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125-437: SR 401 begins at the south city limit of Alexandria, which is located on the north side of the underpass of CSX 's RF&P Subdivision . Van Dorn Street continues south as SR 613 into Fairfax County toward its interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95)/ I-495 (Capital Beltway) and Franconia . SR 401, which heads north as a four-lane divided highway , has an intersection with Eisenhower Avenue, an east–west arterial through

250-559: A partial cloverleaf interchange with SR 236 (Duke Street) adjacent to now-demolished Landmark Mall . North of SR 236, the state highway becomes an undivided highway, crosses Holmes Run, and begins to closely parallel I-395 (Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway). SR 401 continues northeast to a point within SR 420's (Seminary Road) overpass of the highway and the latter highway's three-level diamond interchange with I-395. Van Dorn Street continues northeast as an unnumbered street to its end at SR 7 on

375-512: 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 the Ohio River until 1852, 24 years after the project started. Yet the Ohio River was from the beginning the destination the railroad

500-665: 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

625-444: 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 the west, thus making the city the commercial and financial capital of the region south of Philadelphia. Although

750-513: A combined NS/Conrail system. The railroad fiercely argued against allowing the sale to go through, even arguing that monopoly concerns precluded a Conrail sale to either NS or CSX. Despite his history in organizing the NS merger while leading the Southern Railway, Crane was a strong advocate for Conrail's independence and proposed an alternative: privatizing Conrail through an initial public offering to

875-512: A contract with Wabtec for modernizing their fleet of CW44s. The modernized locomotives, nearly thirty in number as of June 2020, are being classified as CM44AC . In February 2024, CSX and Wabtec reached a new agreement, of which, involves the modernization of over 200 locomotives. This accounts for the rest of the active roster of CW44ACs & CW44AHs . The locomotives will be modernized through 2028. On April 30, 2019, CSX unveiled locomotives 911 and 1776, two ES44AH locomotives created to honor

1000-582: A crash safe cab, a new electronic control stand, and Positive Train Control (PTC). In 2019, 25 SD70AC locomotives were rebuilt at the CSX Huntington Heavy Repair Facility, with rebuilt prime movers, in-cab electronic and comfort improvements, New York Air Brake CCB II airbrake systems, and new Mitsubishi drive controls. CSX has also partnered with Wabtec to rebuild GE locomotives at their Fort Worth facility with prime movers upgraded to

1125-760: 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

1250-754: A merger in 1960, which was authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission in late 1963 and finally completed in 1967, forming the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad . The combined company absorbed the Piedmont and Northern Railway in 1969. In the Midwest, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) went on an acquisition spree, splitting the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI) with

1375-510: A profit for the first time under the leadership of L. Stanley Crane in the wake of the Staggers Rail Act . The Reagan Administration wished to privatize Conrail now that it had shown it could stand on its own and placed it for sale in 1983. While CSX expressed interest, it ultimately did not place a bid for Conrail; Norfolk Southern did, however. When the government identified NS' bid as the winner, CSX realized it faced financial peril from

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1500-455: A small hill as cars are uncoupled at the crest of the hill and allowed to roll down the hump into the appropriate tracks for outbound trains. 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 was merged into

1625-520: A total of 21 heritage locomotives would be painted over the coming months, with the locomotive number coinciding with the year the railroad was founded or the name began being used. In 1995, CSX started a new liability insurance requirement of $ 200 million to introduce their official policy, "no steam on its own wheels", banning the operation of steam locomotives and other antique rail equipment on their trackage due to safety concerns, and increased risk. In hump yards , trains are slowly pushed over

1750-550: Is designated as local O823. CSX operates Coke Express unit trains . They carry coke for steelmaking , power generation and other various uses, running between Pittsburgh and Chicago , and other places in the Rust Belt . CSX has rebuilt a significant number of locomotives. Some of their EMD GP38-2 , GP40-2 , and SD40-2 locomotives have been rebuilt to Dash 3 standards with updated Wabtec Electronically Controlled Air Brakes, air conditioning, automated starting controls,

1875-508: 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

2000-693: 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 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

2125-701: 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

2250-632: 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, the B&O reached Sandy Hook, Maryland , in 1834; Cumberland in 1842;

2375-568: The Eastern United States . Initially only a holding company, the subsidiaries that made up CSX Corporation completed merging in 1987. CSX Transportation formally came into existence in 1986, as the successor of Seaboard System Railroad . In 1999, CSX Transportation acquired about half of Conrail in a joint purchase with competitor Norfolk Southern Railway . In 2022, it acquired Pan Am Railways , extending its reach into northern New England . Norfolk Southern remains CSX's chief competitor;

2500-529: 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 the beginning of the federally-financed National Road , provided a road link for animal-powered transport between Cumberland, Maryland , on

