In General
Getting Here
Maps
Pictures
Parkton
Wiseburg Rd
Monkton
Glencoe/Glencoe Rd
Sparks/Sparks Rd
Phoenix/Phoenix Rd
Ashland/Papermill Rd
Cockeysville
Texas
Lutherville
Riderwood
Ruxton
Hollins
Calvert St
Signals
NC History Time Line
Floobydust
USGS Maps
RAILROAD SIGNALS HOME
Location / Name:
Parkton MD, Baltimore County
What's Here:
Nothing now, it's a rail trail
Formerly:
- PRR Station / Depot
- Wye
- 3 track yard
- Signals
Data:
GPS Coordinates: 39.64114, -76.65916
Phone A/C: 410/443cell
ZIP: 21120
Milepost: 27.8
Access by train/transit:
None
Geography:
Very, very hilly
The Scoop:
Parkton MD is a community of Baltimore County MD located 18 miles north of Towson, the county seat, and about 5 miles south of the MD/PA line.
Parkton resides on what used to be a popular north-south running railroad, originally constructed by the Baltimore & Susquehanna RR having been incorporated on February 13, 1828, making it Baltimore's second railroad.
The park sign for this location, along with a nicely detailed map, states: The spot where you are standing was once one of the busiest centers for the Northern Central Railroad in the state of Maryland. There were two 90 railroad car sidings, two crossover switches, three locomotive sidings for repairs and storage, a wye turnaround, the remains of which can still be seen on the west side of I-83, for a complete direction change, two through-tracks north and south, an attended train station, a water tank and water stand pipe for steam locomotives.
The Pennsy used to run a local passenger train up to Parkton, the Parkton Local, where it ended it's northward journey -- hence, the wye, station, and facilities to keep the engines here until the following morning for the return trip into Baltimore.
Because of it's close proximity to Washington DC (and other factors), the NCR saw the funeral trains for President's Harrison in 1841, Taylor in 1850, Lincoln in 1865, McKinnley in 1901, and Harding in 1923. (HSBC)
The Parkton Local used to come out of Baltimore and service the growing communities along the Northern Central. Taken from Google AI, which is quoting from Alan Brougham's BULL SHEET: The Pennsylvania Railroad’s "Parkton Local" commuter train ran for 91 years. The popular daily service, which traveled 28 miles between Calvert Station in downtown Baltimore and Parkton, Maryland, operated from 1868 until the final run on June 27, 1959. The commuter line was eventually discontinued due to declining ridership following the construction of Interstate 83 and increased automobile ownership.
From Calvert Street to Parkton, there were 24 stops. The map below shows the entire line, TO SCALE and comes from OPEN RAILWAY MAP -- it also shows other rail lines of today and yesteryear. I've also taken the liberty of denoting two other depots which are NOT on the Northern Central, just because I can..... :-) It is interesting to note that there was not a stop at Lake Roland at Hollins (what was originally Relay, but it's use was discontinued in order to avoid confusion with a B&O station of that name) - my guess for this is (maybe) because the Greenspring Branch had it's own passenger trains, and the Pennsy figured it did not need a transfer point between the two. Would loved to have seen the hotel that was there!
A sad note: I got my drivers license in May of 1969, the last day of passenger service from Baltimore to Harrisburg was May 1st, 1971. That gave me two years to go out and take pictures of that lone E8 pulling a single car up and down the line -- over 700 chances to get pictures, and I only caught it maybe two, three, or four times! Someone should knock me upside the head. In my defense, when your that young, you figure things will be around forever. And then came Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and took it ALL away from us! Dang. And on top of that, to make matters worse, I NEVER rode the line. My best friend John did - jealous.
Two sources were used a lot to do this page: the History Society of Baltimore County (HSBC), and the write-up by Frank Wrabel. Frank, BTW, worked at Kleins hobby shop when it was in Cockeysville!
On Wednesday June 3rd, 2026, I ventured 'out' on the Northern Central rail-trail with my daughter Jenny riding shotgun :-), taking pictures of just about everything useless I could find. It's been a while, so I was surprised to see that the park replaced a "fake" signal with a real signal in Monkton, although their description is bogus for some of it. I noticed in Glencoe that there is a still some slate stone along the trail, showing the visitor where the edge of the platform was. I will be posting pictures as I get the time. Need to go back to Parkton and continue further north from there.
On Friday June 5th, 2026, I stopped by the Historical Society, met with a couple of the volunteers there, and joined the Society. I got a form to request some Northern Central photos for use on this page after talking with Jim, who is also railfan of sorts, and dabbles with an N scale layout! It was a very enlightening and interesting visit.
