Baltimore and Potomac Railroad

Last updated

Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
Industry Rail transport
FoundedMay 6, 1853 (1853-05-06)
Founder
DefunctNovember 1, 1902 (1902-11-01)
FateMerged with Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
Successor Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Area served
Revenue
  • Decrease2.svg US$290,996.29
[1]  (1892)
Total assets
  • Increase2.svg US$12,791,586
[1]  (1892)

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 Northeastern States, and competed with the older Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Contents

Part of the B&P route is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the most heavily traveled American intercity passenger line; and of the Penn Line of the Maryland Transit Administration's MARC commuter train service. Its Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, bored under north Baltimore in 1871, remains in use.

History

Competition with the B&O

Baltimore and Potomac Railroad 1875 ad in Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia Baltimore and Potomac Railroad 1875 ad in Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia - (IA boydsdirectoryof1875unse) (page 10 crop).jpg
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad 1875 ad in Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia

The leading advocate for expanding the railroad system into southern Maryland was Walter Bowie, who wrote newspaper articles and columns under the pen name Patuxent Planter and who joined Thomas Fielder Bowie, William Duckett Bowie, and Oden Bowie (later Governor of Maryland), in lobbying the Maryland General Assembly to approve the idea. Their efforts bore fruit on May 6, 1853, when lawmakers chartered the "Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road Company", [2] [3] : 333–334  granting it the authority to construct a railroad from Baltimore via Upper Marlboro in Prince George's County and Port Tobacco in neighboring Charles County to a point on the Potomac River between Liverpool Point and the St. Mary's River in St. Mary's County, southernmost in the state. The charter also allowed the construction of branches of up to 20 miles (32 km) in length.

The B&P was organized on December 19, 1858, and began surveying the route on May 3, 1859. Construction started in 1861 but with increasing delays caused by the American Civil War with its nearby conflicts and supplies shortages, progressed slowly until 1867, when the B&P was purchased by one of the two increasingly dominant Northeastern rail systems of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and its ally, the Northern Central Railway (NCRY) which ran from Baltimore north into Pennsylvania first to York and then into the state capital at Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River. [4] The PRR at the time had access to Baltimore via its own lines (the NCRY from the north and the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad from the northeast), and used the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) and its Washington Branch line to continue southwest to the national capital at Washington, D.C. The PRR and B&O had trouble getting along, but Maryland refused to grant a charter to end the B&O's monopoly on Baltimore-Washington travel. However, the Baltimore and Potomac charter allowed exactly that, via the clause that allowed branches; all the PRR had to do was take the line within 20 miles (32 km) of Washington. Later the U.S. Congress granted a charter for the section constructed in Washington on February 5, 1867. [3] : 335 

Thus the new Baltimore-Washington line opened on July 2, 1872, and the required "main line" to Popes Creek on the Potomac River, immediately relegated to branch status, opened on January 1, 1873. The final section, the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel under Winchester Street and Wilson Street in Baltimore, opened on June 29, 1873, connecting the line to the PRR's Northern Central Railway (north to Harrisburg) and Baltimore's new Union Station. That year or the next, the Union Railroad also opened, extending the line eastward through another tunnel to the PRR's other Baltimore line, the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) northeast to Delaware and Pennsylvania. [5]

Baltimore and Potomac Station in Washington

Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal, on the future National Mall, Washington, D.C. (1873-77, Wilson Brothers & Company, architects, demolished 1908). U.S. President James A. Garfield was assassinated in this station in 1881. B&PStation1908.jpg
Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal, on the future National Mall, Washington, D.C. (1873-77, Wilson Brothers & Company, architects, demolished 1908). U.S. President James A. Garfield was assassinated in this station in 1881.

The first B&P station in Washington was a simple wood-frame structure. A more substantial brick and stone building opened in 1873 at the southwest corner of Sixth Street and B Street NW (later renamed Constitution Avenue). [3] : 340  This is the present site of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, on the National Mall. [6] [ page needed ] The station was built over the old Washington City Canal, which complicated the construction of the foundation. [3] : 340  Tracks ran south from the station along Sixth Street to a wye junction at Sixth Street SW, Maryland Avenue SW, and Virginia Avenue SW.

On the morning of July 2, 1881, U.S. President Garfield was shot in the waiting room of the B&P station in Washington. [7] Although the shot was not fatal, he died in September 1881 as a result of infections from the injury.

