The small historic village of Lyttonsville laid right at the spot where the Georgetown Branch broke away from the Metropolitan Branch of the B&O. The line was built around 1892 to serve the new power plant at Connecticut Ave in Chevy Chase. The Lyttonsville property was purchased some time around 1850 and has a rich history.
Lytton was in his sixties when the Metropolitan Southern Railroad division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company began planning to construct a freight rail line from the railroad’s Metropolitan Branch, which in the 1880s had linked northwest Washington to West Virginia. The railroad had to acquire right of way along the length of the new line and its 1827 charter gave it two ways to acquire it: direct negotiation with property owners along the route or through condemnation proceedings against recalcitrant owners with whom they couldn’t come to terms.
Some great news about the doomed Talbot Avenue Bridge, although I’m not sure which specific parts will be saved. My guess is it will be the span itself, and perhaps it will be placed in a park on new footings, as the original supports were completely rusted away in some places and in really bad shape. Hurrah!
So it’s been a very long time since I did a layout update and a LOT has happened. A year or two ago I reached a point where I really got stuck. When I designed the layout, a lot was left out and as a result I’m having to tackle issues that I hadn’t planned on. You may say that this is a normal aspect of building a layout, and I agree. However, being that I am new at building this type of layout, I really got stuck and discouraged. Between the Summer of 2016 and 2017 I barely set foot in the basement. I spent maybe 2 or 3 days of work over the entire time span. Why? I couldn’t figure out the track arrangement between Georgetown Junction and Chevy Chase. I had mistakenly ignored elevation and as such the design was asking for the track to go down hill about 6″ in about 10 feet. The grade was ridiculous and I tried many methods or alleviating it. None worked.
During that time, I made friends with the son of a late member of my model RR club. He and I had met before, but never really spent time talking trains or what projects we were working on. Turns out, he’s building a tremendous layout in his basement that is an absolute gem. (I hope to profile it some day!) He and I have been working on each other’s layouts over the last several months and I couldn’t be more happy on what progress is being made. More progress has been made in the last few months than in the last few YEARS! It’s really fantastic. He helped me figure out the grade issue, taught me about good wiring techniques, really seeking the soul of the prototype to dictate how the track plan is refined and implemented, good practices, the magic of plywood sub roadbed (I was planning on using splines) and how to make track mockups out of cardboard. All of this (and so much more) has put me on a fast track to getting a LOT done. I’m going to share some photos here, and plan on doing more in the near future. I am considering doing a vlog, but that remains to be seen, if I can find the time.
I told you fun stuff was happening! So I had a chance to test out my drawings and laser cut the station out of mat board as a proof of concept. Wow! I am so pleased. The drawings proved to work perfectly well. Have a look:
Next steps: I need to finish the drawings. I am now applying textures (brick, concrete) to the file so that when I do my actual laser cutting/engraving all of the bricks are represented as well as the concrete foundation. I even sourced images of brick which match the pattern of 5 and 1 for the soldier courses. I also sourced some .020″ laserboard which I will use to create the custom windows and garage doors. I didn’t realize that the top three courses on the garage doors were filled in with glass panels!
And for reference, here is the station in 1984:
5/16/1984 Bethesda Freight House. Photo by Matthew Vurek.
A drawing I created from blueprints and photos to recreate the Bethesda Freight House in HO Scale.
Progress is being made on my HO Scale model of the B&O’s Bethesda, MD freight house. This unusual structure consisted of a rectangular building build of concrete & brick with a loading dock and two garage doors. The oddest thing about the structure is the fact that it was never connected to (nor aligned with) any railroad tracks! I believe it was never intended to handle much more than administrative capacities and smaller LCL freight items, perhaps. More details on the build soon!
I’ve been on a hot streak lately working on the layout and have made tremendous progress thanks to help from friends. I hope to make a blog post soon detailing the progress and maybe a vlog. For now, I’m spending time thinking about designing and building the three bridges that carried the B&O over Canal Rd. and the C&O Canal down in DC.
B&O H12-44 9725 leads the Georgetown Local westbound across the C&O Canal toward Georgetown. Wm. Duvall photo (ca. Nov 1966)
This is the spot where the line had nearly descended all the way to the canal level and broke away from the Palisades and crossed over toward the Potomac River on a beautiful trio of historic bridges and sweeping curve. I have the blueprints for these bridges and plan on modeling them, but I need them to fit my space. Right now it’s a very tight fit. I did a mock-up below:
Mocking up the three bridges that carried the B&O across Canal Rd. and the C&O Canal. The *just* fit!
I’m considering options for including the bridges. Everything from only modeling one of the three, two of the three, or all three. Curving them more. Using tighter radius curves at the approaches. Or moving it to another location. One final option is to ditch it altogether. What do you think? Feedback below!