Many photos on this page come from my other pages/locations (read: duplicated) along the Parkton Local route:
Monkton
Glencoe
Cockeysville
Texas
Timonium
Lutherville
Riderwood
Ruxton
Acknowledgements:
Google Maps
Google Streetview
historicbridges.org
Frank Wrabel
Historical Society of Baltimore County, V40/issue1&2, Autumn/Winter 2008
kilduffs.net
Bob Dover
Steven Allen
EBay
Websites and other additional information sources of interest for the area:
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=152205
http://kilduffs.net/travels-through-maryland/old-maryland-train-stations/parkton-baltimore-county-train-station-maryland/
https://jbritton.pennsyrr.com/index.php/tpm/hobo-s-guide-to-the-pennsy/latest-on-location-articles/770-on-location-528-parkton-md
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/102949541476743707/
https://wynninghistory.com/2025/07/17/a-story-from-the-building-of-the-northern-central-railroad-1850s/
http://www.trainweb.org/oldmainline/ncr4.htm
https://www.hsobc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/htv040n1.pdf Thorough history of Parkton by Frank Wrabel, with many excellent period maps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Central_Railway
https://jbritton.pennsyrr.com/index.php/tpm/475-northern-central-railway Another good history of the NCRwy
http://kilduffs.net/travels-through-maryland/old-maryland-train-stations/cockeysville-train-station-maryland-2/
https://hsobc.pastperfectonline.com/Photo/8FADBE28-C76A-4E1C-B08F-414719586051
http://www.trainweb.org/oldmainline/ncr9.htm
https://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/files/Documents/Planning/historic/Light_Rail_History_and_Scenery.pdf
From the south: IE: Baltimore..... Take exit 31 off of I-83, go east on Middletown Road till you get to York Rd, MD45. Take a left and head north. Go about 9/10 of a mile (1.6km), and take a left onto Frederick Rd. Follow that around and it will take you to the trail.
From the north: IE: York PA: Take exit 33, which dumps you onto York Rd, MD45, take a left, continuing south bound. In 1.24 mi (1.99 km), veer to your right following the smaller road, this will take you to the trail. As of 2024, Google Streetview is showing this road closed to get to the trail, but that might be temporary thing.....
A Pennsy schedule showing northbound trains from Washington DC and Baltimore, up the Northern Central.
Map of the Northern Central Rwy, from the History of Parkton by Frank Wrabel
Actually, by the time this map was done in 1925, the NC had been part of the
PRR for 11 years (absorbed January 1st, 1914),
however, the takeover started in 1861 when the Pennsy bought a controlling
interest in the Northern Central.
Parkton
1
2
3
4These are the famous Pennsy "Centipedes".
5Pennsy Alco's on a thru passenger train in Parkton, found on Pinterest, posted by Steven Allen
6Above from Facebook: Courtesy Gregory D. Pawelski, December 5th, 2022..... At one time, about 5 miles south of Freeland MD, PRR doodlebug No. 4666 ran on the Northern Central Rwy as "The Parkton Local". Here, she stands at the depot in Parkton MD, just before departing on its morning run down the double track Northern Central line to Baltimore on June 4, 1959. (Pennsylvania Railroad Collection)
7
Wiseburg Rd
Pictures coming
Monkton
Pictures coming
Glencoe
Pictures coming
Sparks/Sparks Rd
Pictures coming
Phoenix/Phoenix Rd
Pictures coming
Ashland/Papermill Road
Pictures coming
Cockeysville
found on the kilduffs page
found on the kilduffs pageAbout the two pictures above, the one with an antenna pole is a later picture. The one without the pole is way earlier, but don't have a good sense for when the Pennsy put in radio repeaters along the Northern Central route.
York Rd was the only place Baltimore County decided to do a grade separation project, so the trains didn't stop traffic on York Road. Don't know when it was built, but it was covered over in the 1980's - and yes, it is still there, they just filled it in. It's too bad I didn't get pictures of the station while it was still standing, visited there many a time!
On the west side of York Road, was a freight station (still standing/owned by the MTA/Light Rail folks), and industrial siding, and a three or four track yard on the south side of Cockeysville Road.
Way before the underpass was "put in", York Road crossed the tracks like everything else. This is a picture from the early 1900's. Love the tower on the left!
Apparently, there used to be a wye in Cockeysville, but in looking at the picture, this had to be from the late 1800's, because there "ain't much" around!
Thanks to Steve and his Northern Central tour for uncovering this.
