The Queen Anne’s Railroad 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 ran between Love Point, Maryland, and

Lewes, Delaware Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delawar ...

, with connections to

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 ...

via ferry across the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

. The Queen Anne's Railroad company was formed in Maryland in 1894, and received legislative authorization from Delaware in February 1895. The railroad's original western terminus was in

Queenstown, Maryland Queenstown is a town in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 664 at the 2010 census. Geography Queenstown is located at (38.989086, -76.156645). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total are ...

, and was moved via a extension to Love Point in 1902, which shortened the ferry trip to Baltimore. The Queen Anne's Railroad Company began operating a summer-only Cape May Express between Queenstown and Lewes in 1901 with a connecting steamer across the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of ...

. The company owned and operated the Queen Anne's Ferry & Equipment Company which consisted of the steamers Endeavor, Queen Anne and Queen Caroline.

Towns served

The following towns were served by the Queen Anne's Railroad: *

Centreville, Maryland Centreville is an incorporated town in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States on the Delmarva Peninsula. Incorporated in 1794, it is the county seat of Queen Anne's County. The population was 4,285 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code is 216 ...

(via the Centreville Branch) *

Chester, Maryland Chester is a census-designated place on Kent Island in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,723 at the 2000 census. Geography Chester is located at (38.971907, −76.288045). According to the United States Cens ...

* Denton, Maryland * Hickman, Delaware * Love Point, Maryland *

Queen Anne, Maryland Queen Anne is a town in Queen Anne's and Talbot counties in the U.S. state of Maryland. The population was 222 at the 2010 census. Geography Queen Anne is located at (38.919039, -75.952827). According to the United States Census Bureau, the t ...

Stevensville, Maryland Stevensville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States, and is the county's most populous place among both CDPs and municipalities. The community is the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The S ...

* Adamsville, Delaware * Blanchard, Delaware *

Ellendale, Delaware Ellendale is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The population was 487 at the 2020 census, an increase of 27.8% since the 2010 census, and a 48.9% increase since the year 2000. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metrop ...

Georgetown, Delaware Georgetown is a town and the county seat of Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 6,422, an increase of 38.3% over the previous decade. Georgetown is part of the Salisbury, Marylan ...

Greenwood, Delaware Greenwood is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The population was 973 at the 2010 census, an increase of 16.2% over the previous decade. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The ...

Milton, Delaware Milton is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States, on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is located on the Broadkill River, which empties into Delaware Bay. The population was 2,576 at the 2010 census, an increase of 55.5% over the previous dec ...

* Owens, Delaware *

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Rehoboth Beach ( ) is a city on the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware Beaches in eastern Sussex County, Delaware. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the population was 1,327, reflecting a decline of 161 (11.2%) from the 1,488 counted in the 2000 ce ...

An article appearing in the April 9, 1897 issue of '' The Morning News'' announcing the opening of the new railway lists the stations, in order, as Queenstown, Bloomingdale, Wye Mills, Willoughby, Queen Anne, Hillsboro, Downes, Tuckahoe, Denton, Hobbs, Hickman, Adamsville, Blanchard, and Greenwood where the line terminated while construction continued to Ellendale.

During first half of the 20th Century

Through a complex series of acquisitions in 1905, Queen Anne's Railroad ceased to exist and its assets became the property of the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railway Company (MD&V), a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Into the 1920s the railroad operated trains from Love Point on the eastern Chesapeake shore town of Love Point, east to

, to

and then to

. Both the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railway Company and the nearby

Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway The Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic railroad, nicknamed Black Cinders & Ashes, ran from Claiborne, Maryland (with steamship connections to Baltimore), to Ocean City, Maryland. It operated of center-line track and of sidings.Interstate Co ...

were merged into the Baltimore & Eastern Railroad in 1928. Already by 1932 the company substituted with bus service replacing train service along the original route of the railway from Queenstown on the Chesapeake shore of eastern Maryland to Greenwood, and then to Lewes. This bus was gone from the schedule by 1941, as the company dropped its passenger operations.

Current status

Much of the railroad's original track has been abandoned, but segments are still used for freight rail service by the

Delmarva Central Railroad The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Hal ...

. In

Queen Anne's County, Maryland Queen Anne's County is located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,874. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensville ...

, a project has converted much of the railroad right-of-way into part of the

Cross Island Trail The Cross Island Trail is a rail trail in Queen Anne's County, Maryland occupying a section of the abandoned Queen Anne's Railroad corridor that traverses the width of Kent Island. It was completed in 2001 and is part of the American Discovery Tr ...

, a rail trail which is, in turn, part of the

American Discovery Trail The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal tra ...

. The path of the railroad is approximated today by the following roads: *

Maryland Route 18 Maryland Route 18 (MD 18) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from the beginning of state maintenance at Love Point east to MD 213 in Centreville. MD 18 is the main east–we ...

* U.S. Route 50 * Maryland Route 404 *

Maryland Route 16 Maryland Route 16 (MD 16) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from Taylors Island east to the Delaware state line in Hickman, where the highway continues as Delaware Route 16 (DE& ...

* Delaware Route 16 * Delaware Route 1 *

U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, between ...

A Delaware state historical marker in Milton and another in Ellendale's historic Railroad Square district commemorate the railroad. The original railroad stations in Stevensville and Sudlersville are both still in existence and serve as museums.
dead link 2008-10-23 -->

References

External links

Queen Anne's Railroad Society (QARRS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Anne's Railroad Defunct Maryland railroads Defunct Delaware railroads Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Queen Anne's County, Maryland Talbot County, Maryland Caroline County, Maryland Transportation in Sussex County, Delaware Railway companies established in 1894 Railway companies disestablished in 1905 1894 establishments in Maryland 1895 establishments in Delaware 1905 disestablishments in Maryland 1905 disestablishments in Delaware