126-679: The Royal Blue was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) 's flagship passenger train between New York City and Washington, D.C., in the United States, beginning in 1890. The Baltimore-based B&O also used the name between 1890 and 1917 for its improved passenger service between New York and Washington, collectively dubbed the Royal Blue Line . Using variants such as the Royal Limited and Royal Special for individual Royal Blue trains,
252-578: A U.S. railroad, installing an overhead third rail system in the tunnel and its approaches. An electric locomotive first pulled a Royal Blue train through the Howard Street tunnel on June 27, 1895. The project also included the construction of B&O's second passenger terminal in Baltimore, Mount Royal Station , at the north end of the Howard Street tunnel in the fashionable Bolton Hill neighborhood. Designed by Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin in
378-481: A blend of modified Romanesque and Renaissance styling, the station was built of Maryland granite trimmed with Indiana limestone , with a red tile roof and landmark 150-foot (46 m) clocktower . The station's interior featured marble mosaic flooring, a fireplace, and rocking chairs. It opened the following year on September 1, 1896. "It was considered," said the Baltimore Sun , "the most splendid station in
504-613: A bridge was destroyed (the wreckage burned for months and melted the metal coal hoppers), as well as later ironclad trains (one only disabled by an artillery shell piercing the boiler). On April 18, 1861, the day after Virginia seceded from the Union, Virginia militia seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry , which was also an important work station on the B&;O's main westward line. The following day, Confederate rioters in Baltimore attempted to prevent Pennsylvania volunteers from proceeding from
630-469: A comprehensive fashion as commercial ventures. Their investigation completed, they held an organizational meeting on February 12, 1827, including about twenty-five citizens, most of whom were Baltimore merchants or bankers. Chapter 123 of the 1826 Session Laws of Maryland , passed February 28, 1827, and the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 8, 1827, chartered the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company , with
756-459: A deep " Royal Saxony blue " color with gold leaf trim, a color personally chosen by the B&O's tenth president, Charles F. Mayer . The B&O's use of electrification instead of steam power in a Baltimore tunnel on the Royal Blue Line, beginning in 1895, marked the first use of electric locomotives by an American railroad and presaged the dawn of practical alternatives to steam power in
882-545: A gentlemanly fashion ... a kind of ante-bellum, gracious way of life ... and the reputation for very special service." Mount Royal Station continued as the eastern terminus of B&O's passenger service until June 30, 1961, when it closed permanently as a rail passenger facility. It was one of thirteen Baltimore buildings selected in 1959 for the Historic American Buildings Survey . The building and trainshed were subsequently acquired by
1008-813: A lawsuit against it by the Washington and Baltimore Turnpike Road. The B&O wanted links to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley , as well as the parts of western Virginia draining into the Ohio River valley and ultimately the Mississippi River , such as Wheeling (where the National Road crossed the Ohio River) and the Kanawha River valley. However, many Virginia politicians wanted the minerals, timber and produce of those areas to instead ship through Richmond and reach
1134-501: A point near Parr's Ridge (now known as Mount Airy ), where the railroad would cross a height of land and descend into the valley of the Monocacy and Potomac rivers. Further extensions opened to Frederick (including the short Frederick Branch ) on December 1, 1831; Point of Rocks on April 2, 1832; and Sandy Hook on December 1, 1834. Sandy Hook, Maryland , on the north shore of the Potomac,
1260-515: A steam locomotive from a New York foundry (which would reach 25 miles per hour and became the first passenger service by locomotive), while the B&O was still experimenting with horse power and sails. The B&O's first locomotive, Tom Thumb , was made in America as a demonstrator and could pull passenger and freight cars at 18 miles per hour. Developers decided to follow the Patapsco River to
1386-508: The Tom Thumb in 1829. It built the first passenger and freight station (Mount Clare in 1829) and was the first railroad to earn passenger revenues in December 1829, and publish a timetable on May 23, 1830. On Christmas Eve 1852, the B&O line was completed between Baltimore and the Ohio River near Moundsville, West Virginia . Partial government ownership caused some operational problems. Of
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#17330846693721512-650: The Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad in Delaware and Pennsylvania and built a parallel route, finished in 1886. The 10th president, Charles F. Mayer , spearheaded the development of the Baltimore Belt Line , which opened in 1895, and recruited engineer Samuel Rea to design it. This belt line connected the main line to the Philadelphia Branch without the need for a car ferry across the Patapsco River, but
1638-564: The Bethlehem Branch . The line ran east-northeast through Montgomery County and Bucks County , eventually crossing the Delaware River at West Trenton, New Jersey . At the middle of the bridge, Delaware and Bound Brook ownership began. The line continued northeast into New Jersey to Bound Brook Junction, where it joined the Central of New Jersey Railroad 's main line. The New York Branch
1764-491: The CSX Transportation (CSX) network in 1980. The B&O is noted for its pioneering innovations in railroading. It was the first U.S. railroad to operate a steam locomotive , it built historic infrastructure , and it operated prestigious passenger trains. It gained additional fame by lending its name as one of the four railroads in the original version of the popular board game Monopoly . The railroad did not reach
1890-610: The Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City . From Communipaw passengers connected to ferries for a twelve-minute crossing of the Hudson River to either Liberty Street Ferry Terminal or Whitehall Terminal on New York's Manhattan Island. The new route presented problems in Baltimore, because a ferry boat was necessary to cross the harbor between Locust Point and Canton to connect with the B&O's Washington Branch. The solution
2016-468: The Long Bridge caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a bridge along the original plan of the B&O: Alexandria to Shepherd's Landing, Washington. Trains of empty freight cars were routed north and south over the structure, which was demolished after the end of World War II . Before either connection was made, however, another branch was built around the west side of Washington. During
2142-518: The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 1964 and are preserved as examples of late 19th century industrial architecture. In the 1890s–1910s period, the Royal Limited operated in both directions simultaneously, with 3 p.m. departures in New York and Washington, arriving at its destination five hours later, at 8 p.m. During the steam era, track pans at various locations on
