Heading Home

I only spent a couple hours in Washington.  As I was heading out, I saw the traffic coming back on the turnpike and I figured that I would try to avoid that section of the turnpike.

 This would mean a trip on I-68 and a few other interstates.  It's actually a pretty nice drive but I think it adds about 100 miles to the trip.  I will have to say that I-68 is a little more interesting than the turnpike.  Both go through the mountains but I-68 isn't graded quite as well.  In total it goes 120 miles from Hancock, MD to Morgantown, West Virginia.  It took close to 25 years to complete.

 This is at a rest area near the place called the Sideling Cut.  There is a rest area there with a really cool feature.

 That feature is that you can go up on a bridge that crosses over the freeway.  The cut itself is pretty unique.

 I had to make one more stop in Cumberland.  This time, I was treated to some better lighting for trains.

 I just wish I was paying attention as this train approached.  It gave me a pretty good view of the city though.

 I've stopped at this station before.

 A church.

 One of the things I like about older towns is that they have some character.

 Another old church.

 Another view of the train.

 The rest area as you enter the West Virginia border.  I think I may have to wander down here one of these days.  I think I would be happy in Wheeling because I saw a few tugs as I passed over the Ohio River.

 If I had to guess, I would say this was used in lumbering or coal.

A group of flags.

So that was my quick trip out east.  Next time I will plan it a little better.

A Stop in Cumberland, MD

The route I ended up taking brought me through Cumberland, MD.  If you haven't figure it out by now, I like trains and Cumberland makes a pretty good place to stop for them.

 Cumberland was built on the site of Fort Cumberland which was established in 1754.  It was constructed by troops of the Maryland Militia.  It marked the westernmost point of the British in America at the time and was used as the jumping off point for General Braddock's disastrous campaign against the French in Pittsburgh.   When the General was killed, the troops were led back to the Fort by a Virginia militia major named George Washington.  The town of Cumberland was established in 1787 and served as a major rail, river and road crossroads and was the second largest city in Maryland after Baltimore.  It was the western terminal of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (more about that later).  It was also a point along what would later become known as the National Road (now US-40).

Cumberland is also the home to a fairly large CSX yard.  This one is similar to one of my n-scale engines.

Riding the Capitol Limited

So the next leg of my journey was the Capitol Limited.  Through Illinois it pretty much follows the same route as the Wolverine and then it veers off to go to South Bend and continues on through northern Ohio to Pittsburgh.  The route between Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. pretty much follows the old Baltimore and Ohio Capitol Limited route.

One of the things I like about Amtrak is the fact that they try to mimic the traditional rail routes as much as possible.  It gives me a greater connection with history than many other things.  And I think this route is one of the older routes in the country.

 I'm not sure if this was the train that I was riding as I took this picture much earlier in the day.  At any rate, it would be a similar configuration using the Superliner cars that are common on the distance routes.

 As we pull out of Union Station, we pass by the Amtrak Yards in Chicago.  As a train nut, this is pretty cool because I get to see quite a few engines.  It's not as cool as passing some of other railyards because Amtrak has a great deal of uniformity with their engines.

 Passing by the river.  I took this picture because of the tugboat.

 My favorite scene of the Chicago Skyline.  Even at 6 P.M. on a Saturday, the freeways are fairly busy.

 Passing by the railyards near Gary.  Unfortunately, it didn't stay light much longer than this, so I don't have too many more pictures.  It would have been nice to take a couple because in Elkhart there is the New York Central Museum.

 The next morning was fog shrouded and it made for some cool pictures as we were going through the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Western Maryland.  I think this is the Younghiogheny River through Pennsylvania.  On the opposite bank is the Great Allegheny Passage which allows you to either hike or bike from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C.

 The River continues.  At some point I though the fog would lift but it didn't.  That was fine with me because it made for better pictures.

 Passing farmland is pretty constant.

 I'm not sure what River this is.

 I think this was Western Maryland.  The territory was vaguely familiar because of trips that I've taken in the past.

 Then we hit Cumberland, Maryland.  This was definately familiar to me.

 I remember driving down this street.

 The CSX railyard that I took pictures of last year.

 If I remember correctly, this is the headwaters of the Potomac River.

 This is the Martinsburg, West Virginia Railroad Station.  I believe it is one of the oldest stations still in use.  Part of it is an old hotel.  This station has witnessed a good chunk of history as Stonewall Jackson destroyed the B&O roundhouse across the rails.

 The freighthouse at Martinsburg.

 A pretty typical house in the area.

 The Capitol Limited also passes through Harpers Ferry.  Harpers Ferry was the site of the insurrection led by John Brown.  It also saw heavy fighting through the Civil War as it was an important rail and river junction.  It was also the site of the Federal Arsenal.

 Another house in Harpers Ferry.

An old rail bridge just outside of Harpers Ferry.  I believe the trail is part of this bridge.

There weren't too many more pictures of note between Harpers Ferry and Washington D.C.  The timing on this route seems pretty good as you hit the beautiful parts of Pennsylvania and the rest in daylight.  I really like that Amtrak pays attention that stuff.

The Battle of Monocacy

We stopped at a scenic overlook as we were leaving Maryland. I didn't realize that we would be near another battlefield.
This was the battle of Monocacy which occurred in 1864. This battle was a result of Confederate efforts to peel Union Forces from the main unit of the Confederate forces. The Confederate forces were able to win here but the Union forces delayed them that they couldn't actually take Washington D.C. This would represent the last Confederate foray into the North.

Somewhere in Maryland

I got off the freeway at another point because I thought that I would be able to see one of the parts of the C & O Canal. I couldn't find that but I stumbled across this instead.

I believe the vehicle is an M-114 Scout Vehicle. The Missile is a Nike missile of some sort (not sure if Nike-Hercules or Nike-Ajax though). Anyways, I like military stuff, so here it is.

Cumberland, Maryland

As I said in my last post, we stopped in the City of Cumberland. It is actually a pretty nice looking town that is on the western end of Maryland.
The city was named after the son of King George the II, Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland. It used to be a fort that was used by the British to attempt to dislodge the French during the French-Indian War.

It is the western terminus of the Potomac River and you could walk from here to Washington DC by following the former Cheasapeake and Ohio canal.

You can see the Potomac from the other side.

Cumberland used to be a major industrial city because of the iron ore and coal mines nearby. It was also a major transportation hub with the presence of the canal and railroad lines. Since World War II it has been a city in decline. It was also the home to a major federal garrison during the Civil War.

I kind of liked this bridge.

I think this is the canal.
The train station.
Another view of the train station.
During the French and Indian Wars, George Washington used the city as a headquarters.
As I said, it's a pretty nice looking town.

CSX Railroad

So we ended up going to Fredericksburg by way of Cumberland, Maryland. I remember going through Cumberland last year but I didn't stop. It was around lunch time, so we decided to stop.
The place where we stopped was near a railroad yard for CSX Transportation. I think I've mentioned CSX on this blog but I've never posted pictures of their trains. I kind of like the color scheme they use.

CSX is the direct descendant of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The C&O was formed in 1869 by the industrialist Collis P. Huntington as a means to get coal from the mines of West Virginia to the piers in Hampton Roads. Eventually, it would head to Chicago and points in between.

In the 1960s, the headquarters of the C&O was located in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1972, it would become part of the Chessie System along with the Baltimore and Ohio and the Western Maryland Railroad.

In 1980 it would become CSX Transportation after the merger with Seaboard Coast Line Industries which was a combination of other railroads.

With the acquistion of many lines from Conrail, CSX would cover pretty much the entire east coast (and parts of Michigan).

As I said, I like their color scheme.