The Western Maryland Railway, often known simply by its initials "WM," usually tended to play second fiddle among Baltimore rail fans pressed to divulge their favorite area rail line.  It did not have quite the history of the Baltimore and Ohio, nor the proud homegrown name association.  It did not have the same vintage charm of the Maryland and Pennsylvania.  It was not electrified like the Pennsy, nor did it offer the multiple lines out of the area like the PRR.

Still, the WM had a great number of fans in the area, thanks in large part to the territory it served, and the unique aspect of its operation.  Though largely a "Coal Road," the WM would evolve to become a modern frieght operation before being absorbed into the Chessie System merger over a 15 year period from 1968 to 1983.  As a result, the railroad's old "East Subdivision" that served Baltimore is still alive and rather well, though lacking the vitality it did decades ago.

The Western Maryland's history actually starts along the Greenspring Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad (NCRR), whose rails actually served as the line's original access to Baltimore.  This arrangement was short lived however, as the expanding WM, reaching Westward to Westminister, Hagerstown, and Cumberland, would construct a new alignment into Baltimore that followed the upper periphery of the Gwynns Falls valley before snaking a course through Northwest Baltimore to ultimately lead into an interchange with the Pennsy mainline at Fulton Avenue.

Initially, most trains of the WM would not continue on to then Union Station along the PRR tracks (and into Hillen Station beginning in 1876), but would terminate at the interchange at a station called "Fulton," established in 1873. The reason behind this was a high tarriff cost of running along the tracks through the B&P tunnel. This arrangement would not be advantageous to the WM's passenger business, requiring riders to interchange with a still formative network of horsecar lines.  Thus, by 1881, the WM had revised this operation to operate through to the Union Station.

But the WM's specialty through Baltimore would never really be passenger traffic anyway, as would be later indicated by its slogan "The Fast Freight Line."  The WM's breadwinners were its frieght traffic, particularly the coal in early years.  Freight traffic would head to two primary destinations in Baltimore, from the large freight station abutting Hillen Street, near the Hillen Station that would serve as the WM's ultimate passenger terminal, and even more to the sea terminal at Port Covington along the 1902 vintage "Tide Subdivision" that would later maintain the WM's importance among increased competition.


While the WM was well known for decades as a vital path for freight traffic, more citizens got their own personal contact with the WM from riding one of their passenger trains, which served a wide range of markets, from the commuter locals to Glyndon and Union Bridge, to intercity locals to Hagerstown and Cumberland, to express trains leading as far west as Pittsburgh and Chicago.  A glance at the WM schedule for 1916 shows 19 trains operating in and out of Baltimore on the main line.  Less than 40 years later, in 1955, this number had been pared down to 4 trains, 2 in and 2 out: a 5:05am from Hagerstown that arrived in Baltimore at 7:50am, serving mostly commuters, which returned on the 5:25 train from Baltimore to Hagerstown, where it arrived at 8:09pm.  The other round trip was worked into the commuter schedule, with a 9:08 am train from Baltimore arriving in Hagerstown at 11:55, then leaving at 1:50pm to return to Baltimore at 4:25 pm.   No passenger service ran from Baltimore to Cumberland.  Also, by this late date, the old Hillen Station had been recently deserted, with the "station" moved to a small office beneath the Orleans Street viaduct around 1952.


This arrangement would not last long, as passenger service on the WM was on its last legs, bowing out about 1957 from the Baltimore terminal.  WM trains extended over the PRR into Sparrows Point beginning in 1961.  Just over a decade later, the WM would be cleared for acquisition and merger by the C&O/B&O under the future "Chessie System" banner, whose formation began in 1973, and which would gradually be followed by the abandonment of both Port Covington and Hillen Station.  Despite this, the WM continued to operate under its own name for the time being.  The Sparrows Point operation quit about 1980, with the rock train using it diverting to Westport and the B&O.   As Chessie continued its consolidation, the WM operation began to crumble, and finally, by 1983, the operation was just an offshoot of B&O and C&O operations.  Since then, many of the WM's routes in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have been abandoned.


The old "Main Line" or "East Subdivision" still remains however, at least in large part, though not the impressive double track road it once was.  The line, using a modified routing of the Tide Subdivision to reach a CSX terminal at Curtis Bay plays host to about a few daily trains, most reliably is local train D796, the Hanover-Curtis Bay turn. in addition to overnight train D778, as well as rock runner trains K942 and K943, though other trains can be routed along it if need be. As a result, the line is not a real ghost, though it certainly has lost the vitality it once had.

For the moment, the old WM trunk line through Baltimore seems secure, though one must worry about the future of the line given the gradual deterioration of the track over the past few decades.  For now, however, the old WM should be prized for being the most charming rail operation left in the Baltimore area.

