Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway

Last updated
Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
WBAlogo.png
Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad line map.jpg
WB&A System map
Overview
Headquarters Annapolis, Maryland
Reporting mark WB&A
Locale Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Dates of operation19081935
SuccessorFranchise acquired by Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail and the Northeast Maglev
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) was an American railroad of central Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th and 20th century. The WB&A absorbed two older railroads, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad and the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line, and added its own electric streetcar line between Baltimore and Washington. It was built by a group of Cleveland, Ohio, electric railway entrepreneurs to serve as a high-speed, showpiece line using the most advanced technology of the time. [1] It served Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis, Maryland, for 27 years before the "Great Depression" and the rise of the automobile forced an end to passenger service during the economic pressures of the 1930s "Depression" southwest to Washington from Baltimore & west from Annapolis in 1935. Only the Baltimore & Annapolis portion between the state's largest city and its state capital continued to operate electric rail cars for another two decades, replaced by a bus service during the late 1950s into 1968. Today, parts of the right-of-way are used for the light rail line (from Cromwell Station / north Glen Burnie going north to downtown Baltimore and further north through city to Hunt Valley in Baltimore County), rail trail for hiking - biking trails, and roads through Anne Arundel County.

Contents

History

Origins

The WB&A was originally incorporated in 1899 as The Potomac and Severn Electric Railway. On April 10, 1900, it changed its name to the Washington and Annapolis Electric Railway [2] and finally, on April 8, 1902, to the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway. [3]

In 1903, the WB&A purchased the Annapolis, Washington & Baltimore Railroad (AW&B) formerly the Annapolis & Elkridge Railroad which was closed, electrified and reopened. [4] At the same time, it laid an almost straight double-track route parallel to the B&O and Pennsylvania railroads, but slightly to the east in less populated territory. On February 7, 1908, service began from Liberty Street in Baltimore to its Washington terminal at 15th and H Streets NE. [5] After 1910, the line reached the heart of downtown on 15th Street near the Treasury. [5] Another single track began at the B&O main line at Annapolis Junction, crossed the WB&A main line just east of Odenton, and headed east via Millersville and Crownsville to Annapolis. [1]

A postcard advertising WB&A's interurban service from the Democratic National Convention of 1912, held at the Fifth Regiment Armory on North Howard Street to nominate Woodrow Wilson for U.S. president. Electric railroad from Baltimore, Maryland to Annapolis, Maryland and Washington DC, circa 1912.jpg
A postcard advertising WB&A's interurban service from the Democratic National Convention of 1912, held at the Fifth Regiment Armory on North Howard Street to nominate Woodrow Wilson for U.S. president.

The line built by the WB&A, later called the Main Line, ran from Baltimore to Washington through Bowie, Glenn Dale Hospital, and Glenarden to Fairmont Heights where it met with the Chesapeake Beach Railway just outside Washington at Chesapeake Junction. From there, it continued to Deanwood on the Washington Railway and Electric Company's Seat Pleasant Line, running parallel to the Chesapeake Beach Railroad tracks and across the Benning Road Bridge into downtown Washington.

Once onto their own right-of-way, the WB&A's expresses regularly hit 60 mph, but street running in the terminal cities slowed their overall time. A typical B&O express made the trip in 50 minutes, but the best the WB&A could do was an hour and 20 minutes. Offsetting these handicaps were its cleanliness, lower fares, half-hourly express service, and better-located downtown terminals. [1]

Business along the route

6-car excursion extra departing Annapolis for Washington in 1910 WB&A excursion train 1910.jpg
6-car excursion extra departing Annapolis for Washington in 1910

Always looking for new sources of business, the railroad, in 1914, convinced the Southern Maryland Agricultural Fair Association to establish Bowie Race Track along the Main Line. [1]