If you are interested in learning more about the Georgetown Branch, the best singular published source would be the out-of-print 2003 Vol 25, Num 1 issue of The Sentinel from the B&ORRHS. One is for sale on eBay right now so go scoop it up! https://www.ebay.com/itm/401484075440
The Sentinel B&O Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society Magazine
YouTuber Nathan Carrick has posted a brief video showing some of the latest construction progress on the Georgetown Branch at the Connecticut Ave. crossing as well as at Wisconsin Ave in Bethesda. I have wanted to visit the construction site for weeks and am thankful he posted some footage. I was most curious about the old team tracks hidden in the woods at Conn. Ave (in the video, they are behind the excavator) and it appears they are still there, as the area is marked with red tape to preserve the forest. (thankfully) Don’t know how long that will last, but it’s nice to see for now.
Seeing the Branch torn up is painful as they are erasing many vestiges of the original right-of-way that will never be replaced. At the same time, it’s somewhat thrilling to me to think about riding a train on the old RoW once again.
I found this link ages ago but wanted to list it here in case anyone is curious. This gentleman, Craig Bisgeier, has a New England model RR set in 1892. On his layout he needed a Whipple Truss bridge so he set out to kitbash/scratchbuild one from two Central Valley 150′ Pratt Through Truss bridge kits. The build is pretty involved and detailed. I wish there were more photos but nonetheless it’s a great resource for a modeler like me who is considering this daunting task! One benefit I do have is a full set of blueprints of the bridges crossing the canal. My plan is to laser-cut custom pieces as needed from thin mat board. More on this in the future.
Last weekend, while doing some research on track and industry layout in Bethesda with my friend Matt I was looking at a photo that I have looked at many, many times before and noticed something completely new and exciting. (don’t you love it when that happens?!) Here is the photo:
May 30, 1956. B&O C2222 and full yard at Bethesda. Ray Mumford photo.
Looks pretty normal. A really full yard at Bethesda. The road crew, on an S2, a short distance from C2222, the “local” caboose that ran regularly on that assignment. In the background is Bethesda Avenue, with a car parked next to it, a few gentleman talking and some freight unloading going on in the background. Well, here’s the fun part. “Computer. Zoom and enhance!” (I love saying that.)
Close up view of the freight unloading.
Immediately my brain triggered. “Hey! I know what that thing is! Look, do you see it?!” I exclaimed to my friend Matt, sitting next to me, looking befuddled. It’s a straddle carrier. A lumber straddle carrier. These neat vehicles were invented around 1913 and had four wheels which could turn independent of the others, allowing the vehicle to maneuver in tight spaces. The bottom is open and has arms which can grab a stack of lumber beneath it. Really brilliant. They were common in lumber yards around the country until the advent of the fork lift and palletized lumber. In some instances these vehicles are still used today and are even produced for specialized applications by some of the manufacturers who made them back then.
Hauling lumber with straddle carriers at Putnam Lumber Company – Shamrock, Florida. 1929. Black & white photoprint, 8 x 10 in. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/24975>, accessed 12 January 2018.
So why is this special?
Well, it’s another fine detail that brings the setting to life. Had I never zoomed in and noticed that tiny detail, I would have never known there was one in Bethesda. It means that in my modeling of the area I can include this distinctive vehicle and it will be prototypical. I love these things. They’re quirky and eye-catching. I have no other photos that I know of showing the straddle carrier in Bethesda, so it is rather special.
How was it used?
Well, I doubt it was used by the Einsinger Mill & Lumber Co, as they had their own siding into their yard. It very well COULD have been theirs, but there were several other lumber yards in the area (Devlin, for example) who may have used the straddle carrier to shuttle lumber to their yard just a short distance from the team tracks in Bethesda. You can see a gentleman stacking lumber to the right. The lumber would be delivered by boxcar as was common at the time. The lumber would be stacked and then the straddle carrier would drive atop the bundle, grasp it and then shuttle it to the yard for storage and sale.
Closeup of Lumber Carrier
I NEED YOUR HELP!
I want to identify the make of this carrier. I have been hunting high and low for a photo or reference to the specific unit pictured in this image. Look carefully at the engine cowl, the wheels, what appears to be shrouding over the front wheel mounts up top, the rear gear assembly/cover and front opening. Also, don’t be fooled by the silhouettes of the gentlemen in the foreground, especially the one to the right. Try to crop those out. Also note what appears to be a gas tank of some sort just behind the carrier. Is this part of the unit? I can’t tell. Distance-wise, remember this this is REALLY far from the photographer in the photo. The distances are really squished together at this distance. If you have any info that could help me, please email me at cpl_clegg at yahoo dot com.
Final Note
These kind of details revealing themselves are the things that keep me hunting for more and more photos, stories, maps and documents related to the Branch. It intrigues me and I enjoy it tremendously! One other thing I noticed, further back, beyond the straddle carrier there appears to be a bulk transfer conveyor loader. These were seen in just about every town and it’s no surprise there was one in Bethesda. One end of the conveyor would be placed beneath a hopper and a truck would be spotted at the upper end. Once turned on, the hopper would be opened and the contents loaded into the back of the truck. Think sand, gravel, etc.
