Clear Track Ahead! in Hurlock, MD in 1946

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 100^th 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!