In September 1917, as the U.S. entered World War I, George Bishop, the WB&A's well-connected president, persuaded the U.S. Army to acquire land owned by the railroad and open a training facility. Camp Meade was established in the area roughly bounded by the B&O Washington Branch on the west, the Pennsylvania Railroad on the east, and the South Shore Line of the WB&A to the south. The installation was supposed to be a temporary facility, used only for the duration of the war (it is still in use today). The WB&A saw record traffic during this time as a result of freight and passenger service to the camp. In 1918, the railroad was running as many as 84 special trains a day. [1]

Expansion

Share of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railroad Company, issued 17. May 1921 Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric RR 1921.jpg
Share of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railroad Company, issued 17. May 1921

With the business seemingly successful, the WB&A purchased the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line in 1921. [1] It became known as the "North Shore Line" and the Annapolis to Odenton line as the "South Shore Line". At this time, the B&A gave up its terminus at the Camden Street Station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and started using the WB&A terminal on Liberty Street (between Lexington and Fayette) in Baltimore. Prior to 1921 the WB&A and B&A had run on separate, parallel tracks from Linthicum to Baltimore. But on March 16, 1921, a crossover connected the two parallel tracks at Linthicum operations ceased on the B. & O. track, and a new terminal was built at the southwest corner of South Howard and West Lombard Streets (current site after the early 1970s of Holiday Inn hotel) across from the Baltimore Civic Center (1st Mariner Arena). [7] The WB&A now consisted of 81 miles of track and the only practical way to get from Washington, D.C., to Annapolis.

Equipment

WB&A arch window coach shown in 1908 timetable WB&A 1908 adv.jpg
WB&A arch window coach shown in 1908 timetable
WB&A arch window coach in 1908 WB&A interurban coach.jpg
WB&A arch window coach in 1908

Initial passenger equipment running from Baltimore-Washington to Annapolis was the "classic" 1900-1910 arch window all wood body truss rod frame interurban coach. In the 1920s when passenger business was good, the line purchased and operated steel two car articulated (attached body with a common center truck/boogie) coaches from Baltimore to Annapolis. [8] [9] This equipment later went to the Milwaukee Electric Line in Wisconsin. [10]

Decline

Around the time of the purchase of the ASL, the Defense Highway was built providing an alternative route into Annapolis. [1] As a result, gross receipts for the railroad began to decline. The railroad only survived because of a law exempting it from taxes. In January 1931, during the Great Depression, the extension of the law failed to pass by one vote and the line went into receivership. [11] The line remained in operation for four more years and was eventually sold at auction in 1935. Evans Products Company of Detroit negotiated to buy the railroad in June 1935, but those negotiations failed and the railroad officially ceased operations on August 20, 1935. [12] [13] Scrap dealers eventually bought most of the rolling stock. Evans bought the Arlington and Fairfax railroad the next year. Over time, the rails were hauled away, though by the beginning of World War II some remained and at least one post-War home in the area used old rails in lieu of I-beams. The right of way within Washington, D.C., remained under the ownership of WRECo and then the old Capital Transit Company. [14] At some point between 1951 and 1956, the tracks in D.C. were removed. [15]

The right of way of the North Shore Line and some equipment was bought by the Bondholders Protective Society, who then formed the Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad Company, which continued to operate rail passenger service between Baltimore and Annapolis until 1950 and freight service along with diesel passenger buses into the early 1970s to Brooklyn in South Baltimore, connecting with the #6 transit line for streetcars and buses of the old Baltimore Transit Company.

While the vast majority of the South Shore division was abandoned and sold for scrap in the 1930s, the portion between Annapolis Junction and Odenton was purchased and operated by the B&O to serve Fort Meade until sometime between 1979 and 1981. It too was removed. Only the junction tracks at Annapolis Junction, which are used by an aggregates terminal, and an abandoned spur to the old Nevamar plant in Odenton remain.

Accidents

On June 5, 1908, two of WB&A's single-car trains collided at Camp Parole, Maryland. Nine people died as a result of the crash, including Railroad Policeman J.G. Schriner. [16] The trains were ferrying riders to and from the United States Naval Academy for graduation ceremonies at the time of the accident.

