Potamac Yard

Why did CSX close the Pot Yard? I remember it was in all the news in the 80s when it was closed. It seems like it was still a busy place. Did the mushing of all CSX's RRs into 1 unit cause the downfall? Or did CSX think they could make a killing on selling the land?

Pot yard was a major interchange point between the NS and RF&P(CSXT) from the South and CR, CSXT and D&H from the North. Eventually through mergers (CSXT/RF&P) and the Corridor accident interchanges were either eliminated or moved (CR/NS to Hagerstown), which greatly diminished the yards importance. As you mentioned, in the end it was worth more for its real estate value than for what little was left of its yard switching capabilities.

The answer is in the details:

The State of Va. had a substantial stake in the RFP. When CSX took over the RFP certain assets, Pot yard included, remained with the RFP which remained for a short time by the corp name and then evolved under the Va Retirement System. In the end it was a combination of factors. No longer did all the railroads of the south and north meet at Pot. Once they merged you could arrange trains (called pre-blocking) for a destination beyond pot yard. After the Amtrak Chase accident freight patterns were force to change. Amtak owned the lines to the north. CSX could not and still can't take stacks. NS went to west to link up with Conrail on a route that could take stacks. DH interchange patterns shifted and in the end the yard was no longer needed.

Once this happened the land became the most valued assent, but as stated above CSX did not get that. Once the yard was reduced it became a big deal to sell it and get revenue for the state of VA.

Intersecting factoid: The last user of Pot yard was Canadian Pacific (as the owner of the DH). They interchanged with NS at Pot. A few tracks remained for a while that CP used. Then CP moved its NS interchange to Harrisburg and that was the end. The CSX main was moved to the back side of the yard along the river and building began.