MDDE Centreville Yard abandoned; rails being removed

Around the Thanksgiving holiday the rt 304 rail crossing/yard lead into the old Centreville Yard were cut and removed. There are still a lot of the yard trackage remaining (but not for long), which had been herbicided this year to look tidy in the Town limits but the approaching main on the other side of rt 304 was allowed to overgrow. There are no customers at the "end of the line", up to a couple years ago 1201 once in a while pulled into Town with a covered hopper but not anymore especially with nearby Tidewater Publishers no longer serviced, so the State pulled the crossing, thereby officially abandoning the yard. QA County Master Plans repeatedly question the need for the trackage and possible use of the ROW as public green space ("trail to nowhere as I call it"). IMHO a poor decision for the Town as it would have been a swell destination for tourist trains and Centreville capitalizing on its railway heritage like many other historic Delmarva Towns, but that takes resources and foresight and prospects for success. Damn shame.

Pat Kelly in Centreville, Md

Why was all that work just done at the US 301 crossing if they're just going to pull out the tracks?

The trackage at rt 301 will remain as well as to Tidewater and behind the High School on rt 304, where there is the runaround and the new "end of the line".

From the High School extending into Town is overgrown; in Town proper the rt304 crossing and yard are heading into the history books.

Pat Kelly in Centreville

PKelly: There was really no chance for a tourist train on the line. The MD&DE is simply not interested. As the president of the line told me several years ago, they're primarily a freight railroad. Dealing with passengers, the insurance required, liability, etc., opens up a completely new can of worms that they'd prefer not to deal with. The MD&DE does indeed host the annual Hurlock fall festival runs, but that's limited to one day per year and quite likely that wins them points with the community and political establishment. There's no incentive to go beyond that limited operation.

Yea, I realize that 'Vet but it was a nice "If only..." mental scenario anyway <gg>.

Pat in Centreville

Wow, you gotta be kidding me!

I shocking right now...

I went by the yard about an hour ago and a lot of the rail has been pulled and stacked. If you want pictures, hurry! These guys are wasting no time moving it out. The need for a parking lot must be great!

I cross this line on Route 301 driving to and from Washington, DC on a weekly basis. The only customer I can see is a fertilizer facility about a mile north of the crossing who occasionally gets tank cars of anhydrous ammonia. Last winter, however, there were covered hoppers stored on the main line north of that point, causing me to think that maybe he is no longer serviced. The line runs parallel to US 301 for several miles, and there are no apparent shippers, even though it looks like the state paid for tie and surfacing work within the last couple of years.

I've never seen a train on this line, or on the branch to Chestertown (which is no longer in service into Chestertown proper).

As an employee of the railroad, I can tell you we provide service to CPS Centreville and QA Coop, both of which are right there at Rt. 305 and are the southernmost customers of this line. We run down and cross Route 301, perform our runaround, and come back and spot cars as needed. I have worked for the MDDE for two years now, and it seems like trips to Centreville have lessened compared to last year. The anhydrous rush hasn't materialized yet, although some have been spotted. I am guessing that the economy might have something to do with it. Trips down that line occur usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays, as needed, but can be any day. We'd normally already have our freight online for Centreville, so we would normally get to the Tidewater runaround by 9AMish. We're normally back In Massey by noon.

As for the covered hoppers, they were being repaired and stored for Perdue. The main line has been clear for several months now.