![Columbian (B&O) train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Columbian_%28B%26O%29_train.jpg)
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first
common carrier
A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...
railroad and the
oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the
National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...
early in the century, wanted to do business with settlers crossing the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
. The railroad faced competition from several existing and proposed enterprises, including the
Albany-Schenectady Turnpike, built in 1797, the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
, which opened in 1825, and the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, ...
. At first, the B&O was located entirely in the state of
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 ...
; its original line extending from the port of Baltimore west to
Sandy Hook, Maryland
Sandy Hook is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 188 as of the 2010 census. Sandy Hook was briefly important as for a few years it was the end of the line for ...
, opened in 1834. There it connected with
Harper's Ferry
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
, first by boat, then by the Wager Bridge, across the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
into
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and also with the navigable
Shenandoah River.
Because of competition with the C&O Canal for trade with coal fields in western Maryland, the railroad could not use the C&O right-of-way west of Harpers Ferry. To continue westward through the Appalachian Mountains, the B&O built the
B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing
The B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing is a historic site where a set of railroad bridges, originally built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, span the Potomac River between Sandy Hook, Maryland, and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in the Uni ...
(1837) at
Harpers Ferry, Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated at the confluence o ...
(since 1863,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
). The line continued through Virginia to a point just west of the junction of
Patterson Creek
Patterson Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the North Branch Potomac River in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, in the United States. ...
and the
North Branch Potomac River
The North Branch Potomac River flows from Fairfax Stone in West Virginia to its confluence with the South Branch Potomac River near Green Spring, West Virginia, where it turns into the Potomac River proper.
Course
From the Fairfax Stone, th ...
, where it crossed back into Maryland to reach
Cumberland (1842), connecting with the National Road, the main route westward. It reached the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
at
Moundsville, Virginia (1852),
Wheeling (1853), where it built a
terminus
Terminus may refer to:
* Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination
* Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination
Geography
*Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...
, and in 1857 to
Parkersburg, Virginia
Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metrop ...
, below rapids which made navigation difficult during parts of the year. It proved crucial to Union success during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, which caused considerable damage to the system. After the war, the B&O consolidated several feeder lines in Virginia and West Virginia, and expanded westward into Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. B&O advertising later carried the motto: "Linking 13 Great States with the Nation."
The B&O also included the
Leiper Railroad The Leiper Railroad was a 'family business–built' horse drawn railroad of , constructed in 1810 after the quarry owner, Thomas Leiper, failed to obtain a charter with legal rights-of-way to instead build his desired canal along Crum Creek. The qu ...
, the first permanent horse-drawn railroad in the U.S. At the end of 1970, the B&O operated 5,552 miles of road and 10,449 miles of track, not including the
Staten Island Rapid Transit
The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, ...
(SIRT) or the Reading and its subsidiaries. It included the oldest operational railroad bridge in the United States, the
Carrollton Viaduct. After a series of mergers in the 20th century, the B&O became part of the
CSX Transportation (CSX) network in 1987.
When CSX established the
B&O Railroad Museum
The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balt ...
as a separate entity from the corporation, it donated some of the former B&O
Mount Clare Shops
The Mount Clare Shops is the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States, located in Baltimore, Maryland.United States National Park Service. Washington, DC. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: ...
in Baltimore, including the Mt. Clare
roundhouse, to the museum, while selling the rest of the property. The
B&O Warehouse at the Camden Yards rail junction in Baltimore now dominates the view over the right-field wall at the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
' current home,
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...
.
The B&O owes its fame, in part, to its inclusion as one of the four featured railroads in the original version of the popular board game
''Monopoly''; it is the only railroad on the board that did not directly serve
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. , the city whose street names were used in the game's original edition.
History
Ohio
The railroad did not reach the Ohio River until 1852, 24 years after the project started. Yet the Ohio was from the beginning the destination the railroad was seeking to link with Baltimore, at the time a railroad center. By crossing the Appalachian Mountains, a technical challenge, it would link the new and booming territories of what at the time was the West—particularly Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky—with the east coast rail and boat network, from Maryland northward. (There was no rail link between Maryland and Virginia until the B&O opened the
Harpers Ferry bridge in 1839.)
Starting in 1825, the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
provided an animal-powered water facility connecting New York City with Ohio via
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
. It took ten days to travel from Buffalo to New York City. The
Cumberland Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
, later the beginning of the
National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...
, federally financed, provided a road link for animal-powered transport between
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, ...
(on the
Potomac) and
Wheeling, Virginia (on the Ohio) when completed in 1837; it was the second paved road in the country. However, the 1831
DeWitt Clinton locomotive, running between
Albany and
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, demonstrated speeds of per hour, dramatically decreasing the cost of transportation and announcing the coming end of the canal and turnpike (road) systems, many of which were never completed since they were or would soon be obsolete.
In New York, political support for the Erie Canal detracted from the prospect of building a railroad to replace it, whose full length did not open until 1844. Mountains in Pennsylvania made construction in the western part of the state expensive and technically challenging, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
, linking Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, did not open its full length until 1852, and there was no rail link west from Pittsburgh to Ohio for several more years.
The fast-growing
port city of Baltimore, Maryland, faced economic stagnation unless it opened a route to the western states. On February 27, 1827, twenty-five merchants and bankers studied the best means of restoring "that portion of the Western trade which has recently been diverted from it by the introduction of steam navigation."
[.] Their answer was to build a railroad—one of the first commercial lines in the world.
Their plans worked well, despite many political problems from canal backers and other railroads. For example, only the Pennsylvania Railroad was allowed to build in its namesake state, requiring the B&O to skirt around a corner of the state, even though the Pennsylvania Railroad didn't even operate in that area of Pennsylvania.
The railroad grew from a capital base of $3 million in 1827 to a large enterprise generating $2.7 million of annual profit on its of track in 1854, with 19 million passenger miles. The railroad fed tens of millions of dollars of shipments to and from Baltimore and its growing hinterland to the west, thus making the city the commercial and financial capital of the region south of Philadelphia.
Charters
Two men—
Philip E. Thomas and
George Brown George Brown may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter
* George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist
* George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor
* G ...
—were the pioneers of the railroad.
[.] They spent the year 1826 investigating railway enterprises in England, which were at that time being tested in a comprehensive fashion as commercial ventures.
Their investigation completed, they held an organizational meeting on February 12, 1827, including about twenty-five citizens, most of whom were Baltimore merchants or bankers.
