadelphia. Calls to the Pennsy's infomation department at the time found agents who did not even know that the station existed. Apparently, by this point, few others did as well, as the last train using the station was averaging boardings of less than one passenger daily. Thus, on October 26, 1958, Biddle Street's use as a station stop on the Pennsy was abandoned.

Today, there seems little evidence at all that trains ever stopped at this location. South of the tracks (as visible from street level) there seems no grading or shoring to indicate a platform or entryway even existed. North of the tracks, above Biddle Street, a substation or field office sits on a foundation of wooden ties that MAY offer proof of a westbound plaftorm. Still, it appears that the past 45 years have afforded Amtrak and nature a decent amount of opportunities to obsure nearly all evidence of the existence of the station once named for the street it served.

Approaching the Northeast Corridor along Biddle Street, one notes this clearing, which at first, would seem to offer clues to the old Biddle Street Station site.	However, maps indicate the station access as being South of Biddle, along this narrow embankment.
While the South side of the grade shows no true clues of the old station, the north side contains this built foundation for what appears to be a maintenance shelter.	As indicated by the lettering on the side and door, the "Biddle" name is still alive on today's corridor, even if trains don't stop here.

EDMONDSON

Just West of the former junction between the PRR and the WM near Riggs Avenue, there is a six block stretch of track that has played host to four separate station sites, one site of which remains as the present day "West Baltimore" station used by commuter trains of the MARC system.

In the very early days of the century, there were actually two concurrent tiny stations along this stretch: "Lafayette" at the Northern End, and "Calverton Road" at the Southern end, both situated adjacent to their namesake streets, and both lying in lightly populated areas. Calverton would not last long, though Lafayette would remain in service through World War I, serving less than a dozen daily local trains.

However, as the population of the surrounding hillsides began to explode, the small depot would be replaced by new, larger facililty abutting the Edmondson Avenue bridge over the tracks, and well served by two streetcar routes.

Named Edmondson, the station was never a terribly busy affair, being constructed as the railroads began their descent into lessening service levels that were the result of increased competion from the growing road network. In the height of the World War II travel boom, Edmondson served exactly 15 trains, all but one of which were peak hour trains largely scheduled to serve commuters to the growing market of Washington, DC.

The old Edmondson Avenue Station still survives, now in use as a restaurant. The abutting portion of the structure on the left covered the stairway that led down to the platform at track level.

As situated, Edmondson sat amid a rather dense area of mixed residential, commercial, and industrial use. While this was certainly favorable in its early days to generate walk-on traffic, it would be detriment as the "auto age" exploded after World War II, in that it could scarcely offer nearby parking for commuters. Schedules following the war reflecting the languishing use of the station. By October of 1961, the station served exactly 6 weekday trains, two bound for Washington at 6:27 and 7:12am, and four from Washington, stopping at 5:13, 5:35, 6:18, and 6:35pm. A scan of a railroad almanac from the Penn Central days of 1968 offers no listing of local passenger service between Baltimore and Washington, though the station was still serving in a similarly limited capacity.

Commuter service along the corridor came under State operation in the 1970's, first running under a name of AMDot, and later MARC. With an increased level of service, as well as investment in new equipment, the commuter service has flourished. However, the Edmondson station, and its lack of auto parking did not fit the scheme of this "modern" commuter railroad, even if a satellite station in West Baltimore did.

With an Interstate 70 project through West Baltimore stalled at Pulaski Street, and thus cleared land available between Franklin and Mulberry Streets west of Pulaski Street, the operation found its ideal site for a new West Baltimore Station, just one block South of Edmondson, at Franklin Street, which opened in the late 1980's. While lacking the quaint PRR charm of the old Edmondson Station, the new station has been a hit for Baltimore commuters seeking to avoid both the parking fees and driving aggravations of reaching the larger Pennsylvania Station. The lot fills to capacity daily, and is served by over 3 dozen weekday commuter trains on the MARC line at all times of day and evening. It would have been nice to see this sort of healthiness in a station that has the charm of Edmondson, instead of one that has the unremarkable personality of the old Biddle Street, but at least it's nice to see the rail line doing well.