2268-471: The New York Central Railroad ) one of the first three railroads in the U.S. to offer telephone service on its trains, using a forerunner of cell phone technology. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ( reporting mark BO ) was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States . It operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it
2394-567: The Ohio River until 1852, 24 years after the project started. Yet the Ohio River was from the beginning the destination the railroad was seeking to link with Baltimore, at the time a transportation center. By crossing the Appalachian Mountains , a technical challenge, it would link the new and booming territories of what at the time was the West, particularly Ohio , Indiana , and Kentucky , with
2520-574: The Royal Blue called it "the climax in railway car building". As a result of the U.S. entry into World War I and resulting congestion on the nation's railroads, the wartime United States Railroad Administration (USRA) ordered the Pennsylvania Railroad to permit B&O passenger trains to use its Hudson River tunnels and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, beginning April 28, 1918, eliminating
2646-672: The Royal Blue disappeared from B&O timetables. Beginning in 1917, former Royal Blue Line trains were renamed: the Royal Limited (inaugurated on May 15, 1898), for example, became the National Limited , continuing west from Washington to St. Louis via Cincinnati . During the Depression , the B&O hearkened back to the halcyon pre-World War I era when it launched a re-christened Royal Blue train between New York and Washington in 1935. The B&O finally discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, including
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#17330846693722772-413: The Royal Blue in the postwar period. The refurbished 8-car 1937 Royal Blue trainset continued in operation to the end. The overwhelming market dominance of the Pennsylvania Railroad was evident when it introduced the 18-car stainless steel Morning Congressional and Afternoon Congressional streamliners in 1952. By the late 1950s, most U.S. passenger trains suffered a steep decline in patronage as
2898-402: The Royal Blue was equipped with air-conditioned coaches, parlor cars with private drawing rooms , a lounge car for coach passengers, a full dining car serving complete meals, and a flat-end observation car with a "cafe-lounge" bringing up the rear of the train. Beginning in mid-August 1947, onboard telephone service was provided, making the B&O (along with the Pennsylvania Railroad and
3024-473: The Royal Blue . Railroad historian Herbert Harwood said, in his seminal history of the service, "First conceived in late Victorian times to promote a new railroad line ... it was indeed one of the most memorable images in the transportation business, an inspired blend of majesty and mystique ... Royal Blue Line ... Royal Blue Trains ... the Royal Blue all meant different things at different times. But essentially they all symbolized one thing:
3150-487: The steam locomotive 's eventual demise. Prior to 1884, the B&O and the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Railroad both used the independent Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) between Baltimore , Maryland, and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, for their New York–Washington freight and passenger trains. In 1881, the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased a controlling interest in
3276-736: The "New Line" between Philadelphia and New York. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , involved in perennial disputes with the PRR, re-routed its passenger trains over the branch on October 1, 1880. The Reading electrified the New York Branch between Jenkintown and West Trenton in 1931; electric trains began operating from the Reading Terminal on July 26, 1931. The onset of the Great Depression forestalled further electrification. The Reading Company and its subsidiaries were incorporated into Conrail ;
3402-635: The "branches" became the de facto mainline, though the Old Main Line was retained as a relief route. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) outmaneuvered the B&O to acquire the B&O's northern connection, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad , in the early 1880s, cutting off the B&O's access to Philadelphia and New York . The state of Maryland had stayed true to its implicit promise not to grant competing charters for
3528-463: The 1850s after the completion of the C&;O Canal, which brought additional competition to the B&O. In 1853, after being nominated by large shareholder and director Johns Hopkins , John W. Garrett became president of the B&O, a position he would hold until his death in 1884. In the first year of his presidency, corporate operating costs were reduced from 65 percent of revenues to 46 percent, and
3654-663: The 1880s the B&O had organised a group of bankrupt railroads in Virginia into the Virginia Midland Railroad . The VM track ran from Alexandria to Danville, Virginia . The line projected west across the Potomac River was intended to cross the Potomac just north of the D.C. line, to continue southwest to a connection with the B&O-controlled Virginia Midland (VM) in Fairfax (now Fairfax Station , to distinguish it from what
3780-549: The 1936 version of the AT&;SF (Santa Fe) Super Chief (similar to number 50), and the cab/booster unit combinations developed with Union Pacific's M-10002 and M-10003 – M-10006 trainsets. The B&O was not entirely satisfied with the ride quality of the lightweight Royal Blue train, however, and replaced it on April 25, 1937, with streamlined, refurbished heavyweight equipment, painted light gray and royal blue with gold striping, designed by Otto Kuhler . The B&O conveyed
3906-403: The 20th century. Spurred by intense competition from the formidable Pennsylvania Railroad , the dominant railroad in the lucrative New York–Washington market since the 1880s, the Royal Blue in its mid-1930s reincarnation was noted for a number of technological innovations, including streamlining and the first non- articulated diesel locomotive on a passenger train in the U.S., a harbinger of
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4032-644: The Atlantic through Norfolk , although the James River Canal required substantial maintenance and was never completed through the Appalachians to the Ohio River watershed. Thus, while the B&O reached Wheeling in 1853, political compromises meant the B&O would only reach Grafton to connect to Parkersburg on the Ohio River through a connection with the Northwestern Virginia Railroad which
4158-462: The B&O began constructing the Metropolitan Branch west out of Washington, which was completed in 1873 after years of erratic effort. Before this line was laid, rail traffic west of Washington had to travel first to Relay or Baltimore before joining the main line. The line cut a more or less straight line from Washington to Point of Rocks, Maryland , with many grades and large bridges. Upon
