The WESTERN MARYLAND RAILWAY in N Scale

            The Western Maryland Railway has always been a keen interest of mine, with its long coal drags, picturesque settings, and a solid reputation as The Fast Freight Line. In the mid 1970’s, some of the most scenic and remote areas of the railroad were abandoned by the Chessie System

            The era of my layout will be the waning days of the WM's independence, approximately 1966-72. It was during this time that second generation diesels started arriving on the property, and the Red White and Black speedletter paint scheme was introduced (1969). F-7's still dominated the fleet, but the newer GP's and SD's signaled the arrival of the WM as a modern Class 1 railroad.

            It was also the time that the combined voting stock owned by the B&O and the C&O began to be exercised, spelling the ultimate demise of this once proud carrier. In 1973, the Chessie System was formed, including C&O, B&O and WM. Within two years, large portions of the WM were abandoned and the tracks were removed, with remaining WM freights being routed over the parallel lines of the B&O. Within 10 years, the corporate structure of the Western Maryland had been decimated, and the corporation itself was dissolved into CSX Corporation.

            My N scale layout will represent WM operations from Hagerstown west to Maryland Junction, near Cumberland, and the two western subdivisions that brought coal from West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, and Fast Freights through from the Midwest to eastern markets.

Web site under construction…

Stay tuned…