I'm going to “hijack”
a post by a friend, Jim Bowden, who posts things time-to-time on the
Pennsylvania Railroad Delmarva Division group on Facebook & also
on Seaford Delaware, a look back in time group, also on Facebook.
Dateline: it was in 1946
& the PRR's 100th anniversary. The railroad decided
they wanted to produce a promotional film to celebrate the railroad's
history & its future. They wanted a short piece of the film to
show the history of the railroad & wanted to recreate a scene
from “back in the day.” Well, that brought a film crew to the
Delmarva Peninsula, specifically to, Hurlock, MD – the junction
between the PRR's Cambridge Secondary Track between Seaford, DE &
Cambridge, MD (the former Dorchester & Delaware Railroad) &
the former disconnected rail line built by the Baltimore &
Eastern Shore Railroad (B&ES) between Claiborne, MD &
Ocean City, MD.
The B&ES built the
line between Claiborne, MD & Salisbury, MD (completed on
September 15, 1890 – 57.22 miles) & connected with the Wicomico
& Pocomoke Rail Road between Salisbury & Ocean City, MD (31
miles, built between 1868 & 1890) & placed it all into
service on December 1, 1890. The BC&A acquired the B&ES on
October 20, 1894, under foreclosure. The B&E acquired the BC&A on May 1, 1928 (after the BC&A was sold at foreclosure to Charles H. Carter, the PRR's Baltimore, MD solicitor, on March 29, 1928).
The line was broken-up by
the B&E between 1932 & 1938. The B&E abandoned Vienna, MD
to Mardela Springs, MD between 1932-1938. In 1938, the B&E
abandoned the line between Claiborne & McDaniel, MD; between
Easton, MD to Preston, MD (9.97 miles); & between West Ocean
City, MD & Ocean City (which had been out-of-service since the
1933 hurricane). The Preston-Vienna at-grade crossing was removed in
1948 (2 years after the PRR promotional film). The Hurlock to Vienna
and Hurlock to Preston lines were taken out-of-service sometime
between April 1, 1976, and 1979.
The PRR & the film
crew scoured the PRR system & Hurlock fit in perfectly with what
they wanted - an “old-timey” branchline protected by a
highball signal (there was one other active highball signal still on
the Peninsula at that time – in Berlin, MD), where time seemed to
stand still. So actors, actresses, the film crew, & props all
descended on the tiny town of Hurlock by train. Included in the props
were a covered wagon, a stagecoach, wooden passenger cars, & a
working replica of the “John Bull” (which didn't operate on
either rail line, but fit the bill for an old steam locomotive).
You can take a look at
the PRR 1946 promotional film: “Clear Track Ahead! A film story of
progress in railroad transportation.” here on YouTube (& I'll
try to keep track of this link because videos are uploaded &
taken down without any notification & can quickly change
locations): Clear Track Ahead!
Specifically look between the 00:00:51 & 00:06:05 marks (by the way, that's hour:minute:second time stamps).
I also want to include
photos from Jim's collection of the DuPont Company's (Seaford) "The Threadline" employee magazine from June
1946 that shows the filming of the movie in Hurlock.
Thanks again Jim for
sharing this!
