The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (PB&W) was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that operated in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, and

the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1902 until 1976. A key component of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its ...

(PRR) system, its main line ran between

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and Washington. The PB&W main line is now part of the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

, owned by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

History

The railroad was formed in 1902 when the Pennsylvania Railroad merged two of its southern subsidiaries, the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad, headquartered in Philadelphia, that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland from 1836 to 1902. It was part of an 1838 merger of four state-chartered railr ...

and 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. Owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the second railroad company to connect the nation's capital to ...

. In 1907, the PB&W became a co-owner of the new

Washington Terminal Company The Washington Terminal Company is a corporation created in Washington, D.C., United States, to provide support to railroads using Washington's Union Station. It is now a nearly wholly owned subsidiary of Amtrak. It was established in 1901 by t ...

, which operated the new

Washington Union Station Washington Union Station, known locally as 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 second-busiest station and North ...

, the marble structure dubbed the "Transportation Temple of America". In 1916, the PB&W operated of road, including of

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may c ...

Acquisitions

The PB&W acquired six railroad companies: * 1906: South Chester Railroad * 1913: Baltimore and Sparrow's Point Railroad, which provided freight service to

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

's Sparrows Point steel mill * 1916:

Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port Dep ...

* 1916:

Columbia and Port Deposit Railway Columbia most often refers to: * Columbia (personification), the historical personification of the United States * Columbia University, a private university in New York City * Columbia Pictures, an American film studio owned by Sony Pictures * Co ...

* 1916: Elkton and Middletown Railroad * 1956:

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, commonly called the Pan Handle Route (Panhandle Route in later days), was a railroad that was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its common name came from its main line, whic ...

(Pan Handle Route)

Improvements

In 1928, the PRR began to electrify the main line between

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and Washington, D.C., using

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...

. Electrification of the PB&W portion was completed in 1935. Amtrak still uses the 25 Hz traction power system.

Dissolution

In 1968, Pennsylvania Railroad and its longtime rival

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

merged to form the

Penn Central Railroad The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania Railroad, ...

. The PB&W remained a separate legal entity, although controlled and operated by the new company. The Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970 but continued to operate trains until 1976, when the company's railroad assets were sold under the

Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, often called the "4R Act," is a United States federal law that established the basic outlines of regulatory reform in the railroad industry and provided transitional operating funds f ...

. Under the new law,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

authorized the sale of the PB&W right-of-way between Philadelphia and Washington, and related assets (such as the Washington Terminal Company), to

. Other PB&W assets, including almost all of the PCC&StL (Pan Handle), were sold to the new

Consolidated Rail Corporation Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It Conrail Shared Assets O ...

(Conrail).

In popular culture

Flip Wilson Clerow "Flip" Wilson Jr. (December 8, 1933 – November 25, 1998) was an American comedian and actor best known for his television appearances during the late 1960s and 1970s. From 1970 to 1974, Wilson hosted his own weekly variety series '' The ...

's "Ugly Baby" (1965) routine is set on the Pennsylvania Railroad, outbound from Baltimore.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philadelphia Baltimore Washington Railroad Companies affiliated with the Pennsylvania Railroad Defunct Delaware railroads Defunct Maryland railroads Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Defunct Washington, D.C., railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States Railway companies established in 1902 Railway companies disestablished in 1976 Standard-gauge railways in the United States