Next, the ex-NC track crosses those of Penn Mary Yard at these diamonds. The only two track diamonds in the Baltimore area are within a half mile of each other at either end of Penn Mary Yard, these at the south end.

In this easterly view just past the diamond, the route we're following continues into the distance. That's elevated Keith Avenue on the right.

During the "old days" the diamonds had been a crossing between competitors B&O and NC/Pennsylvania, now CSX and NS. Guarding the crossing were unusual signals, a few of which survive. Extensive new fencing makes this an obstructed photo area now.

Link: Todd's site has pre-fencing pics

Just east of the track diamonds (black, bottom left on map) a large Amazon warehouse (center) has taken the site previously occupied by a General Motors assembly plant. As of the date of this aerial photo, there appears to be no rail connection to the warehouse, meaning all Amazon's incoming goods arrive here via truck. The green line highlights the route we're following.

The bridge over Broening Highway dates to the 1920s, per Maryland State Archives. The bridge is wide enough for four tracks but carries only one at this time.

Aerial photos from 1927 (above) show two bridges across Colgate Creek, NC's at top, and another downstream, that of a streetcar line to Point Breeze Hotel at Riverview Park. That bridge endured into the 1930s until supplanted by Broening Highway when the streetcar line was rerouted onto Dundalk Avenue.

The streetcar ran adjacent the Riverview amusement park (also called River Park) that had opened during the 1890s under the name Lowrey's Place. The park's roller coaster, perhaps the first in Baltimore, can be seen in the east-looking 1924 photo at right. It climbed to 75 feet above ground.

Roller coasters were inspired by the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Summit Hill, Pennsylvania that opened in 1829 to carry coal. By the 1850s, thrill seekers were purchasing rides down the steep, gravity-powered railway.

Note the streetcar's turnaround loop on the north side of the park; the loop implies at least some streetcars did not continue beyond to Sparrows Point. The park closed during 1929, and the site was repurposed for a Western Electric factory. Now Seagirt Marine Terminal operates here.

Links: 1909 postcard, 1919, Western Electric video that shows Riverview Park

It was here at Colgate Creek that the line met the Baltimore & Sparrows Point (B&SP) Railroad that opened in 1889 to reach the steel mill at Sparrows Point. Use was interrupted by the Panic of 1893 that closed the mill for about five years.

A 1915 atlas shows Sutton Station at right, on the far side of the tracks.

Originally, this was a swing bridge but aerial photos suggest it lost the ability to open sometime around 1970. NS modified the bridge from a double-track into this single-track fixed span during 2010.

Southeast of the Edgewater Avenue grade crossing one can spy milepost 4, the only mile measure I found along the route

At the Rails Avenue grade crossing, Norfolk Southern marks its turf, but so does a groundhog.

There is not much "old railroad" to find here. I observed no RR artifacts dating to control by NC or Pennsylvania Railroad.

Unseen on the right, Broening Highway occupies the former right-of-way of Baltimore streetcar line number 26 that ran side-by-side with B&SP / NC to Sparrows Point. Ahead, Broening Highway lifts over the tracks in order to continue to parallel them along the inland side. Flamm's 1916 map shows the streetcar line had similarly switched sides.

From the Dunhill Road grade crossing we can see the track divides beyond the Broening Highway bridge in order to better serve port facilities on the right. During 1915, triple track had existed here and Dundalk Station had been in the grade crossing's northeast quadrant.

The inset photo looks southwest along Dunhill Road to what had been the main entrance to Baltimore Municipal Airport / Harbor Field. Prior to the airport, this was the location of the Central Foundry Company to which a spur ran. When Friendship / BWI took over as the area's primary airport, Municipal was redeveloped into the Dundalk Marine Terminal.

Prior to Baltimore Municipal Airport, in 1920 the adjacent Logan Field was the first commercial aviation facility in Maryland. During WW II the US military turned Logan Field into a POW camp. After the war it did not reopen as an airport but was remade into housing and the Logan Village shopping area.

Link: Logan and Harbor Field photos

This is a reverse view. Given the amount of cargo that moves through the marine terminal, understandably the facilities are securely fenced.

In 1915, Turner Station had been on the left, adjacent a US Government animal quarrantine facility.

A concrete block unceremoniously ends the operational limit of the line.

