History of the Trolley Trail

History of the Trolley Trail. . , The railroad system that would eventually become the Hagerstown and Frederick Railway started on October 9, 1896 with the arrival of the first electric trolley in Middletown on a line built from Frederick City. However, the rail bed in Thurmont goes back to the 1870's when a service line was established between Catoctin Furnace and the Western Maryland main line in Thurmont. Through many starts and stops several different railways operated on this section of the line. First was the Monocacy Valley Railway with passenger service on the newly opened rails running to Frederick City. Then came the Washington, Frederick and Gettysburg Railway with a bold plan to connect Washington and Gettysburg with a high-speed electric train service. The WF and GRW never completed any additional track and fell by the wayside, then the Frederick Railway took control for a short time. It then fell to the Potomac Edison Company, parent company to the H&FRW to electrify the line between Thurmont and Frederick. The electrification of the Thurmont line was completed in 1909-1911 and with the construction of the Thurmont Station and power sub-station on East Main Street, local residents had a reliable way to get to Frederick and all points in between. The H&F also offered a direct route to the Middletown Valley, Hagerstown, Williamsport, and Shady Grove in PA. At Shady Grove you could get a connection to Waynesboro and to Pen Mar Park. The new trolley service brought with it easy access to shipping via the H&F connection to the Western Maryland in Thurmont and the B&O in Frederick. This brought about an increase in local businesses along the line with several fish farms, dairies, and lime kilns established along the route. Passenger and freight service were a big attraction for those in the rural path and ridership was high in the early years of the trolley. The H&F brought along with it the electric distribution system and many rural areas saw electric service because of the trolley line. With the growth in popularity of personal automobiles in the pre-world war two years the trolley started losing riders. With war rationing the H&F saw a return of riders and an increase in freight service bringing war surplus goods to iron yards in Frederick. After the war things slowed down again and by the early 1950's the Thurmont line was the only section of rail still running passenger service. This ended on February 20, 1954 when the last passenger trolley made the trip from Frederick to Thurmont. A crowd gathered at the Western Maryland Station to witness the last trolley and listened to speeches by Thurmont Mayor Ray Weddle and P&E President Paul Smith. The H&F continued freight service with diesel electric engines until 1956 when the line was closed for good and the track removed. Luckily Potomac Edison retained the right of way and Thurmont residents and visitors can now enjoy the Trolley Trail as it winds from East Main Street to Moser Road.