On September 1, 1953 the C&P was merged into the WM. The WM began to rid itself of duplicate lines as the Eckhart Branch was abandoned as well as 5 1/2 miles of the mainline. The track was pulled from Mt. Savage Jct. to Mt. Savage, which later became Rt. 36. The remain track was left to serve the brick works at Zihlman and Mt. Savage. The 2.6 miles of track between Borden Shaft and Grahamtown was also removed making the C&P two seperate sections of track with the western end being worked from the WM at Westernport and the eastern end being worked from the WM at Switch No.9. Much later during the early 1970's the track from No.9 to Frostburg Depot was removed due to a lumberyard on the west side of the tunnel switching from rail service to trucks. The depot would sit trackless and boarded up until arrival of the Allegany Central Tourist trains.
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