The Georges Creek and Cumberland Railroad (GC&C) was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that operated in

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 ...

from 1876 until 1917, when it was merged with 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 ...

(WM). The main line ran from

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

Lonaconing Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD- WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,214 at the 2010 census. History The first non- ...

History

The GC&C was created by rival

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

companies in the

Georges Creek Valley Georges Creek Valley is located in Allegany County, Maryland along the Georges Creek. The valley is rich in wide veins of coal, known historically as "The Big Vein." Coal was once extracted by deep mines but is only mined today through surfac ...

to compete against the Consolidated Coal Company who dictated rail traffic over the

Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P) was an American railroad which operated in Western Maryland. Primarily a coal hauler, it was owned by the Consolidation Coal Company, and was purchased by the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1944. ...

. By 1887 the railroad crossed the town of Midland on a large wooden trestle. The rail line came through Clarysville and Vale Summit, and went south to Lonaconing to service the mines. The trestle was removed in the 1930s. In addition to coal hauling, the GC&C provided

passenger station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

s and service. A published schedule of the GC&C dated January 18, 1887, shows two trains per day from Cumberland to Lonaconing (except Sundays). The GC&C also owned a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

, acquired in 1888 from a company called Pennsylvania railroad in Maryland, that ran from Cumberland north to the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

state line, where it connected with the

Bedford and Bridgeport Railroad Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst th ...

.Hicks, W. Raymond. "Pennsylvania Railroad in Maryland." The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin 85 (1952): 9-10. The latter company was controlled by 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). The

Fuller Syndicate The Fuller Syndicate was a group of American financiers that invested in railroads in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The group was organized by investor Edward Laton Fuller, President of the International Salt Company, and led by George J ...

, led by George Gould, acquired a controlling interest in the GC&C in 1907, principally to obtain access to the route through the

Cumberland Narrows The Cumberland Narrows (or simply The Narrows) is a water gap in western Maryland in the United States, just west of Cumberland. Wills Creek cuts through the central ridge of the Wills Mountain Anticline at a low elevation here between Wills Mou ...

. The WM (which had also been controlled by Gould until 1908) took over the GC&C operation in 1913, and a full merger was completed in 1917. WM abandoned large portions of the GC&C in 1927. The line from Cumberland to Midland was operated until 1939 when the track was abandoned. The State Line Branch to Pennsylvania was operated by the PRR until 1934.

Notes

References

External links

* Railroad history website - mtnsub.org
"The Narrows."
Accessed 2018-10-11.

External links

- historical information & photos {{DEFAULTSORT:George's Creek Cumberland Railroad Defunct Maryland railroads History of Cumberland, MD-WV MSA Predecessors of the Western Maryland Railway Railway companies established in 1876 Railway companies disestablished in 1917 Transportation in Allegany County, Maryland 1876 establishments in Maryland American companies established in 1876

History

See also

Notes

References

External links

External links