Chapter 123 of the 1826 Session Laws of Maryland, passed February 28, 1827, and the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 8, 1827, chartered the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, with the task of building a railroad from the port of Baltimore west to a suitable point on the Ohio River. The railroad, formally incorporated April 24, was intended to provide a faster route for
Midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
goods to reach the
East Coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
then to the hugely successful but slow
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
across
upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
. Thomas was elected as the first president and Brown the treasurer. The capital of the proposed company was fixed at five million dollars,
but the B&O was initially capitalized in 1827 with a three million dollar issue of stock. Half of this stock was reserved for the Maryland state government and the municipal government of Baltimore, which invested $1,000,000 and $500,000, respectively, in the new company. Around twenty-two thousand people—a quarter of the city's population—bought the remaining private equity.
Early construction and legal battles
![B&O Railroad cornerstone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/B%26O_Railroad_cornerstone.jpg)
Construction began on July 4, 1828, when
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic si ...
(the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence) performed the groundbreaking by laying the cornerstone. The initial tracks were built with
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
stringers topped by
strap iron rails. The first section, from Baltimore west to Ellicott's Mills (now known as
Ellicott City
Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...
), opened on May 24, 1830. A horse pulled the first cars 26 miles and back, since the B&O did not decide to use steam power for several years. Railroad men in South Carolina had earlier commissioned a steam locomotive from a New York foundry (which would reach 25 miles per hour and became the first passenger service by locomotive), while the B&O was still experimenting with horse power and sails. The B&O's first locomotive, ''
Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tan ...
'', was made in America as a demonstrator and could pull passenger and freight cars at 18 miles per hour.
Developers decided to follow the
Patapsco River to a point near Parr's Ridge (now known as
Mount Airy), where the railroad would cross a height of land and descend into the valley of the
Monocacy Monocacy (Shawnee language, Shawnee: ''Monnockkeseymay'') may refer to the Monocacy River in Maryland, USA.
Monocacy may also refer to:
Other streams
*Little Monocacy River, a tributary of the Potomac River in Maryland
*Monocacy Creek (Lehigh Riv ...
and Potomac rivers. Further extensions opened to
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
(including the short
Frederick Branch) on December 1, 1831;
Point of Rocks on April 2, 1832; and Sandy Hook on December 1, 1834.
Sandy Hook, Maryland
Sandy Hook is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 188 as of the 2010 census. Sandy Hook was briefly important as for a few years it was the end of the line for ...
, on the north shore of the Potomac, was the end of the line until the
B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing
The B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing is a historic site where a set of railroad bridges, originally built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, span the Potomac River between Sandy Hook, Maryland, and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in the Uni ...
opened in 1836, linking
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. st ...
(until 1863, Virginia). The connection at Harpers Ferry with the
Winchester and Potomac Railroad
The Winchester and Potomac Railroad (W&P) was a railroad in the southern United States, which ran from Winchester, Virginia, to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (Virginia until 1863), on the Potomac River, at a junction with the Baltimore and Ohio Rail ...
, running southwest to
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...
, opened in 1837, then the line northwest to
Martinsburg in May 1842;
Hancock Hancock may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Hancock, Iowa
* Hancock, Maine
* Hancock, Maryland
* Hancock, Massachusetts
* Hancock, Michigan
* Hancock, Minnesota
* Hancock, Missouri
* Hancock, New Hampshire
** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...
in June 1842; and
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, ...
, on November 5, 1842, for some years the end of the line. The final section linked
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
on July 21, 1851, and
Fairmont on June 22, 1852. It first reached the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
at
Moundsville
Moundsville is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia metropolitan area. The population was 8,122 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. T ...
later in 1852, and port facilities were built there. The B&O reached
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...
(then part of Virginia) on January 1, 1853. That would remain the terminus through the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
(apart from conflict-related outages principally between Cumberland and Martinsburg during the war) until a railroad bridge could be constructed across the Ohio River.
The narrow strip of available land along the Potomac River from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry caused years of legal battles between the B&O and the
Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, as both sought to exclude the other from its use.
A compromise eventually allowed the two companies to share the
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
. The B&O also prevailed in a lawsuit against it by the Washington and Baltimore Turnpike Road.
The B&O wanted links to Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley, as well as the parts of western Virginia draining into the Ohio River valley and ultimately the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, such as
Wheeling (where the
National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...
crossed the Ohio River) and the
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the st ...
valley. However, many Virginia politicians wanted the minerals, timber and produce of those areas to instead ship through
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
and reach the Atlantic through
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, although the
James River Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a ...
required substantial maintenance and was never completed through the Appalachians to the Ohio River watershed. Thus, while the B&O reached Wheeling in 1853, political compromises meant the B&O would only reach
Grafton to connect to
Parkersburg
Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...
on the Ohio River through a connection with the
Northwestern Virginia Railroad which was completed in 1857. During the "Great Railway Celebrations of 1857", a large group of notables boarded the B&O in Baltimore, then transferred to steamboats in Wheeling to
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...
, where they boarded a railroad to Cincinnati, where after another celebration, they boarded the
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad
The Ohio and Mississippi Railway (earlier the Ohio and Mississippi Rail Road), abbreviated O&M, was a railroad operating between Cincinnati, Ohio, and East St. Louis, Illinois, from 1857 to 1893.
The railroad started in 1854 and paralleled the ...
, which brought them to St. Louis, Missouri, three days after they had started their journey. The B&O would only reach
Charleston (at the confluence of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers) and ultimately
Huntington (which was named after a major B&O investor) on the Ohio River more than a decade after the American Civil War and the creation of the state of
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
.
Meanwhile, the State of Maryland granted the B&O a charter to build a line from Baltimore to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, in 1831, and the
Washington Branch
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
was opened in 1835.
This line joined to the original mainline at
Relay, Maryland
Relay, Maryland, or Relay House, Maryland, was formerly an important junction and rail stop on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, located west of Baltimore, Maryland. It was the busiest station on the line except for Baltimore itself. A town grew up ...
, crossing the Patapsco River on the
Thomas Viaduct
The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay, Maryland and Elkridge, Maryland, USA. It was commissioned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O); built between July 4, 1833, and July 4, 1835; and named for Philip ...
