Bay Coast Railroad Information
Welcome to the Bay Coast Railroad Info Page!!
Below is various
information on the Bay Coast.
The Bay Coast (former-ESHR) Railroad is a
very interesting little shortline. After all, how many shortlines have a
carfloat? Spliced physically by the Chesapeake Bay, the Bay Coast has three
separate operating areas. The primary portion of operations is on the line
from Cape Charles, Va., to Pocomoke, Maryland. This 64.1-mile trunk line connects
with the car float to the south and Norfolk Southern to the north. The middle
portion of the Bay Coast is the carfloat itself, as the 26-mile bay crossing
isn't exactly a small sailing. Finally, the southern operating section of
the Bay Coast is terminal trackage around Little Creek, Virginia.
Here, they interchange once again with Norfolk Southern, as well as CSX and
the Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line.
Operations of the carfloat seem to be a couple
times a week, as needed, so its probable you could see the float at any time.
The barge holds 22 regular-size cars. As for rail operations, the run from
Cape Charles to Pocomoke also seems to be M/W/F, or less as needed, with
the departure north from Cape Charles usually being around one or two o'clock
in the morning. They tend to arrive in Pocomoke between five and six, and
once interchange is completed with Norfolk Southern they head back south
to Cape Charles. Track speed on this portion of the line is 15mph, and they
might be seen on any day of the week if traffic dictates. Primary haulings
on the trunk line are Perdue grain/fertilizer traffic, coal loads for NS,
soybeans during the season, chemicals from the south, and cocoa beans.
The company operates on radio frequencies
160.695, 160.980, and 161.445. When in Pocomoke interchanging with NS, they
will use CR Road Channel 1 (AAR 64) 160.800 if talking to NS.
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