4284-522: The B&O from Washington to New York. As financial losses mounted, the B&O finally ceded the New York–Washington market to the Pennsylvania Railroad altogether, discontinuing all passenger service north of Baltimore on Saturday, April 26, 1958, and bringing the venerable Royal Blue to an end. As the engineer was about to ease the locomotive's throttle open for the Royal Blue's final departure from Washington Union Station at 3:45 p.m.,
4410-538: The B&O operated the service in partnership with the Reading Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey . Principal intermediate cities served were Philadelphia , Wilmington , and Baltimore . Later, as Europe reeled from the carnage of World War I and connotations of European royalty fell into disfavor, the B&O discreetly omitted the sobriquet Royal Blue Line from its New York passenger service and
4536-596: The B&O railroad during this period were: The second half of the Civil War was characterized by near-continuous raiding, which severely hampered the Union defense of Washington, D.C. Union forces and leaders often failed to properly secure the region, despite the B&O's vital importance to the Union cause. There is no interest suffering here except the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and I will not divide my forces to protect it. This military strategy, or lack thereof, allowed Confederate commanders to contribute significantly to
4662-540: The B&O reached Sandy Hook, Maryland , in 1834; Cumberland in 1842; the Ohio River at Moundsville, Virginia , in 1852; Wheeling, Virginia , in 1853; and in 1857, Parkersburg, Virginia , below rapids that made navigation difficult during parts of the year. The railroad, whose owners were Union sympathizers, proved crucial to the North's success during the American Civil War , which caused considerable damage to
4788-987: The B&O shutdown, only partially alleviated by the summer 1861 Union army victories at the Battle of Philippi (West Virginia) and Rich Mountain , and vigorous army and company work crews which reduced the main-line gap to 25 miles between Harpers Ferry and Back Creek. Finally at year end, Samuel M. Felton , the PW&;B President, wrote newspapers about the War Department's discrimination against his cooperating railroad line, which competed with Cameron's favored North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads. President Lincoln (familiar with railroad law since his days as an Illinois lawyer) in January 1862 replaced Cameron with Pennsylvania lawyer Edwin M. Stanton , who had been serving as Cameron's legal advisor. Furthermore, on January 31, 1862, Congress passed
4914-402: The B&O to pass no federal troops destined for any place in Virginia over the railroad, and threatening to confiscate the lines. Charles Town 's mayor also wrote, threatening to cut the B&O's main line by destroying the long bridge over the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, and Garrett also received anonymous threats. Thus he and others asked Secretary of War Cameron to protect the B&O as
5040-491: The B&O to skirt around a corner of the state, even though the Pennsylvania Railroad didn't even operate in that area of Pennsylvania. The railroad grew from a capital base of $ 3 million in 1827 (equivalent to $ 81 million in 2023) to a large enterprise generating $ 2.7 million of annual profit on its 380 miles (610 km) of track in 1854, with 19 million passenger miles. The railroad fed tens of millions of dollars of shipments to and from Baltimore and its growing hinterland to
5166-679: The B&O water station and machine shops also destroyed and 102 miles (164 km) miles of telegraph wire removed by the time federal control was restored in March 1862). By the end of 1861, 23 B&O railroad bridges had been burned and 36.5 miles (58.7 km) of track were torn up or destroyed. Since Jackson cut the B&O main line into Washington for more than six months, the North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads profited from overflow traffic, even as many B&O trains stood idle in Baltimore. Garrett tried to use his government contacts to secure
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5292-521: The B&O's "swashbuckling" Royal Blue streamliner launched that year as having "symbolize[d] the new era in railroading ..." In 1930, the B&O introduced air conditioning, the first U.S. railroad to do so for regularly assigned equipment, when it installed air conditioning on the Martha Washington dining car. The following year, the B&O's Columbian on the Royal Blue Line became
5418-519: The B&O's monopolies on the Washington Branch (between Relay and Washington DC) and westward through Cumberland, Maryland. Raids and battles during the war also cost the B&O substantial losses, many never indemnified. Master of Transportation Prescott Smith kept a diary during the war years, describing incidents such as the June 1861 derailment of a 50 car coal train, which plunged into a ravine after
5544-650: The B&O's monumental bridges have survived to this day, and many are still in active railroad use by CSX. Baltimore's Carrollton Viaduct , named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton , was the B&O's first bridge, and is the oldest railway bridge in the Americas still carrying trains (and the third oldest in the world, after the Skerne Bridge , Darlington, UK, of 1824–1825, and the Bassaleg Viaduct , Newport, UK, of 1826). The Thomas Viaduct at Relay, Maryland ,
5670-514: The B&O's need for the ferry connection from Jersey City. Following the end of World War I, the Pennsylvania Railroad continued to allow B&O passenger trains to use Pennsylvania Station for another eight years. On September 1, 1926, the Pennsylvania Railroad terminated its contract with the B&O, and the latter's trains reverted to the use of the Jersey Central 's Jersey City terminal . Passengers were then transferred to buses that met
5796-465: The B&O's regal route." Between the 1890s and World War I, the B&O's six daily Royal Blue trains providing service between New York and Washington were noted for their luxury, elegant appearance, and speed. The car interiors were paneled in mahogany , had fully enclosed vestibules (instead of open platforms, still widely in use at the time on U.S. railroads), then-modern heating and lighting, and leaded glass windows. The car exteriors were painted
5922-515: The B&O's right-of-way. The B&O approved the project with the agreement that the railroad would have free use of the line upon its completion. An impressive demonstration occurred on May 1, 1844, when news of the Whig Party 's nomination of Henry Clay for U.S. president was telegraphed from the party's convention in Baltimore to the Capitol Building in Washington. On May 24, 1844, the line
6048-467: The Baltimore Belt Line project was finished, the B&O launched its Royal Blue service on July 31, 1890. Powered by 4-6-0 steam locomotives having exceptionally large 78-inch (198 cm) diameter driving wheels for speed, the Royal Blue trains occasionally reached 90 mph (145 km/h). After the Baltimore Belt Line project was completed, travel time between New York and Washington
