Muddy Creek Forks

The southern section of the ROW at Muddy Creek Forks is not used for excursions at this time and has
seen little work beyond a very basic stabilization. Some of the ties are so rotted that I stay off the
tracks in order not to collapse them, which left me feeling guilty the first time I squished one, as if I,
and not time, had been the real culprit - imagine steel rails perched atop empty Kleenex boxes. The
walk takes me back to a time when there were still a lot of woods lining my own portion of the
MA&PA, 30 mileposts to the south, and to a time when I could walk alongside any railroad tracks
and not be accosted as a potential terrorist. Not a distant nostalgia by any margin, but the world
changes quickly these days, especially in the crowded terrified East. It’s quiet walking and I can
hear myself panting; too many big meals along with too much time in front of the computer has made
me a six year old again and a mile seems like a long, long, distance. I mutter aloud to myself, a bad
habit, wondering what makes this long dead little railroad so appealing to so many people. We are
after all, in the heart of PRR country and a short drive from the birthplace of the B&O. I could be
sitting by the Northeast Corridor where trains zip by all day long at a hundred miles an hour, but
here I am, picking my way through the creosote tissue cartons. And I take pictures, scores and
scores of pictures that won’t mean a thing to anyone but me. “Wanna see a slide show of my walk
in the woods? No? I don’t blame you.” In the end I can’t say where the appeal lies exactly, but
I know that I enjoyed the walk much more than I would have if it had been on a sanitized
“Rails to Trails” promenade, where the railfans have been displaced by people bent on
immortality through shin splints. Maybe it’s the decrepitude that draws me in, the lure of the
abandoned works - a little creepy and always marvelous. For a minute or two, I am a first grader
again in mind, as well as in stamina. Tramping back to my car I picture Lucius Beebe lounging
on a track speeder in his top hat and tales, munching on pâté, and feel absurd.

Muddy Creek Forks Gallery
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Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad Preservation Society

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Lucius Beebe
-MDRails