The History of the Silver Spring Station By R. N. Nelson

The original Silver Spring station, built in 1878, was a local stop only until August 16, 1936, when the railroad elected to stop all trains there for the convenience of passengers living in Northwest Washington, thus avoiding a trip downtown to Union Station.

At that original station, the Station Agent resided on the second floor, which had a living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. The kitchen and dining room were on the first floor in the rear (street side) wing. The last agent to occupy it was Russell S. Main, with his wife, three sons and a daughter. A mirror image of the station exists today, relocated and used as an office building in Rockville, Maryland.

World War II placed a heavy demand on Silver Spring due to its close proximity to Walter Reed Hospital and the Bethesda Naval Medical Center. When the war in Europe ended in May, 1945, the railroad wanted to retain a reasonable amount of the passenger traffic, once the wartime over-demand had subsided. They were concerned that passengers would be passing through a Victorian-era station to a modern railroad. But the wartime restriction on new construction was still in effect, so the way around it was to “remodel” the original station. In reality, it would mean taking down the old station to ground level and erecting a new one on the original foundation. This would take considerable planning and coordination since it would have to be done in such a way as to minimize the disruption to passenger traffic and other station activity.

The “remodel” was approved by the War Production Board and the first phase was to construct a new eastbound waiting station, which was not affected by the restriction. It was erected next to the existing eastbound (wooden) waiting station, with both structures serving as a temporary station until the demolition and new construction on the westbound side was completed. The new waiting station was partitioned off to temporarily contain a ticket office plus a waiting room.

The original wooden waiting station housed the Operator/Agent, Freight Agent, and office and the baggage room. Needless to say, the conditions were cramped. A portable restroom was constructed on the westbound side and connected to the exiting sewer system. A B&O Policeman was on duty to assist passengers crossing the tracks, 6:00 AM to midnight. The construction also required Russell Main, the agent, and his family to purchase a home and relocate, since the new station would not have living accommodations.

In May, 1945, the War Department predicted that the war with Japan would end sometime in mid-1946, so the railroad felt it had ample time to complete the project which was started in late July, 1945. But hostilities abruptly ended in August, just as the original station was being demolished. So an increased effort was made to have the total construction complete by the 1945 holiday rush. This could not be accomplished for the Thanksgiving holiday, but a week later the waiting room and ticket office were opened in the new station. Then, a week before Christmas, the remaining station staff was moved in from the temporary location. The old eastbound wooden waiting station was then demolished.

At its peak, 38 scheduled trains stopped at Silver Spring, which was only open from 6:00 AM to midnight.

The original foundation of the old station is still visable in the basement of the station and outside where the portable rest room was and a patch is still visible where the sewer connection was back then.

The family of Bob Davis (the last Agent/Operator) loaned the station museum the telegraph key and receiver that was in the Station Master's office. They have an open house on the first Saturday of each month and the author, on occasion, will demonstrate Morse code using the telegraph key. It is amazing how few people have any idea what Morse code is.

CSX donated to the museum the CPL signals from Kensington some time ago and they have been lying on the ground ever since. In fact, somebody has already stolen one of the targets.