The Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad is a ghost railroad planned to connect eastern

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the city of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and the port at

Drum Point, Maryland Drum Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern Calvert County, Maryland, United States, at the confluence of the Patuxent River with Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is locate ...

. First conceived in 1856 and chartered in 1868, work didn't begin until 1873 but was halted a year later by the Panic of 1873. Work began again in 1888, and by 1891, 25 of the 34 miles had been prepared for tracks, trestles were constructed across the St. Leonard's and Hunting Creeks, locally cut railroad ties were in place and 8000 tons of steel rails were on their way from Pittsburgh. But the project was halted again when citizens of Anne Arundel County successfully sued to cancel the funding. They won on a technicality as the bond issue referendum to finance it was advertised for only 59 days rather than the requisite 60 days. Other efforts were made to restart the project with the last coming in 1924, but by then four railroads were already operating in the area and were under significant pressure due to the advent of highways and cars.

References

{{Reflist Rail transportation in Maryland Railway companies established in 1868 Railway companies disestablished in 1891