Cumberland Subdivision
Encyclopedia
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. The line runs from Weverton
Weverton, Maryland
Weverton is an unincorporated hamlet located in the southern tip of Washington County, Maryland, near the north shore of the Potomac River. Its population is approximately 500. Weverton is located at the intersection of MD Route 67 and U.S. Route 340...
, Maryland west to near Cumberland
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...
, Maryland along the old Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) main line. At its east end, the Cumberland Subdivision becomes the Metropolitan Subdivision; at its west end (at Mexico
Mexico, Allegany County, Maryland
Mexico is an unincorporated community, in Allegany County, Maryland. It lies at an elevation of 604 feet ....
, Maryland) it becomes the Cumberland Terminal Subdivision
Cumberland Terminal Subdivision
The Cumberland Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the Cumberland, Maryland area. The line centers around the Cumberland rail yard and is a junction with three other subdivisions....
. It meets the Shenandoah Subdivision
Shenandoah Subdivision
The Shenandoah Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Virginia. The line runs from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia southwest to Strasburg, Virginia along a former Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road line...
at Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe....
, West Virginia and the Lurgan Subdivision
Lurgan Subdivision
The Lurgan Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. The line runs from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, south to Hagerstown, Maryland, and west to Cherry Run, West Virginia, along a former Western Maryland...
at Cherry Run
Cherry Run, West Virginia
Cherry Run is a small unincorporated hamlet located along the CSX Transportation mainline on the Potomac River in Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The community is named for the stream, Cherry Run, that meets the Potomac in its vicinity...
, West Virginia.
History
In 1914 the B&O opened the Magnolia Cutoff, a more direct route through mountain ridges, running 14 miles (22.5 km) between Hansrote
Hansrote, West Virginia
Hansrote is an unincorporated village in Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia located along the old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad mainline on the Potomac River. Hansrote is northeast of Magnolia and southwest of Doe Gully...
and Paw Paw, West Virginia
Paw Paw, West Virginia
Paw Paw is a town in Morgan County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 524 at the 2000 census. The town is known for the nearby Paw Paw Tunnel. Paw Paw was incorporated by the Circuit Court of Morgan County on April 8, 1891 and named for the pawpaw, a wild fruit which formerly grew in...
. The project included construction of four tunnels, two bridges and many deep rock cuts. The B&O continued to use the original route along the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, called the "Lowline," until 1961.
In 1987 the subdivision and the rest of the B&O system were merged into CSX.
Current operation
The Cumberland Subdivision supports freightFreight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
and passenger traffic, with frequent runs of intermodal, autorack
Autorack
An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport automobiles and light trucks, generally from factories to automotive distributors...
s, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
unit train
Unit train
A unit train, also called a block train, is a railway train in which all the cars making it up are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route...
s and mixed freights, and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
trains. The MARC
MARC Train
MARC , known prior to 1984 as Maryland Rail Commuter Service, is a regional rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration , a Maryland Department of Transportation agency, and is operated under contract...
Brunswick Line
Brunswick Line
The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line consisting of a main line running from Washington D.C. to Martinsburg, West Virginia and a branch line from just south of Point-of-Rocks station to Frederick, Maryland. The service is operated under contract by CSX Transportation, but is administered...
commuter trains stop at Martinsburg
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
, Duffields
Duffields, West Virginia
Duffields is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA. Duffields is located on Flowing Springs Road along the B&O Railroad tracks. This small community used to have two churches; the Elk Branch Presbyterian Church and a stone Episcopal Church . There were two stores and a...
, Harpers Ferry and points east, terminating at Washington, D.C.
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...