GWYNNS RUN

Gwynns Run was never a particularly heavy hotbed of passenger activity, being located in an area that was isolated from the existing development to the east, while not seeing localized development to its west until after the passenger stop had been abandoned in the 1930's, if not earlier. However, the Gwynns Run name was still a fairly important part of the Pennsy's operation, offering a time point for all PRR trains which passed it, as well as a Yard Master's Office that controlled operation along both the Catonsville and Claremont secondaries for many decades.

As things are situated now, the Gwynns Run location seems like a passable spot for a commuter train stop, offering stepless access to track level from Baltimore Street, as well as a decent area for parking. However, it is less than 3 minutes from the present West Baltimore Station, so it remains just a passing spot today.

During its early days, the stop was not quite as accessible. The point of the Gwynns Falls valley at which the PRR mainline passed was not yet traversed by West Baltimore Street for much of the early 20th Century. Even at the height of rail popularity in the teens, the stop was made by just 9 trains. By World War II, nothing made a passenger stop at Gwynns Run, despite the fact that nearby development had occurred, and road access to the station had improved with the construction of the Baltimore Street Bridge.

Gwynns Run remained as a tower for several decades however, but its use too began to diminish, thanks in large part to the abandonment of the frieght routings to Catonsville and Claremont. Today, the tower remains abandoned, as well as a smaller structure that resembles a waiting shelter, but appears too late in style to be the actual Gwynns Run Station of early in the Century.

Gwynns Run Station? Nah! This odd structure sits along the Northeast Corridor just South of the old Gwynns Run Tower. While it looks perfectly justifiable as an abandoned passenger stop, the cinder block construction looks far later than the usage era of Gwynns Run. As such, this is likely some sort of 50's vintage office.

FREDERICK ROAD
Map of Frederick Avenue Site

The Westernmost old station within Baltimore City Limits, Frederick Road, like Gwynns Run, was a rather minor aspect of the PRR operation, serving only very local trains. Unlike Gwynns Run, however, Frederick Road carries a longer, more successful history than its sister station 7/10 of a mile Eastward.

Frederick's success, if you can call it that, was likely the result of its close road and streetcar access along its namesake adjacent street. In 1916, it was only serving 2 more trains (11) than its nearby counterpart, including an interesting flag stop at 12:41 am on an Eastbound Local that, after leaving Odenton, stopped only here and at Pennsylvania Avenue on its way to the Baltimore terminal. Still, the trains which served Frederick Avenue at thsi era went no further than Baltimore and Washington, thus not allowing a single seat ride to New York as could be afforded at the Pennsylvania Avenue Station.

Despite this locality to its reach, Frederick would outlast Pennsylvania Avenue as a station, unpretentiously serving commuters for several decades to come. In 1945, it was serving much as it did decades earlier, playing host to just under a dozen trains, mostly commuter runs between Washington and Baltimore, but also seeing a couple of Philadelphia Locals making the stop at the rather sleepy stop.

Frederick Avenue's use appears to have lasted into the late 1980's, even as an connection of Hilton Street and Caton Avenue nearby would greatly undermine its visibility, leaving it to be little more than a stairway leading down to track level. One local railfan recalls a few instances in which he and a friend made a fun point to ride an inbound #8 line streetcar to Caton Avenue and alighting in time to catch one of the trains bound for Pennsylvania Station. Upon disembarking at Penn, they would head over to Greenmount Avenue to board the exact same #8 line car they alighted earlier in the trip, just to see the confused look of the Operator.

While one can no longer do such a feat, with the #8 being converted to a bus route, and later split in Downtown, and with the Frederick Road Station now abandoned, one can still witness evidence of the existence of the old station. The stairway to track level still remains, only recently fenced off to access to passersby. While a charming reminder of the old days of the PRR, using this stairway will not allow one to ride a train, but more than likely a tresspassing charge.

This stairway and foundation leads from street level to track level at Frederick Avenue, and was likely abandoned to service in the late 1950's.

Though not a station, this old building at the Northeast corner of Baltimore and Calvert Street has ghosts of lettering that proudly proclaims it as the local offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

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