Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2009.1094.01 |
Title |
Historical Bulletin: The Kensington Line |
Object Name |
booklet |
Date |
1959 |
Creator |
LeRoy O. King Sr., National Railway Historical Society, Inc. |
Description |
By LeRoy O. King Sr., National Railway Historical Society, Inc. Washington, D.C., Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, Inc. THE KENSINGTON LINE by LeRoy O. King, Sr. Chevy Chase Lake & Kensington Railway was chartered in September 1894 and began operation on May 30, 1895. The entire line was single track and extended from a point opposite the Chevy Chase Lake barn of the Capital Traction Company to the bank in Kensington, Maryland, stopping short of the road crossing the B&O at grade at that point. There was a short stub end siding at the Lake, just north of the B&O crossing, but no siding at the Kensington terminus. Ray's Turnout, a thru siding about midway of the line and just north of the point where the track crossed Rock Creek, took its name from the former owner of the farm on which it was located. Mr. Herbert Claude, the Division Superintendent of the Chevy Chase Division of the Capital Traction Company for many years, is listed as Superintendent of the Kensington Line by both Poor's for 1911 and the McGraw Hill Directory for 1913. Mr. Charles Terrill, a Chevy Chase Line motorman as early as 1905, in an interview, agreed with this and added that Mr. Claude was also one of the construction engineers for the Line when it was built, and that he had heard it said that in laying out the Line, the contour of the ground was followed so far as the limits of the right of way permitted in order to avoid grading, which accounted for the many curves. The original equipment consisted of two closed motor cars, Nos. 1 & 2, built by Jackson & Sharp Co. in 1895. The Capital Traction Company supplied power from their Chevy Chase Lake Station and also maintained cars and line. The property was sold at foreclosure in 1902 to Kensington Railway, chartered in the same year. The Montgomery Electric Light & Railway was chartered on April 11, 1902, to build an extension of the Kensington Railway to Sandy Spring and other points. Both American Street Railway Investments, The McGraw Hill Red Book for 1909 and Poor's Manual of Railroads for 1911 agree that the objective was Ellicott City. As of March 23, 1906, the charter was amended and the name changed to Sandy Spring Railway. At this time, the entire issue of stock and bonds of the Kensington Railway was purchased by Robert Henry Phillips representing interests in control of Sandy Spring Railway. Presumably the intention was to secure a Washington connection for a line to Baltimore. From this time until the line was abandoned in 1935, the Kensington Line was known as THE KENSINGTON RY. CO. AND THE SANDY SPRING RY. CO. They had identical officers, Charles F. Brooke was President and R. H. Phillips was the principal stockholder (and owner) and acted as Secretary and General Manager. Plans for the extension of the line were apparently taken up promptly after the Sandy Spring Railway took over. A news item in the Street Railway Journal for June 2, 1906, states that at an executive meeting of the Town Council of Kensington on May 21st, a request was presented by R. Henry Phillips on behalf of the Kensington & Sandy Spring Cos. for a franchise to traverse certain streets of the town. No action was taken further than to schedule a meeting to be held at a later date in the presence of all the citizens interested. The proposed extension was built from the original terminal at the bank in Kensington to West Kensington and at a later date to Norris Station. The dates of these two extensions is best covered by a letter dated September 13, 1951, from the Public Service, Commission of Maryland, quoting an excerpt from an answer filed with the Commission on June 17, 1915, in formal Case No. 954, In the Matter of the Complaint of Kensington Chamber of Commerce vs. Kensington Railway Company, as follows: "The railroad in question was built a number of years ago, and at that time ran from near the station of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, in Kensington, to Chevy Chase Lake. This railroad was owned by the Kensington Railway Company. Prior to 1910 the Sandy Spring Railway Company was organized, and began to build an extension of the said railroad from the terminus at the railroad station in the town of Kensington, running thru the village of Kensington about five tenths of a mile, to the highway bridge over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at the western edge of the said town. Since that time the defendant has built an overhead bridge over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, quite near the highway bridge, aforesaid, and has extended its road about fifteen hundred feet to the northern limit of the said town. It has also built and completed about five hundred feet beyond this point, and has in course of construction one thousand feet additional, which is expected to be completed by June 24, 1915, or shortly thereafter and will certainly be in operation within a very short time after June 24, 1915, the time fixed for the new schedule, running in a northerly direction toward what is known as Wheaton, which is the point at which the present extension is aimed." |