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.

Links: Logan and Harbor Field photos, aerial by Baltimore Sun 1950s

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, Sun report on streetcar museum

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.

Link: 2005 yard and factory pics