6174-602: The Baltimore/Washington line, but when a charter was granted in 1860 to build a line from Baltimore to Pope's Creek in southern Maryland, lawyers for the Pennsylvania RR picked up on a clause in the unfulfilled charter allowing branches up to 20 miles (32 km) long, from any point and in any direction. The projected route, passing through what is now Bowie, Maryland , could have a "branch" constructed that would allow service into Washington. The Pennsylvania picked up
6300-557: The Civil War, being the main rail connection between Washington, D.C., and the northern states, especially west of the Appalachian mountains. However, its initial problem became Lincoln's first Secretary of War, Simon Cameron , a major stockholder in the rival North Central Railroad, which received long haul freight destined for Baltimore from the rival Pennsylvania Railroad . Furthermore, the Pennsylvania Railroad and other investors sought permission to construct rail lines which threatened
6426-575: The Declaration of Independence) performed the groundbreaking by laying the cornerstone. The initial tracks were built with granite stringers topped by strap iron rails . The first section, from Baltimore west to Ellicott's Mills (now known as Ellicott City ), opened on May 24, 1830. A horse pulled the first cars 26 miles and back, since the B&O did not decide to use steam power for several years. Railroad men in South Carolina had earlier commissioned
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#17330846693726552-563: The Delaware and Bound Brook constructed a new line from West Trenton to Bound Brook, New Jersey, where it joined the Central Railroad of New Jersey . The line opened for through traffic on May 1, 1876, in time for the Centennial Exposition . The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, forerunner of the Reading Company , leased the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad and North Pennsylvania Railroad on May 14, 1879, thus acquiring control of
6678-783: The New York Branch was designated to Conrail as part of the United States Railway Association 's "Final System Plan". Under Conrail the branch was split: the section between Neshaminy Falls and Bound Brook was combined with the New York Short Line , the Low Grade Branch, and the Richmond Branch to form the Trenton Line , while the section between Neshaminy and Jenkintown was designated the Neshaminy Line and
6804-442: The North Central Railway's Bolton station to the B&O's Mount Clare station, and Maryland's governor Hicks and Baltimore Mayor George W. Brown ordered 3 North Central and 2 Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) bridges destroyed to prevent further federal troop movements through (and riots in) the city. Soon B&O president John Work Garrett received letters from Virginia's Governor John Letcher telling
6930-422: The PW&B, and in 1884 it denied the B&O further use of the PW&B to reach Philadelphia. The B&O then built a new line from Baltimore to connect to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in Philadelphia, completed in 1886. The B&O's passenger trains then used the Reading's New York Branch northward from Philadelphia to Bound Brook, New Jersey , where the Jersey Central's rails were used to reach
7056-401: The Pennsylvania Railroad, by the time the line was completed in 1910 there was no longer any point to the river crossing. Thus, the renamed Georgetown Branch came to serve a wide range of customers in Maryland and in Georgetown , such as the Potomac Electric Power Company , the Washington Milling Company , and the U.S. government. The line cut directly across various creeks, and includes what
7182-655: The Railways and Telegraph Act of January 31, 1862, creating the United States Military Railroad and allowing it to seize and operate any railroad or telegraph company's equipment, although Stanton and USMRR Superintendent Daniel McCallum would take a "team of rivals" approach to railroad management and allow civilian operations to continue. In February 1862, Union forces recaptured Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry, and work crews continued replacing wrecked bridges and equipment, although bushwhacker raids continued. Even then train movements were sporadic and subject to frequent stoppages, derailments, capture and attack. Prominent raids on
7308-418: The Royal Blue Line were used to replenish locomotive water without stopping, the only place on the B&O system where this was done. The P-7 class started use on the route in 1927. In 1935, travel time between Jersey City and Washington was reduced to four hours, with the Royal Blue attaining speeds of up to 96 miles per hour (154 km/h) on sections of the Reading's fast track in New Jersey. From 1935 to
7434-419: The Secretary of War to retake Harpers Ferry and capture the insurgent abolitionists, which they quickly did. Garrett reported with evident relief the next day that aside from the cut telegraph line, which was quickly repaired, there had been no damage to any B&O track, equipment, or facilities. The government of Maryland published in a book the many telegrams sent by B&O employees and management during
7560-466: The U.S. It "dazzled the press and public", said one magazine writer of the groundbreaking locomotive's introduction. The E units took the most advanced developments of diesel locomotive technology and made them available to all operators using the consists of their choice. The earliest adopters of the new E units demonstrated the improved flexibility, efficiency and reduced maintenance costs of diesel power in daily service compared to steam and gave impetus to
7686-413: The area. As preparations for the battle progressed, the B&O provided transport for federal troops and munitions, and on two occasions Garrett was contacted directly by President Abraham Lincoln for further information. Though Union forces lost this battle, the delay allowed Ulysses S. Grant to successfully repel the Confederate attack on Washington at the Battle of Fort Stevens two days later. After
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#17330846693727812-435: The battle, Lincoln paid tribute to Garrett as: The right arm of the Federal Government in the aid he rendered the authorities in preventing the Confederates from seizing Washington and securing its retention as the Capital of the Loyal States. The Confederate leaders who led these operations and specifically targeted the railroad included: Bases of operation involved in raiding the B&O Railroad: A steel and stone bridge
7938-487: The beginning of the federally-financed National Road , provided a road link for animal-powered transport between Cumberland, Maryland , on the Potomac River and Wheeling, Virginia , in present-day West Virginia , on the Ohio River, when completed in 1837. It was the second paved road in the country. However, the 1831 DeWitt Clinton locomotive , running between Albany and Schenectady, New York , demonstrated speeds of 25 miles (40 km) per hour, dramatically decreasing
8064-431: The best means of restoring "that portion of the Western trade which has recently been diverted from it by the introduction of steam navigation." Their answer was to build a railroad: one of the first commercial lines in the world. Their plans worked well, despite many political problems from canal backers and other railroads. For example, only the Pennsylvania Railroad was allowed to build in its namesake state, requiring