(which remains one of the B&O's signature structures). This line was partially funded by the state of Maryland, and was operated separately until the 1870s, with Maryland receiving a 25 percent cut of gross passenger receipts. The B&O's charter also forbad further taxation of the railroad, and that no-tax provision was upheld in the 1840s after Baltimore City tried to tax it. This Washington Branch line was built in stone, much like the original mainline. By this time, however, strap rail was no longer used for new construction. Most of the stone bridges on the
Old Main Line did not last long, being washed out by the periodic flooding of the Patapsco River and replaced at first by
Bollman Truss bridges. The
Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad
The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, later the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, once provided rail service to Annapolis, Maryland, and was one of the earliest railroads in the U.S. It later merged into the Washington, Baltimore and ...
to
Annapolis connected to this line at Annapolis Junction in 1840. As an unwritten condition for the charter, it was understood that the state of Maryland would not charter any competing line between Baltimore and Washington, and no such charters were approved until well after the American Civil War, when the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired a railroad on the Delmarva Peninsula, which had the power to build short branch lines, so it was able to connect to Washington through
Bowie, Maryland
Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...
.
The B&O also wanted access to Pittsburgh and coal fields in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Although the directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad wanted a monopoly in their state, delays in laying track to Pittsburgh led the Pennsylvania legislature in 1846 to require construction to be completed within 10 years, else competition would be allowed. The Pennsylvania Railroad finished its trans-Allegheny track with two years to spare, thus the B&O would only be able to extend its tracks up the
Youghiogheny River
The Youghiogheny River , or the Yough (pronounced Yok ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in the U.S. ...
valley to the soft coal fields in 1871.
Early engineering
When construction began on the B&O in the 1820s, railroad engineering was in its infancy. Unsure exactly which materials would suffice, the B&O erred on the side of sturdiness and built many of its early structures of granite. Even the track bed to which iron strap rail was affixed consisted of the stone.
Though the granite soon proved too unforgiving and expensive for track, most of the B&O's monumental bridges have survived to this day, and many are still in active railroad use by CSX. Baltimore's
Carrollton Viaduct, named in honor of
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic si ...
, was the B&O's first bridge, and is the oldest railway bridge in the Americas still carrying trains (and the third oldest in the world, after the
Skerne Bridge
The Skerne Bridge is a railway bridge over the River Skerne in Darlington, County Durham. Built in 1825 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, it carried the first train on the opening day, . It is still in use, being the oldest railway brid ...
, Darlington, UK, of 1824–1825, and the
Bassaleg Viaduct, Newport, UK, of 1826). The
Thomas Viaduct
The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay, Maryland and Elkridge, Maryland, USA. It was commissioned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O); built between July 4, 1833, and July 4, 1835; and named for Philip ...
at
Relay, Maryland
Relay, Maryland, or Relay House, Maryland, was formerly an important junction and rail stop on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, located west of Baltimore, Maryland. It was the busiest station on the line except for Baltimore itself. A town grew up ...
, was the longest bridge in the United States upon its completion in 1835. It also remains in use. The B&O made extensive use of the
Bollman iron truss bridge design in the mid-19th century. Its durability and ease of assembly aided faster railroad construction.
![Carrollton-viaduct](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Carrollton-viaduct.jpg)
As the B&O built the main line west to
Parr's Ridge, near
Mount Airy, Maryland
Mount Airy is a town in Carroll and Frederick counties in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of both the Washington Metropolitan Area and Baltimore Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census the population was 9,288.
Outside the town limits, ...
, it had limited information about the capabilities of steam locomotives; at the time, the line had three, the ''York, Atlantic,'' and the ''Franklin.'' When planning the extension to
Sandy Hook, Maryland
Sandy Hook is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 188 as of the 2010 census. Sandy Hook was briefly important as for a few years it was the end of the line for ...
, and then
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
, the company was uncertain if the engines' metal wheels would grip the metal rails sufficiently to pull a train up to the top of the ridge. The railroad decided to construct two
inclined plane
An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...
s, one on each side of the ridge, along which teams of horses, and perhaps steam-powered winches, would assist pulling the trains uphill. The planes, about a mile long on each side, quickly proved an operational
bottleneck
Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...
. Before the decade of the 1830s ended, the B&O built a alternate route that became known as the Mount Airy Loop. The planes were quickly abandoned and forgotten, though some artifacts survive to the present.
First telegraph line
In 1843, Congress appropriated $30,000 for construction of an experimental
telegraph line
Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...
between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore along the B&O's right-of-way. The B&O approved the project with the agreement that the railroad would have free use of the line upon its completion. An impressive demonstration occurred on May 1, 1844, when news of the
Whig Party's nomination of
Henry Clay for U.S. president was telegraphed from the party's convention in Baltimore to the
Capitol Building in Washington. On May 24, 1844, the line was officially opened as
Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...
sent his famous words, "What hath God wrought", from the B&O's Mount Clare station to the Capitol by telegraph.
Innovations
Contrary to legend, the B&O was not the first chartered railroad in the United States;
John Stevens obtained a charter for the
New Jersey Railroad
The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a railroad company which began as the important Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A), whose 1830 lineage began as one of the eight or ten earliest permanent North AmericanList of Earliest Am ...
in 1815. The B&O was, however, the first company to operate a locomotive built in America, with the
''Tom Thumb'' in 1829. It built the first passenger and
freight station
A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...
(Mount Clare in 1829) and was the first railroad to earn passenger revenues in December 1829, and publish a timetable on May 23, 1830. On Christmas Eve 1852, the B&O line was completed between Baltimore and the Ohio River near
Moundsville, West Virginia
Moundsville is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia metropolitan area. The population was 8,122 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. T ...
.
Conflicts in the early years
Partial government ownership caused some operational problems. Of the thirty members on its
board of directors, twelve were elected by shareholders, while eighteen were appointed either by Maryland or the
Baltimore City Council.
Many had conflicting interests: the directors appointed by the state and city desired low
fare
A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various pa ...
s and all construction to be funded from corporate revenues, while the directors elected by shareholders desired greater
profits and
dividend
A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...
s. These conflicts became more intense in the 1850s after the completion of the C&O Canal, which brought additional competition to the B&O. In 1853, after being nominated by large shareholder and director
Johns Hopkins,
John W. Garrett
John Work Garrett (July 31, 1820 – September 26, 1884), was an American merchant turned banker who became president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1858 and led the railroad for nearly three decades. The B&O became one of the most ...
became president of the B&O, a position he would hold until his death in 1884.
In the first year of his presidency, corporate
operating cost
Operating costs or operational costs, are the expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility. They are the cost of resources used by an organization just to main ...
s were reduced from 65 percent of revenues to 46 percent,
and the railroad began distributing profits to its shareholders.