Starting from the old Baltimore terminal area on Hillen Street, one can see one of the more impressive relics of the old operation, the freight warehouse.  Despite an attempt to conceal the old lettering reading WESTERN MARYLAND, they are still easily traceable.	The warehouse serves today as a Public Storage location, while much of the surrounding terminal property has been paved for parking, a connecting shuttle of which is seen on the left.  The only evidence of track to the old property is seen along Buren Street between Madison and Monument.
Looking West from Fulton Avenue, one can easily see where the WM main line used to branch off from the PRR mainline.  Presently, a partially submerged set of rails meekly approaches the junction before dying out.	Buried beneath its own delivery?  Looking West from the Monroe Street bridge visible in the shot to the left, one can see the old Western Maryland mainline barely peeking through the dirt on its way to the severed connection with the corridor tracks.  The huge mound of rock in back offers no such daylight for that portion of track.
Looking directly over the mound shown above, one can barely make out the line as it heads West towards the Bentalou Street Underpass.  Note the old WM Billboard just left of the center of the photo.	The old WM billboard in the photo at left, graphically stretched out by computer (due to a lack of access to get a more head on photo of it).  From this extraction, we can see it depicts a WM boxcar, and the words Fast Freight WEST.
As viewed through some alarmingly missing panels on the Bentalou Street bridge which is in the distance in the above shot, one can see that the old WM main actually looks like a functional railroad through this stretch.  One gathers that the Flanigan construction company recieves occasional carloads of materials by rail.	Another view from a gap in paneling on the Bentalou Street bridge.  Just out of view in the distance is the line's wye at "Walbrook Junction," where it meets the far more active Tide(water) branch that once led to Port Covington, but now leads to Curtis Bay.
North of the railroad's "Walbrook Junction" but east of the city's "Walbrook Junction" was the Walbrook Station of the WM at North Avenue, the stairs to which remain, forebodingly guarded by a collapsed portion of retaining wall.	WM's Arlington Station at Garrison Avenue vanished in the 1970's despite efforts to save it.  An old, rather dilapidated freight house does remain on the site however, just east of the Garrison Avenue crossing.  The line runs to the left, flanked by the Baltimore Metro.  PHOTO COURTESY OF IRA WEXLER.
The face of today's "WM" carries the colors of the consolidated CSX banner, seen here heading the Hanover Local across Patterson Avenue.  Just south of here is a small yard called "Leahigh" that sees light use.  The line through here was double tracked until the late 1980's.	Among the proudest of local WM relics is the old Glyndon Station in Emory Grove, just barely within the confines of the Baltimore Metropolitan area.  The station still houses a post office within it.
These stairs at Glyndon once served countless commuters and travelers, but now sit pretty much useless.  The platforms that once existed here have seen all traces removed after nearly a half century of non-use.	Retaining wall of steps shows embossed "GLYNDON" lettering.  The station held some degree of importance to the WM, as just north of here was/is a junction with one line heading towards Hanover and Gettysburg, and the other veering West towards Westminister, Hagerstown, and Cumberland.
Despite a slightly later vintage, the industrial Tide Subdivision has some of the more pleasing scenery on the old WM line.  This arched bridge over Braddish Avenue just West of "Walbrook Junction" offers an eye catching sight for the few who use it to reach the nearby school bus yard on the other side.	The Western Maryland in Western Maryland?  Nah.  Western Baltimore.  This bucolic bridge crossing over the Gwynns Falls is visible from the Gwynns Falls trail near Carroll Park.  Closer look at the scene will reveal scrapping machinery of United Iron and Metal in the upper right hand corner.
Overhead view of the same bridge clearly reveals the original double track arrangement of this line.  Despite its urban location, this section of the Tidewater sub offers some very pleasing scenery.
At Berlin Street, at two points in the WM's history, there was an interchange from the WM to the B&O's Mount Winans Yard.  First in place in the 30's, the connection was later dropped, and revived in the 70's to allow Chessie trains to reach Port Covington.  Following the closure of Port Covington, the connection was no longer used, and has since been severed, and is again reverting to nature.  The mainline runs off to the left while the snipped interchange is seen poking through the weeds.	A typical railroad notice carries an interesting twist, warning of trespassing by the Western Maryland Railway Police.  One wonders where they have been the last 20 years!
From the rickety Wicomico Street Bridge, one sees where the line fans back to double track just East of Berlin Street.  In the far distance to the left of the track, one can make out the severed interchange seen in the photo above.	Looking East from the same bridge, one can see a signal bridge as well as an underpass leading beneath the B&O mainline to Washington DC.  One of the rails looks pretty weedy.
Spring Garden Bridge, disconnected at its Western End to the original WM (whose line diverts along CSX routings to Curtis Bay) is not the prominent part of the Middle Branch landscape it once was since being dwarfed by the I-95/395 interchange, but it still is massive enough to attract the eye.	Looking West from Swan Park offers a closer perspective of the swing span, on which accounts differ regarding its ability to still swing.  I've yet to see it in action, but a friend swears seeing the thing swung shut for switching twice over the past ten years.
Mighty right of way no more.  This section of old WM track just East of the Spring Garden Bridge used to be the very active lead into the Port Covington Yard.  Today, it is little more than an industrial spur connected to CSX to the East, and serving a few small industries South of the track, to the left of this photo.  Note torn up remains of right of way along left, and mostly submerged track at right.	Looking East from virtually the same spot, one can see that the line no longer heads straight into Port Covington as the WM did, but rather veers to the Left to connect to the CSX Riverside Yard in South Baltimore.  Very few traces remain to tell of the massive Port Covington Yard since its conversion to a Walmart and Sams Club, as well as a Newspaper printing plant.