Location and importance. The Shellpot Bridge is located east of Wilmington, Delaware on the Xxxxxxxxx River. The Shellpot Secondary (its designation when owned by Conrail) carries freight trains between a flyover junction on the NEC at a railroad point called “Bell” in Edgemoor, Delaware and another railroad point on the NEC called “Xxxxx”, south of Wilmington. Total distance from Bell to Xxxxx is about seven miles. North of Bell on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, there are four tracks. South of Xxxxx, there are three. The Shellpot Secondary is one of two originally double-track rail lines through Wilmington, DE. The double-track Amtrak main line carries passenger trains through downtown Wilmington. The Shellpot Secondary, now single track, allows freights to bypass Wilmington to the east and enter Edgemoor Yard (see Figure 2). Edgemoor Yard serves as a support yard for chemical shippers and other rail customers in the Wilmington area, as well as an intermediate classification point for traffic to and from southern Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula. In the Conrail era, rail freight traffic moved east from Harrisburg or south from Philadelphia to Edgemoor, where it was switched to local trains for delivery or forwarding to points south. Freight trains from the south could run into Edgemoor from Amtrak’s NEC via “Xxxxx”. Both the Port of Wilmington and industries on the New Castle Secondary could be served directly from Edgemoor Yard.
