Believe it or Not
From The Pages of The Live Wire - 1998

     When you pull into the parking lot at BSM, the Visitor Center and North Avenue Loop are prominent in your view. The building and the loop occupy an area that appears to be built for them. Little do you know that what you are viewing is the Greatest Case of Mechanical Serendipity on record.

     The dictionary defines serendipity as something found by lucky accident. Our claim isn't just an idle boast, and here's the proof.

     The area that the loop and Visitor Center sit in an area that was hollowed out by the Baltimore & Lehigh Railroad (the narrow gauge predecessor of the Ma & Pa) for their roundhouse and turntable. In 1894 the Baltimore & Ohio built the bridge piers that carry the now CSX line over the Jones Falls Valley. The piers were placed to clear the Falls Turnpike (Road) and the Lehigh's tracks. The Lehigh merged with the York Southern in 1901 to form the Ma & Pa. The tracks were standard gauged and the Ma & Pa replaced the Lehigh's roundhouse with its new stone structure further up Falls Road around 1911. Things pretty much stayed the same until the railroad abandoned its Maryland Division in 1958. The tracks were torn up, the city bought the property from 28th Street to Lafayette Avenue, and quiet descended on the Jones Falls Valley.

     When BSM moved to the new carhouse in 1968, thoughts immediately turned to planning the operating car line. Since the collection included two single end cars, loops would be needed. It was quickly determined that two loops that still existed could be used for the two ends of the line.

     The West Baltimore Street loop of the 15 line would do for the loop at 28th Street, and the former Sparrows Point loop of the 26 line could be used at the Car House end of the line. Sparrows Point was moved to the area in 1972 and rough positioned in place. West Baltimore Street was moved to its new location at 28th Street in 1974 and placed in service on January 23, 1977.

     Once 28th Street was finished, the Track Department turned their attention to North Avenue. The loop was surveyed and bolted in place and finished (though unelectrified) in early 1979. It was finally placed in service during the ARM Convention in October, 1982. When the Museum obtained the Visitor Center in 1977, the building went in the space east of the loop. Everything fits in the space provided.

     Now for the really amazing part. When the Baltimore Transit Company decided to put PCC cars on the 26 line, their Engineering Department designed the loop to fit the space at the Sparrows Point Station. The loop was fabricated and installed in 1950 and used until August 31, 1958.

     BSM moves it to the new location and installs it. And it fits like it was designed to go there!!!

     When BTC built it, they never figured that the loop would be used by the streetcar museum that didn't even exist yet.

     So, there you have it. Two railroads, a transit company and a Museum, operating independently, create an area and a loop and a building that fits like the proverbial glove.