On November 1, 1902, B&P was consolidated with PW&B to form the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad (PB&W), also controlled by PRR. [8] [9]

New Washington Union Station alignment

The Washington Terminal Company and its Union Station opened in 1907, serving the PB&W, the B&O and several other railroads. All PB&W passenger trains from Baltimore were diverted to a new alignment called the Magruder Branch, splitting from the old one at Landover and running west to run parallel with the B&O Washington Branch on the approach to the new station. [10]

Since then, the line has passed under control of Penn Central in 1968, followed by Conrail and Amtrak. Since the breakup of Conrail in 1999, Norfolk Southern has provided freight service over the main line. However, the Pope's Creek Subdivision (originally part of the chartered main line) is operated by CSX Transportation.

Branches

Catonsville

The Catonsville Short Line Railroad opened in 1884 and was immediately leased by the Baltimore & Potomac. This provided a short branch from just south of Baltimore to Catonsville.

Southern Maryland Line

The 48.7-mile (78.4 km) branch to Popes Creek was part of the original chartered main line, but from opening it was operated as a branch of the main line from the junction at Bowie. The main line from Bowie to Washington, a distance of 17.1 miles (27.5 km), was provided for in the charter as a branch.

There was a passenger and freight station at Collington on the Southern Maryland Line. [11] [12] Today, a 5,200-foot railroad siding is all that remains of this stop, although the spur is still in use. It is located at milepost 3.0 on the spur, [13] just south of where the spur crosses under Maryland Route 450 near Maryland Route 197. [14]

Related Research Articles

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Rail system in the United States of America

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from the city of Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the National Road early in the century, wanted to continue to compete for trade with trans-Appalachian settlers with the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike built in 1797, and the newly constructed Erie Canal, opened in 1825,, another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the James River Canal, which directed traffic toward Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia. At first, the B&O was located entirely in the state of Maryland, its original line extending from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook. There it connected with Harper's Ferry across the Potomac into Virginia, and also with the navigable Shenandoah River.

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was so named because it was established in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

MARC Train Commuter rail system in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area

MARC Train Service, previously known as Maryland Rail Commuter, is a commuter rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) agency, and is operated under contract by Bombardier Transportation Services USA Corporation (BTS) and Amtrak over tracks owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Amtrak.

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Railroad company in Virginia, later part of CSX

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 company.

Junction Railroad (Philadelphia)

The Junction Railroad was a railroad created in 1860 to connect lines west of downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and allow north-south traffic through the metropolitan area for the first time. The railroad consisted of 3.56 miles of double track and 5.3 miles of sidings. It owned no locomotives or rolling stock. The line connected the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road line at the west end of the Columbia Bridge over the Schuylkill River, crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad line, ran parallel to Market Street, and turned south to connect with the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad at Gray's Ferry.

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Railway company, later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated from 1836 to 1881. Formed as a result of the merger of four small lines dating from the earliest days of American railroading in the late 1820s and early 1830s, it was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1881, becoming part of their main line in 1902.

The Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad was a railroad line built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Baltimore, Maryland. It was built in the 1880s after the B&O lost access to its previous route to Philadelphia, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B). The cost of building the new route, especially the Howard Street Tunnel on the connecting Baltimore Belt Line, led to the B&O's first bankruptcy. Today, the line is used by CSX Transportation for freight trains.

West Baltimore station

West Baltimore station is a regional rail station located in the western part of the City of Baltimore, Maryland along the Northeast Corridor. It is served by MARC Penn Line trains. The station is positioned on an elevated grade above and between the nearby parallel West Mulberry and West Franklin Streets at 400 North Smallwood Street. Three large surface lots are available for commuters. The station is not accessible, with two low-level side platforms next to the outer tracks, but MTA Maryland plans to later renovate the station with accessible platforms and entrances.

Northern Central Railway

The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). For eleven decades the Northern Central operated as a subsidiary of the PRR until much of its Maryland trackage was washed out by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, after which most of its operations ceased as the Penn Central declined to repair sections. It is now a fallen flag railway, having come under the control of the later Penn Central, Conrail, and then broken apart and disestablished. The northern part in Pennsylvania is now the York County Heritage Rail Trail which connects to a similar hike/bike trail in Northern Maryland down to Baltimore, named the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. Only the trackage around Baltimore remains in rail service.

