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| Old lights along the platform |
and related items located near Delaware Park. These seemingly simple photographs ended up being pretty exciting, as they resurrected the knowledge of the existence of track pans (a pretty rare item) along the line near the park. Ray also provided us with shots related to the former passenger platforms that serviced the park from the 1930's until the early 1970's. He also promised us that once the foliage retreated for the season he'd get back out there and take some more pictures. Well, he has delivered.
Ray recently sent me another batch of railroad-themed pictures from the Delaware Park area, and I think they are just as interesting as the first. In true fashion around here, they also raised another mystery. And if that weren't enough, in an email he managed to bring up a whole 'nother set of questions. But first, to the photos...
These shots can be neatly divided into two groups, the first of which shows remnants from the passenger platform used by riders of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for almost 40 years. It was (and remains of it are) on the north side of the racetrack, between the track and the Kirkwood Lot. The picture above and the two below show the lights that once lit the platform, as well as some of the rolling gates. Ray says there are about six of these light poles still standing. I know it's private property, but I'm a little surprised that they are still there.
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| Gate and a light fixture |
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| Rolling gate along the platform |
The next two shots were taken along the tracks, looking west. The first shows the edge of the passenger platform and a gate, on the south side of the railroad tracks. The second shows visible remains of ties from the second set of tracks that were once present along this stretch of the line.
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| Edge of the old platform, looking west |
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| Remains of ties from the second set of tracks |
Speaking of that second set of tracks, a short distance west of the park, on the western edge of the golf course property, the tracks pass over White Clay Creek. Below is a view of the bridge carrying the tracks over the creek, looking north. Except for the colorful graffiti, it looks like a normal railroad bridge. However, when you look down at it from above, as in the second shot which is looking east, back towards the racetrack, you can see evidence of the second set of tracks. It's relatively easy to tear up tracks, not so much part of a steel bridge.
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| Railroad bridge over White Clay Creek |
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| Location of the second set of tracks over White Clay Creek, looking east |
The real fun though, and the first of our two mysteries, lies just below and behind Ray while he was taking the photo above. It can be seen in the photo below. Why does it always come back to culverts? This particular culvert is located immediately west of the bridge over White Clay Creek. It's dry underneath and was so in the 60's, too, as Ray recalls. The question is, was it always dry? We don't know, nor do we know why it was built. If it was built to cross water, then what water? There's no evidence of there ever being a mill race here. The closest mill was the Harmony Mill to the west, which was already right on a road. My only other "wet" guess is that maybe it was for overflow from the creek, as it seems like there might be a pathway back to the creek immediately downstream. But to be honest, I don't even know if this is something the B&O ever did.
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| A now dry culvert immediately west of the White Clay Creek bridge |
The other possibility is that it was always dry, and built to provide an access road. This doesn't really make sense to me either, because there doesn't seem to be a need for one here. Unlike at Kiamensi, there was no industry here. There were farms on either side of the tracks, but the trains didn't come that often (or quietly), and the farmers shouldn't have had problems getting across. Heck, most of the road crossings were made at grade level. I just can't think of a good reason for this to be here. Anyone else have any thoughts?
And lest you think I'd write a post with only one unsolved mystery, take comfort in knowing...no, we've got another one. In telling me about the culvert, Ray happened to mention that when he and his friends played in the area as kids, there was another attraction a short ways upstream -- an old, but functioning, cable car system! He says they used to get on it and pull themselves across the creek. It was fun, but dangerous. One of his friends lost the tip of a finger, getting it caught between the pulley and the cable. And as with the culvert, we have no idea why it was there.
I don't know exactly what either looked like, but I do know there was a system in place for the Kiamensi Spring Water Company, across Red Clay Creek from Brandywine Springs Park. It was used to carry cases of water across to a train platform on the other side of the creek. I don't know what the one Ray used to play on was for, but I would assume it was installed by a farmer in the area, perhaps to take supplies or maybe case of milk across. However, again, there's nothing really there. No mill or factory, and no train station. If anyone knows about this or has any guesses, we'd love to hear it. For the record, Ray says he could find no remains of the system in place now.
More than a culvert, it's a stone arch bridge and quite substantial. The description is a little murky, but I assume the tracks cross it. Since it's cut stone it probably dates to the construction of the line. The original B&O line was built to high standards. I used to walk down to a larger stone arch bridge along the creek behind Windy Hills in Newark. It crossed a fairly small run.
ReplyDeleteA topo map shows the tracks run out on fill in the creek swale. This could have been the original span over the creek, with a flood causing the B&O to put in a more substantial bridge over a slight realignment of the creek after the fill washed out, or it could be part of the approaches to an original iron or wooden span that was replaced at some later date.
There would likely be B&O engineering records (in Baltimore?)that would address the mystery, if they weren't destroyed. There may be ICC Valuation maps of the Delaware Park buildings that show this area (held in College Park Md but sometimes available as copies from railroad historical societies or libraries). I'm not up on Delaware Park history so I'm not sure of the dates and whether Del Pk was opened later than the valuation maps would show.