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
The B&O played a major role, and got national attention, in the response to
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), in October 1859. Black porter
Hayward Shepherd, to whom there is a
monument in Harpers Ferry, was the first man killed; stationmaster Fontaine Beckham, who was also the town's mayor, was killed the next day. Raiders had cut the telegraph line, and stopped the 1:30 AM Wheeling to Baltimore express, but after several hours the train was allowed to continue and at the first station with a working telegraph (Monocacy) the conductor sent a telegram to B&O headquarters.
[.] After confirming from the Martinsburg station (via Wheeling, because of the cut telegraph line) that the report was not a hoax, Garrett telegraphed President
James Buchanan, the
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
,
the Governor of Virginia, and Maryland Militia General
George Hume Steuart about the insurrection in progress. The B&O made its rolling stock available to the military. At 3:20 p.m. a train left Washington Depot with 87 U.S. Marines and two howitzers, and a 3:45 p.m. train from nearer
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...
, carried three Maryland militia companies under Col. Edward Shriver. These trains stopped before the bridge at
Sandy Hook, Maryland
Sandy Hook is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 188 as of the 2010 census. Sandy Hook was briefly important as for a few years it was the end of the line for ...
(end of the line before the bridge was built), and troops continued across the bridge on foot. Soon Garrett's Master of Transportation William Prescott Smith left Baltimore City, together with Maryland Gen. Charles G. Egerton Jr. and the
Second Light Brigade, which train also picked up the Marines on the federal troop train at the junction in
Relay, Maryland
Relay, Maryland, or Relay House, Maryland, was formerly an important junction and rail stop on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, located west of Baltimore, Maryland. It was the busiest station on the line except for Baltimore itself. A town grew up ...
. All awaited Lt.Col.
Robert E. Lee and Lt.
J.E.B. Stuart
James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (February 6, 1833May 12, 1864) was a United States Army officer from Virginia who became a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of ...
, who had received orders from the Secretary of War to retake Harpers Ferry and capture the insurgent abolitionists, which they quickly did.
[.] Garrett reported with evident relief the next day that aside from the cut telegraph line, which was quickly repaired, there had been no damage to any B&O track, equipment, or facilities.
The government of Maryland published in a book the many telegrams sent by B&O employees and management during the raid.
American Civil War
At the outset of the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, the B&O possessed 236 locomotives, 128 passenger coaches, 3,451 rail cars and of rail road, all in states south of the
Mason–Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...
, as Garrett had noted before the war began. Although many
Marylanders had Southern sympathies, Garrett and Hopkins supported the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
. The B&O became crucial to the Federal government during the Civil War, being the main rail connection between Washington, D.C., and the northern states, especially west of the Appalachian mountains.
However, its initial problem became Lincoln's first Secretary of War,
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and served as United States Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Americ ...
, a major stockholder in the rival
North Central Railroad, which received long haul freight destined for Baltimore from the rival
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
. Furthermore, the Pennsylvania Railroad and other investors sought permission to construct rail lines which threatened the B&O's monopolies on the Washington Branch (between Relay and Washington DC) and westward through Cumberland, Maryland. Raids and battles during the war also cost the B&O substantial losses, many never indemnified. Master of Transportation Prescott Smith kept a diary during the war years, describing incidents such as the June 1861 derailment of a 50 car coal train, which plunged into a ravine after a bridge was destroyed (the wreckage burned for months and melted the metal coal hoppers), as well as later ironclad trains (one only disabled by an artillery shell piercing the boiler).
1861–1862
On April 18, 1861, the day after Virginia seceded from the Union, Virginia militia seized the federal arsenal at
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
, which was also an important work station on the B&O's main westward line. The following day,
Confederate rioters in Baltimore attempted to prevent Pennsylvania volunteers from proceeding from the North Central Railway's Bolton station to the B&O's Mount Clare station, and Maryland's governor Hicks and Baltimore Mayor
George W. Brown ordered 3 North Central and 2
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881.
It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...
(PW&B) bridges destroyed to prevent further federal troop movements through (and riots in) the city. Soon B&O president
John Work Garrett
John Work Garrett (July 31, 1820 – September 26, 1884), was an American merchant turned banker who became president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1858 and led the railroad for nearly three decades. The B&O became one of the most ...
received letters from Virginia's Governor
John Letcher
John Letcher (March 29, 1813January 26, 1884) was an American lawyer, journalist, and politician. He served as a Representative in the United States Congress, was the 34th Governor of Virginia during the American Civil War, and later served in ...
telling the B&O to pass no federal troops destined for any place in Virginia over the railroad, and threatening to confiscate the lines.
Charles Town's mayor also wrote, threatening to cut the B&O's main line by destroying the long bridge over the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, and Garrett also received anonymous threats. Thus he and others asked Secretary of War Cameron to protect the B&O as the national capitol's main westward link. Cameron instead warned Garrett that passage of any rebel troops over his line would be treason. The Secretary of War agreed to station troops to protect the North Central, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and even the PW&B, but flatly refused to help the B&O, his main competition.
The B&O had to repair damaged line at its own expense, and often received late or no payment for services rendered to the federal government. In May, CSA Colonel
Jackson's operations against the B&O Railroad (1861) began. Stonewall Jackson initially permitted B&O trains to operate during limited hours over the approximately 100 miles from Point of Rocks to Cumberland. On June 20, 1861, Jackson's Confederates seized
Martinsburg, a major B&O work center, having blown up the Harpers Ferry railroad bridge on June 14. Confederates confiscated dozens of locomotives and train cars and ripped up double track in order to ship rails for Confederate use in Virginia (14 locomotives and 83 rail cars were dismantled and sent south, and another 42 locomotives and 386 rail cars damaged or destroyed at Martinsburg, with the B&O water station and machine shops also destroyed and miles of telegraph wire removed by the time federal control was restored in March 1862). By the end of 1861, 23 B&O railroad bridges had been burned and of track were torn up or destroyed.
Since Jackson cut the B&O main line into Washington for more than six months, the North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads profited from overflow traffic, even as many B&O trains stood idle in Baltimore. Garrett tried to use his government contacts to secure the needed protection, from Maryland Delegate
Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson (May 21, 1796February 10, 1876) was a statesman and jurist from Maryland. He gained fame as a defense attorney, defending notables such as Sandford of the Dred Scott case, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter at his court-martial, and Mary ...
to General
George McClellan
George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...
and Treasury Secretary
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
. As winter began, coal prices soared in Washington, even though the B&O in September arranged for free coal transport from its Cumberland, Maryland, terminal down the C&O Canal (which reduced prices somewhat, although Confederates also damaged the C&O canal that winter). Furthermore, western farmers could not get their produce to markets because of the B&O shutdown, only partially alleviated by the summer 1861 Union army victories at the
Battle of Philippi (West Virginia)
The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia (now West Virginia), on June 3, 1861. A Union victory, it was the first organized land action of t ...
and
Rich Mountain, and vigorous army and company work crews which reduced the main-line gap to 25 miles between Harpers Ferry and Back Creek.