8190-492: The bridge at Sandy Hook, Maryland (end of the line before the bridge was built), and troops continued across the bridge on foot. Soon Garrett's Master of Transportation William Prescott Smith left Baltimore City, together with Maryland Gen. Charles G. Egerton Jr. and the Second Light Brigade , which train also picked up the Marines on the federal troop train at the junction in Relay, Maryland . All awaited Lt.Col. Robert E. Lee and Lt. J.E.B. Stuart , who had received orders from
8316-419: The charter through the agency of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and in 1872 service between Baltimore and Washington began. ( See Pope's Creek Subdivision .) At the same time, the PRR outmaneuvered the B&O and took control of the Long Bridge across the Potomac River into Virginia, the B&O's connection to southern lines. In response, the B&O chartered the Philadelphia Branch in Maryland and
8442-504: The charter, it was understood that the state of Maryland would not charter any competing line between Baltimore and Washington, and no such charters were approved until well after the American Civil War, when the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired a railroad on the Delmarva Peninsula, which had the power to build short branch lines, so it was able to connect to Washington through Bowie, Maryland . The B&O also wanted access to Pittsburgh and coal fields in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Although
8568-436: The confluence of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers) and ultimately Huntington (which was named after a major B&O investor) on the Ohio River more than a decade after the American Civil War and the creation of the state of West Virginia . Meanwhile, the State of Maryland granted the B&O a charter to build a line from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. , in 1831, and the Washington Branch was opened in 1835. This line joined to
8694-439: The construction of Washington Union Station saw the south end of the branch realigned to link to the PRR trackage in Anacostia, across the Anacostia Railroad Bridge , into the Virginia Avenue Tunnel , through Southwest Washington, D.C. , to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia . ( See RF&P Subdivision .) The Alexandria Branch trackage to Shepherd's Landing was heavily used during World War II when traffic congestion on
8820-432: The cost of constructing the Howard Street Tunnel drove the B&O to bankruptcy in 1896. Two other lines were built in attempts to reconnect to the south. The Alexandria Branch (now called the Alexandria Extension ) was built in 1874, starting from Hyattsville, Maryland , and ending at a ferry operation at Shepherd's Landing. The ferry operation continued until 1901 when the trackage rights agreement concluded as part of
8946-404: The cost of transportation and announcing the coming end of the canal and turnpike (road) systems, many of which were never completed since they were or would soon be obsolete. In New York, political support for the Erie Canal detracted from the prospect of building a railroad to replace it, whose full length did not open until 1844. Mountains in Pennsylvania made construction in the western part of
9072-578: The country built and used by only one railroad." That evaluation was shared by railroad historian Lucius Beebe , who proclaimed Mount Royal "one of the celebrated railroad stations of the world, ranking in renown with Euston Station, London , scene of so many of Sherlock Holmes ' departures, the Gare du Nord in Paris, and the feudal fortress of the Pennsylvania [Railroad] at Broad Street, Philadelphia ". Even before
9198-435: The dieselization of the railroad industry. Kuhler also streamlined one of B&O's 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives for use on the Royal Blue . Its bullet-shaped shroud became an iconic image for the Royal Blue and was modeled for years by American Flyer . Time magazine , in reporting on the precarious financial condition of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and other Depression-ravaged rail lines in 1937, referred to
9324-492: The dining car chefs. As the 1930s dawned, the B&O's New York passenger service faced two significant competitive disadvantages, compared to the Pennsylvania Railroad. First, the B&O lacked direct access to Manhattan Island, resulting in slower overall travel time. Second, the Pennsylvania's move in the early 1930s to replace steam power with modern, smokeless electric service along its entire New York–Washington mainline
9450-487: The directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad wanted a monopoly in their state, delays in laying track to Pittsburgh led the Pennsylvania legislature in 1846 to require construction to be completed within 10 years, else competition would be allowed. The Pennsylvania Railroad finished its trans-Allegheny track with two years to spare, thus the B&O would only be able to extend its tracks up the Youghiogheny River valley to
9576-554: The displaced trainset to the Alton Railroad , where it ran as the Abraham Lincoln for decades. Ungainly box-cab locomotive #50 was replaced with the demurely streamlined locomotive # 51 and booster # 51x, the 3,600 h.p. EMC EA/EB model built by General Motors' Electro Motive Company . Praised for its beauty and handsome profile, this was the first streamlined single-unit diesel locomotive to enter service in
9702-528: The east coast rail and boat network, from Maryland northward. There was no rail link between Maryland and Virginia until the B&O opened the Harpers Ferry bridge in 1839. Starting in 1825, the Erie Canal provided an animal-powered water facility, connecting New York City with Ohio via Lake Erie . It took ten days to travel downstream from Buffalo, New York , to New York City. The Cumberland Road , later
9828-562: The end of service in 1958, the Royal Blue made a daily round trip, departing New York in the morning and returning from Washington in the evening. According to the Official Guide of February 1956, the Royal Blue operated on the following schedule as train #27 (unconditional stops highlighted in blue, bus connections in yellow). Eastbound, the train departed Washington at 3:45 p.m. as train # 28, arriving at Jersey City 7:40 p.m. Between 1937 and 1958,
9954-454: The end of the line. The final section linked Piedmont on July 21, 1851, and Fairmont on June 22, 1852. It first reached the Ohio River at Moundsville later in 1852, and port facilities were built there. The B&O reached Wheeling, West Virginia (then part of Virginia) on January 1, 1853. That would remain the terminus through the American Civil War (apart from conflict-related outages principally between Cumberland and Martinsburg during
10080-614: The end of the war, however, passenger volumes soon dropped below prewar levels and the B&O discontinued one of its daily New York–Washington trains. In addition to its flagship Royal Blue , six other B&O passenger trains continued to serve New York until April 1958: the Metropolitan Special , Capitol Limited , National Limited , Diplomat , Marylander , and Shenandoah . Although all of B&O's Washington–Jersey City passenger trains had been fully dieselized by September 28, 1947, no new passenger cars were built for
