Showing posts with label Port Road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Port Road. Show all posts
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Washington Boro
Just downstream from Washington Boro, on River Road, is a small park with an excellent view of the tracks. Behind the tracks, is the Susquehanna River, with little islands jutting up, here and there. The islands were once hills, before the dams flooded much of the old Conejohela Valley.
The Susquehannocks once had their main fort near here (they had a smaller fort near West Rock), and that old rascal, Thomas Cresap, had his cabin across the river at Long Level.
The park is a comfortable place in beautiful country and a nice spot to watch trains from. Late afternoon and early evenings are your best best, especially in the summer.
The park has a pavilion, restrooms, a soda machine, and that's about it. Like all Port Road locations, a little mosquito repellent wouldn't be a bad idea.
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor is the site of one of the Susquehanna's many hydroelectric dams. They provide electricity, but are bad for the migrating shad, so it's a mixed blessing. I guess the question is: What would you rather have, fish or Nintendo? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Anyway, the Port Road passes here on a small bridge over Conestoga Creek, a spot where our forefathers massacred the last organized band of Susquehannock Indians because of the French and Indian War. These particular Indians had nothing to do with the war, but they were conveniently close by. Safe Harbor didn't turn out to be safe at all.
But the scenery is outstanding. Above the Port Road spans a huge bridge, part of the old Atglen and Susquehanna Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The railroad turned the branch line over to the locals who have been squabbling about what to do with it ever since.
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Tunnels
The Port Road features 3 tunnels on the southern end: Wildcat, Frazier, and Williams. I visited the first two and they weren't much. They reminded me of those Styrofoam tunnels you plop over a model train. Above is a picture of one of them, I can't remember which.
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Conowingo
At MP 10 the Port Road passes by the submerged town of Conowingo. The bridge it crosses is semi-submerged and is something to see. Early mornings are a good bet for catching a train. There is a public fishing ramp there which makes for easy parking. From this point until Washington Boro, the Port Road becomes impossible to follow, but one can intersect with it, here and there.
Norfolk Southern Port Road: West Rock
At milepost 7.4 or thereabouts, the Port Road crosses Octoraro Creek on a big old concrete bridge. This is also the area where the railroad met the Octoraro Branch (F.K.A. the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad) before the southern section was abandoned in 1961. You can view this section from Moore Road, just off of 222.
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Canal Road
Heading west, out of Port Deposit on Route 222, you will find Canal Road, after a few miles of scenery, on your right hand side. There isn't much there, just a siding, an old house, and the first clear view of the railroad after Port Deposit. I don't know if the house had any affiliation with either the canal or the railroad, though it's hard to imagine it didn't. I think the official name for this spot is "Rock," and sits around Mile Post 6.4.
Canon EOS 30D & EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Port Deposit MP 4.7
Port Deposit is the Harpers Ferry of the Susquehanna: historic, picturesque, and floodprone. It was the line's original starting point and/or destination back when it was first built and christened the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad, shortly after the Civil War.
You won't see many trains come through in the middle of the day (sometimes there will be a train on the siding, gone dead on time), but it's a nice place to walk through and makes for a good day trip when combined with the Perryville train station.
Norfolk Southern Port Road: Minnick
After ambling through Perryville, and after crossing under CSX's Susquehanna River bridge, the Port Road reaches Minnick (MP 2.0), which is where a car inspector checks each train heading out to Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
Norfolk Southern Port Road MP 0
Norfolk Southern's Port Road (Formerly Conrail, Penn Central, PRR etc.), runs from Perryville, MD to Columbia, PA. It's a wonderfully infuriating railroad to photograph. Most of the trains run at night and most of the line hugs the steep banks of the Susquehanna gorge. Here it is, just a short distance from it's connection with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)