 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2018) |
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cape Charles, Virginia |
| Reporting mark | ESHR |
| Locale | Norfolk, Virginia to Pocomoke City, Maryland |
| Dates of operation | 1981–2006 |
| Predecessor | Virginia and Maryland Railroad |
| Successor | Bay Coast Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Eastern Shore Railroad, Inc. (reporting mark ESHR) was a Class III short-line railroad that began operations in October 1981 on the 96-mile (154 km) former Virginia and Maryland Railroad line on the Delmarva Peninsula. The line ran between Pocomoke City, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia, interchanging with the Norfolk Southern Railway at both ends.
Delmarva had been previously served by the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Company (NYP&N) led by William Lawrence Scott which ran south down the peninsula to a freight depot, terminal and harbor at the headland point at Cape Charles, Virginia, a town which it founded and laid out in 1883–84. A ferry barge system then operated crossing the lower Chesapeake Bay to the Norfolk piers. The NYP&N was later absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which dominated the eastern U.S. along with the New York Central Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the first half of the 20th century.
A rail ferry service was used to span the 26-mile (42 km) water route across the Chesapeake Bay between Cape Charles and Norfolk. The ferry service used two barges (car floats) of 25 and 15 car capacity, moved by contracted tug boats. This car float operation has been in continuous service since April 1885, and is one of only two remaining in the United States (the other being New York New Jersey Rail, LLC).
In 1986, the Eastern Shore Railroad filed a Notice of Intent to abandon the railroad south of Pocomoke City.[1]
The Eastern Shore Railroad was taken over in February 2006 by Cassatt Management, LLC., and was operated and renamed as the Bay Coast Railroad. The Bay Coast Railroad operated the line until May 18, 2018. In June 2018, the Delmarva Central Railroad took over the portion between Pocomoke City and Hallwood, Virginia where the remaining customers were located.[2] Service on the Norfolk side was taken over by the Buckingham Branch Railroad.[3]
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LLPX 2014, a leased EMD GP38, was used for switching the ferry terminal in Little Creek, Virginia. -
ESHR 8096, a GP10, named the "Cape Charles" was parked at the headquarters in Cape Charles, VA.
- ^ Jensen, Peter (28 December 1986). "Man with a plan wants to reopen old railroad:". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Carload Express Expands Rail Freight Service to Virginia". Carload Express. June 11, 2018. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
- ^ "Norfolk Division". Archived from the original on 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2024-05-03.