Abandoned Rails: Clayton, DE to Easton and Oxford, MD

(Forwarded from the Maryland & Delaware Railroad)

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This shows the "end of the line" in Clayton, DE, where the last train stopped on October 30, 1998. Photo by Mike Palmer, May 2003.

This abandoned railway passed through mostly farming areas of Delaware and Maryland's eastern shore. It was a branch off of the Pennsylvania RR's Delmarva peninsula line. It survived the Penn Central years but was later sold off as part of the Maryland & Delaware (MDDE) instead of becoming part of Conrail. The Clayton, DE to Easton, MD segment was in turn spun off by the MDDE to the Chesapeake RR (CHRR).

Heading southwest from Clayton, DE, the line passed through Kenton, Hartly, and Slaughter, DE and then through Marydel, Henderson, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Ridgely, Hillsboro, Queen Anne, Cordova, Chapel, and Easton, MD. At some point the line extended beyond Easton through Landaff and Trappe to Oxford on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay.

Though this line is out of service, it is listed on the official Maryland state map as "MDOT" (Maryland Department of Transportation) as the line is 'rail-banked' for possible future use.

Thanks to Jay Davis for contributing information about this route.

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The railcars are all gone and the rails have either been severed many times, paved over or converted into rails to trails areas (i.e. Ridgely and Easton, MD). There is a old caboose in need of restortation that was trucked in and is stationed at the Ridgely Depot as a part of the Rails To Trails project there. The rolling stock that was "parked" in Clayton after the rail operation expired in October 1998 stayed in Clayton for almost 10 years before finally being shipped to other buyers or destinations! The former railyard in Clayton is now a BioDiesel plant and retained only a few hundred feet of track from the Clayton to Easton Line to serve as a siding. Southern States Cooperative, a local farmers feed and fertilizer dealership continues handles rail shipments through the former "Clayton Yard."

Clayton, DE to Easton and Oxford, MD

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