Between Cumberland, Maryland, and Piedmont, West Virginia, the Mountain Subdivision has an easy eastern approach to the Alleghenies with practically no grades of any consequence as it follows the North Branch of the Potomac River Valley, a major change from the western sixty miles of mountains between Piedmont and Newburg. East of Piedmont the Mountain Subdivision follows the Potomac River on its southern bank for three miles to the interlocking at West Keyser, West Virginia. At one time four tracks existed between Piedmont and West Keyser, although currently only the two main tracks and the partially out of service freight track remain intact. The #1 main track on this section of the line is also signaled for bi-directional movements allowing trains to move over the #1 main between the connection with the Thomas Subdivision at Piedmont and West Keyser without fouling the #2 main track. A mile to the east is the town of Keyser which was incorporated in 1874 following the renaming of the original community of New Creek after William Keyser of Baltimore, the first vice president of the B&O Railroad. Two years earlier in 1872 the B&O had began constructing a yard and locomotive facilities at Keyser, a process which lasted well into the beginning of the 20th century until all available room between the town and the Potomac was occupied by the railroad. A large car shop was also constructed in Keyser during this era, which produced several models of cabooses, boxcars and other freight cars, including one of the more famous series of B&O wagon top cabooses. During the height of operations at Keyser in the steam era, more than 46 tracks were used to classify coal coming east from Grafton while empty hoppers from Brunswick were blocked together for movement west over the mountains.
It was common practice in this era for the B&O to move shorter drags over the West End between Grafton and Keyser, then combine two smaller trains into one long drag for shipment over the Patterson Creek cutoff to points on the eastern seaboard. However, the introduction of the unit train in the 1960s killed off much of Keyser's classification duties, although the Keyser yard turns did not finally disappear until the early 1980s when decreased traffic over the Mountain from Grafton ended the need for the jobs. During this same time period the Chessie System and then CSX began to reduce the Keyser until only eight yard tracks remained by 1996: four long tracks and four short tracks, while the interlocking controlled by Z Tower at West Keyser was reduced. "Z" was originally constructed in 1906 and is only one of two active towers left on the West End along with being one of the last towers in the country which uses Armstrong levers to control its interlocking. The tower has been "refurbished" over the years and although it has a precarious lean away from the tracks, it remains the operation center for most train movements between Piedmont and Keyser on the Mountain Subdivision. In the fall of 1999 however, the Keyser Helper territory was transferred to the Rowlesburg Helpers operating out of M&K Junction under the control of MK Tower, ending an age old B&O tradition at "Z". This decision was brought about by westbound empty hopper trains rarely needing assistance up 17 Mile Grade to Altamont from Piedmont or Keyser. As a result of this move, whenever a Keyser Helper is called for a shove today, most usually on a heavy Q317 or a stalled westbound empty train, a Rowlesburg Helper crew will usually either taxi east from "MK" to Piedmont or West Keyser to pick up their helper set or move the Rowlesburg Helper power east to couple on at one of those locations. Fortunately not all of the old traditions have disappeared from Keyser as evident by CSX's current practice of still using the B&O method of doubling two coal trains into one for the journey east. Depending on a coal trains final destination, some 75 or 80 car drags from Grafton will now layover at Keyser to await the arrival of a second eighty or less car loaded train bound for the same or nearby destination. Once the second train arrives, the two will be doubled together to form a 160 car or so long drag for the journey to Cumberland and points east, in effect only using one crew and one set of power for two trains. Operations for westbound empty hopper trains are almost opposite to the above, with most Grafton bound trains either setting off hoppers to reduce down to 125 cars or picking up hoppers to fill out to 125 for the climb up Seventeen Mile Grade to Altamont (Note: 130 cars is the max for empty hopper trains without a helper to Altamont). As a result, westbound Grafton trains and turns bound for the former Western Maryland Railway lines can often originate at Keyser using power leftover from drags that have been doubled and hoppers that have been setoff. Today's Keyser Yard also serves as the eastern limit for the Mountain Switchers and Whitetail Turns out of Rowlesburg inadditon to a way point for Luke switchers and a setoff / pickup location for Q317. Near the east end of Keyser Yard is the old B&O passenger station that at one time saw the arrival of such prestigious trains as the National Limited and Cincinnatian, although the building now serves CSX's maintenance of Way department.
