B&O Rolling Mill / Bolt and Forge / Shops Traditional Cache

(From the Library of Congress)
Located at the end of Elm Street and Locust Alley Cumberland, Maryland.

Originally manufactured iron rails for route to Chicago and for double-tracking main line from Cumberland to Grafton, West Virginia; rolled iron bars and other structural sections for railroad. The facility was demolished in 1981.

Significance: With the inexhaustible supply of coal and the eventual juncture of the route to Pittsburgh with the mainline at Cumberland, the B & 0 thought significant economics were available by producing rails and other rolled products at this location, rather than purchasing them from commercial mills. The Rail Rolling Mill is one of several large manufacturing buildings erected by the railroad in Cumberland, beginning in 1869. The mill, completed in 1871, was standard heavy-timber construction.

However, there were no columns that impeded floor space, thus allowing completed flexibility in the placement of machinery and the arrangement of manufacturing processes at ground level. Rather than rows of columns supporting the roof, it was carried by a 99'-6" clear-spanning Howe truss with central ventilating monitor running nearly the entire 316 foot length of the building.

Originally, the mill had twelve puddling furnaces, a rail-train with three sets of rolls, and one squeezer. There were also three pairs of hot shears for cutting iron, two saws, two blowers and two forging hammers- all driven by steam engines. At the time of survey, all rolling mills, machinery and equipment had been removed and the mill was used for storage. The entire Cumberland shops were demolished in 1981. (Source)

The Bolt and Forge Shop was originally a rolling mill for the manufacture of bar and other iron products, according to the B&O Annual Report of 1873. It is 99 feet by 228 feet 7 inches. The Bolt and Forge Shop was significant in its building technology because of an all iron frame that was designed by the B & O's Mt. Clare Shops in Baltimore, Maryland. Cast-iron columns, buttressed with unusual cast-iron brackets at ground level, supported by a clear span, Fink truss fabricated in cast and wrought-iron. The track-side wall was built of brick while the three remaining walls were covered in corrugated galvanized iron.

The estimated cost of the shop was $183,174.24. Affiliation of the B & 0 with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in 1963 resulted in the rolling mill closing down. The shops saw limited use as repair facilities for Westinghouse air-brakes coupler hoses for railroad cards and storage. The entire Cumberland shop complex was demolished in 1981. (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/md/md0000/md0001/data/md0001.pdf )

The Rolling Mill/Bolt and Forge and Shops have all been removed and replaced with the Queen City Center area.
This micro that you seek is away from all the hustle and bustle but Stealth will be required at all times as you will be in plain view of anyone passing nearby.

Parking is nearby and easily accessed from any direction.

No Room for a Pen so BYOP !!