Part 4
In July 1909, the
community of Emmitsburg, northern most town in Frederick
County, Maryland, held a big homecoming celebration and
the Emmitsburg Railroad played a major role in this
event.
The railroad scheduled
many extra excursions with special rates. Records show
that during this week long celebration the railroad
carried more passengers than at any time in its history.
The Western Maryland ran special trains from Baltimore
to Rocky Ridge, where they were taken over by the
Emmitsburg Railroad’s locomotives for the trip to
Emmitsburg.
The Washington,
Frederick and Gettysburg road provided through service
from Frederick to Thurmont. here passengers hoarded the
Western Maryland for tire short run to Rocky Ridge. The
fare was $1 per round trip and this was divided among
the three lines as follows:
Washington, Frederick
and Gettysburg, 50 cents; Western Maryland and
Emmitsburg, 25 cents each. The celebration was a very
big success and because or the many extra trains that
were scheduled, the Emmitsburg Railroad was forced into
renting additional cars from the Western Maryland
Railroad.
By September 1913, at
no extra cost to passengers, the Emmitsburg Railroad had
become a railroad or distinction when it provided
"Parlor car" service on its seven-mile inc.
You really weren’t "somebody’ until you had
ridden the "parlor car." ‘This car was
purchased from the Western Maryland Railway that had
seen service room Baltimore to Gettysburg. The purchase
price of the car was reported to be around $400. It has
been rumored that one or the chairs from this parlor car
is now kept in a private home in Emmitsburg.
By 1920 the passenger
business or the Emmitsburg Railroad had declined to a
point where it was not economical to run a passenger
train. Records indicate that a gasoline car was then
purchased at a price of $950 to replace the passenger
trains. It was a year later in 1921 when the Blue Ridge
Bus Lines began operating, buses from Gettysburg to
Frederick, with a stop in Emmitsburg. Railroad officials
weren’t happy about this turn of events. The official
bus stop was at the Square in Emmitsburg, but the
railroad wanted the bus stop to be at the railway
station. A protest was filed with the Public Service
Commission in an effort to get the buses to stop at the
station and to set up a schedule that would meet the
trains. This effort failed and it wasn’t long before
passengers riding the trains began to use the bus
service.
In the Summer of 1925,
rail passenger needs had declined to a point where
railroad officials had no choice but to discontinue the
passenger service. The Public Service Commission then
granted Emmitsburg Railroad Commission to operate a
truck line over the state highway from Emmitsburg to
Rocky Ridge to carry the mail and express. Trains were
being run only when needed.
Operating the railroad
on a "when needed basis" just wasn’t
considered good business economy. At a special meeting
of the Board of Directors in February 1940, it was
decided to abandon the line as soon as possible. Three
months later, on May 15. 1940, operations of Emmitsburg
Railroad ceased. It was the end of the line. In August
that year the line was sold at a public sale. By May of
the following year official authorization for
abandonment was granted by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, arid the rails were promptly torn rip arid
sold as scrap.
When the Emmitsburg
Railroad ceased operations in May of 1940, many stories
of railroading in Emmitsburg surfaced. Strange at it may
seem, during the entire time the Emmitsburg Railroad was
in operation, "train orders" were used only
once. This was on the occasion of a "near
accident" which could have resulted in a real human
tragedy. It was a regular practice for the passenger
train to haul to Rocky ridge the "Market Car"
whenever it was necessary. This was a very important
revenue car and when put into service it was not to he
delayed at anytime in making connections with the
Western Maryland Railway at Rocky Ridge.
One day, as the story
goes, the passenger train departed from Emmitsburg
without this very important car. When the oversight was
discovered, the general manager of the railroad issued
written train orders for the passenger train to wait at
Motter’s Station on the return trip to Emmitsburg. A
passing siding was located at Motter’s Station. This
written train order was telephoned to the agent at the
Rocky Ridge station and the written orders were then
given to the engineer and conductor of the passenger
train before it left for Emmitsburg.
In the meantime, back
in Emmitsburg, the general manager was busy rounding tip
a crew of men at the engine house. On a nearby siding
sat a spare engine. The crew was told to get up steam as
soon as possible and when the locomotive was ready, to
take the Market Car to Rocky Ridge where it was to be
transferred to the Western Maryland for delivery to
Baltimore. The spare engine, which was under low fire at
the time, might take awhile to get ready. The general
manager, Vincent Sebold, not realizing how quick the
crew could get the engine ready, felt sure that the
passenger train would have a considerable wait at the
Motter’s Station siding.
Once the extra train
left Emmitsburg, the crew discovered that the brakes on
the locomotive were not working very well. When it
became necessary to slow the engine down, a brakeman was
needed on the Market Car. Once the brakeman took his
position on the Market Car, the train proceeded on its
way.
With poor brakes and
the desire to make haste so as to make the connections
with the Western Maryland at Rocky Ridge, this extra
train made exceptionally good time. When they came to
Motter’s Station siding, they found it empty. The
passenger train had not arrived yet. In no way could the
passenger train reach the siding before the extra train.
The passenger train was
loaded with school children. As it neared the siding one
of the trainmen saw the smoke of the extra train as it
slowed down, lie jumped from the train, ran as fast as
his legs would carry him to the switch at the siding and
threw it, just in the nick of time as the extra train
swayed on to the spur track. There was the feeling in
the minds of beth the train crews that the extra train
would crash into the passenger train. Lady Luck was
riding the rails that day and a very serious accident
was prevented, thanks to the quick thinking of a Mr.
Fox, the trainman on the passenger train who managed to
throw the switch just in time. The end result of this
"near tragedy" was that no more train orders
were written or used.
When the Emmitsburg
Chronicle hit the streets on Friday, January 25, 1940,
with a headline in bold type Will Railroad be abandoned?
Everyone knew that the end of the Emmitsburg Railroad
was near. It was one week later, February 2, 1940, that
the Baltimore Sun did a story on the railroad together
with pictures under the heading End of the Road.
These articles brought
many visitors to Emmitsburg to see just what was really
left of the railroad, or maybe get some pictures of
their own. "What will happen to those dedicated
employees of the Emmitsburg Railroad" they asked,
"now that the end of the operations was near?"
Read
Part -> 1,
2,
3,
5
Read Phyllis
Hawkins' Stations of the Emmitsburg Railroad
Read
Other articles by George Wireman
Have your own memories of
the Emmitsburg Railroad?
If so, send them to us at history@emmitsburg.net