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The Ghost 
of the 
Chesapeake Beach Railway

The town of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland is a town on the Chesapeake Bay. Today, it is a town with a water park, a resort, condos, and a restaurant overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. In the beginning, it was a completely different town. It began as a resort town to escape the hustle and bustle of Washington D.C. It had a beach, a carousel, roller coaster, bandshell, a boardwalk and a hotel. How did they get here? The Chesapeake Beach Railway was established to bring vacationers from Union Station in Washington D.C. to the Chesapeake Beach Train Station. As the train arrived in Chesapeake Beach, the passengers were just a short walk to everything. The town was a booming resort town, and the Chesapeake Beach Railway was a major contributor to the town’s success. What began in the late 1890’s… when into decline in the 1930’s. Vacationers were going to other resorts. There was a hotel the burned down. The Chesapeake Beach Railway was no more. The only thing of the old town of Chesapeake Beach that remains today is the Chesapeake Beach Train Station that remains in its original location, and it is the home of the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum. The tracks are long gone, but there are some places where some of the old railroad bed remains.

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Where Old Signals Go 
to Live On

When railroads retire signals they are typically thrown in the scrap heap, sold off to railfans or sent down to the C&S shop to keep any of their surviving kin up and running. For anyone interested in seeing these antiques, it typically means a visit to a museum or a backyard collection. After all, railroad signals are fairly specialized pieces of equipment that don’t really work well for general illumination, but despite this there does seem to be one little exception. Every so often a railroad will down-cycle its surplus signaling equipment into the somewhat less exacting world of grade crossing protection. Now this isn’t exactly common as traffic control signals tend to cast their light for a short distance over a broad angle compared to railroad signals that tend to do the opposite. Still, grade crossing applications can give life to signals far beyond their typical sell by date.

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Editor’s Notebook

Bob Hughes, shortly after hiring on the New Haven in 1968

The Passing of a Trackside Friend

Bob Hughes, who has been an active supporter and contributor to The Trackside Photographer from the very beginning, passed away on Sunday, July 19, 2020, after a long illness.

When I launched the site in March, 2016, I published the first article and sent out an email to about seventy writers and photographers explaining the purpose of The Trackside Photographer and asking for submissions. Bob replied that same day: “Count me in!” he said, and we published the first piece by Bob, “Built to Last,” on March 24. Thirteen more excellent stories followed, and he turned in his last article, “A Lifetime Love of Trains” on August 22, 2019.

Bob became interested in the railroad while attending college and hanging around the Maine Central’s Waterville yard (see A Maine Central Education). He later worked on the New Haven (Best Job in the World) for nine years before embarking on a career in magazine printing and production.

Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of meeing Bob in person, but we emailed often and talked on the phone from time to time. His support and enthusiasm for The Trackside Photographer was a tremendous encouragement to me, and I counted Bob as a treasured friend. I know that there are many within the railroad community who will mourn this loss. He will be missed.

Edd Fuller, Editor

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Bones That Rattle

The sound could fool you into believing you’re hearing the ebb and flow of the lake’s waves breaking on shore, if not for the almost-alien whirring vibration. The thud-thunk, thud-thunk, the whispering whoooooosh, and the pulsating squeal of compressed metal on metal.

As a first time visitor to this city of towers and glass, one cannot help but be awed by the commotion above sidewalks and between infamous skyscrapers. These steel lines are the bones and the L is the soul of this city. Without it, this windy mecca would not exist as it appears today.

Nowhere in the world, does the melting pot of America appear more obvious than on the benches of the waiting platforms. One glance presents you with society in all of its glory. Class cannot exist here, as bodies press together in the hustle of our fast-paced lives.

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From My Perch 
at Denver’s Union Station

The view’s the same, but always different

Blue Hour Overhead
A late November thunderstorm passes through as commuters at Denver’s Union Station are waiting for their trains and heading home.
November 17, 2017

I started photographing from the perch at Denver’s Union Station in March of 2015, when Amtrak announced they were going to run a Winter Park ski train to see if there was still interest after the Rio Grande stopped running the ski train a few years earlier.

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Swing Shift Dispatcher

This old shot, taken on September 11, 1968 at Andover, Virginia, is a real classic in terms of “content.” This is Mr. Ed Renfro. He was the swing-shift Interstate Railroad dispatcher (meaning he covered the off days for the regular first, second and third trick dispatchers so his sleep cycle was always screwed up!) Ed lived in Norton, and also filled the job as first trick car distributor at times. I was doing my janitorial chores at Andover that particular evening and thought he would make a great photo subject. Indeed he did!

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