RAILROAD SIGNALS of the U.S.

RAILFAN GUIDE to BALTIMORE

the West side of Baltimore and adjoining Baltimore County

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The map below shows the west side of Baltimore and the adjacent area in Baltimore County.  This area contains a lot of stuff to keep you busy, and you could easily spend a day in this quadrant alone. 

The famous Thomas Viaduct is in Elkridge, the oldest stone arch bridge of it's type in the U.S.  Good pictures can be had from both ends, so you don't have to worry at what time of the day you get there, altho CSX hasn't done as good a job at keeping the growth down as the B&O did.  Unfortunately, the marble mileposts by the Old Main Line split were recently removed, by whom, no one seems to know - an unfortunate loss.

The CALS live steams guys are around twice a month, check their website for info.  Great stuff!!!

Altho a small museum, the B&O Railroad Station Museum has artifacts and information on the first railroad of the United States, and a model railroad - there's also plenty of eating and shopping to do while in Ellicott City, a definite plus if your wife isn't into trains!  

The BWI station is a good spot for corridor pictures, but I hate the parking since they put up the megaplex garage and charge for parking (it used to be free).  Halethorpe is also a good spot, and there is a nearby overpass for "looking down" pictures.  If you scout around Southwest Blvd, you can also find a few places to go in between the trees for corridor shots, something you don't find too often cause they usually make it difficult to access the R-O-W for safety reasons.  Between roughly 11;30am and 1pm, there seems to be a lot of activity.

You also have the B&O Old Main Line, the first railroad line in the U.S. going to Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City).  The Old Main Line offers a lot of good photo ops, just refer to a good map of the area, and bring along a fair amount of patience, but your rewards will be great!  One of my favorite spots is the bridge and tunnel in Ilchester, best for westbound freights, so you can catch 'em coming out of the tunnel.

Mornings can be a good time at St Denis, I caught 5 trains in about an hour there around 8am, three MARC commuters, and two freights for the Old Main Line.

A few of my favorite restaurants in this quadrant are the Double-T off exit 16, and G&M's and Snyders off exit 8 - they all have lines getting into them during the popular hours, attesting to the quality of their food (especially G&M's if you want some of the best crabcakes in Baltimore). 

As noted on the map, I left off interstate 895, since it is not one of those roads you can on n off of like the reminder of the highways around Baltimore.  This stems from the fact that it was a tollroad in the beginning, and for some reason, Maryland has been happy to keep it as a very limited access highway.

Last Modified:
06/13/2007