10206-453: The event was covered in a trainside remote broadcast by Edward R. Murrow on a CBS network See It Now television special . The train's 7:49 p.m. arrival at Jersey City Terminal was met by news reporters from The New York Times , the New York Post , Life magazine and The Saturday Evening Post , on hand to cover the legendary Royal Blue ' s demise. In an editorial
10332-770: The federal government. In May, CSA Colonel Jackson's operations against the B&O Railroad (1861) began. Stonewall Jackson initially permitted B&O trains to operate during limited hours over the approximately 100 miles from Point of Rocks to Cumberland. On June 20, 1861, Jackson's Confederates seized Martinsburg , a major B&O work center, having blown up the Harpers Ferry railroad bridge on June 14. Confederates confiscated dozens of locomotives and train cars and ripped up double track in order to ship rails for Confederate use in Virginia (14 locomotives and 83 rail cars were dismantled and sent south, and another 42 locomotives and 386 rail cars damaged or destroyed at Martinsburg, with
10458-629: The first fully air-conditioned train on any railroad, giving the B&O a temporary advantage over arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad, which did not equip its New York–Washington trains with air conditioning until 1933. President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt was a frequent passenger on the B&O's Royal Blue Line during his time in office (1933–1945), when he traveled between Washington and his family home in Hyde Park, New York . A special presidential train from Washington used
10584-400: The length of the war, by conducting free-ranging military operations against the region and railroad. Before the Battle of Monocacy , B&O agents began reporting Confederate troop movements eleven days prior to the battle, and Garrett had their intelligence passed to authorities in the War Department and to Major General Lew Wallace , who commanded the department responsible for defense of
10710-451: The national capitol's main westward link. Cameron instead warned Garrett that passage of any rebel troops over his line would be treason. The Secretary of War agreed to station troops to protect the North Central, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and even the PW&B, but flatly refused to help the B&O, his main competition. The B&O had to repair damaged line at its own expense, and often received late or no payment for services rendered to
10836-549: The needed protection, from Maryland Delegate Reverdy Johnson to General George McClellan and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase . As winter began, coal prices soared in Washington, even though the B&O in September arranged for free coal transport from its Cumberland, Maryland, terminal down the C&O Canal (which reduced prices somewhat, although Confederates also damaged the C&O canal that winter). Furthermore, western farmers could not get their produce to markets because of
10962-595: The next day, the Baltimore Sun lamented the end of the Royal Blue , saying it "may have been one of the most famous named trains in history". The New York Times , in a front page article accompanied by a photograph of train engineer Michael Goodnight bidding farewell to a 7-year old passenger, said "It was a sad and simple story yesterday as the nation's oldest railroad discontinued its crack Royal Blue and its five other passenger trains ... end[ing] sixty-eight years of continuous through service, operated in
11088-468: The opening of this line, through passenger traffic was rerouted through Washington, and the Old Main Line from Point of Rocks to Relay was reduced to secondary status as far as passenger service was concerned. The Washington to Gaithersburg section of the Met Branch was double-tracked during 1886–1893. Rebuilding in the early 20th century and complete double-tracking of the branch by 1928 increased capacity;
11214-477: The original mainline at Relay, Maryland , crossing the Patapsco River on the Thomas Viaduct (which remains one of the B&O's signature structures). This line was partially funded by the state of Maryland, and was operated separately until the 1870s, with Maryland receiving a 25 percent cut of gross passenger receipts. The B&O's charter also forbade further taxation of the railroad, and that no-tax provision
11340-628: The raid. At the outset of the Civil War , the B&O possessed 236 locomotives, 128 passenger coaches, 3,451 rail cars and 513 miles (826 km) of rail road, all in states south of the Mason–Dixon line , as Garrett had noted before the war began. Although many Marylanders had Southern sympathies , Garrett and Hopkins supported the Union . The B&O became crucial to the Federal government during
11466-452: The railroad began distributing profits to its shareholders. The B&O played a major role, and got national attention, in the response to abolitionist John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry , Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), in October 1859. Black porter Hayward Shepherd , to whom there is a monument in Harpers Ferry , was the first man killed; stationmaster Fontaine Beckham, who was also
11592-576: The regular B&O–Reading–Jersey Central route to Jersey City, continuing on the New York Central Railroad 's West Shore Line along the Hudson River to Highland, New York (opposite Poughkeepsie ), where the President was met by automobile. Along with most other rail passenger services in the U.S. during World War II, the Royal Blue enjoyed a surge in passenger traffic between 1942 and 1945 as volume doubled to 1.2 million passengers annually on B&O's eight daily New York–Washington trains. Following
11718-622: The report was not a hoax, Garrett telegraphed President James Buchanan , the Secretary of War , the Governor of Virginia , and Maryland Militia General George Hume Steuart about the insurrection in progress. The B&O made its rolling stock available to the military. At 3:20 pm a train left Washington Depot with 87 U.S. Marines and two howitzers, and a 3:45 p.m. train from nearer Frederick, Maryland , carried three Maryland militia companies under Col. Edward Shriver. These trains stopped before
11844-655: The run proved less than satisfactory in terms of stability at speed, it was replaced by a new EMC 1800 hp B-B diesel-electric " box-cab " locomotive with a carbody by General Electric and mechanicals by Electro-Motive Corporation . Designated # 50 by the B&O, this marked the first single-unit, passenger road diesel locomotive use in the U.S. Previously, early experiments with internal combustion engines to replace steam in railroad applications included short, articulated trainsets (such as Burlington 's Pioneer Zephyr and Union Pacific 's M-10000 ), double-head sets of box-cab locomotives (developed by EMC) used to power
11970-597: The same year, workers began the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia . Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight trains, to roll until the third wage cut was revoked. West Virginia Governor Henry M. Mathews sent in state militia units to restore train service but the soldiers refused to fire on the strikers. The strike spread to Cumberland , and when Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll attempted to put down
