Existing comment:
Turntable & Track
Ellicott City Station
The single set of tracks outside the museum's fence was the original right-of-way of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad. Now owned by CSX Transportation, this right-of-way has been in continuous use since 1830. For many years there were two sets of track that stretched from Baltimore to Ellicott City. Due to flooding, erosion, and a decrease in operations, the line has been reduced to a current single track.
The set of tracks leading into the east end of main depot depict the track layout between 1833 and 1863. The second set of tracks on the wooden bridge depicts a partially restored turntable used between 1863 and the 1890s. The B&O built the turntable to turn around local freight and passenger trains that ran between Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills.
The 1863 turntable consists of a center pin that rests atop a center pivot mechanism and stone support pier. The turntable bridge is then connected to four wheels which rest on a circular rail around the outer edge of the pit. One person (or animal) could power the rotation of a single locomotive balanced on the center of the turntable. The turntable is 50 feet in diameter with a pit seven and a half feet deep and weight capacity of about 30 tons. A portion of the Ellicott City center-balance turntable was excavated in 1999. The remainder of the turntable extends under the track still used by CSX today. This advertisement from the December 1853 issue of The American Railroad Journal depicts a similar turntable. |