Tradepoint Atlantic has revitalized Sparrows Point. An area of Baltimore County that was once the world’s largest steel mill has now become a center for international trade and distribution. While the nature of rail service to the area has significantly changed since the demise of the mill, it’s still a fun place to railfan (and quite a bit easier).
Baltimore
Lunchtime Surprise on the Canton
“Hey man, what are you doing?” You gotta love it when you get a text from a friend like that. Turns out my friend Doug was in town for work and had some time to kill so we got pit beef and he got a quick tour of Baltimore.
Escaping Quarantine to Catch Y134 at Locust Point
We live in weird times. Covid-19 has changed many things in our lives. The name of the game currently is “social distancing”, keeping your contact with people to an absolute minimum. That means, generally, staying the f**k home. However, it was a beautiful day, I just got new tires, and I needed to get some fresh air.
A Sunny March Afternoon on the CSX Philly Sub
I had a chance to get out for a few hours in my backyard and got to enjoy a beautiful cloudless March day.
CSX Working Amports in Curtis Bay, July 2017
I love the ability to do incidental railfanning that having a cell phone with a quality camera provides. In this case, I was headed to my friend Eric’s place to do some modeling, and spotted CSX spotting some autoracks at the port. Perfect!
More Baltimore Railfanning in the Evening
Locust Point again, this time, Y202 working the CSX Trans-Flo terminal.
CSX in Locust Point at Night, May 2017
I was driving home from my friend Josh’s place and needed to get some gas. There’s one way I could’ve gone where I didn’t drive by the tracks, and there’s one way I could’ve gone where I did. You can guess which way I went.
Patapsco and Back River Back When There Was a Patapsco and Back River
The story of Sparrows Point’s decline and eventual destruction is a sad one. I feel that it’s made even sadder for me because some cool stuff seemed pretty accessible, but I never took advantage of it. These are a few photos I took from a trip over there back in 2011.
CSX Never Fails to Impress
Today I was out running some errands in Baltimore and had a moment to kill. I happened to notice that some containers were moving south toward the port. It was only when I got ahead of the train did I realize the silliness of modern CSX: it was being led by a long hood forward C40-8W.
CSX Coal at Curtis Bay
I had a few hours to get out and about today, so, while on my way to go work on some modeling projects with a fried, I swung by CSX’s Curtis Bay yard. I got lucky, catching a coal train just arriving on the scene as I got there.