Alexandria Canal (Virginia) Abandoned canal in Alexandria, Virginia, United States

The Alexandria Canal was a canal in the United States that connected the city of Alexandria to Georgetown in the District of Columbia.

Popes 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.

Cumberland Valley Railroad

The Cumberland Valley Railroad was an early railroad in Pennsylvania, United States, originally chartered in 1831 to connect with Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works. Freight and passenger service in the Cumberland Valley in south central Pennsylvania from near Harrisburg to Chambersburg began in 1837, with service later extended to Hagerstown, Maryland, and then extending into the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester, Virginia. It employed up to 1,800 workers.

Bowie State station

Bowie State is a regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located adjacent to the campus of Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland. It is served by MARC Penn Line commuter rail trains. The station is located on a three-track section of the Northeast Corridor, with two side platforms next to the outer tracks.

Bowie Railroad Buildings

The Bowie Railroad Buildings comprise three small frame structures at the former Bowie train station, located at the junction of what is now the Northeast Corridor and the Pope's Creek Subdivision in the town center of Bowie, Maryland. The complex includes a single-story freight depot, a two-story interlocking tower, and an open passenger shed. The station was served by passenger trains from 1872 until 1989, when it was replaced by Bowie State station nearby. The buildings were restored in 1992 as the Bowie Railroad Museum and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

The Landover Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation. It runs from the Anacostia section of Washington, D.C., to Landover, Maryland, serving as a freight train bypass of Washington Union Station.

Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad

The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (PB&W) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in the 20th century, and was a key component of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system. Its 131-mile (211 km) main line ran from Philadelphia to Washington. The PB&W main line is now part of the Northeast Corridor, owned by Amtrak.

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 110-mile (180 km) main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland, plus several branch lines.

Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad

The Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad (C&PD) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a 34-mile long (55 km) main line between Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Port Deposit, Maryland, generally along the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River. It later acquired a branch line to Perryville, Maryland. The C&PD was subsequently purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and, since the 1999 breakup of Conrail, is owned by Norfolk Southern Railway.

Lanham station was a regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located just outside the Capital Beltway off Route 450 in Lanham, Maryland. It was served by the predecessor of today's MARC Penn Line, until August 1982.

Calvert Street Station

Calvert Street Station served railroad passengers of the Northern Central Railway in Baltimore, Maryland from 1850 until 1948. In this capacity, it served as the terminus for the second railway chartered in Maryland, which eventually was expanded into a network containing nearly 400 miles of track. The Northern Central, always in financial trouble, was leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) after 1861. With the opening of nearby Pennsylvania Station, the terminal became redundant. Rail traffic ceased around 1948 and the station was razed in 1949 to make way for the current occupant of the space, The Baltimore Sun.

References

  1. 1 2 Poor's Manual of Railroads. Vol. 26. p. 972.
  2. ↑ Maryland General Assembly. Chapter 194 of the 1853 Session Laws of Maryland, May 6, 1853
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, William Bender (1895). History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company: With Plan of Organization. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Company – via Archive.org.
  4. ↑ "PRR Chronology: 1867" (PDF). PRR Research. Philadelphia Chapter, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. June 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  5. ↑ Netzlof, Robert T. (June 12, 2002). "Corporate Genealogy Union Railroad". Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
  6. ↑ Goode, James W. (2003). Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. ISBN   1-58834-105-4.
  7. ↑ "Garfield Still Lives". Pittsburgh Daily Post. July 4, 1881. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  8. ↑ "Another Merger: Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Stockholders Ratify Agreement". Reading Times. Reading, Pennsylvania. August 22, 1902. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  9. ↑ Kuhn, Loeb & Co. (December 29, 1903). "$10,000,000 Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  10. ↑ "PRR Chronology: 1907" (PDF). PRR Research. Philadelphia Chapter, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. March 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  11. ↑ The Official railway guide: North American freight service edition. Philadelphia: National Railway Publication Co. 1889. p. 230 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ "Sacred Heart Church - The Parish with Colonial Roots - since 1728". Sacred Heart Church. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  13. ↑ "CSXT - Popes Creek Subdivision". The Mainline. 2000. Archived from the original on July 7, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
  14. ↑ Hogan, Reverend John F. (1975). Sacred Heart Chapel 1741-1975: A Monograph on the Foundation and the Development of the old Sacred Heart Church - White Marsh.
Preceded by
 
Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road Company
chartered May 6, 1853
merged November 1, 1902		Succeeded by
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