Hagerstown and Frederick Railway
Defunct American railroad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hagerstown and Frederick Railway was a suburban and urban trolley (and later interurban) company and system in central Maryland built in the 19th and 20th centuries. The network transported freight and passengers,[4] operated amusement parks, and was affiliated with an electric company.
 Jefferson Boulevard in Braddock Heights, Maryland with a H&F trolley | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Fleet | Three locomotives[1] |
| Parent company | Potomac Edison Company[2] |
| Headquarters | Frederick, Maryland, U.S. |
| Key people | Emory L. Coblent: President |
| Locale | Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland |
| Dates of operation | 1896–1961 |
| Predecessor | Martinsburg Street Railway |
| Successors | Thurmont Trolley Trail, Boonsboro Trolley Museum |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge[1] |
| Electrification | Overhead wire[3] |
| Track length | 90 miles[1][2] |
History
Frederick & Middletown Railway
The Frederick & Middletown Railway was developed by George William Smith. The technology was seen as a "technological marvel." Construction began in 1896, service began between Frederick and Braddock Heights with a trip time of half an hour.[2] The line was complete to Middletown by October.
Two years later an extension was built to Myersville, nominally called the Myersville and Catoctin Railway, but leased to the F&M and operated as an integral part of the F&M.
The Jefferson branch was added in 1906, running down the east side of Jefferson Boulevard. This extension served the H&F investors, who were largely the same as the Braddock Heights investors, by opening up more mountaintop resort land for development.
Hagerstown Railway
The leading investors for the Hagerstown Railway were Christian W. Lynch, William Jennings, and John A. Herman, who took a different approach to development by creating an urban loop within Hagerstown, with crossing lines on Washington Street and South Potomac Street, and a branch to nearby Williamsport, which opened by 1896.[5][6]
In 1896, the Harrisburg Construction Company bought the plant from the Martinsburg Street Railway, a former streetcar system in Martinsburg, to extend the railway to Funkstown and Leitersburg.[7][8]: 46 On March 12, a charter was granted to the Hagerstown Railway.[9] On April 2, the Hagerstown Railway purchased three trail and motor cars for $900 from the Martinsburg Street Railway.[10][11][12][8]: 313 The cars were delivered on April 4,[13][14][15] they arrived on gondolas with a top speed of 4+1⁄2 miles per hour, along the Cumberland Valley Railroad.[16] On August 8, 1896, the Hagerstown Railway began operations.[5]
The extension of the Potomac Street line to Funkstown was completed by 1897.
In 1901, work began on an extension east to Wagner's Crossroads (later Boonsboro Junction) and from there south to Boonsboro itself. This section was completed in 1902. Work began immediately on the connection from Wagner's Crossroads to Myersville.
By June 1899, plans were drawn up to build a railroad from Hagerstown to Myersville connecting to the Frederick & Middletown Railway.[17] By 1904, the railroad from Hagerstown to Frederick was completed, a service that took two hours; travel by cart between the cities took two hours.[2] Transfers were made at Myersville to the F&M.[18]
In 1905, a new line was started, running north from Hagerstown to Shady Grove, Pennsylvania. This permitted a connection to the Chambersburg, Greencastle and Waynesboro Street Railway. Passengers could then take the CG&W on to the mountaintop resorts of Pen Mar and Blue Ridge Summit. Incompatible rail gauges prevented direct transfer.
Growth and consolidation
Emory L. Coblentz, a Middletown lawyer and stockholder in the F&M, took over the management of the F&M in 1908. He bought the Washington, Frederick & Gettysburg Railroad, which ran from Frederick to Thurmont, and incorporated it into the F&M in 1909, renaming the F&M as the Frederick Railroad. Coblentz, also bought the Chambersburg, Greencastle and Waynesboro Street Railway (an over 30 mile railway) for $1,300,000.[19][20] During the next two years the network in Frederick was expanded and its facilities were improved and electrified; lines were laid on Fifth Street, South Street, Market Street and the Washington, Frederick & Gettysburg Railroad.[21] The Hagerstown Railway and the Frederick Railway merged on March 22, 1913, and were organized by April 17, becoming the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway.[9][22][2]
In 1915, a seven-mile extension from the H&F's Thurmont line was proposed, bringing the line to Emmitsburg.[23][24][25]
Trolley Parks
In common with many more urban trolley systems, the H&F owned and operated two amusement parks, both as business ventures in their own right, and as traffic generators for the trolley business. In pre-air conditioning days, mountaintop parks like Braddock Heights Park were popular summer getaways where city dwellers could entertain themselves and breathe cool mountain air. Braddock Heights Park was racially-segregated.[26] The Electric Park in Funkstown had to rely on Antietam Creek for coolness, but served much the same function.
