Hagerstown: "Vardo yard is nearby"

Mon Nov 8 21:20:16 EST 2004

Hello Jerry,

Any decent road map will get you there, because the yard and Maryland state route 632 ("Maryland Avenue"/"Downsville Pike") run parallel north of Interstate 70.  New since I lived in the area, there is a new exit (28) directly to Downsville Pike from Interstate 70.  Interstate 70 crosses the Shenandoah line and from the interstate, you can look due north into the yard, albeit briefly.

It's been some years since I lived in the area, but I found the foundations of the PRR locomotive facility, which also serviced N&W locomotives.  If you are feeling ambitious, you may be able to find these also.  They are west of Burhans Blvd, roughly half-way between Wesel Road to the north and Virginia Avenue to the south.  Follow Downsville Pike/Maryland Avenue north, turn left (west) on Wilson Blvd.  Wilson Blvd transitions to Burhans Blvd as you cross Virginia Avenue.  And if you continue northwards along Burhans Blvd, you will pass (on your right) what is left of the vast Western Maryland Rwy facilities.

By the way, the Washington County Free Library, has copies of the series of volumes titled A Pictorial History of Steam Railroads of the Tri-State Area, Carroll F. Spitzer, ed.  The photographs are not large, four to the page, but the volumes (original, Book #2, and Book #3) have interesting pictures variously titled "C. V. Roundhouse Hagerstown" and "N & W maintenance shops - Hagerstown" and showing N&W and PRR engines, on the facility and in transit.  And one closer-up view of the coaling tower.

Below my signature, in case you may find useful, are my research-notes summary sent to this forum in March, 2000.

Best regards,
Steve Koppe
------------------
Subject: Re: Hagerstown
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 16:56:04 -0700
From: Steven Douglas Koppe 
To: N&W Modeling List 

Hello,

I have a number of resources of likely interest to you re the N&W at
Hagerstown.  I researched the railroads of the Hagerstown vicinity while I
lived in the area from 1991-1995.  Jim Cochran and I found the foundations
of the engine house mentioned by Rick Morrison.  When I was living in the
area, the south side of the wye was still in place and used by the
Winchester & Western for interchange.  Hager Tower and the crossing are long
gone.

I did most of my research in the Washington County Free Library, Western
Maryland Room (WCFL and WMR hereafter), and the Washington County Historical
Society (WCHS hereafter), both in Hagerstown.  I also used Hagerstown city
and Washington County survey maps.

City Directories in the WMR were useful.  "Polk's Hagerstown City Directory
1937-38," "--1950," "--1961," "--1965," and "--1970," all list the N&W and
PRR Co./Penn-Central freight depots at 265 W. Church Street.  To 1961, the
directories listed the passenger station for "both" railroads at 14 S.
Walnut Street.

I make references below to a church that is at Walnut and Antietam Streets.
Because the church is still there, it is a great landmark for orienting
yourself, either when visiting or viewing photographs.  This church shows in
many old photographs and can be seen clearly from the raised Burhans Blvd.
where the boulevard overpass crosses the now-empty space (where the
CVRR/PRR, etc., track used to run) adjacent to the former Hager Tower.

To organize this, the general categories of leads that I have for you are
maps and photos.  First, maps:

WCHS, Map #80.  "Map of Hagerstown," J. B. Ferguson and Co. Engineers (c)
1927, reverse sepia, 1":300'.  Shows both Shomo yard with 12 tracks and the
6-track PRR yard between Hager Tower and W. Antietam Street.

WCHS, Map #79.  "Map of Hagerstown," J. B. Ferguson and Co. Engineers, (c)
1948.  Shows the engine house and tracks to the west-southwest of the Hager
Tower junction.  The engine house is shown adjacent to the wye, slightly to
the west and north.

WCHS, Map #17.  "Hagerstown," 1914, Maryland Geological Society, vellum.
Shows [Shomo] yard with seven tracks and labeled "new."  The yard existing
between Hager Tower and W. Antietam Street is labeled N&W R.R. and C.V.R.R..

