Silver Spring station (listed as the Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station 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 ...

) is a former

train 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 suc ...

on the Metropolitan Subdivision in Silver Spring in

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

. It was built in 1945 by the

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 ...

on the foundation of a previous station, a Victorian-style brick structure built in 1878. It served intercity trains until 1986 and light rail until 2000. Today, it is owned and operated as a museum by Montgomery Preservation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

History

The station was designed in the Colonial Revival style and built from standardized plans developed for B&O stations in the mid-1940s. In the Baltimore & Ohio era, the station was the first stop out of Washington on westbound long-distance trains. The roster in 1956 included: *''

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

'' (Baltimore-Detroit) *'' Capitol Limited'' (Jersey City-Chicago) *''

Cleveland Night Express The ''Cleveland Night Express'' was an American named train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Baltimore, Maryland and Cleveland, Ohio with major station stops in Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The B&O ...

'' (Baltimore-Cleveland) *''

Columbian Columbian is the adjective form of Columbia (disambiguation), Columbia. It may refer to: Buildings * The Columbian Theatre, a music hall in northeastern Kansas * The Columbian (Chicago), a building in Illinois Published works * ''The Columbian' ...

'' (Washington-Chicago) *''

Diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

'' (Jersey City-St. Louis) *''

Metropolitan Special The ''Metropolitan Special'' was the workhorse passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1920s–1960s between St. Louis, Missouri, and New York's Rockfeller Center station. In earlier years only the east-bound #12 c ...

'' (Jersey City-St. Louis) *''

National Limited The ''National Limited'' was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. (Buses took passenge ...

'' (Jersey City-St. Louis) *'' Shenandoah'' (Jersey City-Chicago) *'' Washington-Chicago Express'' (Washington-Chicago)

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 ...

's '' Blue Ridge'' to

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

served the station from 1973 until it was discontinued in 1986.

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 of ...

Brunswick Line service at the station ended in 2000, and trains now stop at nearby

Silver Spring station Silver Spring is a Washington Metro and MARC Train station in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland on the Red Line (Washington Metro), Red Line and Brunswick Line. On the Metro, Silver Spring is the first station in Maryland ...

where transfer to the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

is available. The station was added to the

in 2000 and restored in 2002.Montgomery Preservation, Inc. Rockville, MD
"Historic Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station."
Brochure. Accessed 2010-09-09. It retains its original 1940s waiting-room furniture and recessed fluorescent lighting fixtures. Exhibits on the history of Silver Spring and the B&O Station are provided by the Silver Spring Historical Society and Montgomery Preservation. The Eastbound Waiting Room, a small rectangular building of similar design, stood on the south side of the tracks. Built along with the station in 1945, it was razed and rebuilt in 1976 to make way for tracks laid for the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

. An underground pedestrian tunnel connected the two buildings beneath the track bed. In 2008, the building was demolished to make way for other development.

References

External links

*, including photo in 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station
- Information from the Town of Silver Spring {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1878 Railway stations closed in 2000 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1945 Railway stations in Montgomery County, Maryland Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Colonial Revival architecture in Maryland Former Amtrak stations in Maryland 1878 establishments in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Maryland 2000 disestablishments in Maryland