Gaithersburg station

Gaithersburg
MARC Commuter rail station

Gaithersburg MARC (formerly B&O) Railroad Station, January 2007
Location 5 South Summit Avenue
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Coordinates 39°08′29.5″N 77°11′35″W / 39.141528°N 77.19306°W / 39.141528; -77.19306Coordinates: 39°08′29.5″N 77°11′35″W / 39.141528°N 77.19306°W / 39.141528; -77.19306
Line(s)
  Brunswick Line
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections Inter-County Connector routes
201 and 202
Construction
Parking Garage
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 1884
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 542 (MARC)
Services
Preceding station   MARC   Following station
Brunswick Line
  Former services  
Baltimore and Ohio
Main Line
Amtrak
toward Martinsburg
Blue Ridge
Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed
Location Summit and East Diamond Avenues
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Built 1884
Architect Ephraim Francis Baldwin
Architectural style Queen Anne attributed
NRHP Reference # 78001473
Added to NRHP October 5, 1978[1]

Gaithersburg is a historic passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between Washington, D.C. and Martinsburg, WV (with a branch to Frederick, MD).[2] It is located on 5 South Summit Avenue and East Diamond Avenue in Gaithersburg, Montgomery County, Maryland.

History

Passenger station and freight house, November 2010
A former B&O Budd RDC car on display near the station

The station was originally built as the Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed in 1884, for the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), The station was designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin,[3] and consists of two historic buildings. The passenger station is a one-story common-bond brick structure with a gable roof. It is nearly identical in plan and dimensions to the Laurel, Maryland station Baldwin designed, also built in 1884, although the rooflines and settings are quite different.[4] About 90 feet to the east of the station is the freight shed or loading dock, a brick structure about 45 ft × 20 ft. Its north and south facades are divided into six panels with a door in the second and fifth bays on both sides. The station was extended to the east in 1905. When Amtrak was established in 1971, B&O Passenger service was replaced by the Potomac Special, which itself was replaced by the Blue Ridge in 1973.[5] From 1976 to 1981 it also served another Amtrak train called the Shenandoah.[6] During that time, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978,[1] and continued to serve Amtrak until 1986, when it was converted into a MARC station with the establishment of the Brunswick Line. Now, instead of using the platform to unload passengers, they let off passengers on the road right next to the station, although sometimes when the train is long the conductor puts an additional exit next to the platform. A modern parking garage and pedestrian overpass can be found on the opposite side of South Summit Avenue. The garage was completed in 2000, with the pedestrian bridge finished the next year.[7]

Gaithersburg Community Museum

The Gaithersburg Community Museum is located in the restored 1884 B&O Railroad Station complex, and includes the freight house, a history park and a caboose. The museum features exhibits about the city's history, as well as historic railroad artifacts and equipment.

A steam locomotive, Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad 2-8-0 number 14,[8] along with a caboose and a Budd RDC are on display in front of the freight shed.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ MARC station list (includes Gaithersburg) MARC official website
  3. ↑ Jennifer Russel and Pamela James (August 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  4. ↑ Avery, Carlos P. (2003). E. Francis Baldwin, Architect: The B&O, Baltimore, and Beyond. Baltimore, Maryland: Baltimore Architecture Foundation. pp. 33, 128. ISBN 0-9729743-0-X.
  5. ↑ Amtrak Timetables; October 25, 1981; Capitol Limited (Museum of Railway Timetables)
  6. ↑ 1979 Shenandoah & Blue Ridge Timetables
  7. ↑ "City of Gaithersburg Community Facilities: A Master Plan Element" (PDF). City of Gaithersburg. April 1, 2008. p. 14.
  8. ↑ jpmueller99 (February 25, 2012). Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 at Gaithersburg (photograph). Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ jpmueller99 (January 31, 2013). File:Budd RDC's - Gaithersburg, MD 1991.jpg (photograph). Retrieved September 2, 2013.

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