Stations on the Main Line

The WB&A Terminal at 15th and H St NE, Washington, D.C., shortly after its opening in March, 1908 WB&A Station.jpg
The WB&A Terminal at 15th and H St NE, Washington, D.C., shortly after its opening in March, 1908

Stations on the South Shore Line (Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad)

Stations on the North Shore Line (Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad)

Surviving landmarks

Acquisition

Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail and the Northeast Maglev

In the 2010s, an effort to build a maglev railroad between Washington and Baltimore led the Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail company (BWRR) to acquire a passenger railroad franchise previously held by the WB&A. The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) approved BWRR's application in 2015. BWRR, with its sister company Northeast Maglev, proposes to use the Japan-developed SCMaglev system to transport passengers from city to city in 15 minutes. [18]

As of 2020, Northeast Maglev was working with the Federal Railroad Administration and Maryland Department of Transportation, the project sponsor, to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed railroad. [19]

In 2021, BWRR attempted to take control of a 43-acre parcel of land for its planned station in Baltimore's Westport neighborhood through eminent domain. It argued that its purchase of the WB&A franchise gave it authority to take the land. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odenton, Maryland</span> Census-designated place in Maryland, U.S.

Odenton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, located approximately 10–20 minutes from the state capital, Annapolis. The population was 37,132 at the 2010 census, up from 20,534 at the 2000 census. The town's population growth rate of 80.8% between 2000 and 2010 was the greatest of any town in western Anne Arundel County. Odenton is located west of Annapolis, south of Baltimore, and northeast of Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Corridor</span> Electrified railroad line in the Northeastern U.S.

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, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length, and, as of 2013, is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States both by ridership and by service frequency. The NEC carries more than 2,200 trains daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Penn Station</span> Intercity rail station in Maryland

Baltimore Penn Station, formally named Baltimore Pennsylvania Station in full, is the main inter-city passenger rail hub in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by New York City architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison (1872–1938), it was constructed in 1911 in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is located at 1515 N. Charles Street, about a mile and a half north of downtown and the Inner Harbor, between the Mount Vernon neighborhood to the south, and Station North to the north. Originally called Union Station because it served the Pennsylvania Railroad and Western Maryland Railway, it was renamed to match other Pennsylvania Stations in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Maryland Railway</span> Freight railroad in Appalachia

The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) that operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Route 648</span> Highway in Maryland

Maryland Route 648 is a collection of state highways in the U.S. state of Maryland. These nine highways are current or former sections of the Baltimore–Annapolis Boulevard between Annapolis and Baltimore via Glen Burnie. There are five signed mainline segments of MD 648 through Arnold, Severna Park, Pasadena, Glen Burnie, Ferndale, and Pumphrey in northern Anne Arundel County; Baltimore Highlands in southern Baltimore County; and the independent city of Baltimore. MD 648 mainly serves local traffic along its meandering route, with long-distance traffic intended to use the parallel and straighter MD 2 south of Glen Burnie and freeway-grade Interstate 97 (I-97), I-695, and MD 295 between Glen Burnie and Baltimore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad</span> Former interurban railroad line between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an 88.9-mile (143.1 km) route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as well as an 8.6-mile (13.8 km) branch line between the villages of Lake Bluff and Mundelein, Illinois. The North Shore Line also provided streetcar, city bus and motor coach services along its interurban route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Route 170</span> State highway in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States

Maryland Route 170 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 12.98 miles (20.89 km) from MD 175 in Odenton north to MD 2 in Brooklyn Park. MD 170 connects the western Anne Arundel County communities of Odenton and Severn and the North County communities of Linthicum, Pumphrey, and Brooklyn Park with Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The highway connects BWI Airport with Interstate 695 (I-695) and MD 100 and forms part of the Airport Loop, a circumferential highway that connects the airport and I-195 with many airport-related services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Central Railway</span> Railway connecting Baltimore MD and Sunbury PA, US

The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad in the United States 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).