Electricity
The Hagerstown and Frederick Railway brought power to rural communities in the 1890s; serving residential, commercial, and agricultural use. In 1913, electricity was expanded after the railway's merger.[2] In December 1914, the company cut down on the operating costs by ordering new equipment, maintenance, and by running more efficiently.[27] The company uses hydropower.[28] The railway was affiliated with the R. Paul Smith Power Plant, the Security Power Plant, and the Hagerstown Power Station.[29][18]
Potomac Light and Power Company
The Potomac Light and Power Company operated power plants and was affiliated with the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway and Northern Virginia Power. The company sold electricity and used water power, distributing it to Jefferson and Berkeley County in West Virginia and nearby counties in Maryland and Virginia. The company was incorporated under West Virginia, abiding by their laws. The Potomac Light and Power Co. took over the Martinsburg Electric Company's plant on August 1, 1916.[30] In 1917, the H&F acquired the Chambersburg, Greencastle and Waynesboro Street Railway, which came with its own utility service. In 1922, the entire system, including the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, became the Potomac Public Service Company. The next year, the PPS absorbed the Cumberland utility known as the Potomac Edison company (which included the Cumberland and Westernport Electric Railway), and applied its name to the entire operation.
Immediately thereafter, in another consolidation, Potomac Edison became a subsidiary of a holding company, the American Water Works & Electric Company, which operated a group of companies in Maryland and Pennsylvania under the West Penn Electric Company brand. For a period of time, the Potomac Light and Power company went by "Potomac Edison," which was carried on until the 1990s when the Allegheny Power brand was applied.[29]
Competition and decline
By the 1920s the H&F faced competition from two sources: the automobile and the Blue Ridge Transportation Company, a bus company owned by Potomac Edison. A gradual decline set in starting with the closure of the Washington Street line in Hagerstown and the end of Electric Park, both in 1927. In 1929 the loop line on Mulberry Street closed, and in the same year the Braddock Hotel burned and was not replaced.
The Great Depression made things worse. The Chambersburg, Greencastle and Waynesboro was shut down in 1932, and the Shady Grove line followed suit. Emory Coblentz was caught in the financial collapse of his bank, and was indicted (and later acquitted) on fraud charges. Having resigned from Potomac Edison and dealing with his other struggling businesses; he was effectively destitute. He died in 1941
The last new train cars were bought in 1921; older cars were running on the system until its end.[2]
The reconstruction of US Route 40 to better suit the automobile took another toll. Trips between Hagerstown and Frederick by car were faster than by streetcar; a trip by car took 90 minutes.[2]
Main line service ended at Myersville after 1938.[18]
End of the line
Passenger decline during the 1930s left the H&F's business dependent on freight service, primarily between Frederick and Thurmont. The network in Frederick was kept busy switching freight between industrial sidings and connections between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) lines.
October 8, 1938, was the last day for trolley service between Frederick and Hagerstown.[2]
Passenger service to Jefferson halted in 1940, and tracks were removed in 1943, although the line along Jefferson Boulevard to Dean's was kept in operation to cater to the resort trade in Braddock Heights at the Vindobona Hotel. The Middletown-Myersville section was closed and the track was lifted in 1945.
In 1947, preliminary work was completed to dismantle the Frederick and Hagerstown line between Frederick and Middletown, including the spur to Braddock heights.[31]
The Hagerstown-Williamsport line was closed on August 4, 1947, the last service in Washington County.[32] Later that year, service was discontinued on the Middletown and Braddock Heights lines.
Trolley service in Frederick terminated on February 20, 1954.[2]
In 1947, most freight on the Thurmont branch was gone, with only service to Fort Detrick a significant contributor. Many utilities, including Potomac Edison, were ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission to leave non-utility-related businesses, such as transportation. Freight carried on, but the electric lines were removed on the Thurmont line in 1955 and diesel equipment was substituted. Nevertheless in 1958 the track between Thurmont and Fort Detrick was taken up. Potomac Edison stopped all service on April 26, 1961.
