Information with this photo reports it was made at Westport. Assuming
that location is correct, what appear to be stacks in the background
likely belong to the Westport Generating Station. That means this
Baltimore and Annapolis Short Line (BASL) locomotive was close to the
trees at the bottom of the previous photo, hence the foliage in this
photo. Despite the newer BASL name, most people continued to refer to the
railroad by its former Annapolis Short Line name, or simply Short Line.
At the time of this photo (1908), BASL was revamping from steam to
electricity, so this might be one of the railroad's last steam-powered runs
prior to switching on the juice. Even though BASL then renamed itself
Maryland Electric Railways Company, most people continued to call it the
Short Line which, with the line's electrification, became a pun of sorts.
Initially, the railroad employed a then-uncommon alternating current system,
but within six years switched to direct current. The catenary visible in
the photo was the first of its kind here, a precursor to that now used by
light rail.
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