The Baltimore & Annapolis Trail is a 13.3-mile (21.4 km) rail trail in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The trail starts at Boulter's Way in Arnold and ends near Baltimore Light Rail's Cromwell Station in Glen Burnie. Starting near Annapolis at Jonas Green Park, the trail passes (northward) through Arnold, Severna Park, Millersville, Pasadena, and Glen Burnie. The Baltimore & Annapolis Trail follows the route of the Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad from which it derives its name. Proposed in 1972 by Jim Hague, it opened on Oct 7, 1990 as the second rail trail in Maryland.

The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail (WB&A) is a 10.25-mile (16.50 km) long discontinuous rail trail from Lanham to Odenton in Maryland. Despite its name, it does not actually connect with Washington, D.C., Annapolis or Baltimore; its name is taken from the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway, from which the right-of-way comes. The trail exists in two separate pieces, one in Anne Arundel County and the other in Prince George's County, separated by the lack of a bridge over the Patuxent River. The bridge's construction and the trail's alignment was delayed for over a decade due to a property dispute; however, the trail was realigned and plans exist to complete a bridge by 2021. Additional plans exist to extend the trail southward to the Washington, D.C. border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Branch (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad)</span> Railroad line in Frederick County, Maryland, US

The Frederick Branch is a railroad line in Frederick County, Maryland. It was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1831, and is now owned by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The 3.4 mi (5.5 km) branch extends between Frederick Junction – a wye with the Old Main Line Subdivision of CSX Transportation on the west side of the Monocacy River – and its terminus at East Street in downtown Frederick, Maryland. The wye at Frederick Junction was the first example of its kind in the United States and is still in use today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Route 704</span> Highway in Maryland, United States

Maryland Route 704 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Martin Luther King Jr. Highway, the highway runs 6.53 miles (10.51 km) from Eastern Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary in Seat Pleasant east to MD 450 in Lanham. MD 704 is a four- to six-lane divided highway that connects the northern Prince George's County communities of Seat Pleasant, Landover, Glenarden, and Lanham. The highway was constructed along the right of way of the abandoned Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) in the early 1940s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, MD 704 served as a temporary routing of U.S. Route 50 while the U.S. Highway's freeway was under construction from Washington to Lanham. The route was expanded to a divided highway between Seat Pleasant and US 50 in the late 1960s and early 1970s. MD 704 was completed as a divided highway when the portion east of US 50 was expanded in the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad</span>

The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, later the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, once provided rail service to Annapolis, Maryland, and was one of the earliest railroads in the U.S. It later merged into the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway and was finally abandoned. The only traces of it today are a few small sidings and utility poles that follow its former right of way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad</span> Defunct railway line in Maryland, US

The Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad was an American railroad of central Maryland built in the 19th century. The railroad, the second to serve Annapolis, ran between Annapolis and Clifford along the north shore of the Severn River. From Clifford, just north of the present day Patapsco Light Rail Stop, it connected with the B&O's Curtis Bay branch so that trains could travel to Baltimore. In 1921, when it was called the Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line, it was purchased by the larger Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A), and then emerged from the WB&A's 1935 bankruptcy and closure as the Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad. B&A electric passenger operation between the two cities continued until 1950, at which time the rail line became solely a freight carrier, operating buses for passenger service. Freight service to Annapolis continued until June 1968 when the Severn River Trestle was declared unsafe. In the 1980s, the line was completely shut down. The right-of-way now serves as part of Baltimore's light rail system and as the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streetcars in Washington, D.C., and Maryland</span>

Streetcars and interurbans operated in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., between 1890 and 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camden Station</span> Rail station in Baltimore, Maryland, US

Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Street Station, Camden Yards, and formally as the Transportation Center at Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of South Howard and West Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, behind the B&O Warehouse. It is served by MARC commuter rail service and local Light Rail trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesapeake Beach Railway</span>

