It is no secret that the city of Cumberland has declined drastically from its former status of "Queen city of the Alleghenies", the RR and manufacturing backbone is severely reduced. The city has lost half its population in the last 50 years, and now the infrastructure built on and around the X-B&O trackage is beginning to crumble.
This week, the Brunswick Hotel, built in 1886, will be razed by the city after it began to collapse. This building at the corner of Baltimore and Park St. was right beside the Baltimore Street crossing with the B&O. Its location 1 block west of the former Queen City Station (current site of Amtrak) put the Brunswick in many photos, films, and videos of B&O, Chessie, and CSX trains passing by, a few feet from its doors. The building also housed businesses, including an iconic "Shoe Hospital".
An ongoing problem with CSX is the 3 ancient street overpasses in the city's west side, all 3 cross the Mountain Sub to Grafton. The bridge at Washington St. was hit back in August by a mis-routed Autorack car and has been closed by CSX pending demolition. The Cumberland St. bridge is slated to close this weekend, and the Fayette St. bridge is weight restricted, making for longer responses from emergency vehicles. All 3 are over 100 yrs. old and RR owned, leaving city officials frustrated in their efforts to get CSX to fix or replace the bridges.
Future problems may center on the Mountain Sub's 1909 concrete viaduct over Wills Creek and 2 busy streets, and the 1933 Truss/concrete Henderson Blvd. bridge over the Pittsburgh line.
Photos from Cumberland Times-News
