Early Morning at Antietam (Sharpsburg, MD) Station

Neat photos, thanks for sharing!

I have been unsuccessful in finding out when the name of the station was changed from Sharpsburg to Antietam. My 1944 Official Guide, the oldest I have, shows the name as Antietam.

Looks like southbound Local #13 made a flag stop there at 11:12 AM, after leaving Hagerstown at 10:45. It is 14 miles between the two stations.

Northbound #14 made a flag stop at 2:46 PM, arriving Hagerstown at 3:20.

I like the photos of the train coming through the swag.

I have no idea what a swag is or it's purpose. Can someone explain it!

Look at the first photo. The train is dropping down through a "swag", and the telephoto lens tends to magnify the "dropping down" effect of the track & terrain.

Bill,

Thanks for sharing.  I especially find it interesting as I live about 30 miles east of Sharpsburg. 

Sharpsburg borders the southwest side of Antietam National Battlefield where the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War took place, in which 23,000 soldiers were killed in 12 hour time.

Central Maryland is an interesting place to see trains. 99% of the freight locomotives I see are usually CSX as they own the nearby trackage.  I often forget that NS also has trackage not that far away.

Jim

Jim, your layout (described in profile) sounds great. Have you ever thought of joining the Maryland O-Gaugers?  We have at least one member in the Frederick area.

Bill, I apologize for calling you Bob.  I wrote my post just before running out the door to pick up our dog from the veterinary hospital, where he had unexpected major surgery two days ago.

I did attend the open house that George hosted and it was great to meet the group.  Turns out the George and I only live about five miles away from each other.  My work schedule has been a little crazy, otherwise, I would very much like to join the Maryland O-Gaugers.

Nice website for the club!

Jim

This is probably one of the most accessible places for train-watching or photography on the NS "H" line south of Hagerstown. Within a half-mile distance is the station, signals, defect detector (MP 14.4), and a concrete highway underpass from 1934 with N&W markings. There is also a private grade crossing.

It should be noted that the station was turned around to face the highway some years ago. IIRC, the station property is either leased or owned by the county.

There is another former N&W station of similar design 8 miles north at St. James, about 300 ft. east of where MD. RT 68 crosses the H line. It is a private residence.
The granite memorial base once supported 8 cannon barrels set on end and had a pyramid of cannonballs on top. The memorial was built by the Antietam Battlefield Commission in 1898(The Shenandoah Valley RR,a N&W predecessor reached Sharpsburg in 1883) The original station here burned in 1910, and the present station was built in 1911.The Antietam name began to be used after this date and is used on a 1916 map. The memorial was dismantled c.1960 and given to the National Park Service for use on the nearby battlefield, with just the granite base remaining.
Both photos show northbound NS trains, this is the summit of a short, steep grade out of the Potomac River valley 2 miles south at Shepherdstown,WV.

Thanks to Maryland's Civil War Trails and the NPS for additional and corrected info.

And since I learned from this post what a "swag" is, here's two more views of it. LOL.