Texas
The community of Texas is off Church Lane, off York Road in between the borders of Timonium and Cockeysville. Baltimore County Fire Station #17 across from Target is the 'Texas' station. My ex father-in-law Lawrence Bode was born and raised on Church Lane near the NCR tracks and grade crossing, and my two daughters were baptized at St Joseph's Church. There may not be enough houses left on Church Lane to make a 'historic district', but there are still enough of them left for you to get an idea of what the street looked like 100 years ago!
Lutherville
Photo by C.W.E. Treadwell, during WWI (1915-1917), uploaded by CGHowes to Wikipedia
Riderwood
SB under Joppa Road.Riderwood Errata..... On Steve's excellent tour of the Northern Central, he has this note about why the R-O-W is wide at this point, which is adjacent to the Riderwood Station and behind the stores along Bellona Ave. To my knowledge, there was never a siding in Riderwood. At one time, there were three tracks running thru Ruxton, and the point at which the line went from 2 to 3 tracks is somewhere in Riderwood. But when I took this photo in 2004, the R-O-W was already two tracks wide because the Pennsy had already made this a double-track line - but removed one of them after the Parkton Local was cancelled (early 1960's)(When I moved into Ruxton in 1967, it was a single track). If you look in the Ruxton pictures below, you can see the middle track peeking out from the cowcatcher in the Terry Jo Miller picture.
In looking at the Harold Spice picture above, you can see the two tracks disappearing off to the upper right next to each other, but as the tracks progress southward past the station, the space in between widens, indicating (probably) where the third track started at the north end. In the second Harold Spice photo, you can see that the third track is gone (as with the Ruxton pictures below), so it must have been removed early in the 1900's. This is an educated guess from the photographic evidence I've been able to find.
Not that I am looking for fame and fortune, but I do believe that people who do things -for free- and on their own time, they should be recognized for doing so. This is one case where the Ruxton-Riderwood Improvement Association dropped the ball, when they issued a note to their members about getting the Riderwood Station on Baltimore County's Historic Register. Here is an excerpt from my Ruxton-Riderwood page: I got a call while in Minneapolis on business from a fellow named Mr. Coale of the Ruxton-Riderwood Improvement Association asking me for help (don't know why he called me, or how he knew I had an interest in trains). So I went to a monthly council meeting and petitioned Baltimore County to put it on their historical list, which, on my second trip, didn't look good at the hearing, because the council was turning down similar requests. But after a second speech, it finally did make it onto the list! As I said, the only involvement of the Improvement Association was to call me up and ask if I could get it on the list - your editor did all the work.
Riderwood Tunnels/Joppa Road
When I started driving in 1969, Joppa Road went over the tracks in a pretty 'rickety' ole bridge. I didn't really pay much attention at the time as to when they replaced the bridge with the "tunnels", but according to the history of the Light Rail route by John McGrain, the bridge was replaced by the "tunnels" in 1986.
Ruxton
1892, S. W. Wiley Jr
from Terry Jo Miller collection
from Terry Jo Miller collection
HSBC
~1955?, Warren E. OltNorthbound Capitol Connector along Bellona Ave, getting ready to pass thru Ruxton.
Passing by Hollins (Relay House) at the base of Lake Roland
If you visit here today, and look around, you have to wonder how they fit everything into that small "spot"!
Two tracks on the mainline, two tracks on the Greenspring Branch, a hotel, and a siding.....
Calvert Station
From the Library of Congress, comes these two pictures:
The Pennsylvania Railroad, starting around 1915, began switching over from -semaphore- signals, to a newly developed kind called -position light- signals, or PL's for short. If you want to learn more about PL signals, here is my page on them. Instead of using the familiar green/yellow/red lenses, the signals were designed to be readable in foggy conditions which seemed to be prevalent in the many valleys of Pennsylvania.
In the above pictures, we can see a northbound PL signal in shots 4, 5, and 6, with number six giving us the best view of the signal.
Here is a picture of a standard single-head mainline block signal. This picture I took, is one of the very few I managed to snap off while the line was in operation all the way to York and Harrisburg before Hurricane Agnes came along in 1972 and wiped out the line. This shot was taken around Northern Parkway in Baltimore City, back in the days when regular people like you and me could drive our cars along the R-O-W and not get thrown into jail :-). Even back then, like the light rail signals of today, the signals displayed STOP unless cleared by the dispatcher for a thru train. The insert from my PL chart shows that the single marker lamp below the main head indicates this is a stop and proceed signal, meaning once the train has stopped, it can proceed at restricted speed until it (the train) gets a more permissive signal or an obstruction is come across (and it needs to stop again).