Finally at year end,
Samuel M. Felton, the PW&B President, wrote newspapers about the War Department's discrimination against his cooperating railroad line, which competed with Cameron's favored North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads. President Lincoln (familiar with railroad law since his days as an Illinois lawyer) in January 1862 replaced Cameron with Pennsylvania lawyer
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...
, who had been serving as Cameron's legal advisor. Furthermore, on January 31, 1862, Congress passed the Railways and Telegraph Act of January 31, 1862, creating the
United States Military Railroad
The U.S. Military Railroad (USMRR) was established by the United States War Department as a separate agency to operate any rail lines seized by the government during the American Civil War. An Act of Congress of 31 January 1862 authorized Presi ...
and allowing it to seize and operate any railroad or telegraph company's equipment, although Stanton and USMRR Superintendent
Daniel McCallum
Daniel Craig McCallum (January 21, 1815 – December 27, 1878) was a Scottish-born American railroad engineer, general manager of the New York and Erie Railroad and Union Brevet Major General of the United States Military Railroads during the Am ...
would take a "team of rivals" approach to railroad management and allow civilian operations to continue. In February 1862, Union forces recaptured Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry, and work crews continued replacing wrecked bridges and equipment, although
bushwhacker
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tra ...
raids continued.
Even then train movements were sporadic and subject to frequent stoppages, derailments, capture and attack. Prominent raids on the B&O railroad during this period were:
* The
Great Train Raid of 1861, May 22 – June 23, 1861
* The
Romney Expedition
The Romney Expedition was a military expedition of the Confederate States Army during the early part of the American Civil War. It is named for Romney, West Virginia, which at the time was still in the state of Virginia. The expedition was conduct ...
, January 1 through January 24, 1862
* Operations during the
Maryland Campaign, September 8, 1862
* Various raids of Brigadier General
A. G. Jenkins, Fall, 1862
:
1863–1865
The second half of the Civil War was characterized by near-continuous raiding, which severely hampered the Union defense of Washington, D.C. Union forces and leaders often failed to properly secure the region, despite the B&O's vital importance to the Union cause.
This military strategy, or lack thereof, allowed Confederate commanders to contribute significantly to the length of the war, by conducting free-ranging military operations against the region and railroad.
Before the
Battle of Monocacy
The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, about from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defe ...
, B&O agents began reporting Confederate troop movements eleven days prior to the battle, and Garrett had their intelligence passed to authorities in the War Department and to Major General
Lew Wallace
Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is ...
, who commanded the department responsible for defense of the area. As preparations for the battle progressed, the B&O provided transport for federal troops and munitions, and on two occasions Garrett was contacted directly by President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
for further information. Though Union forces lost this battle, the delay allowed
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
to successfully repel the Confederate attack on Washington at the
Battle of Fort Stevens
The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in what is now Northwest Washington, D.C., as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early and ...
two days later. After the battle, Lincoln paid tribute to Garrett as:
* The
Jones-Imboden Raid, April 24 through May 22, 1863
* The
Catoctin Station Raid, June 17, 1863
* The
First Calico Raid, June 19, 1863
* The
B&O Raid on Duffield Station, January 1864
* The
McNeill Raid, May 5, 1864
* The
Second Calico Raid, July 3, 1864
* The
Battle of Monocacy
The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, about from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defe ...
, July 9, 1864
*
Gilmor's Raid
Gilmor's Raid, also known as The Magnolia Station Train Raid, was a foraging and disruptive cavalry raid that was part of an overall campaign against Union railroads, led by Maj. Harry W. Gilmor with 135 men from the First and Second Maryland Ca ...
, July 11, 1864
* The
Greenback Raid
Greenback may refer to:
Currency
* Greenback (1860s money), a fiat currency issued during the American Civil War
*Greenback, a nickname used for the United States dollar in the financial press in other countries, or slang for the US paper dolla ...
, by
Mosby's Rangers
The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders, or Mosby's Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Noted for their lightning strike raids on Union tar ...
on October 14, 1864
* The
B&O Raid on Duffield Station II, January 1865
*
Gilmor's B&O Raid, February 1865
* The
B&O Derailment Raid, March 1865
The Confederate leaders who led these operations and specifically targeted the railroad included:
* Lieutenant General Thomas J.
"Stonewall" Jackson and many units under his command
* Lieutenant General
Jubal Anderson Early
Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his U.S. Army commissi ...
and many units under his command
* Brigadier General
Turner Ashby
Turner Ashby Jr. (October 23, 1828 – June 6, 1862) was an American officer. He was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War.
In his youth, he organized an informal cavalry company known as the Mountain Rangers, which beca ...
and his "Black Horse" cavalry
* Brigadier General
John D. Imboden
John Daniel Imboden (; February 16, 1823August 15, 1895), American lawyer, Virginia state legislator, and a Confederate army general. During the American Civil War, he commanded an irregular cavalry force. After the war, he resumed practicing la ...
and the
62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry
The 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry Regiment, raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, served in many capacities including the war, including as an infantry regiment, a cavalry regiment, a mounte ...
(1st Partisan Rangers)
* Brigadier General
Albert G. Jenkins and the
8th Virginia Cavalry
The 8th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly as part of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Virginia's 8th Cavalry Regiment was ...
* Brigadier General
William E. "Grumble" Jones and the "Laurel Brigade"
* Colonel
John S. Mosby
John Singleton Mosby (December 6, 1833 – May 30, 1916), also known by his nickname "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate army cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War. His command, the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, known as Mosb ...
's "
Mosby's Rangers
The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders, or Mosby's Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Noted for their lightning strike raids on Union tar ...
"
* Major
Harry Gilmor
Harry Ward Gilmor (January 24, 1838 – March 4, 1883) served as the Baltimore City Police Commissioner, head of the Baltimore City Police Department in the 1870s, but he was most noted as a daring and dashing Confederate cavalry officer dur ...
's "Gilmor's Raiders"
* Captain John H. McNeill's "
McNeill's Rangers
McNeill's Rangers was an independent Confederate military force commissioned under the Partisan Ranger Act (1862) by the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War. The 210 man unit (equivalent to a small or under-strength battalion) w ...