WCHS, Map #91.  "Map of Hagerstown & Suburbs," J. B. Ferguson and Co., (c)
6-1-1913, vellum, 1":200'.  Doesn't show Shomo yard, but for the 6-tracks
between Hager Tower and W. Antietam Street, the west side is labeled
"Norfolk & Western" and the east: "Cumberland Valley R.R. Co."

Hagerstown City maps, Department of Assessments and Taxation, Property Map
Division, Allen Blank, cartographer:

    #312, parcels 1201 and 1202, shows vicinity of Hager Tower.

    #309, parcels 2221, 2229 1 of 2, and 2229 2 of 2, shows vicinity north
of Hager Tower to Church Street and the [presently] CSXT yard to west.

    #310, parcels 601, 666, 665, 602-3, 659, and 660, shows the NS yard
north throat, continuing on #312.

    #308, shows North Tower.

Hagerstown County maps (again I don't remember which offices; my research
was interrupted here):

    #49, shows vicinity of Hager Tower; Western Maryland shops, yard; NS
[N&W] yard to Downsville Pike.

    #57, shows the remainder of the NS [N&W] yard to I-70.

Photographs.

1) In the stacks at WCFL, see three volumes by Carroll F. Spitzer: A
Pictorial History of Steam Railroads of the Tri-State Area, Hagerstown, MD:
Tri-State Printing, Inc., 1987; A Pictorial History of Steam Railroads of
the Tri-State Area Book #2, Hagerstown, MD: Tri-State Printing, Inc., 1987;
A Pictorial History of Steam Railroads of the Tri-State Area Book #3,
Hagerstown, MD: Tri-State Printing, Inc., 1988.

    In [Book #1], see pages 128, 135-37, for photos of the engine house and
coaling tower, some showing N&W locomotives; and some closer shots of engine
stalls.

    In Book #2, see pages 65, 67, 75, for photos of a K-1 approaching the
engine house, a K-2 with train at the passenger station, and a Y-6 near the
Shomo yard north throat.

    In Book #3, on page 73 is a photo of a PRR locomotive at the engine
house.

2) In the WMR, see a book titled Wings Over Hagerstown: Western Maryland's
Gateway to the South, Richard H. Alvey, III, Hagerstown, MD: 1939.  Photos
on pages 6, 10, 27, 32, 34, and 42 give useful perspective.

3) Paul J. Westhaeffer, History of the Cumberland Valley, Ephrata, PA:
Washington D.C. Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, 1979.  Pages
260, 270, and 276, respectively, show:

    A) ca. 1915 view of North Junction with N&W cars in foreground;
    B) ca. 1910 north-looking view of the Hagerstown yard [the one between
Hager Tower and W. Antietam Street] and passenger station; and,
    C) ca. 1918 south-looking view, otherwise same as "B."

4) see the WCHS vertical file for these photographs:

    "The Daily Mail," Hagerstown, MD, June 16,1976; a good photograph of the
coaling tower.

    "The Daily Mail," Hagerstown, MD, Nov. 17, 1960; article, "Where Tracks
Used To Run," shows the PRR station (with the church in background) at
Walnut and Antietam Streets.

    Another "Daily Mail" photo item, July 29, 1967, "Old Railroad Station
Reflects Local History," shows essentially the same view as the Nov. 17,
1960, article's photo, including the church, and shows the tracks.

5) And, finally, O. Winston Link's Steam, Steel, and Stars (New York: Harry
N. Abrams, 1987), shows Hager Tower in photographs on pages 39 and 45.  (Map
analysis reveals that the caption of the page 45 photo to be in error
regarding the origin of the locomotive.)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2004 3:36 PM
  Subject: Hagerstown

  I will be attending the NMRA regional convention at Hagerstown next weekend.  Believe Vardo yard is nearby; does anyone have good directions ?  I do not have USGS map of the area; can go with mapquest if I know what to look for.

  Jerry Crosson

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