| Even back in the early 1950's,
the rustic Lorraine Streetcar line was a ghost. The line was a "Twilight
Zone" of sorts, before there even was such a term. Heading from Walbrook
and Windsor Hills across the Gwynns Falls and into Dickeyville, the line
seemed to head back to the turn of the century. The line resumed
on a streetside run for a stretch before terminating at the gates of the
Lorraine Cemetery.
The Lorraine line carried some interesting
operational characteristics with it through its life. Opened in
1904 as the #35 line, the route operated from Lorraine to Walbrook.
This arrangement would be extended in 1920 to operate thru cars along route
#4 from Dickeyville (Hillsdale) to Downtown, with a small shuttle operation
from there West to Lorraine. Shortly before the onset of the Great
Depression in 1929, this arrangement was revised back to the original setup
as a shuttle operation, with connections to routes 4, 13, and 31 at Walbrook
Junction.
Click on this map of
the Lorraine Line for a slight enlargement. Note the photo ticks
as they relate to the photos shown below. Boxes indicate the running
configuration for different stretches of the line. Faint orange
line near tick one shows location of a one time spur to a quarry.
The Lorraine Line was also home to one
of the area's more obscure streetcar operations, the quarry track.
Up until some point in World War II, a spur track diverged off the line
just as the cars came off the West end of the Gwynns Falls trestle.
The track curved off to the North and into a low area, where a small quarry
area was located, which supplied the rock necessary to furnish the transit
company with gravel. This track would later be taken up, yet hints
of the quarry still remain today.
Time ran out for the Lorraine line in
1954, as a bus conversion plan finally succeeded. Most of the rail was
taken up along the rights of way, and the metal portions of the bridge
itself were scrapped as well. The rights of way were left to let
nature reclaim them, only to find eventual use as footpaths in Gwynns Falls
Park. The center bridge abutment toppled in a Hurricane during the
1970's. Still, in the new Millenium, a number of artifacts remain
of the Lorraine line, as pictured below:
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Our tour begins at Tick #1... After plunging onto a single track
stretch of right-of-way following its jouney West on Clifton Avenue,
Lorraine Line cars resumed double track just before bridging the Gwynns
Falls. The east abutment to this bridge is seen here looking
across the Gwynns Falls.
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The center abutment which one stood prouldy in the middle of the Gwynns
Falls has been toppled for about 30 years, though the remains stay on
the scene to further tell the tale of the Lorraine Line.
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The western abutment stands out bleakly in the winter scenery along the
Gwynns Falls. This view looks West from the streambed.
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A view looking East from the far end of the abutment in the photo at
left. Immediately West of here, the switch leading to the quarry
spur was located.
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From the other end of the abutment, one can see the plates which once
secured the plate bridge superstructure to the concrete base. The
bridge was abandoned 50 years ago.
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UR&E Trackage diagram shows the quarry spur diverging from the
Northern track just about 40 feet after clearing the bridge #13B.
Dashed lined path to the left is that of Wetherdsville Road.
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Ruins of the stone quarry appear to exist in the low lying clearing
where the spur track appears to head. This portion of a stone
wall is among the largest of these ruins.
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Now at Tick #2 - Proceeding across Wetherdsville Road, the line plunged
into a short piece of right of way that can be observed on the map
above. The path taken by the cars is easily traced by looking
down, where two sets of streetcar rails can be breifly observed
emerging from the asphalt.
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Looking East from tick #3, one can see just how brief the portion of
right of way was West of the Gwynns Falls. To the right is the
right of way, and to the left is Wetherdsville Road, making its second
meeting with the Lorraine in just 350 feet!
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After meeting with Wetherdsville a second time, the line slowly
acquised to follow its path within the street, as seen by this length
of rail coming from the brief right of way into the street.
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Despite attempts to cover it, nature has been determined to let
observant members of the current generation know that Dickeyville once
had "light rail" service. This view looks West from about tick #3.
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After meeting this Dickeyville sign at the location of tick #4 (looking
West), the line once again took a course independent of Wetherdsville
Road, using a more straight alignment that passed behind the houses on
Wetherdsville. It can easily be seen here.
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Much further West at tick #5 looking East, Dogwood Road at Kernan
Drive, just shy of the Western Lorraine terminus, another artifact of
the old line persists, though it takes some looking to detect. In
the lower center of this photo, one can clearly see parrallel ridges
showing the compression of the wooden crossties that once carried the
tracks of the Lorraine Line.
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A look at the Lorraine line from about the 1930's shows how the line
cut right through the heart of the Dickeyville Village. Changes
in this area have made much of this portion of the line not readily
distinguishable.
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