"
Bases of operation involved in raiding the B&O Railroad:
*
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...
*
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. st ...
Westward by merger
![cumberland coal trade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Cumberland_coal_trade.jpg)
A steel and stone bridge was built across the Ohio River between
Bellaire, Ohio
Bellaire is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Wheeling is across the Ohio to the east. The population was 4,278 at the 2010 census, having had its peak i ...
, and
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...
, in 1871, connecting the B&O to the
Central Ohio Railroad
The Central Ohio Railroad was the third railroad to enter Columbus, Ohio, and the first to connect Columbus with the east coast. It eventually became a part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
History
It was realized that a railroad from Bellai ...
, which the B&O had leased starting in 1866. This provided a direct rail connection to
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, and the lease marked the beginning of a series of expansions to the west and north.
Other railroads included in the B&O were:
*
Winchester and Potomac Railroad
The Winchester and Potomac Railroad (W&P) was a railroad in the southern United States, which ran from Winchester, Virginia, to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (Virginia until 1863), on the Potomac River, at a junction with the Baltimore and Ohio Rail ...
and Winchester and Strasburg Railroad from 1867. This pair of lines connected with the B&O at
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
, and constituted the only significant B&O trackage in present-day Virginia.
* Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad leased through the Central Ohio in 1869
* Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad from 1871. This was the B&O entry into Pittsburgh, thwarting the denial of a Pennsylvania charter to the B&O.
* Somerset and Cambria Railroad from 1879
* Buffalo Railroad from 1880
*
Pittsburgh Southern Railroad acquired 1883. Originally a
narrow gauge railroad
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
, it was converted to standard gauge and renamed the Baltimore & Ohio Short Line.
* West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad from 1890
* Columbus and Cincinnati Midland Railroad leased through the Central Ohio in 1890
* Monongahela River Railroad from 1900
*
Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad
The Marietta and Cincinnati (M&C) was one of five important east-west railroads of southern Ohio; it was later absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). Its original route ran from Marietta through Vincent, Athens, Hamden, Chillicothe, ...
from 1882. This was initially renamed the Cincinnati, Washington and Baltimore Railroad and then again to the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad in 1889. The B&OSW absorbed the
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad
The Ohio and Mississippi Railway (earlier the Ohio and Mississippi Rail Road), abbreviated O&M, was a railroad operating between Cincinnati, Ohio, and East St. Louis, Illinois, from 1857 to 1893.
The railroad started in 1854 and paralleled the ...
in 1893, giving the B&O a connection to
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, and finally the B&OSW disappeared into the rest of the system in 1900.
![1876 B&O](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/1876_B%26O.jpg)
* Ohio River Railroad from 1901
* Pittsburgh Junction Railroad from 1902
*
Pittsburgh and Western Railroad
The Pittsburgh and Western Railroad was a nineteenth-century, narrow gauge railroad connecting Pittsburgh with coal supplies and the oil field around Titusville, Pennsylvania. Its right-of way formed the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Rai ...
from 1902. This was originally a
narrow gauge system which was
standard gauged from 1883 to 1911. It formed the main B&O line west from Pittsburgh. The line passed the
Mars Train Station in
Mars, Pennsylvania
Mars is a borough in southern Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,458 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
History
In 1873, Samuel Parks constructed a home and a water-powered grist ...
, northwest of Pittsburgh.
*
Cleveland, Terminal and Valley Railway from 1895. This was the B&O's entry into
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
* Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railroad from 1909
* Chicago Terminal Transfer Company, reorganized in 1910 as the
Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to (Chicago's) Grand Central Station. It also served to connect those railroads for freight transfers, and ...
. This switching line was always operated as a separate company.
* Salisbury Railroad near Pittsburgh, operated from 1912
*
Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad from 1912
*
Morgantown and Kingwood Railroad from 1920
*
Coal and Coke Railway from 1916
*
Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad
The Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad was established in 1915 as a reorganization of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, which in turn had been created in 1902 as a merger of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway (I ...
from 1927. This was originally part of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton, and gave the B&O a connection to
Springfield, Illinois.
*
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway
The Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway was one of the more than ten thousand railroad companies founded in North America. It lasted much longer than most, serving communities from the shore of Lake Ontario to the center of western Penns ...
in 1932. This gave the B&O a line into New York state.
*
Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad
The Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad was a railroad company that formerly operated in western and north central Pennsylvania and western New York. It was created in 1893 by the merger and consolidation of several smaller logging railroads. It o ...
from 1932. Part of the line was severed from the rest of the system by flooding, and became part of the
Wellsville, Addison and Galeton Railroad
The Wellsville, Addison & Galeton Railroad was formed in 1954 to operate a section of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) trackage which had been isolated from the rest of the system by a 1942 flood. This trackage was acquired by the B&O as part of ...
in 1955.
(This list omits certain short lines.)
The
Chicago and Alton Railroad
The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 a ...
was purchased by the B&O in 1931 and renamed the
Alton Railroad
The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 a ...
. It was always operated separately and was eventually bought by the
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois.
From its two ...
after receivership in 1942.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
As a result of poor national economic conditions in the mid-1870s following the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the ...
, the B&O attempted to reduce its workers' wages. After a second reduction in wages was announced in the same year, workers began the
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year. This strike finally ended 52 day ...
on July 14 in
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the E ...
. Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight trains, to roll until the third wage cut was revoked.
West Virginia Governor
The governor of West Virginia is the head of government of West VirginiaWV Constitution article VII, § 5. and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's West Virginia National Guard, military forces.WV Constitution article VII, § 12. Th ...
Henry M. Mathews sent in state militia units to restore train service but the soldiers refused to fire on the strikers. The strike spread to
Cumberland, and when
Maryland Governor
The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...
John Lee Carroll
John Lee Carroll (September 30, 1830 – February 27, 1911), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 37th Governor of Maryland from 1876 to 1880.
Early life
Carroll was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Col. Charles Carr ...
attempted to put down the strike by sending the state militia from Baltimore,
riots broke out resulting in 11 deaths, the burning of parts of Camden station, and damage to several engines and cars. The next day workers in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
staged a
sympathy strike
Solidarity action (also known as secondary action, a secondary boycott, a solidarity strike, or a sympathy strike) is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in a separate corporation, but often the same en ...
that was also met with an assault by the state militia; Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. The strike ended after federal troops and state militias restored order.
