Street-Running in Chambersburg Nears its End
By Mike Welsh . . .
[Published in the March 1999 issue of the Bull Sheet]
In 1999 the citizens of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, may finally be granted their wish - removal of the CSX (former Western Maryland Railway) mainline through town.
On November 16, 1998, CSX petitioned the Federal Surface Transportation Board for permission to abandon its mainline from Fourth Street (where Chambersburg, Greencastle & Waynesboro Street Railway trolleys once passed underneath) eastward (actually north) to Commerce Street, a total of 1.9 miles. This includes the portion of main track that runs down the middle of Water Street for several city blocks. This street-running was dearly loved by photographers, but thoroughly despised by the townspeople because practically every east-west street west of Main Street would be blocked as trains crept through town at their posted 10 MPH speed limit. For about the last 20 years every mayoral candidate vowed that if elected they would stop the cursed street-running. Did CSX finally cave in to the weighty political pressure of Chambersburg's mayor? More importantly, how will this affect the operation of trains?
Rumors began to circulate at least 15 years ago that trains would be rerouted to avoid Chambersburg's street-running. This would be accomplished by building a connection in Hagerstown at NC Tower (known as Town Tower on PRR/PC/CR) where CSX's (ex-WM) Lurgan Subdivision joined its (ex-WM) east/west mainline and also crossed at grade Conrail's north/south Hagerstown Secondary. The connection would be built in the northwest quadrant of the crossing. There is also a proposal which involves rearranging the tracks through NC that would remove the crossing diamond and allow the two railroads to cross each other by using switches and a shared track segment. The Hagerstown Secondary and the Lurgan Subdivision both join Conrail's ex-Reading Lurgan Branch from Harrisburg at Shippensburg. By diverting traffic at Hagerstown or Shippensburg, the entire ex-WM Lurgan Subdivision can be bypassed.
Most of the local traffic on the ex-WM Lurgan Subdivision is concentrated in the South Chambersburg area known as Brandon. In late 1993 an industrial track was constructed at West Brandon (facing point eastbound on CSX and facing point southbound on CR) that allows access to shippers from both railroads. Currently, Conrail delivers cars to the industrial track but CSX crews switch all customers located on the industrial track. There is one active customer located east (north) of Commerce Street in Chambersburg, and the Letterkenny Army Depot at Culbertson has leased space to civilian shippers. Between West Brandon and Hagerstown only one active customer remains, located at Paramount, which is three miles east of NC Tower.
Through freight traffic between Hagerstown and Harrisburg in the past has been heavy enough on both CSX and CR that removing most of the CSX line and shifting the trains to the CR line was not feasible. However, in 1998 all through miscellaneous freight handled by CSX began to be interchanged with Conrail at the former WM Hagerstown Yard instead of CSX operating this freight as a train and delivering it to Conrail at Enola Yard in Harrisburg. Now with the Conrail split on the horizon, there is the possibility that most, if not all, coal trains may be rerouted also. Speculation is that the coal trains would be routed over ex-B&O lines through Baltimore to the Philadelphia area and then on to their destinations. There is still talk of a connection track being built at NC Tower, so at least some traffic must be expected to operate through Hagerstown.
With all of these changes taking place, what will remain of the ex-WM Lurgan Subdivision? It is speculated that a single track may remain from NC Tower to Paramount to serve the feed mill there, and the tracks at Brandon will remain to access the shippers in that area. Both main tracks are expected to be removed between Paramount (MP 3) and West Brandon (near MP 19). East of Commerce Street (MP 22.4) in Chambersburg to Lurgan (MP 32) will remain for now as more shippers are being sought to use the Letterkenny Army Depot. It is expected that a CSX (the Lurgan Switcher) crew will continue to operate out of Hagerstown and switch the customers located on the remaining portions of the ex-WM Lurgan Subdivision accessing them via trackage rights over the Conrail (soon to be NS) Hagerstown Secondary.
The Lurgan Subdivision was at one time one of the busiest and certainly one of the most important of the WM system. Coal trains, Alpha Jets, and freight operated as part of the B&O/Reading Central States Dispatch ran here. Its high speed, left-handed running between Conboy and Brandon, and street-running in Chambersburg plus some fine scenery along the way all helped to make it an interesting railroad. It will be a shame to lose another part of the Western Maryland.
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