The Waterloo Branch starts here as it splits from the mainline's siding and heads to the left in this picture.

The yellow-painted object in the foreground is a derail, a device that can either stop or derail a car. It can be closed to prevent train access from and to the spur.

Off in the distance on the right, the signals shown on the previous page are barely visible alongside the mainline tracks.

Amidst the pine cones, the combination of jointed rail and a lack of maintenance on this low-speed spur shows here in the uneveness of the tracks.

At least one of the gaps between the jointed rails is filled with some scrap steel, as seen in this closeup. Ostensibly, this is to reduce the amount of flexing in the joint as wheels pass over it.

The only significant grade crossing for this spur is here at Dorsey Run Road. The road bridge a short distance away spans the Dorsey Run tributary of the Little Patuxent River. The spur basically parallels the tributary along its northeastern bank.

There are no interesting stone arched bridges along the modern spur, just plain, boring piped culverts. I've included this one simply to show the unique design. It can be found just west of the grade crossing.

By its rusty condition and that of the rails, this modern bumper post, a "Hayes Type WD", would appear to not see much use, however this siding did have a few cars sitting on it.

Other sidings split off the spur as well. This view looks back toward Dorsey Run Road.

Here's the view with the bumper post at my back. I neglected to note the name of the warehouse, but by the cars on the siding it does appear to actively use the railroad for shipping.

Reader Dean Cogar sent the following update:

"Here is an update for the web page-I work for Sysco Foods-Baltimore and enjoy the daily passing of freight trains past our facility at Dorsey Run Road, and, up until about 4 months ago, we would receive about 2 to 3 box cars of frozen foods per week. But unfortunetly the early delivery of these boxcars 1 to 2 days before scheduled, and the railroad's insistence that we pay delay charges while they sat on the siding till there scheduled delivery time caused Sysco to end rail use for deliveries. It was with sadness as I watched construction workers take a torch to the rails to remove them for a warehouse expansion that is currently under construction."

A closeup of the modern paint scheme on one of the boxcars next to the warehouse.

A special reducing fishplate (is that the correct term?) is employed to join the heavy-duty spur track with the smaller siding track.

At least this spur has one prize awaiting: a stranded boxcar wearing fading Chessie / B&O paint circa 1970, and now relegated to storage purposes.

This is the only boxcar with the B&O paint scheme I've seen surviving anywhere in the region. Its number appears to be 176074. It sits on a siding behind a building near the western end of Rappahannock Avenue.