New lines in Maryland
![1891 B&O](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/1891_B%26O.jpg)
In 1866 the B&O began constructing the
Metropolitan Branch west out of Washington, which was completed in 1873 after years of erratic effort. Before this line was laid, rail traffic west of Washington had to travel first to Relay or Baltimore before joining the main line. The line cut a more or less straight line from Washington to
Point of Rocks, Maryland
Point of Rocks is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,466. It is named for the striking rock formation on the adjacent Catoct ...
, with many grades and large bridges. Upon the opening of this line, through passenger traffic was rerouted through Washington, and the Old Main Line from Point of Rocks to Relay was reduced to secondary status as far as passenger service was concerned. The Washington to
Gaithersburg
Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Ga ...
section of the Met Branch was double-tracked during 1886–1893. Rebuilding in the early 20th century and complete double-tracking of the branch by 1928 increased capacity; the "branches" became the ''de facto'' mainline, though the Old Main Line was retained as a relief route.
Meanwhile, the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
(PRR) outmaneuvered the B&O to acquire the B&O's northern connection, the
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881.
It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...
in the early 1880s, cutting off the B&O's access to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
New York. The state of Maryland had stayed true to its implicit promise not to grant competing charters for the Baltimore/Washington line, but when a charter was granted in 1860 to build a line from Baltimore to
Pope's Creek in southern Maryland, lawyers for the Pennsylvania RR picked up on a clause in the unfulfilled charter allowing branches up to long, from any point and in any direction. The projected route, passing through what is now
Bowie, Maryland
Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...
, could have a "branch" constructed that would allow service into Washington. The Pennsylvania picked up the charter through the agency of the
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) operated from Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D.C., from 1872 to 1902. Controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the second railroad company to connect the nation's capital to the Nor ...
and in 1872 service between Baltimore and Washington began. (''See''
Pope's Creek Subdivision
The Pope's Creek Subdivision is a CSX Transportation railroad line in Maryland, running from Bowie to Morgantown where the Morgantown Generating Station is located and the Chalk Point Generating Station.
History
The Pope's Creek Subdivision ...
.) At the same time, the PRR outmaneuvered the B&O and took control of the
Long Bridge
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
across the Potomac River into Virginia, the B&O's connection to southern lines.
![Bando offices](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Bando_offices.jpg)
In response, the B&O chartered the
Philadelphia Branch in Maryland and the
Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad in Delaware and Pennsylvania and built a parallel route, finished in 1886. The 10th president,
Charles F. Mayer, spearheaded the development of the
Baltimore Belt Line
The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, New York City/Jersey City with the re ...
, which opened in 1895, and recruited engineer
Samuel Rea
Samuel Rea (September 21, 1855 – March 24, 1929) was an American engineer and the ninth president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, serving from 1913 to 1925. He joined the PRR in 1871, when the railroad had hardly outgrown its 1846 charter to bu ...
to design it. This belt line connected the main line to the Philadelphia Branch without the need for a
car ferry across the Patapsco River, but the cost of constructing the
Howard Street Tunnel
The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and New York City/Jersey City with the rest of the railroad at Baltimore, Marylan ...
drove the B&O to bankruptcy in 1896.
Two other lines were built in attempts to reconnect to the south. The Alexandria Branch (now called the
Alexandria Extension) was built in 1874, starting from
Hyattsville, Maryland
Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census.
History
Before Europeans reached the area, the upper ...
, and ending at a ferry operation at Shepherd's Landing. The ferry operation continued until 1901 when the trackage rights agreement concluded as part of the construction of
Washington Union Station
Washington Union Station is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North Ame ...
saw the south end of the branch realigned to link to the PRR trackage in Anacostia, across the
Anacostia Railroad Bridge, into the
Virginia Avenue Tunnel, through
Southwest Washington, D.C., to
Potomac Yard
Potomac Yard is a neighborhood in Northern Virginia that straddles southeastern Arlington County and northeastern Alexandria, Virginia, located principally in the area between U.S. Route 1 and the Washington Metro Blue Line / Yellow Line trac ...
in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
. (''See''
RF&P Subdivision
The RF&P Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation. It runs from Washington, D.C., to Richmond, Virginia, over lines previously owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. ...
.) The Alexandria Branch trackage to Shepherd's Landing was heavily used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when traffic congestion on the
Long Bridge
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
caused the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
to construct a bridge along the original plan of the B&O: Alexandria to Shepherd's Landing, Washington. Trains of empty
freight car
A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...
s were routed north and south over the structure, which was demolished after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
[National Railway Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Chapter]
"Timeline of Washington, D.C. Railroad History."
Accessed February 27, 2011.
Before either connection was made, however, another branch was built around the west side of Washington. During the 1880s the B&O had organised a group of bankrupt railroads in Virginia into the
Virginia Midland Railroad. The VM track ran from
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
to
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...
. The line projected west across the Potomac River was intended to cross the Potomac just north of the D.C. line, to continue southwest to a connection with the B&O-controlled Virginia Midland (VM) in
Fairfax (now
Fairfax Station
Fairfax Station is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 12,030 at the 2010 census. Located in Northern Virginia, its center is located southwest of Washington, D.C.
Geography
Fairfax St ...
, to distinguish it from what was
Fairfax Court House and is now the
City of Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2010 census the po ...
), and if possible to a connection with the
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad comp ...
in
Quantico. The branch was started in 1892 and reached
Chevy Chase, Maryland, the same year. Financial problems in both the VM and B&O forced a halt to construction and led to the B&O's loss of control of the VM. Following bankruptcy, and control by the Pennsylvania Railroad, by the time the line was completed in 1910 there was no longer any point to the river crossing. Thus, the renamed
Georgetown Branch Georgetown or George Town may refer to:
Places
Africa
*George, South Africa, formerly known as Georgetown
* Janjanbureh, Gambia, formerly known as Georgetown
* Georgetown, Ascension Island, main settlement of the British territory of Ascension Is ...
came to serve a wide range of customers in Maryland and in
Georgetown, such as the
Potomac Electric Power Company
The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon.
The company's current trademarked slogan ...
, the
Washington Milling Company, and the U.S. government. The line cut directly across various creeks, and includes what was said to be the longest wood
trestle on the railroad over
Rock Creek; and a short tunnel,
Dalecarlia Tunnel, under the
Washington Aqueduct
The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the Aquedu ...
. The line was almost completely abandoned in 1986 by CSX and is presently used in part as the right-of-way for the
Capital Crescent Trail
The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...
.
After a flood damaged the C&O Canal in 1877, the B&O acquired a majority interest in the canal mainly to keep its property and right of way from potential use by the
Western Maryland Railroad
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight train, freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. ...
