A Day on the Magnolia Cutoff

A week and a half ago I saw this image and knew I had to get down to the Cutoff before the signals were replaced and eventually taken down. First came the logistics. When? Who? How? The when was pretty obvious, as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a check of the weather for the area for the weekend showed rain and clouds from Thursday to Monday. The original forecast had Tuesday and Wednesday as "partly sunny" so I figured I'd try to figure something out for Tuesday-Wednesday. I figured costs would be lower if I could find someone else to go with especially with my only possibly of solo transportation being my gas-guzzling '95 Blazer. My brother has work during the week as do most people who would be remotely interested (read: crazy) in going. I dreaded the thought of going solo in my already-gas-guzzling-truck which has been having other issues lately. Finally, on Friday I had an epiphany and emailed my friend Tom from NE PA whom I've gone away with a few times and always came back with awesome photos to see if he was interested. "Yes, let's DO it !" was the first sentence of the response email. Awesome! Of course, with a trip with a set goal, weather is an important deciding factor so we took the weekend to watch what would happen as the estimated day approached. (He would also be away until Monday night.) Sunday rolled around and the reports had changed (of course) and now Wednesday was to be "mostly sunny" and Thursday "partly cloudy". In response, we shifted the trip to Wednesday and Thursday. A Monday afternoon check of the 'predictions' now show "chance of rain Wednesday" and "mostly sunny" Thursday and "mostly cloudy" on Friday. Well, Wednesday was now out and with a crappy Friday, it was looking more like a one-day event if anything at all. The "mostly sunny" forecast changed to "sunny" by Tuesday morning and it was decided that the trip was a go as long as that held into Wednesday which it did. Friday was still "mostly cloudy" as well, keeping it to a one day trip. As I was packing on Wednesday, I checked the temperatures for the Cutoff and took a glimpse at what they were calling for..."sunny" Thursday and "mostly cloudy" Friday still. I continued getting my things together as departure time of 5PM approached and decided to look once more. Thursday: "sunny" and  Friday "partly sunny". WTH?!?! Where did that come from? Apparently, some discussion would take place on the ride down.

We met up at the park & ride on PA 33 and took off for the Super 8 in Hancock, MD at 7:45PM. We got to the hotel around 10:15PM. Time for some logistics and sleep. As I sat in bed, I looked over my notes on what signals were in immediate danger (thanks to John Ryan for those!) and found out via multiple sources that the Capitol Limited (Amtrak's Chicago to Washington train over the route) had two freshly painted heritage units leading. Now anticipation was turning into anxiety and excitement. The plan in place was to start on the gravel access road at Hancock and shoot the Color Position Lights (CPLs) as we worked west towards the actual Magnolia Cutoff segment and Paw Paw, WV finding the nearest well-lit signal set as we heard trains.

The next morning we got up at 6AM and walked out the door exactly at 6:30AM as planned. It was a quick stop at Sheetz for food/drinks/ice for the rest of the day as we would be leaving civilization until sunset. We started down the access road at 6:50AM and it didn't take long to get the first action of the day as a manifest slowly crept around the curve towards the Hancock Safetrans signal bridge (~MP 123) with the first sunlight of the day just starting to hit the trees. Note how high the Potomac River is running after the 4-5 days of rain they had over the weekend.

For the sake of covering a 12 hour day in a somewhat short amount of time. We continued west shooting the CPLs at Grasshopper (~MP 125), Ambrose (~MP 127), Dry Wall (~MP 131), Sideling Hill (~MP 135), and the dual bracket mast at Turkey Foot (~MP 137). We came upon the first sign of any work being done when we arrived at the Orleans Road signal bridge and mast (MP 139.1). A new base was in place adjacent to the signal bridge meaning new signals would be put into place soon. It was definitely sad to see. We did a little scouting in the vicinity due to the curving nature of the line, the signals were actually well lit for a westbound despite it being 8:30AM. We continued on down the main road until we saw there was no way back up to track level and turned around to take the maintainers road west from there. We looked over the scene once more at Orleans Road and decided to take our first break of the day and give it 15 minutes. Sure enough within 5 minutes, the scanner came alive and a westbound was asking for permission past the work limits. The foreman gave him permission and horns could be heard as he approached the curve before the signal bridge. What were the odds of getting exactly what we wanted when we wanted it. A good sign of the day ahead perhaps?

With smiles on our faces and relief setting in, we continued west to discover more heartbreak at the Doe Gully signals (MP 141.6) with new Safetrans standing, waiting next to the CPL masts. The road between Doe Gully and Hansrote was interesting to say the least. Taking a Jeep was definitely the right call. We took an access road up to what I thought would be the signals at Hansrote and my heart sank when we came upon a brand new (and I mean BRAND NEW) Safetrans cantilever. We got back to the access road and found another driveway up to the still-standing CPLs at Hansrote (MP 143.6).

