Why Is There An Abandoned Streetcar In The Woods?

By Aaron Henkin

Published March 13, 2023 at 5:00 AM EDT

The end of the line for streetcar #7350 is a ditch in a forest in Baltimore County. Why? (photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)

It’s down in a gully near Bunker Hill Road in Hereford. Peer through the trees and you’ll see it, a vintage Baltimore streetcar, forgotten and rusting away in the forest. Hiker (and WYPR host) Ashley Sterner discovered the derelict streetcar a few years ago and has been obsessed with the mystery ever since: How did it end up there? And why? This episode, we pay a visit to The Baltimore Streetcar Museum and find answers.

For more than 60 years, nature has been slowly reclaiming this artifact of Baltimore's streetcar era. (Photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)

John Engleman and friends at The Baltimore Streetcar Museum have meticulously preserved this streetcar. It's approximately the same vintage at the car abandoned in the woods. (Photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)

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Aaron Henkin

Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for WYPR. His current project is The Maryland Curiosity Bureau. Aaron's neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. His past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. Aaron's stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

See stories by Aaron Henkin