The Maryland Central Railroad (MCRR) was a 19th-century

narrow gauge 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 structu ...

railroad 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 ...

, with a small track section in Pennsylvania. It operated

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...

and

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

s between

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

and

Delta, Pennsylvania Delta is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and one of the southernmost communities in Pennsylvania. The population was 706 at the 2020 census. It is served by the South Eastern School District which provides a public education ...

History

The Maryland Central was chartered by the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamb ...

in 1867 to build a railroad from Baltimore 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 ...

. It was not successful at raising sufficient funds for construction through the 1870s. (A competing railroad, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, had the same objective and had completed a bridge over the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

in 1866.) Another company, the Baltimore and Delta Railway began building a gauge line in 1878 to reach

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

quarries in Delta, and to interchange with the

Peach Bottom Railway The Peach Bottom Railway was a 19th-century narrow gauge railroad in Pennsylvania, designed to haul coal from the Broad Top fields in central Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, but succeeded only in establishing two local short lines. History Charter ...

. The southern portions of the Baltimore & Delta opened in 1882, but the company needed additional funds for completion. It merged with the Maryland Central in August 1882. MCRR continued the construction northward and reached

Bel Air, Maryland The town of Bel Air is the county seat of Harford County, Maryland. According to the 2020 United States census, the population of the town was 10,661. History Bel Air's identity has gone through several incarnations since 1780. Aquilla Scott, w ...

in 1883. Passenger train service between Baltimore and Bel Air began on June 21, 1883. The railroad commenced U.S. mail service in July 1883. The remaining un-built route of 17 miles, from Bel Air to Delta, involved some difficult construction work, but the line was completed by December of that year. The track in Pennsylvania was owned by a subsidiary, the Slate Ridge and Delta Railway. Passenger trains began running from Baltimore to Delta in January 1884. The company experienced financial difficulties and entered

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

in October 1884. MCRR was sold at auction in 1888 and a new company, the Maryland Central Railway, was formed. ''Spence v. Maryland Central R.R.'', Equity No. 5206 (Baltimore County, Md. Cir., filed Oct. 24, 1884), Md. State Archives Collections T258 (Judicial Record 126, at pp. 111-242), T696 (Boxes 2148-1, -2 apers filed. In 1889 the Maryland Central acquired control of the York and Peach Bottom Railway (Y&PB), the successor to the Peach Bottom Railway, and which terminated at Delta. Through-service trains between

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

and Baltimore began operation in May 1889. The Maryland Central owners were interested in expanding further north into Pennsylvania, and they made plans for a merger with the Y&PB. In 1891 the Y&PB and Maryland Central merged to form a new corporation, the

Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad The Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad (B&L) was a 19th-century, narrow gauge railroad in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It operated freight and passenger trains on its main line between Baltimore and York, Pennsylvania. History The Baltimore and Lehig ...

Successor lines

The Baltimore and Lehigh encountered financial problems in 1893 and entered

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. The Maryland and Pennsylvania sections of the railroad were sold off separately in 1894. The

York Southern Railroad York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

acquired the Pennsylvania portion, and the Maryland portion was acquired by a new company, the Baltimore and Lehigh Railway. In 1895 the York Southern converted its tracks to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

, and in 1900 the Baltimore and Lehigh did likewise on the Maryland tracks. The York Southern merged with the Baltimore and Lehigh in 1901, to form the

Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad , familiarly known as the "Ma and Pa", was an American short-line railroad between York and Hanover, Pennsylvania, formerly operating passenger and freight trains on its original line between York and Baltim ...

. The new company announced that it planned to build a branch line from Red Lion to

Columbia, Pennsylvania Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, acr ...

, to connect with the

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 calle ...

. However, this idea was not implemented and the railroad never succeeded in expanding northward beyond York.

References

* {{Authority control Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Defunct Maryland railroads Narrow gauge railroads in Pennsylvania Narrow gauge railroads in Maryland Railway companies established in 1882 Railway companies disestablished in 1891 3 ft gauge railways in the United States

History

Successor lines

See also

References