.
The canal was operated by the B&O until 1924 when it was damaged in another flood. The canal's property was later transferred to the U.S. government in 1938 in consideration for obtaining a loan from the federal
Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
In 1895 the B&O introduced
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...
s over of line near Camden, initially using an overhead electric slot system.
The 20th century
![Replacing Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Retaining Wall, 1906](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Replacing_Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad_Retaining_Wall%2C_1906.jpg)
Following its emergence from bankruptcy, control of the B&O was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1901, though the two kept separate corporate identities. A rising young PRR Vice President,
Leonor F. Loree, was appointed president. Loree shared the Pennsy management's belief in infrastructure and the B&O at that time needed some of that. New classes of engines were built to haul longer, heavier trains faster. The
Old Main Line was reworked, sections of the original right-of-way cut off by the straightening of curves and replacement of old, weight-restricted bridges with newer, heavier bridges. Most of Loree's work on the B&O physical plant remains evident today. Many iron and steel bridges on the railroad were replaced with stone (Pennsy preferred stone to the preference of the
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
and
Lackawanna Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
for concrete). With the adoption of anti-trust legislation in 1906, the relation between the two companies was severed.
The railroad's passenger numbers were at a disadvantage with the railroad's major competitor in the northeast, the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
. That railroad had a tunnel into Manhattan, thus carrying passengers directly into
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The B&O had no tunnel rights, and its New York City market trains actually terminated at the
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing ...
in
Jersey City. From Philadelphia to Jersey City the B&O traveled over
Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly call ...
tracks to Bound Brook and there joining
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
tracks to Jersey City. Passengers rode CNJ ferries or B&O busses to Manhattan. Suffering from its weaker market position from Baltimore to New York, the B&O discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958. On April 19, 1960, the railroad retired its last steam locomotive.
![Baltimore and Ohio RR in 1961](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Baltimore_and_Ohio_RR_in_1961.jpg)
The
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway took financial control of the B&O in 1963. The B&O already had a controlling interest in the
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The WM beca ...
. In 1973 the three railroads were brought together under one corporate identity, the
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated unde ...
, although they continued to operate as separate railroads. In 1980 the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries, a holding company that owned the
Seaboard Coast Line
The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...
, the
Louisville & Nashville
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.
Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...
, the
Clinchfield, and the
Georgia Railroad
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, agreed to form
CSX Corporation
CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. ...
. SCL Industries was renamed the
Seaboard System Railroad
The Seaboard System Railroad, Inc. was a US Class I railroad that operated from 1982 to 1986.
Since the late 1960s, Seaboard Coast Line Industries had operated the Seaboard Coast Line and its sister railroads—notably the Louisville & Nashv ...
(SBD) in 1983, the same year that the
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The WM beca ...
was completely absorbed into the B&O. SBD was renamed
CSX Transportation (CSX) in 1986. On April 30, 1987, the B&O's corporate existence ended when it was absorbed into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, which merged into CSX Transportation on August 31 of that year.
In railroading's golden age, the B&O was one of several trunk lines uniting the northeast quadrant of the United States into a wide industrial zone. It was the southern border as the
New York Central was the northern border. The Pennsylvania Railroad controlled the center, and smaller roads like the
Lackawanna,
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
, and the
Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
in the center surviving largely through the
Interstate Commerce Commission. The corners of this map are Baltimore in the southeast,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in the northeast,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
in the northwest, and
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
in the southwest.
Locomotive roster
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had numerous
locomotives and
cab unit
In North American railroad terminology, a cab unit is a railroad " locomotive" with its own cab and controls.
"Carbody unit" is a related term, which may be either a cabless booster unit controlled from a linked cab unit, or a cab unit that con ...
s,
Baltimore & Ohio Locomotive Roster
/ref> mostly the latter. The railroad had locomotives from the following companies:
::*Electro-Motive Diesel
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its s ...
::* Baldwin Locomotive Works
::*Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shop's location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between ...
::*Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...
Heritage units
In 2021, CSX repainted three EMD F40PH
The EMD F40PH is a four-axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in several variants from 1975 to 1992. Intended for use on Amtrak's short-haul passenger routes, it became the backbone of Amtrak's ...
s into an honorary B&O scheme. CSX F40PH-2 1, F40PH-2 2 and F40PH-2 3.
See also
* Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops is a historic industrial district in Martinsburg, West Virginia. It is significant both for its railroading architecture by Albert Fink and John Rudolph Niernsee and for its role in the Great Railroad ...
, a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
* Baltimore Belt Line
The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, New York City/Jersey City with the re ...
* Aeolus Railroad Car
* Camden Station
Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Street Station, Camden Yards, and formally as the Transportation Center at Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of South Howard and West Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, and is ...
* Mount Royal Station
* Mount Clare Shops
The Mount Clare Shops is the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States, located in Baltimore, Maryland.United States National Park Service. Washington, DC. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: ...
* Charles T. Hinde
Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur. He managed many businesses and invested in numerous business ventures over the course of his life. ...
* '' La Paz'', a preserved coach that was operated by B&O
References
Citations
Cited and general references
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* Mileposts from:
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Further reading
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* Has much on the railroad's history, not just Harpers Ferry.
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* Illustrations by Porte Crayon.
External links
Articles about B&O arrival in Wheeling
B&O Railroad Historical Society
B&O Railroad Photo Tours in and around Maryland
B&O Railroad page on the Baltimore Collective
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum
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1827 report
shows motivations of early boosters
Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Network
Maryland Railroads as of 1850
Virginia (and West Virginia) Railroads as of 1850
B&O Whistles, Whistle museum
Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Station From Walnut Street Wharf Schuylkill River, June 29, 1889 by D.J. Kennedy, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltimore Ohio Railroad
1827 establishments in Maryland
American companies established in 1827
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Companies based in Baltimore
Defunct Delaware railroads
Defunct Illinois railroads
Defunct Indiana railroads
Defunct Kentucky railroads
Defunct Maryland railroads
Defunct Michigan railroads
Defunct Missouri railroads
Defunct New Jersey railroads
Defunct New York (state) railroads
Defunct Ohio railroads
Defunct Pennsylvania railroads
Defunct Virginia railroads
Defunct Washington, D.C., railroads
Defunct West Virginia railroads
Former Class I railroads in the United States
Predecessors of CSX Transportation
Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area
Railway companies disestablished in 1987
Railway companies established in 1827
Railway lines opened in 1830
Standard gauge railways in the United States
Transportation in Gary, Indiana