Popes Creek Subdivision

The CSX Pope's Creek Subdivision is a subdivision of CSX Transportation in Maryland, running from Bowie to Morgantown and the Chalk Point Generating Station.

History

The Pope's Creek Subdivision was originally built by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. The company was organized on December 19, 1858, and began surveying the route May 3, 1859. Construction started in 1861 but progressed slowly until 1867, when the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and its ally the Northern Central Railway bought the company. The PRR at the time had access to Baltimore via its own lines (the Northern Central Railway from the north and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad from the northeast), but used the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) and its Washington Branch to continue southwest to Washington, D.C.. The PRR and B&O had trouble getting along, but Maryland refused to grant a charter to end the B&O's monopoly on Baltimore-Washington travel. However, the Baltimore and Potomac charter allowed exactly that, via the clause that allowed branches; all the PRR had to do was take the line within 20 miles of Washington. The PRR obtained a charter for the section in Washington on February 5, 1867.

Thus the new Baltimore-Washington line opened on July 2, 1872, and the required "main line" to Pope's Creek on the Potomac River, immediately relegated to branch status, opened on January 1, 1873.

Current

The Pope's Creek Subdivision currently runs from its interchange at Bowie with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Mainline, to the Morgantown and Chalk Point Generating Stations. A wye exists to allow trains to enter Amtrak's mainline and go north or south, so that a second engine or cab car is not needed. Amtrak limits these trains to late night/very early morning runs and no more than 160 cars. The line is mostly single tracked, with long sidings in Collington, Upper Marlboro and Brandywine. At Brandywine the Herbert Secondary branches off, carrying a single track to Mirant's Chalk Point Power Station. If the train continues straight through Brandywine, it will reach the Morgantown Generating Station and Navy trackage. This line currently hosts 2-3 trains a day (a down and back coal train and an occasional local serving a few businesses in the Waldorf and La Plata area.

Future

Due to its relativity low usage, the rapidly growing population in southern Maryland, and the horrible traffic conditions, there is a growing call to begin MARC Train service on this line. This would require only a minimal investment in raising track speed and the construction of new stations. The largest obstacle to this plan is the fact that the line must go to Bowie, then back down to Washington, which is not a direct route whatsoever); however, with sufficient track speed upgrades, this line could go a long way to relieving traffic on MD-5 and MD-4.

An alternative (or possibly co-existent) future would be to bridge the Potomac River at Morgantown, and restore the Dalgrin line of the Richmond, Frederick and Potomac railroad to allow a by-pass of Washington, D.C. The slow speeds and majority single tracking of the line could prove difficult for this alternative.