Gaithersburg (MARC station)

Gaithersburg MARC Commuter rail station
Gaithersburg MARC (formerly B&O) Railroad Station, January 2007
Station statistics
Address	5 South Summit Avenue Gaithersburg, MD 20877
Coordinates	39°08′29.5″N 77°11′35″W / 39.141528°N 77.19306°W / 39.141528; -77.19306Coordinates: 39°08′29.5″N 77°11′35″W / 39.141528°N 77.19306°W / 39.141528; -77.19306
Line(s)	Brunswick Line
Connections	Inter-County Connector routes 201 and 202
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Parking	Garage
Other information
Opened	1884
Accessible
Services
Preceding station   MARC   Following station Metropolitan Grove toward Martinsburg or Frederick Brunswick Line Washington Grove toward Union Station     Former services     Baltimore and Ohio Germantown toward Chicago Grand Central Station Main Line (Metropolitan Branch) Rockville toward Baltimore Mount Royal Station
Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Summit and East Diamond Avenues Gaithersburg, Maryland
Built	1884
Architect	Ephraim Francis Baldwin
Architectural style	No Style Listed (Queen Anne attributed)
Governing body	Private
NRHP Reference #	78001473
Added to NRHP	October 5, 1978[1]

Gaithersburg is a historic passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between Washington, D.C. and Martinsburg, WV (with a branch to Frederick, MD).^[2] It is located on 5 South Summit Avenue and East Diamond Avenue in Gaithersburg, Montgomery County, Maryland.

History

The station was originally built as the Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed in 1884, for the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), The station was most likely designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin,^[3] and consists of two historic buildings. The passenger station is a one-story common-bond brick structure with a gable roof. About 90 feet to the east of the station is the freight shed or loading dock, a brick structure about 45 ft × 20 ft. Its north and south facades are divided into six panels with a door in the second and fifth bays on both sides. The station was extended to the east in 1905. When Amtrak was established in 1971, B&O Passenger service was replaced by the Potomac Special, which itself was replaced by the Blue Ridge in 1973.^[4] From 1976 to 1981 it also served another Amtrak train called the Shenandoah.^[5] During that time, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978,^[1] and continued to serve Amtrak until 1986, when it was converted into a MARC station with the establishment of the Brunswick Line. Now, instead of using the platform to unload passengers, they let off passenger on the road right next to the station, although sometimes when the train is long the conductor puts an additional exit next to the platform. A modern parking garage and pedestrian overpass can be found on the opposite side of South Summit Avenue.

A steam locomotive, Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad 2-8-0 number 14,^[6] along with a caboose and a Budd RDC are on display in front of the freight shed.^[7]

Gallery

• 

  Passenger station and freight house, November 2010

• 

  A former B&O Budd RDC car on display near the station

References

External links

Media related to Gaithersburg (MARC station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Gaithersburg station official website
• Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed, Montgomery County, Inventory No.: M: 21-151, M: 21-157, including photo in 1974, at Maryland Historical Trust website
• Station from Summit Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View