Big Pool Junction
Western Maryland Rail Trail
The eighteen miles of rails between
Hagerstown and Big Pool were the busiest
of the Western Maryland Railway. It was
here in 1892 that a connection was made with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad across the Potomac River at Cherry Run, West Virginia. The Big Pool Train Station was constructed in 1892. By the turn of the century other structures were added including a siding, a storage building and
company houses.
In 1904 the building of the Cumberland Extension began at Big Pool. The Western Maryland reached Hancock by December of that year and Cumberland by March two years later. In 1906 a coal chute 758 feet long and 37 feet high was constructed to
empty coal from the trains coal cars into the steam engine's tender. A water tower was also built to fill the steam engine with the water that would be converted to steam. A freight station and a train order office were also located here. The train order office operated until March 1, 1977.
Marker is on Big Pool Road (Maryland Route 56) south of Exit 12 (Interstate 70), on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
