Point of Rocks station

Point of Rocks
MARC Commuter rail station
Amtrak's Capitol Limited passing through the Point of Rocks station.
Location	4000 Clay Street, Point of Rocks, Maryland[1]
Coordinates	39°16′24.7″N 77°32′00″W / 39.273528°N 77.53333°W / 39.273528; -77.53333Coordinates: 39°16′24.7″N 77°32′00″W / 39.273528°N 77.53333°W / 39.273528; -77.53333
Line(s)	Metropolitan Subdivision
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	Yes
Disabled access	No[2]
History
Opened	1873
Passengers
2018	319 daily[3]  26.7% (MARC)
Services
Preceding station MARC Following station Brunswick towards Martinsburg Brunswick Line Dickerson towards Union Station
Former services Preceding station Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Following station Brunswick toward Chicago Main Line Dickerson toward Jersey City toward Chicago toward Jersey City Terminus Old Main Line toward Baltimore Camden
Point of Rocks Railroad Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Off of U.S. 15 Point of Rocks, Maryland
Coordinates	39°16′24.7″N 77°32′00″W / 39.273528°N 77.53333°W / 39.273528; -77.53333
Area	4 acres (1.6 ha)
Built	1875 (1875)
Architect	E. Francis Baldwin
Architectural style	Gothic
NRHP reference No.	73000918[4]
Added to NRHP	April 11, 1973

Point of Rocks is a historic passenger rail station on the MARC Brunswick Line between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, WV, located at Point of Rocks, Frederick County, Maryland, United States.^[5] The station was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1873, and designed by E. Francis Baldwin. It is situated at the junction of the B&O Old Main Line (running to Baltimore) and the Metropolitan Branch (running to Washington, D.C.). The Met Branch also opened in 1873 and became the principal route for passenger trains between Baltimore, Washington and points west.

The main station building is a 2+1⁄2-story, triangular Gothic Revival with a four-story tower and a 1+1⁄2-story wing at the base. The tower has a pyramidal roof containing a dormer on each side. On top is a square cupola supporting a pyramidal peaked roof.^[6]

The station building itself is not open to the public and is used by CSX as storage and offices for maintenance of way crews. In 2008, new platforms and platform shelters were built for MARC commuters traveling east towards Washington DC, replacing older bus shelter–style structures which were erected in the mid-1990s.

During the blizzard of 2010, the south side awning on the main building collapsed under the weight of record snow fall, and was later removed leaving half the building missing cover. In January 2011, work to rebuild the destroyed part of the structure began.

The Point of Rocks Railroad Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973,^[4] and reopened for the Maryland Rail Commuter Service, now called MARC, which established the Brunswick Line.

Station layout[]

References[]

External links[]

Media related to Point of Rocks (MARC station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Point of Rocks station official website
• Point of Rocks station image (Dynamic Depot Maps)^{[permanent dead link]}
• Point of Rocks Railroad Station, Frederick County, including photo from 2006, at Maryland Historical Trust
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MD-14, "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Point of Rocks Station, Near State Route 28, Point of Rocks, Frederick County, MD", 14 photos, 8 measured drawings, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
• B & O Railroad Station at Point of Rocks - Ghosts of DC blog post on historic first train arrival