So here we have snippets of the three photos with the NB PL signal - we can easily tell it is a standard high PL signal. And if you blow up the picture with the greatest detail of the signal, it DOES look like there is a marker lamp on the pole, altho it blends in with the adjacent track:
What is harder to tell from the photos, is the presence of a SB signal. But in two of the pictures, we see a small round "thing" on a pole, on the south side of the station. This probably the southbound signal. Anyone know of additional pictures from in and around Parkton? Too bad we don't have a picture of a Parkton Local coming into the station, that would show off the SB signal really well. All the other pictures of NB trains are of thru trains heading to Harrisburg.
Finally, after searching Bing for pictures, I came across a picture (#7 above) that was taken in the later years, and shows a much better picture of the SB signal, so much so, that you can see it displaying a CLEAR SIGNAL.
In the track schematic the park/trail system erected, they show a signal, 509, but it is located at the switch for the "third" siding track, and not on the mainline. There is no reason for there to be a signal there. A yard signal, if there was one, would NOT be numbered, and it would be a dwarf signal. It should be corrected and moved on the park display. NOTE: I noticed on the sign they have on the signal in Monkton, that they refer to the signal as a '509', given that, I think the Park People think that the 509 is a signal type, which it is NOT.
Always on the lookout for additional information, I searched Google's AI for a simple explanation of the signal numbering system, and it is shown below. However, if you want to learn more about Pennsy PL signal's (not that it is a link), don't use their link to that page, because it does not explain anything about Pennsy PL signals, it is a page for signal basics, which covers ALL signals. It's another one of my pages, that's how I know.....
the Frederick Road Bridge
Bob Dover/November 2, 2013
Notes from Historic Bridges.org:
The bridge still carries traffic, but the amount of traffic is very limited. In the mid-1800s, the Northern Central Railroad (NCRR) between Baltimore and York was built, and passed directly through the center of Parkton a few hundred feet west of the bridge. The bridge and the center of Parkton were then bypassed in 1929 with a newer, higher bridge carrying York Road (Maryland Route 45) over the creek a few hundred feet downstream of the Stone Arch. In the 1970s, the NCRR was closed. In the early 1990s, the railroad right-of-way was incorporated into Gunpowder Falls State Park, and was turned into a bicycle rail trail (once called the NCRR Trail, now called the Torrey C. Brown Trail). Old York Road was closed on either side of the rail trail, leaving the bridge on a short dead end road, about a quarter mile long, between York Road and the rail trail. There are two houses and a small parking lot (space for about 10 cars) for the rail trail on this dead end stretch between the bridge and the trail. So although the bridge does not carry through-traffic, it does carry cars to the two houses and the parking lot. One of the two houses is very interesting � it is in a 100-plus year old stone bank building, right at the end of the bridge.
Construction/Description: The bridge is a small stone arch bridge, consisting of two arches. The length of the bridge is about 50 feet, the deck is only about 10 feet above creek level, and the bridge is only about 15 feet wide (one lane of traffic). The bridge is made of mostly unshaped local stone, although the arches are outlined with flat stones placed radially around the arch.
Even though there is no documentation at the bridge itself, the status of the bridge as the oldest bridge in the state is well-documented in several state publications. Therefore, there is little risk of the bridge being removed accidentally without an understanding of its significance.
HistoricBridges.org Discussion: Engineer is assumed, per Historic Bridge Inventory. Also assumed to be the oldest stone arch bridge in the state. The bridge appears to have been altered with gunnite, shotcrete, or excessive mortar by previous repairs. This has visually obscured the stone to some extent. The bridge is highly significant in the state context as the oldest bridge of its kind and perhaps of any kind in the state. It is also noteworthy since it was built for the Baltimore and York-town Turnpike.
1827, August 15 - George Winchester assigned to survey potential traffic routes by Baltimore businessmen. (HSBC)
1828, February 13 - The Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad (B&S) was incorporated.
1829 - Construction of the B&S started (Wiki).
1831 - Track completed to Roland Run/Relay House ("bottom" of Lake Roland), later called Hollins.
1831, July 4 - the B&S celebrates the opening of its train service, carrying passengers pulled by horses to the Roland Run
1832 - Track completed to Timonium. (HSBC)
1832 - Track completed to Owings Mills via the Greenspring Branch from Relay House/Hollins.
