Thanks to J. Shriver for the tip on this! A link to the “Real Estate Atlas of the Part of Montgomery County Adjacent to the District of Columbia” by Deets and Maddox at Johns Hopkins. (unfortunately the images are in JPEG2000 format and will require either a Mac (Safari or Preview) or a program like Photoshop to open.) I don’t have a whole lot of background on this atlas, but it is really neat. Apparently it covers the land in Montgomery county in several volumes, this one focusing on the area just North of DC and includes the entirety of the Georgetown Branch in Montgomery County, MD. Here is an overview of the plates:
The GB begins at the Junction on plate 12B and continues through 12A, 11D, 11H, 11L, 11K, 11O, 13C and 13G. Early history sources for the GB are rare so this atlas is particularly special. The Branch had only been completed about seven years prior and was very much in its infancy with the extension to Georgetown. Many of the towns along the route had not yet bloomed and as such there is not a lot to see as far as trackage. What you do see are some of the extinct transit lines that crossed the GB at various spots like Connecticut Ave., Wisconsin Ave., Bradley Blvd., and Dalecarlia. Here are a few highlights:
An example: Here we see Chevy Chase, MD with Connecticut Ave. running north-south. The GB runs east-west. The Chevy Chase & Kensington Electric Ry. begins just south of the GB and runs up toward Kensington. The Capitol Traction Co. had a car barn and loop here. This line never crossed the GB. Here we see the Washington and Great Falls Railway and Power Company (1913-1921) line which crossed below the GB at Bradley Blvd. The narrow underpass was quite small, being only one lane wide. In 1959 the bridge was removed and the crossing widened to what you see today. Another view, on the West side of the tracks. Note the GB is still labeled “Metropolitan Southern Branch B&O” because that is what it was named prior to it being considered the Georgetown Branch. A bit further south, just past River Rd, the line passes near the abandoned right of way for the Glen Echo Railroad (this section, ca 1891-1902) which pre-existed the GB by some time. I don’t believe the rails ever crossed each other. This area would be the current day Mass. Ave. & Little Falls Pkwy.Finally, the line continues to the Dalecarlia Reservoir area. Here we see the Capitol Traction Co. double track Cabin John line passing beneath the GB on an east-west trajectory. Of interest, note that the GB track is marked with hash marks to the North of the crossing and has no hash marks to the South. It may indicate that the line was not updated and shown as a surveyed line, or it may have just been an oversight by the cartographers. Interesting.
