kcwright_rm
Cumberland & Eastern RRTC
A Brief History
Being formed in 1889 as the Hagerstown and Eastern from a merger with a few roads to form a line between Hagerstown, MD to the Baltimore area via Hanover with a branch to Hanover Jct. In the late 1890's the Western maryland railway, which was in direct competition with the H&E made an acquisition to the road. They small line would be owned by the WM and would have trackage rights over the whole system along with WM support. The PRR and B&O got word of this and began to contest this. The road, wanting more trackage accepted a three way buy deal which saw the Pennsy, B&O, and WM buy the H&E. The first order was to pump the road with new locomotives. New baldwin locos went to the road including 20 brand new 2-8-2 mikados, some of the first heavy baldwins of that type made. The H&E would also get a new name after taking over a branch jointly owned by the Western Maryland and PRR. This branch would run from Cumberland, MD to Altoona, PA. This meant seeing H&E, now Cumberland and Eastern or C&E, cars on the west coast wasn't rare. The C&E would also help the WM build and operate the Connellsville sub and would partially own it. By time war came around, the old locos were worn, USRA brought grand new locomotive to the road and the railroad greatly improved its service postwar. by the 1920's the C&E was known for its fast service and little delays. The slogan for the road was also born in this era, being "The Gateway Route" after the WM's lurgan line became partially owned by the C&E.
C&E number 5, the Westerner blasts by a pair of FTs near Baltimore.
By 1931 though, the road was struggling after the stock market crash of 29, this is where the main cargo began to turn up, fruit. while the western lines were failing, the Hanover sub was starting to see new traffic in the form of fruit out of Gettysburg. Every other day, you would see a line of 30 or more reefers hit the rails. This made up for enough revenue to keep the railroad in fair shape. By 1941, when WW2 started, the road, with its 1918 locomotives, almost went bust. The shops were filled with locomotives with out of date parts and broken to the point of almost no repair. But hope was found later on. By 1946, the road decided by 1956 if steam had been abolished they would cut steam all together, they brought in an FT diesel set and started calculating the costs of reworking the roster. Fate seemed to like C&E steam as the roads that owned it were getting rid of steam. When the PRR, B&O, and WM were down with their steam locos, they simply sent some to the C&E. The most famous was the B2. 10 former B&O Q3s got red roofs, lima Berkshire tenders, white walls, and more to make the class. In 1956 7 were rebuilt to get new pilots.
The road opted to use these steam locomotives that were still in good shape instead of diesels. The 50's brought upgrades, some diesels, and lots of steam. The road was a famous one with railfans and by 1960, it was the most popular in Maryland. Sadly the road dieselized in 1966 and many great diesels followed. The railroad would loose its fruit trains in 1978 and with no other wing to fall under as the PRR, WM, and B&O had sold their shares. The C&E became part of chessie system in 1981. Bringing an end to a great railroad.