1832 - First steam locomotive, the Herald, arrives from England, immediately put into service. (HSBC)
1832, March 14 - Formation of the York & Maryland Line RR (to build the Pennsylvania section of the B&S) Wikipedia date
1834 - Track completed to Texas. (HSBC)
1835 - Track completed to Cockeysville. (HSBC)
1837 - Track completed to Parkton. (HSBC)
1837 - Track completed to the MD/PA state line. (Wiki)
1837? - Formation of the York & Maryland Line RR (Frank Wrabel date).
*1837? - First thru train between Baltimore and York.
*1838 - Track completed to York.
1854 - First engine house in Parkton - MAYBE? (HSBC)
1854 - Margaret Parke started selling lots in the area, inherited from her father James Calder. (HSBC)
1854 - The B&S merged with the Y&ML and the Wrightsville, York, and Gettysburg RR to form the Northern Central RR.
1855-1859 - Replacement of more than 75 bridges. (Wiki)
1858? - Track completed to Sunbury PA.
1858 - Completion of wood and strap-iron rails on the main line replacement with rolled-iron “T” rails. Several more years for sidings and yards. (Wiki)
1859 - First tollgate erected on York Rd/York Turnpike. (HSBC)
1861 - The Pennsylvania RR gained a controlling interest in the NCR.
1861, February 21 - President-elect Lincoln's inaugural train rerouted off the NCR thru Philly, because of unruly southern sympathizers. (HSBC)
1861 - NCR management started the massive task of rebuilding the track structure and installing double track lines (shoulda waited, huh? :-) (HSBC)
1861, April 20 - Bridges at Melvale, Relay House, and Cockeysville burned, along with telegraph lines cut. (HSBC)
1861, April 20+ - Bridges further north at Mile Run, Owl Brook, Bee Tree, and Little Falls burned to prevent northern troops from using the railroad. (HSBC)
1861, May 13 - Temporary bridges built to replace those burned in April.
1861, June - 33 bridges burned as part of the Civil War, all rebuilt by June 29th!
1862, September - 140th Pennsylvania Infantry established their camp in Parkton, initially the site of several small guard camps.
1862, December - 140th Pennsylvania Infantry leaves Parkton.
1863, May - Permanent bridges rebuilt.
1863, November 18 - President Lincoln journeyed over the war-torn NCR on 1863 on his way north to Gettysburg. (HSBC)
1864, July 9 - The Cockeysville and Gunpowder bridges were consumed by fire n the Johnson-Gilmor raid.
1864 - The line was double-tracked at Parkton. (HSBC)
1865, April 21 - President Lincoln's funeral train traverses the NCR. (HSBC)
1868 - The crude, single track main line was finally double tracked for traffic eastward and westward (railroad timetable direction). (HSBC)
1903 - The noted Philadelphia architectural firm of Furness and Evans completed an intriguing design for a station. (HBSC)
1903 - New station built in Parkton (HBSC)
1903 - The 1882 passenger station was rebuilt as a freight office for the PRR and the Adams Express Company, and later the REA. (HSBC)
1916, May 8th - the Northern Central, Greenspring Branch, and the WM were used as a bypass route while work was being done on B&P Tunnel.
1933 - Passenger/commuter service ended on the Greenspring Branch.
1958 – Parkton was listed as the only station in Baltimore County that had train service to Baltimore according to the Kilduffs page.
1959 – End of the Parkton Local.
1968, February 1 - Pennsylvania Railroad becomes the Penn Central RR after merger with the New York Central and others.
1974, June 12 - Cockeysville Station demolished (HSBC photo files P002652))
1976, April 1 - Penn Central becomes Conrail after the merger with most north east railroads.
1992, April 2 - Light Rail opens their line, with the north end at Timonium.
1997, September 9 - Extension from Timonium to Hunt Valley opens - single track north of the Gilroy Road station.
1999, June 1 - Conrail splits assets between CSX and Norfolk Southern, the Northern Central becomes NS "territory".
2005 - Light Rail double tracking project began on the north end of the system, the Northern Central.
2005 - Last Norfolk Southern freight on the Northern Central.
* Dates in Frank Wrabel's account of the Northern Central that conflict with each other.
Most of this history, except for modern dates, comes from Frank Wrabel's history page.
HSBC - Historical Society of Baltimore COunty
Courtesy USGS, click here for their index page.
1902
1953Disclaimers:
New format 10/26/23: Please check out my disclaimer page for my standard dribble and contact info here
RAILFAN GUIDES HOME
RAILROAD SIGNALS HOME
NEW 05/27/2026, MAY28/29/30/31/2026, JUN01/02/03/04/05/06/2026
Last Modified 06-Jun-2026