Beyond you might notice rusty rails embedded in the asphalt of Maryland Avenue. The B&SP and NC had continued another couple miles to Sparrows Point...

From this end of Broening Highway drivers have the option of getting on the Baltimore Beltway and paying the Key Bridge toll, or, well, there are no alternatives.

Before the Beltway, the rails made their own alternative: both the streetcar, which ran here, and the B&SP, which ran parallel to the right of the tallest power poles, crossed Bear Creek ahead.

The reverse view from the other side of the Beltway, outside the Key Bridge MTA police station, shows Miss Utility has seemingly marked streetcar remnants hiding under the pavement. That's probably not what they are but the color highlights do nicely illustrate the streetcar's route. The B&SP / NC was on the other side of the station (left) but there is no surviving evidence there. Sollars Station had been in this vicinity.

Link: almost same view 1958

To get to Sparrows Point in 1924 one crossed Bear Creek: the double-tracked streetcar on the left (northeast), pipelines in the middle, and the single-track NC on the right. At what is called Coffin Point, the building closest to the bottom left in the main photo is now the site of the MTA police station.

The inset zoom view shows a jetty that supported a car float option for the Western Maryland railroad. Near the center of Bear Creek the bridges had swing mechanisms to permit passage of boats while the pipelines dipped under the water at those spots.

Little remains of those three old Bear Creek crossings. They were removed one by one starting during the 1950s after newer crossings were built upstream (left). The only artifact I found was the concrete supports of the streetcar bridge, as seen at photo bottom. A similar structure survives on the distant bank.

Links: almost same view 1958, trestle 1958

Deep zoom across Bear Creek shows at the water's edge, just right of the distant Bethlehem Steel building, more concrete remains of the streetcar bridge. Parts of the jetty survive at the right edge of this photo. If any of the B&SP / NC bridge hangs on it would be located immediately to the left of the jetty.

Link: similar view 1958

Though Sparrows Point (bottom right) is not an island, land connections to it from Baltimore are roundabout, so even utilities opted for the direct route across Bear Creek. The middle of the three lines is a natural gas pipeline.

This circa 1950 photo from the Sparrows Point side captures both the streetcar and railroad in action. This streetcar model was called "Red Rocket".

Links: streetcar, streetcar, streetcar

As the tangle of utility lines hint, here at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Tinmill Road the streetcar and railroad came ashore in Sparrows Point. A loop permitted the streetcars to turn around. The NC ended here, but the B&SP had continued east into the factory area, so this tour will extend to show that too.

At photo time Tradepoint Atlantic was repurposing the area into a new commercial area and port. A few years before Tradepoint arrived, the PBR had been renamed the Baltimore Industrial Railroad. Tradepoint renamed that to Tradepoint Rail.

Links: loop, 1955, 1955, 1958, 1958

This 1952 aerial photo shows the NC bridge across Bear Creek has been removed, obviated by the B&O's Sparrows Point Branch to Gray's Yard that began during the 1920s, and Pennsylvania's connection from the north that arrived circa World War II. The stretch from Gray's Yard to Bethlehem Steel became the purview of BS's own Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad (PBR) though some streetcars were allowed to continue east to Bay Shore Park and Fort Howard.

Link: Bay Shore Amusement Park

While Tradepoint was busy transforming the site from steel factory to port, it used some of the purported 100 miles of ex-PBR track to store excess rail equipment, mostly tanks. Adjacent, thousands of Volkswagen automobiles involved in the diesel emissions scandal were stored awaiting shipment back to Germany.

More tanks as seen from Wharf Road at the northeast corner of the factory area. A 1915 atlas puts Chesapeake Mills Station somewhere on the right.

Also seen from Wharf Road, the B&O's arrival at Gray's Yard during the late 1920s prompted the rail connection with the PBR on the right. A double-tracked, shorter route between the yard and factory was added on the left with the Pennsy's arrival during the 1930s.

After curving 180 degrees the PBR's track from the factory arrives here at Gray's Yard. Baltimore Beltway I-695 bridges the curve. The Pennsylvania RR had maintained a tower at the immediate left.

Link: PBR RR pics

Many tanks rest in Gray's Yard too, which seems like an appropriate place for this tour to come to a rest as well.