On the other side of the station and Memorial Street overpass is a set of manual crossovers allowing trains moving in either direction to enter or exit the yard before the railroad crosses over New Creek and enters the Bull Neck S Curve. On the far side of these curves is the East end of the Keyser Yard Limits near the main track switch where an industrial track branches off to serve several business firms inside the Keyser Industrial Park. The Mountain Subdivision enters Maryland once again less than a mile to the east at the timetable location known as Twenty First Bridge which was named as a result of the B&O crossing the Potomac River twenty one miles from Cumberland. Just east of the 21st bridge is another bridge where the CSX (ex WM) Thomas Subdivision passes over the Mountain on a truss span. Due to the Thomas Subdivision closely paralleling the West End between there and Cumberland, the Chessie System decided to abandon the Thomas line east of 21st Bridge in the mid 1970s and build a new connection between the two lines along with installing a main track crossover. Currently this connection is out of service as a result of Thomas Subdivision bound trains entering the subdivision farther west at Piedmont, although the 21st Bridge connection is still in usable condition should the situation require its reopening. From the 21st Bridge crossover, the Mountain Subdivision follows the bottom land of the Potomac River valley northeast on gentle grades and curves passing through the small community of Dawson and by the Potomac Edison power substation at Black Oak before reaching Rawlings, Maryland. At one time a connection between the B&O and Western Maryland was located in Rawlings, although as previously mentioned the WM line was removed except for several sections near the town which were turned into storage sidings. Four miles east of Rawlings is the old timetable location of McKenzie where the Patterson Creek Cutoff diverged from the West End to connect with the B&O's mainline between Brunswick and Cumberland seven miles to the east at Patterson Creek, West Virginia. The double track Cutoff was opened in 1904 to relieve serious congestion to the north around Cumberland by allowing straight through movements of coal trains between Brunswick and Keyser. Two towers controlled the Patterson Creek Cutoff on either end with the West End's CO Tower at McKenzie lasting until the late 1950s while the East End's FN Tower at Patterson Creek lasted well into the 1980s. Unfortunately however, the cutoff did not survive as long as "FN" for it was reduced to a single track line in 1960 before the Chessie System finally closed the Cutoff in the mid 1970s and pulled its rail a decade later as a consequence of its traffic no longer needing to be rerouted around Cumberland. Following the Conrail Takeover in 1999, Cumberland has once again been flooded with trains resulting in immense congestion through its yard limits bringing about speculation and rumors that CSX has began glancing at the Patterson Creek Cutoff as a possible release value to allow traffic from Grafton and Keyser to bypass Cumberland.
The unused Patterson Creek Cutoff bridge over the North Branch of the Potomac River. The tunnel under Knobley Mountain can be seen as the black hole on the far side.
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However, several major factors would have to come together before such a multi million dollar reconstruction project could be approved, although interestingly several of these measures have began to take shape indirectly. East of McKenzie the Mountain Subdivision continues to parallel the old WM right of way, now little more than an obvious cinder path, as it approaches Cumberland. At Brady, Maryland, the railroad passes a newly constructed prison on the site of the old American Cellulose and Chemical Company plant (Amcelle) before curving east along the edge of the Cumberland Fairgrounds, called "Fairgo" by the railroad. A short distance past Fairgo is the Kelly Springfield Tire plant that provided CSX with a good amount of local traffic until the factory ceased operations during the latter part of the 20th century. Today eastbound trains will often wait between the former Kelly Springfield plant and Beall Street for clearance into the Cumberland Yard, although if it is expected to be longer than a few minutes, trains will be kept half a mile west of the Beall Street signals so not to disturb local residents. The old eastern end of the West End was located at Williams Street in downtown Cumberland until the boundary was moved a half mile west to Viaduct Junction in the early 1990s. This arrangement lasted until ND Tower at Viaduct Junction was closed on January 22nd, 1997, resulting in Beall Street becoming the eastern end of the Mountain Subdivision a few months later, while the former section of the Mountain was moved into the Cumberland Terminal Subdivision. To simplify the Viaduct Junction interlocking for easier control by the CM Dispatcher in Jacksonville following the towers closure, the same double track section between Beall Street and Viaduct Junction had been reduced to a single main at an earlier point. Today its not unusual to find two or more eastbound trains backed up at Beall Street awaiting clearance into the yard at Cumberland resulting in crews having to report clear of the Mountain Subdivision to the CI Dispatcher so the next eastbound train may move up to await its turn. East of Beall Street the former Mountain Subdivision enters a deep hillside cut and passes underneath three low hanging road bridges in the historic section of Cumberland before crossing over Wills Creek and a section of the town on a 14 arch viaduct. The Cumberland Viaduct was originally constructed in the 1850s as a brick structure, but reinforced with concrete during the early years of the 20th century to provide ample strength for future heavier loads. The true east end of the West End, regardless of modern day eccentrics, can be found at the location where the Baltimore and Ohio's world split into a giant "Y" at Viaduct Junction. To the east is the old B&O's East End mainline which continues through Cumberland towards Brunswick and ultimately either Baltimore or Washington. The northern fork of the "Y" is the current heir to the throne that the West End relinquished in 1985 following its downgrading by CSX as a through route. Most of the Mountain's freight traffic off the East End was then shifted north onto the original P&C mainline to Pittsburgh via Connellsville and over the popular small hill at Sand Box, err - Patch. And of course, the western fork of the great B&O "Y" is the fabled West End over the Allegheny Mountain to Grafton.
