| Community Response |
Locomotive Details |
Location/Date of Photo |
 | | Views: 6,032 Favorited: 27 | | Since added on February 08, 2011 | |
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» Amtrak (more..)
» Bombardier/Alstom Acela Express Trainset (more..) |
» B&P Tunnel
» Baltimore, Maryland, USA (more..)
» February 01, 2011 |
| Locomotive No./Train ID |
Photographer |
» AMTK 2021 (more..)
» AMTK 2110 (more..) |
» Dave Blaze... (more..)
» Contact Photographer · Photographer Profile |
| Remarks & Notes |
| With a day to kill I hopped on Acela Express 2160 out of D.C. and got to Baltimore late morning. After exploring and shooting the splendid Penn Station I headed out on foot to see what was easily available. I hadn't realized how accessible the famed B&P Tunnels were just to the south of the station. This shot looks down from the Howard St. overpass at the next northbound Acela arriving right on time. The tunnel was constructed by PRR predecessor Baltimore & Potomac Railway and was opened for business on June 29, 1873. The 7,669-foot bore (broken up by two short open cuts) sits on a 1.34% grade and is arguably the biggest bottleneck on Amtrak's entire Northeast Corridor with a speed restriction of 30 MPH due to curvature. It somehow seems incongruous to see America's attempt at "high-speed" rail creeping through a 150 year old bore built when the 4-4-0 was the epitome of modern transportation. To the right under the large stone arch of the North Ave. bridge lead the rails of the old Northern Central Railway (a PRR subsidiary) which served as a through route between Baltimore and Harrisburg from 1858 to 1972. Today the line extends only a short distance beyond the overpass to reach NS's Flexi-flow terminal. From that point north about 13 miles the line has been reconstituted as a light rail route with NS providing freight service as needed at night. Railroad history abounds in the northeast and despite all that has been lost there is still much to enjoy if you take the time to look.... |
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Photo Comments (3) |
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