The Chesapeake Beach Railway (CBR), now defunct, was an American railroad of southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th century. The CBR ran 27.629 miles from Washington, D.C., on tracks formerly owned by the Southern Maryland Railroad and then on its own single track through Maryland farm country to a resort at Chesapeake Beach. The construction of the railway was overseen by Otto Mears, a Colorado railroad builder, who planned a shoreline resort with railroad service from Washington and Baltimore. It served Washington and Chesapeake Beach for almost 35 years, but the Great Depression and the rise of the automobile marked the end of the CBR. The last train left the station on April 15, 1935. Parts of the right-of-way are now used for roads and a future rail trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Terminal Subdivision</span> Railroad line owned by CSX in Maryland

The Baltimore Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Maryland. The line runs from Baltimore to Halethorpe along the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line, one of the oldest rail lines in the United States and the first passenger railroad line. At its east (north) end, it connects with the Philadelphia Subdivision; its west (south) end has a junction with the Capital Subdivision and the Old Main Line Subdivision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Shore Trail</span>

The South Shore Trail is a 11.2-mile (18.0 km) long, planned shared-use rail trail that will run from Annapolis to Odenton in Maryland, United States. Two segments, totaling 2.96-mile (4.76 km) have been built. The Trail primarily utilizes the abandoned road bed of the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad. The trail will connect with the Colonial Annapolis Maritime Trail on the east and the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail, via the Odenton Bike Path, on the west. When complete, it will be a component of the American Discovery Trail, the East Coast Greenway and the September 11th National Memorial Trail. The trail name is a reference to the railroad it replaces which during its last 10 years in operation was known as the South Shore Division because it ran along the south shore of the Severn River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Maglev</span> Proposed high-speed rail-line in the United States

Northeast Maglev or The Northeast Maglev, LLC, is a private U.S. company proposing a Superconducting Maglev (SCMAGLEV) train system in the Northeastern United States. Using technology developed by the Central Japan Railway Company, the Northeast Maglev would provide 15-minute service between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., with an intermediate stop at BWI Airport, and ultimately connect major Northeast metropolitan hubs and airports with a goal of one-hour service from Washington, D.C., to New York City.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Herbert H. Harwood Jr. (2004–2005). "Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railroad" . Retrieved 2006-10-26.
  2. "Laws of the 1900 Maryland General Assembly Session". 1900. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
  3. "Laws of the 1902 Maryland General Assembly Session". 1902. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
  4. Herbert H. Harwood Jr. (2004–2005). "Annapolis & Elk Ridge Railroad". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  5. 1 2 Richard Layman (February 2003). "H St: A Neighborhood's Story Part II" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  6. National Trust Library Historic Postcard Collection, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries, circa 1912, http://digital.lib.umd.edu/image?pid=umd:90541
  7. Herbert H. Harwood Jr. (2004–2005). "Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad" . Retrieved 2006-11-08.
  8. Harwood
  9. equipment photographs: https://www.google.com/search?q=Baltimore+and+Annapolis+articulated+interurbans&rlz=1CASMAI_enUS760US760&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi04pvdyO_bAhUpq1kKHUGsCp0QsAQIMw&biw=1366&bih=629
  10. ME photographs of articulated units http://www.thetransportco.com/id11.html
  11. "Williams v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 289 U.S. 36 (1933)". March 1933. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
  12. "Washington Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Ry" . Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  13. "Auto-Railer: 1935".
  14. "USGS 7.5 Minute Series map of Washington East, MD Quadrangle". 1945. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  15. "US Geological Survey Maps" . Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  16. "Railroad Policeman J. "George" G. Schriner, Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway Police Department, Railroad Police". 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
  17. "Linthicum Station". Bull Sheet Monthly news. 2003. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  18. Maglev, Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail; The Northeast. "Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail and The Northeast Maglev Announce Approval of Railroad Franchise Request by the Maryland Public Service Commission". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. "Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Maglev Project | Permitting Dashboard". www.permits.performance.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  20. Campbell, Colin; Mirabella, Lorraine (July 2, 2021). "Maglev company sues to condemn land planned for Westport development, setting up showdown between projects in South Baltimore". Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
Template:Attached KML/Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
KML is from Wikidata