Gaithersburg station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

station located on the

Metropolitan Subdivision The Metropolitan Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the District of Columbia and the U.S. state of Maryland. The 79-mile line runs from Washington, D.C., northwest to Weverton, Maryland, along the form ...

in downtown

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...

. It is served by the

MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

Brunswick Line The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, West Virginia, with a branch to Frederick, Maryland. It primarily serves the northern and western suburbs of Washington. The line, MARC's second longest ...

service; it was also served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

from 1971 to 1986. The former

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

station building and freight shed, designed by

Ephraim Francis Baldwin Ephraim Francis Baldwin (October 4, 1837 – January 20, 1916) was an American architect, best known for his work for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and for the Roman Catholic Church. Personal life Although born in Troy, New York, Baldwin liv ...

and built in 1884, are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed. They are used as the Gaithersburg Community Museum.

History

The station was originally built in 1884 for the

Metropolitan Branch Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

of the

(B&O). The station was designed by

, and consists of two historic buildings. The

passenger station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

is a one-story common-bond brick structure with a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

roof. It is nearly identical in plan and dimensions to the Laurel, Maryland station Baldwin designed, also built in 1884, although the rooflines and settings are quite different. 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

was established in 1971, B&O Passenger service was replaced by the ''

Potomac Special Potomac () may refer to: Places in the United States Washington, D.C. area: *The Potomac River, which flows through West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. **The Potomac Highlands, a region of the Potomac River's watershed in West ...

'', which itself was replaced by the '' Blue Ridge'' in 1973. From 1976 to 1981 it also served another Amtrak train called the '' Shenandoah''. During that time, it was listed on the

in 1978 as Gaithersburg B & O Railroad Station and Freight Shed, 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 passengers 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. The garage was completed in 2000, with the pedestrian bridge finished the next year.

Gaithersburg Community Museum

The Gaithersburg Community Museum is located in the restored 1884 B&O Railroad Station complex, and includes the freight house, a history park and a

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damag ...

. The museum features exhibits about the city's history, as well as historic railroad artifacts and equipment. The Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad steam locomotive Consolidation #14, along with a caboose and a

Budd RDC The Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC, Budd car or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars were primarily adop ...

are on display in front of the freight shed.

References

External links

*, including photo in 1974, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Station from Summit Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Gaithersburg Community Museum
{{National Register of Historic Places Brunswick Line Former Amtrak stations in Maryland Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Buildings and structures in Gaithersburg, Maryland Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1873 Railway stations in Montgomery County, Maryland MARC Train stations Railway freight houses on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Maryland Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland 1873 establishments in Maryland