12096-429: The soft coal fields in 1871. When construction began on the B&O in the 1820s, railroad engineering was in its infancy. Unsure exactly which materials would suffice, the B&O erred on the side of sturdiness and built many of its early structures of granite. Even the track bed to which iron strap rail was affixed consisted of the stone. Though the granite soon proved too unforgiving and expensive for track, most of
12222-484: The state expensive and technically challenging, and the Pennsylvania Railroad , linking Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, did not open its full length until 1852, and there was no rail link west from Pittsburgh to Ohio for several more years. The fast-growing port city of Baltimore, Maryland , faced economic stagnation unless it opened a route to the Western states. On February 27, 1827, twenty-five merchants and bankers studied
12348-482: The strike by sending the state militia from Baltimore, riots broke out resulting in 11 deaths, the burning of parts of Camden station, and damage to several engines and cars. The next day workers in Pittsburgh staged a sympathy strike that was also met with an assault by the state militia; Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. The strike ended after federal troops and state militias restored order. In 1866
12474-482: The system. After the Civil War, the B&O consolidated several feeder lines in Virginia and West Virginia, and expanded westward into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. At the end of 1970, the B&O operated 5,552 miles of road and 10,449 miles of track, not including the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) or the Reading Railroad and its subsidiaries. After a series of mergers, the B&O became part of
12600-470: The task of building a railroad from the port of Baltimore west to a suitable point on the Ohio River. The railroad, formally incorporated April 24, was intended to provide a faster route for Midwestern goods to reach the East Coast than to the hugely successful but slow Erie Canal across upstate New York . Thomas was elected as the first president and Brown the treasurer. The capital of the proposed company
12726-514: The thirty members on its board of directors , twelve were elected by shareholders, while eighteen were appointed either by Maryland or the Baltimore City Council . Many had conflicting interests: the directors appointed by the state and city desired low fares and all construction to be funded from corporate revenues, while the directors elected by shareholders desired greater profits and dividends . These conflicts became more intense in
12852-562: The time, the line had three, the York, Atlantic, and the Franklin. When planning the extension to Sandy Hook, Maryland , and then Harpers Ferry , the company was uncertain if the engines' metal wheels would grip the metal rails sufficiently to pull a train up to the top of the ridge. The railroad decided to construct two inclined planes , one on each side of the ridge, along which teams of horses, and perhaps steam-powered winches, would assist pulling
12978-464: The town's mayor, was killed the next day. Raiders had cut the telegraph line, and stopped the 1:30 am Wheeling to Baltimore express, but after several hours the train was allowed to continue and at the first station with a working telegraph (Monocacy) the conductor sent a telegram to B&O headquarters. After confirming from the Martinsburg station (via Wheeling, because of the cut telegraph line) that
13104-693: The train right on the platform. These buses were ferried across the Hudson River into Manhattan and Brooklyn , where they proceeded to various "stations" around the city on four different routes, including the Vanderbilt Hotel , Wanamaker's , Columbus Circle , and Rockefeller Center . B&O's busiest Royal Blue bus terminal, located in the Chanin Building at Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, opened on December 17, 1928. Connected to Grand Central Terminal by an underground concourse , it
13230-564: The trains uphill. The planes, about a mile long on each side, quickly proved an operational bottleneck . Before the decade of the 1830s ended, the B&O built a 5.5-mile-long (8.9 km) alternate route that became known as the Mount Airy Loop. The planes were quickly abandoned and forgotten, though some artifacts survive to the present. In 1843, Congress appropriated $ 30,000 for construction of an experimental 38-mile (61 km) telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore along
13356-460: The traveling public abandoned trains in favor of airplanes and automobiles, utilizing improved Interstate Highways . The Royal Blue was no exception, as operating deficits approached $ 5 million annually and passenger volume declined by almost half between 1946 and 1957. Amidst the downward trend, the Royal Blue Line briefly recaptured the regal splendor of its early years on October 21, 1957, when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip travelled on
13482-484: The war) until a railroad bridge could be constructed across the Ohio River. The narrow strip of available land along the Potomac River from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry caused years of legal battles between the B&O and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal , as both sought to exclude the other from its use. A compromise eventually allowed the two companies to share the right of way . The B&O also prevailed in
13608-567: The west, thus making the city the commercial and financial capital of the region south of Philadelphia. Although the Albany and Schenectady Railroad was chartered a year earlier, in 1826, the B & O Railroad was the first to open in the US. Philip E. Thomas and George Brown were the pioneers of the railroad. In 1826, they investigated railway enterprises in England , which were at that time being tested in
13734-613: Was Fairfax Court House and is now the City of Fairfax, Virginia ), and if possible to a connection with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in Quantico . The branch was started in 1892 and reached Chevy Chase, Maryland , the same year. Financial problems in both the VM and B&O forced a halt to construction and led to the B&O's loss of control of the VM. Following bankruptcy, and control by
13860-494: Was "...to be hospitable to our patrons in all respects – to make them feel the comfort, convenience and homelike atmosphere of our accommodations as soon as they step on our trains." Dining car specialties included oysters and Chesapeake Bay fish served with cornmeal muffins. B&O president Daniel Willard personally sampled his dining cars' cuisine while traveling about the line, and recognized particularly pleasing meals with letters of appreciation and autographed pictures given to
13986-601: Was a cooperative effort between the North Pennsylvania Railroad, founded in 1852, and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, a new company and part of the National Railway scheme. The goal was to construct a "New Line" between New York and Philadelphia which could compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad . The North Pennsylvania extended its line north from Jenkintown to Yardley , on the Delaware River, while