Lines
| Route | Major Stops | Miles | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hagerstown to Williamsport | City Square, Williamsport, B&O Station[a] | 6.15 mi | Closed in 1947 | [18][9] |
| Hagerstown to Shady Grove | City Square, Reid, Shady Grove | 11.2 mi | ||
| Hagerstown Loop | City Square, Hagerstown, Hagerstown Fairgrounds | 6.05 mi | Used smaller trolley cars | |
| Washington Street | City Square, Hagerstown, Western Maryland Railway station[a] | |||
| Hagerstown to Frederick | City Square, Pope Factory, Hebb Road,[a] Mt. Lena, Myersville, Middletown, Braddock Jct., H&F Terminal | 30.34 mi | Used to be two lines; Myersville was the transfer station between them | |
| Hagerstown to Frederick (Boonsboro Branch) | Hagerstown, Boonsboro | The branch was built along with the rest of the line. Boonsboro station became a museum. | ||
| Frederick to Thurmont | H&F Terminal, Ford Road, Lewistown, Kelly's Store Road, Thurmont (Main St.), Western Maryland Railway interchange | 17.3 mi | Closed in 1954 | |
| Braddock Heights to Jefferson | Braddock Jct., Braddock Heights, Vindobona Hotel, Jefferson | 5 mi | Was planned to be extended to rail yards in Brunswick | |
| Frederick to Schleysville | Frederick, Schleysville | 1 mi | Schleysville is a historic district east of Frederick | [9][33] |
| Fredrick City Lines | Frederick | 2 mi | [9] | |
| Frederick Loop | H&F Terminal, Frederick | A local service in Frederick[b] | [18] |
Remnants
Landmarks
The 1910 H&F Frederick Terminal and Offices in Frederick at 200 East Patrick Street survives as the former headquarters of the Frederick News-Post. The exit for trolleys onto Patrick Street is still visible as the main entrance.
Beachley's Store in Braddock Heights long did duty as a store, post office, station and electrical substation.
The Boonsboro H&F Station is now the Boonsboro Trolley Museum and opens to the public once a month.[34]
The former H&F Powerhouse and later Carbarn for Hagerstown still stands at the intersection of Summit and Lee Streets in that city.
While it is now an apartment, Myersville's station on Main Street is still designated by the H&F's "MYERSVILLE" sign.
Trolleys
Four "Trolleys" are extant:[29]
- Freight Motor #5 is displayed at the former site of the H&F Thurmont Station along Main Street.
- Suburban Coach #150 was privately owned in Myersville, and was the centerpoint of the Myersville Trolley Festival. It is now owned by the Town of Myersville and is on display in the new public library.
- Interurban Combine #168 is displayed outside of the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum.
- Interurban Combine #171 is used as a private residence between Frederick and Thurmont.
Right-of-way
Traces of the old right of way are still visible where sidewalks have been set back from the street:[29][18]
- Frederick - Along Rosemont Avenue from Culler Avenue to Hood College
- Braddock Heights - Along Maryland Avenue
- Middletown - Along Main Street from Broad Street to Pine Road
- Funkstown - Baltimore Street from Stauffer Avenue to Sturgis Drive and Frederick Street's west side
- Beaver Creek - From Cool Hollow Road to Mapleville Road
- Boonsboro - Along Main Street from Park Lane to Mapleville Road
Additionally, bridge abutments survive at creek crossings, and traces of old embankments remain visible in undeveloped areas. In some cases, Allegheny Energy feeders still use the right-of-way.
The Thurmont Trolley Trail in Thurmont, lies in the former interurban's right of way. The trail ends across Main Street from where the H&F station once stood.[35] A rails to trails project was proposed, taking the Thurmont Trolley Trail to Frederick via the old H&F line's right of way.[36] A non-profit organization was formed in 2018 to promote the proposal.[37]
Preservation & culture
Hagerstown & Frederick Railway Historical Society
A Historical Society was formed in 1999 to preserve artifacts and documents from and educate the public about the history of the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway.[38]
Myersville Trolley Festival
The town of Myersville celebrates the H&F at an annual festival.[39] The festival was founded in 1993 when Don Easterday purchased and refurbished an old H&F car, which was the centerpiece of the festival. The festival was discontinued in 2012 due to Easterday's health; he died in 2016. After his death, the city took over the car and a trolley shelter and displayed the former in the Myersville's library. The festival was brought back at Doub’s Meadow Park on October 5, 2024.[40]