Cumberland Subdivision
{{short description|Railroad line in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland}}
{{For|the line in Kentucky and Virginia|Cumberland Valley Subdivision}}
{{For|the railroad line in New England|Mountain Division}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width =
| name = Cumberland Subdivision
| image = CSX Cum-Sub 145-MAGNOLIA-CPL-brackets-winter.jpg
| image_width =
| caption = Cumberland Subdivision on the Magnolia Cutoff in Magnolia, West Virginia, facing west towards Cumberland. In the distance is Magnolia Bridge and Graham Tunnel.
| type = Freight rail
| system = CSX Transportation
| status = Active
| locale = West Virginia, Maryland
| start = Cumberland
| end = Harpers Ferry
| stations =
| open =
| close =
| owner = CSX Transportation
| operator = CSX Transportation
| linelength =
| tracks = 2
| gauge = {{RailGauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| electrification =
| speed =
| map = {{Cumberland Subdivision}}
| map_state =
}}
The CSX Cumberland Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Brunswick, Maryland, west to Cumberland, Maryland, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030120051108/http://www.trainweb.org/csxtimetables/Baltimore/Cumberland.html CSX Timetables: Cumberland Subdivision] along the old Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) main line. At its east end, the Cumberland Subdivision becomes the Metropolitan Subdivision; at its west end at Cumberland, Maryland it becomes the Cumberland Terminal Subdivision. It meets the Shenandoah Subdivision at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and the Lurgan Subdivision in Cherry Run, West Virginia.{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/CU-Cumberland_Sub|title = CU-Cumberland Sub - the RadioReference Wiki}} http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ETTs/CSX%20Baltimore%20Div%20ETT%20%234%201-1-2005.pdf CSX Baltimore Division Timetable
History
File:CumberlandSubdivision.JPG
The Cumberland Subdivision was opened in 1842 as part of the B&O's main line.{{cite web|url= http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1842%20May%2004.wd.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1842 }} {{small|(70.6 KiB)}}, March 2005 Edition
In 1914 the Baltimore and Ohio RR opened the Magnolia Cutoff, a more direct route through mountain ridges, running {{convert|14|mi|km}} between Hansrote, West Virginia and Paw Paw, West Virginia. The project included construction of four tunnels, two bridges, and many deep rock cuts.High Iron Online. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020623040147/http://www.ihavideo.com/HImaps.html "Magnolia Cutoff."]}} 2001-09-20. The B&O continued to use the original route along the Potomac River, called the "Lowline," until 1961.Rail Nutter News. [http://railnutternews4.tripod.com/MagnoliaMountainRails.html "Magnolia Cutoff."] Accessed 2010-11-17.
In 1987 the subdivision and the rest of the B&O system were merged into CSX.
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Current operation
The Cumberland Subdivision supports freight and passenger traffic, with frequent runs of intermodal, autoracks, coal unit trains, mixed freights, oil trains, and Amtrak's Capitol Limited in both directions. The MARC Brunswick Line commuter trains stop at Martinsburg, WV, Duffields, WV, Harpers Ferry, WV, and points east in Maryland, terminating at Union Station in Washington, D.C.