14112-527: Was built across the Ohio River between Bellaire, Ohio , and Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1871, connecting the B&O to the Central Ohio Railroad , which the B&O had leased starting in 1866. This provided a direct rail connection to Columbus, Ohio , and the lease marked the beginning of a series of expansions to the west and north. Other railroads included in the B&O were: (This list omits certain short lines.) The Chicago and Alton Railroad
14238-525: Was completed in 1857. During the "Great Railway Celebrations of 1857", a large group of notables boarded the B&O in Baltimore, then transferred to steamboats that took them from Wheeling to Marietta, Ohio , where they boarded a railroad to Cincinnati, where after another celebration, they boarded the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad , which brought them to St. Louis, Missouri, three days after they had started their journey. The B&O would only reach Charleston (at
14364-572: Was fixed at five million dollars, but the B&O was initially capitalized in 1827 with a three million dollar issue of stock. Half of this stock was reserved for the Maryland state government and the municipal government of Baltimore, which invested $ 1,000,000 and $ 500,000, respectively, in the new company. Around twenty-two thousand people—a quarter of the city's population—bought the remaining private equity. Construction began on July 4, 1828, when Charles Carroll of Carrollton (the last living signer of
14490-510: Was merged into the Chessie System ; its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation . The railroad was founded to serve merchants from Baltimore who wanted to do business with settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains . It would compete with several existing and proposed turnpikes and canals, including the Erie and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal . Building west from the port of Baltimore,
14616-429: Was met with enthusiastic public approval. The B&O responded by introducing Diesel locomotives , air conditioning, and streamlining on its New York trains. On June 24, 1935, the B&O inaugurated the first lightweight, streamlined train in the eastern U.S., when it began operating a re-christened Royal Blue train between Washington and New York. When the specially modified 4-4-4 -type steam locomotive prepared for
14742-531: Was officially opened as Samuel F. B. Morse sent his famous words, "What hath God wrought", from the B&O's Mount Clare station to the Capitol by telegraph. Contrary to legend, the B&O was not the first chartered railroad in the United States; John Stevens obtained a charter for the New Jersey Railroad in 1815. The B&O was, however, the first company to operate a locomotive built in America, with
14868-719: Was operated by the Reading Company and owned by two of its subsidiaries, the North Pennsylvania Railroad and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad . It formed part of the Reading's route from Philadelphia to New York City , used by the famed Crusader . The line was transferred to Conrail in 1976 and was split into the Neshaminy Line and Trenton Line. SEPTA continues to operate commuter trains to West Trenton as part of its West Trenton Line . The North Pennsylvania Railroad portion began at Jenkintown , where it split from
14994-493: Was purchased by the B&O in 1931 and renamed the Alton Railroad . It was always operated separately and was eventually bought by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad after receivership in 1942. As a result of poor national economic conditions in the mid-1870s following the Panic of 1873 , the B&O attempted to reduce its workers' wages. After a second reduction in wages was announced in
15120-415: Was reduced to five hours, compared to nine hours in the late 1860s. The trains were noted for their elegance and luxury. The parlor cars' ceilings and upholstery were covered in royal blue, and the dining cars Queen and Waldorf , panelled in mahogany , featured elaborate cuisine such as terrapin and canvasback prepared by French-trained chefs. A Railway Age magazine article of the time reporting on
15246-608: Was said to be the longest wood trestle on the railroad over Rock Creek ; and a short tunnel, Dalecarlia Tunnel , under the Washington Aqueduct . The line was almost completely abandoned in 1986 by CSX and is presently used in part as the right-of-way for the Capital Crescent Trail . New York Branch The New York Branch or the Bound Brook Route was a railway line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey . It
15372-406: Was the Baltimore Belt Line , which included a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) long tunnel under Howard Street in downtown Baltimore. Work began on the tunnel in 1891 and was completed on May 1, 1895, when the first train traversed the tunnel. To avoid smoke problems from steam engines working upgrade in the long tunnel under the middle of Baltimore, the B&O pioneered the first mainline electrification of
15498-533: Was the end of the line until the B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing opened in 1836, linking Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (until 1863, Virginia). The connection at Harpers Ferry with the Winchester and Potomac Railroad , running southwest to Winchester, Virginia , opened in 1837, then the line northwest to Martinsburg in May 1842; Hancock in June 1842; and Cumberland, Maryland , on November 5, 1842, for some years
15624-480: Was the longest bridge in the United States upon its completion in 1835. It also remains in use. The B&O made extensive use of the Bollman iron truss bridge design in the mid-19th century. Its durability and ease of assembly aided faster railroad construction. As the B&O built the main line west to Parr's Ridge , near Mount Airy, Maryland , it had limited information about the capabilities of steam locomotives; at
15750-572: Was trimmed in marble and furnished with Art Deco lighting fixtures and leather sofas. This arrangement would continue until the eventual demise of the Royal Blue in 1958. Recalling the past glamor of the 1890s Royal Blue Line , the B&O introduced its Colonial -series dining cars such as the Martha Washington , which were particularly noted for their fresh Chesapeake Bay cuisine, served on Dresden china in ornate cars with glass chandeliers and colonial-style furnishings. The B&O's manager of dining car services said his department's objective
15876-593: Was upheld in the 1840s after Baltimore City tried to tax it. This Washington Branch line was built in stone, much like the original mainline. By this time, however, strap rail was no longer used for new construction. Most of the stone bridges on the Old Main Line did not last long, being washed out by the periodic flooding of the Patapsco River and replaced at first by Bollman Truss bridges . The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad to Annapolis connected to this line at Annapolis Junction in 1840. As an unwritten condition for
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