The Mountain Subdivision is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line owned and operated by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

in the U.S. states of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The line runs from

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,075. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and comm ...

, west to

Grafton, West Virginia Grafton is a city in Taylor County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 4,729 at the 2020 census. Located along the Tygart Valley River, it originally developed as a junction point for the Baltimore and Ohio ...

,CSX Transportation, Huntington, WV
"Mountain Subdivision."
''Huntington East Division, Timetable No. 1.'' Effective 2005-01-01. along the original

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

(B&O) main line. It was known as the West End Subdivision until the B&O's absorption into the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated u ...

, and included the B&O's original crossing of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

. Through CSX traffic to the west from Cumberland now uses the

Keystone Subdivision The Keystone Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Cumberland, Maryland, west to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, (near Pittsburgh) along a former Bal ...

over Sand Patch Grade. At its east end, the Mountain Subdivision becomes the Cumberland Terminal Subdivision at Beall Street. It junctions the Thomas Subdivision twice – near

Keyser, West Virginia Keyser () is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia, Mineral County, West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,853 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, and near

Piedmont, West Virginia Piedmont is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Cumberland, MD- WV metropolitan statistical area. The population was 716 at the 2020 census. Piedmont was chartered in 1856 and the town is the subject of ...

– and meets the Fairmont Subdivision near its west end at Grafton. At its west end, it continues as the Bridgeport Subdivision. The Mountain Subdivision's summit is at

Altamont, Maryland Altamont is an unincorporated community in Garrett County, Maryland, United States. Altamont sits on the Eastern Continental Divide between the watershed of Crabtree Creek, which flows into the Savage River and eventually into the Atlantic Ocea ...

, at the west end of the Seventeen Mile Grade; the grade's east end is at

History

The Mountain Subdivision was opened in 1852 as part of the B&O's main line."PRR Chronology, 1852."
March 2005 Edition. In 1904 the B&O built the Patterson Creek Cutoff to alleviate congestion in its Cumberland

rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of Track (rail transport), tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for k ...

. The cutoff line ran from

McKenzie, Maryland McKenzie is an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. Its name is derived from a family which owned a large farm along the river bottom in the area. It is located directly across from the Allegany Ballistics Labora ...

Patterson Creek, West Virginia Patterson Creek is an unincorporated community in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It lies at the northeastern end of the county, and is named for Patterson Creek, which empties into the North Branch Potomac River The North Branch ...

, providing a bypass of the yard for coal trains moving between Keyser and

Brunswick, Maryland Brunswick is a city in southwestern Frederick County, Maryland, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The city is located on the north bank of the Potomac River; Loudoun County, Virginia, Loudoun County, Virginia occupies the opposite shor ...

."Mountain Subdivision: Eastern Approach."
''Northern West Virginia's Railroads.'' Accessed 2010-08-11. During the 1970s ownership of the subdivision passed from the B&O to the Chessie System, which closed the Patterson Creek Cutoff. Chessie was merged into CSX in the early 1980s. The Western Maryland Thomas Subdivision was also connected to the Mountain Subdivision.

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Mountain Subdivision Transportation in Cumberland, MD-WV-PA CSX Transportation lines Rail infrastructure in Maryland Rail infrastructure in West Virginia Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines 1852 establishments in Maryland 1852 establishments in Virginia

History

See also

References

External links