[ Layout of Keyser Yard ]
This map shows the current configuration of Keyser Yard and West Keyer along with track names, signals, etc.
[Click to enlarge]
One of the few remaining active towers that uses Armstrong levers for controlling switches is Z Tower at West Keyser. The rod plant extends on either side of the tower to control the main track crossovers and leads. The CSX SD60 on the stub track to the right is the Keyser Helper which is usually serviced in Cumberland and the crews dispatched from M&K Tower to the west at Rowlesburg.
[Click to enlarge]
Four lite units from two trains that had been doubled from Keyser to Cumberland are preparing to build a train of empties at West Keyser before heading back west to Grafton in the summer of 2000.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Jose Nevarez. A set of AC power is idling on yard track W3 as westbound Q317 is about to pass under the signal protecting the West Keyser interlocking. Both mixed freights can work the yard on demand, although Q317 usually does the assignment while Q316 works Piedmont.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Markolf Gudjons. An eastbound coal drag is awaiting a crew for the trip into Cumberland as the train holds the RC 1 track in Keyser during September of 1999.
[Click to enlarge]
A long Q316 is sitting on the Eastbound Siding in Keyser Yard, one of four remaining long tracks. Ground air was re-installed at Keyser on the east end of three of the long tracks during 1999, as marked by the orange cones on either side of the mixed freight.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Rich Borkowski Jr. Two SD70MACs are on the point of a westbound empty hopper train as they pass the old Keyser station. Currently used by CSX MofW, the station served as an stop for passenger trains until service was ended by Amtrak in the early 80s.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Rich Borkowski Jr. Westbound Q317 is Grafton bound as its three units pass the connection with the Thomas Subdivision at 21st Bridge, Maryland. The white signs denote the east end of the "BIGGS" DTC block on the Thomas line.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Jerry Doyle. Eastbound Q316 is approaching the road crossing at Dawson in June of 2001.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Rich Borkowski Jr. Two of the original three GE AC6000s lead an eastbound coal drag past the Lowndes signals on a foggy summer morning near Rocket Center and Pinto.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Chris Strogen. In a reverse view off the MD Route 956 bridge, CSX #94 is on the point of this Q317 as the train crusies at trackspeed near Pinto, MD. The old WM right of way can be seen as the gravel roadbed to the right of the CSX tracks.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Jerry Doyle. Q317 is passing the former location of the tower at McKenzie, Maryland, as it heads west for Keyser. The worn trail on the right is the right of way for the abandoned Patterson Creek Cutoff.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Terry Moore. Three Chessie units lead the daily westbound mixed freight across the Viaduct in Cumberland on Febuary 4th, 1993.
[Click to enlarge]
Photo by Randy Strogen. ND Tower still stands in this view as CSX #8023 leads a westbound through the new Viaduct Junction interlocking in July of 1997. Notice that the section of track between "ND" and Beall Street has been single tracked by this time.
The Dawson Defect Detector located on track #1
at MP BA 198.2 sounding an all clear on a westbound Q317.
Dawson Defect Detector
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Copyright 1998-2002 © Northern WV's Railroads
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The unused Patterson Creek Cutoff bridge over the North Branch of the Potomac River. The tunnel under Knobley Mountain can be seen as the black hole on the far side. 