We popped into the Magnolia signals to see what was going on but a number of construction vehicles and white SUVs gave us the feeling we shouldn't hang around plus the light wasn't around yet to shoot the south side of the signals. It was approaching [estimated] timetable Amtrak of 10AM. We hadn't heard anything on the scanner of his presence and a brief period of cell service yielded intel that he was late out of Cumberland. None of the signals were spectacularly lit in the area and with two units of importance to see, we decided a broadside at the Magnolia Bridge over the Potomac would be the best bet. Since the river was running so high, there was only spot to shoot between the trees and have enough room for two units but it would have to do. We sat and waited and waited. Finally, the scanner came alive but to our disappointment it was another westbound asking for permission at Orleans Road. Permission was given and we settled for the going away view of it on the bridge. It was Amtrak's turn. They finally made it to Okonoko where they would wait for the westbound empty coal to get by and then get permission through the work limits. 40 minutes after the westbound had cleared up the distinct Amtrak horn could be heard on the other side of the mountain. 25mph through the work limits meant plenty of time to get THE shot of the heritage units leading the Capitol Limited over the swollen Potomac. If we got nothing for the rest of the day, I don't think it would have mattered.

We knew there was an intermodal just a few minutes behind, but also knew if we stayed at the bridge we would get stuck there for who knows how long as trains were beginning to stack up. We took one for the team and were just about to Kessler when we saw his cars going over the bridge. Oh well. We knew of one more eastbound and set out sights on the signal at Carothers (MP 147.2). We heard him get permission at Okonoko and within 15 minutes, he was calling the signal on the other side of the tunnel at Paw Paw. Another signal checked off as an eastbound loaded coal train drifted by at 12:28PM. Not long after his hind end had cleared, we heard a westbound waiting at Orleans Road. Things were getting busy and fast. We took the drive to the west end of Carothers Tunnel to the mast signal at Paw Paw (MP 147.9). It was an hour since we had seen the eastbound but we finally heard the westbound call what sounded like "Characters" and the welcome sight of an EMD nose popped out of the tunnel portal and past the signal. Sadly, a look to the west yielded another painful view of new Safetrans signals waiting to take the place of the CPLs.

Things were busy but unfortunately in the wrong direction. Two more eastbounds were getting permission at Okonoko.  We went back to Carothers for the first. We wasted the second at the concrete wall hoping the light was broadside enough for a decent shot which we found out it wasn't. With nothing in the picture we decided to kill time by heading back to Magnolia to snag a quick shot of the signals and hope we hear something somewhere in the process. We had a bit of a delay as three goats and a dog decided to take over the road. We were just approaching Kessler when we heard a westbound already through Orleans Road. We parked as out of the way as we could get at Magnolia but were asked to leave probably due to safety more than anything. Not wanting to leave without getting at least one shot of the signals, we walked up the access road, hung out towards the top until the train came into view, snapped a view shots, and got out of there.

 The next thing on the list was the late afternoon shot at Paw Paw so we made our way west once again. We had a chance to relax and close our eyes for a few minutes until we heard two westbounds getting permission through the work area, one EMD led and one GE led. It was now 4:38PM and we only had two and a half hours of usable light left. We went east once again since we had gotten the angles at Paw Paw we wanted. We scouted the westbound shot from behind the signal at Carothers until we heard an eastbound at Okonoko. With no well-lit signal shot close, we agreed to give the concrete wall another chance since the sun had swung around to the northwest now. We didn't have to wait long after climbing up the hill to the east end of the wall before hearing him call Paw Paw. The light wasn't as perfect as it would be a little later in the year but the autoracks stretched around the almost 90 degree curve looked sweet. The work limits were dropped and with Amtrak time approaching and no way of knowing if it was on time we went to Carothers to kill the rest of the light. Not long after getting into position, an eastbound called Little Niagara. Two tracks were back in service so we decided to bite the bullet and stay in position just in case a westbound was heading our way as well. It wasn't much of a sacrifice as a little waterfall had formed just outside of the tunnel and the light was pretty even in the shadow of the mountain despite it being the best consist of the day.

Shadows were just about to attack the signal mast as we officially called it a day. My coverage of the B&O CPLs had basically tripled in a matter of 12 hours and I was very happy but yet my appetite to shoot the signals on borrowed time was still not satisfied. Another trip to the Magnolia Cutoff is not too far off, I feel.