Hagerstown & Frederick Service Car No 8 on a siding next to what is probably an H&F building, I am not sure if this is in Frederick or Hagerstown. Note the Blue Ridge bus parked behind No 8. Potomac Edison ran the Blue Ridge Bus Line in conjunction with the H&FRR. Many will tell you that the bus killed the trolley and while it is true in many cases the buses were actually owned by the trolley companies. Buses were not limited to only the areas served by the track, they could go anywhere there were suitable roads. Trolley companies soon realized that buses were the future of public transportation and many switched over and then eliminated their trolley services. Unfortunately, personal vehicles soon disrupted the bus services. 

Hagerstown & Frederick Service Car No 8 on a siding next to what is probably an H&F building, I am not sure if this is in Frederick or Hagerstown. Note the Blue Ridge bus parked behind No 8. Potomac Edison ran the Blue Ridge Bus Line in conjunction with the H&FRR. Many will tell you that the bus killed the trolley and while it is true in many cases the buses were actually owned by the trolley companies. Buses were not limited to only the areas served by the track, they could go anywhere there were suitable roads. Trolley companies soon realized that buses were the future of public transportation and many switched over and then eliminated their trolley services. Unfortunately, personal vehicles soon disrupted the bus services. 

Hagerstown & Frederick No 170 in the snow on the way to Middletown, MD. This looks like a railfan trip.

A detail of the Hagerstown & Frederick No 170 in the snow on the way to Middletown, MD. Given the gentlemen standing outside the car and the number of people crowded into the operator's area, this looks like it could have been a railfan trip. Can anyone identify the location based on the buildings in the background?

Here is a great view of Hagerstown & Frederick RR Motor Freight No. 5 next to the carnival grounds in Thurmont. This photo was taken on August 2, 1947, and shows No. 5 pulling a string of cars toward Frederick. To the left, you can see one of the early pavilions at the carnival grounds. The gondola car behind No. 5 is a Pennsylvania Railroad car. At the end of WW II The H&FRR would haul hundreds of carloads of war scrap to the junkyards in Frederick. The scrap would be transported from Baltimore Harbor to Thurmont by the Western Maryland Railway and then hauled to Frederick by the H&F. I heard many stories from the old farmers about climbing onto the open gondolas to harvest items when they were parked on the siding in Thurmont. There were lots of chains, digging bars, hand tools, vehicle parts, guns, and other items that could be useful on the farm. Since the WMRY had no service directly to Frederick they used the H&F to transfer freight to Frederick. You can see the engineer seated in the front of the car look through the center window. The direction of travel is indicated by which trolley pole is up on the line.

This is a photo of the Hagerstown and Frederick Station located on East Main Street in Thurmont. This photo was probably taken n the late 1930's and as you can see the station is looking a little run down. Passenger traffic dropped way off in the late 30's but saw a resurgence during the war yeas. In this view the substation still had it's wiring on the roof. The substation building remains today and looks pretty much as it has during it's entire life. Recent additions of murals and exterior lights has brought this original building back to life. The Substation and H&FRR Motor Freight No 5 now serve as the anchor to the Thurmont Trolley Trail.  The substation building survives today and H&FRR Freight Motor No 5 now sits within the foot print of the old station building. In this view you can also see the small freight platform that stood behind the station building. At the time this photo was taken the electric equipment was still inside the substation building.

A closer view of the stations shows that it is not being maintained. Ridership dropped significantly through the 1930's.