The 1873 Rockville Railroad Station

Rockville station is an intermodal train station located in downtown Rockville, Maryland. The original station building, designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin, the railroad's head architect, was built in 1873 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). A brick Victorian structure with Eastlake detailing, particularly in the roofline and gable decoration, it served the B&O's Metropolitan Branch, which provided direct service from Washington, D.C, to points west.

By 1890, the convenient access to the nation's capital had led Rockville's population to more than double. The station was served by commuter and intercity trains exclusively throughout the B&O era. When Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in 1971, Rockville was served by three daily commuter round trips to Brunswick and Martinsburg. In 1973, the Blue Ridge began serving the station, followed by the Shenandoah in 1976. The original station building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Construction of a modern station for Amtrak, state-subsidized B&O commuter trains, and the new Washington Metro system began in 1981. The original station and freight house, initially slated for demolition, were saved by local preservationists. On March 2, 1981, the buildings were moved about 50 metres (160 ft) to the south. The new Metro station opened on December 15, 1984, as part of a 7-mile extension of the Red Line from Grosvenor–Strathmore station to Shady Grove station.

Today, the station is served by the Washington Metro Red Line, MARC Brunswick Line commuter trains, and Amtrak intercity trains. Located on an embankment south of Park Road and east of Hungerford Drive, the site features two tracks of Metro's Red Line served by a single island platform, and two tracks of the CSX Metropolitan Subdivision flanked by two low-level side platforms used by Amtrak and MARC.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons