After long hiatus, railroad resumes route between Delaware and Maryland

PHOTO COURTESY CATHRIN BANKS/MARYLAND DELAWARE RAILROAD COMPANY
The Maryland-Delaware freight train from Frankford, Delaware to Snow Hill idles in front of the grain silos at Tyson Foods in Snow Hill after making its first run down the line since 2011.

By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(June 27, 2019) Berlin residents felt that once-familiar rumble of a train rolling down a track last Tuesday, as a diesel locomotive pulled a freight car of corn south to the Tyson Foods feed mill in Snow Hill.

It was the first time in years that the railroad crossings bisecting the town had seen an actual train follow the rails from Old Ocean City Boulevard to the north down to the Buckingham Lane/Evans Road conjunction to the south, before rolling on through the forest and farmland in the middle of Worcester County.

The run through Berlin is part of the Frankford, Delaware to  Snow Hill line followed by the Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company, according to President Cathrin Banks.

However, Berlin residents shouldn’t expect to hear the train’s whistle on a regular basis. Banks estimated it would take about six to eight months before the line has a full roster of freight.

“I think we’ll continue to see a slow trickle of rail cars coming through, but I think until it’s fully up and running, if you will, it’ll probably be [this] winter at this point,” Banks said.

Once the railroad line is operating, Banks said shipments would be moving on a “fairly regular basis,” but during standard times.

“We wouldn’t be coming through town blowing the whistle at 2 a.m.,” Banks said.

The railroad tracks in Berlin are special, according to Banks, because that line is one of two that are responsible for shipping freight for the region.

“With regard to the Snow Hill line, I think that it has always been an important piece of transporting goods across Delmarva,” Banks said.

She said the Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company was established in 1977 after the state, with the help of then Caroline County Delegate John Hargreaves, agreed to purchase rail lines from Penn Central after it and other class I lines went bankrupt.

Without that purchase, Banks said, lines traveling through Berlin would not have made it.

“A lot of the lines in more rural areas were not included in [Conrail’s] final system plan so they were slated to be abandoned,” she said.

The line carried freight to the Tyson Foods Inc.’s feed mill until about 2011, when Banks said the poultry company switched its distribution methods from rails to road.

Over the past several years, the railroad company has negotiated with Tyson Foods Inc. and Norfolk Southern, the area’s class one railroad connection, to get the operational once again.

“For them, having rail service is very important, so I think it will help ensure the future of Tyson in Worcester County,” Banks said.

Banks said the railroad’s track is undergoing upgrades, and the poultry company is also upgrading the facility to “help receive the freight rail cars more efficiently.”

Banks stands by railways as the priority mode of transportation for area freight.

“I think it just continues to be a very good way to get things from point A to point B,” she said.

As for Mayor Gee Williams, he said he’s looking forward to hearing the familiar whistle.

“[I’m] pleased to see service returning after quite a long and unexpected break,” Williams said during a May Town Council meeting.

Banks also said the railroad company has been in talks with Worcester County, Berlin and Snow Hill officials about bringing a potential passenger excursion train to the area.

Banks added the railroad company has completed renovations to the existing railroad line between Berlin and Ironshire Station Road in Berlin, which is about 2.5 miles from downtown.

“[We’ve been] working on it for several years, [and have] reached a critical juncture,” Banks said. “… I think we’d like to see something … come to fruition in the next couple of years here.”

The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company operates 120 miles of line and is based in Federalsburg, Md.