RAILROAD SIGNALS of the U.S.

RAILFAN GUIDE to BALTIMORE

the South West side of Baltimore and adjoining Baltimore County

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The map below shows the south 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, just like map 6. 

The big draw in this quadrant is Winans Yard, and Carroll Viaduct, altho it is difficult to gain access to it, not to mention that when you get there, you will be waiting a long time for a train unless you are lucky.  There are two good spots two shoot Winans yard, OK, three.  One is from the Patapsco Ave overpass - good photos from both directions can be had, and you can also get close-up shots of the CPL's on the south side of the bridge.  Off Gable Ave is good for northbounds, and freights coming out of Curtiss Bay, but they will be right next to you.  At the north end of the yard from Hollins Ferry Rd, you can have a great time in the morning with CSX assembling trains, and the MARC commuter trains coming thru.  There are also some strange signals adjacent to where Hollins Ferry crosses the Curtiss Bay branch - catch em while you can.

And speaking of signals (if you're into them) - since this is the B&O's home territory, it abounds with CPL (color position light) signals.  However, in the past couple of years, CSX has stepped up it's effort to replace them with "Darth Vader" type color light signals.  Get pictures of them and with trains in the pictures while you can!!!  Soon they will be as extinct as semaphores!

If you're into transit, the Light Rail system offers a variety of backgrounds, and could keep you busy for hours.  Even at the airport, they don't seem to be apprehensive of photography.  The split off point for the BWI branch is a nice spot, but the operators will call you into Light Rail Control if they see you there - I know, I had my scanner with me and heard them.  Fortunate for me, I know the phone number for Light Rail Control and some still remember me.

Freights up the old Western Maryland line are few.  I know there's one that goes up around 6pm, for it gets thru Reisterstown around 6;30 or so.

A couple of my favorite restaurants in this quadrant are G&M's and Snyders off exit 8 - they both 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). 

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