2625-468: 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

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2750-785: The Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1969. This was followed in 1971 with the acquisition of the Monon Railroad , which had complained bitterly about the C&;EI split. The L&N also purchased a portion of the Tennessee Central Railway in 1969. While still independent, the L&;N had long standing links to the Atlantic Coast Line, and other railroads in the region began to worry about a combined L&N/SCL system. In 1969,

2875-643: The New York Central (NYC) and Pennsylvania (PRR) railroads in November 1957 that they were considering combining set off discussions between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) on a merger. Ultimately, the financially stronger C&O took control of the B&O in December 1962, though the two railroads kept their separate identities. The NYC and PRR ultimately formed Penn Central Transportation Company in 1968, which by 1970

3000-449: The Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway unveiled their own plans for a merger. The Southern was opposed to the planned CSX merger, but soon came to terms with Chessie and SCL and dropped its objections. On November 1, 1980, following ICC approval, CSX Corporation officially came into being as the successor of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries. In 1982, N&W and

3125-740: 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 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

3250-460: 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 the cost of transportation and announcing the coming end of

3375-626: The Surface Transportation Board . The STB approved the purchase on April 14, 2022. As part of the acquisition, Norfolk Southern Railway will gain trackage rights over several CSX lines, and Pan Am Southern , 50 percent owned by Pan Am Railways, will be operated by the Berkshire and Eastern Railroad , a new Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary formed explicitly for this purpose. CSX completed the purchase on June 1, 2022. On June 28, 2023, CSX and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) announced

3500-518: The Three Rivers Railway as a subsidiary and purchased several key P&LE lines through it. CSX did not want the entire railroad, so some lines and company assets were instead retained by the P&;LE's parent company, which ultimately sold them off. The company introduced its current slogan, "How Tomorrow Moves", in 2008. In 2014, Canadian Pacific Railway approached CSX with an offer to merge

3625-635: 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

3750-523: 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 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

3875-415: 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

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4000-662: 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

4125-401: The 1990s, and Q740 in the 2000s. The Juice Train has previously been studied as a model of efficient rail transportation that can compete with trucks and other modes in the perishable-goods trade. In 2017, the train was abolished from north of Tampa, Florida , and now mixed freight trains deliver the cars to their respective destinations. It still operates between Bradenton and Tampa however, but

4250-451: The 50.4 miles (81.1 km) miles of line between Myrtlewood and Meridian. The agreement became effective 16 November, 2024. Initially, and for the next five years, CSX and CPKC will interchange across the line an average of two trains per day in each direction. In turn, the Board also required CSX to maintain its Selma, AL , gateway open and to provide one shipper access to the NS at Selma at

4375-516: The 50.4 miles (81.1 km) segment of the line between Myrtlewood and Meridian. MNBR will cease operations between Montgomery and Myrtlewood although it may continue to operate between Myrtlewood and Meridian, and continue to serve existing customers on that segment of the line. If the STB approves the purchase, it will provide a connection between the two companies' networks and allow CSX traffic destined for Mexico to be delivered directly to CPKC, eliminating

4500-644: 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

4625-462: 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

4750-526: The B&O merged into the C&O. With the Western Maryland having already merged into the C&O, this left the C&O as the sole operating railroad under the Chessie System banner. Finally, on August 31, 1987, C&O/Chessie System merged into CSX Transportation, bringing all of the major CSX railroads under one banner. Government formed Conrail began to show promise in the early 1980s, showing

4875-544: 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

5000-987: 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

5125-402: 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

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5250-679: 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

5375-519: 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

5500-650: 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 ,

5625-515: 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

5750-602: 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

5875-510: The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec . Operating about 21,000 route miles (34,000 km) of track, it is the leading subsidiary of CSX Corporation , a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida . CSX Corporation was formed in 1980 from the merger of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries , two holding companies that controlled railroads operating in

6000-621: 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

6125-741: The Conrail network on June 1, 1999. CSX now serves much of the Eastern United States , with a few routes into nearby Canadian cities. The two competitors were unwilling to give one company full control of busy industrial areas in Detroit , Philadelphia , and northern New Jersey (the Chemical Coast ). A compromise solution was reached by creating Conrail Shared Assets Operations , a jointly owned switching and terminal railroad which would operate in these areas on behalf of both CSX and NS. Virginia shortline Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P)

6250-463: The FDL Advantage spec and new electronic controls such as the Wabtec Trip Optimizer Zero-to-Zero system. CSX has also obtained a few EMD F40PH -2s—nos. 9992, 9993, 9998, and 9999 (All locomotives except 9999 have been renumbered to CSX 1, 2, and 3 and were repainted into a heritage Baltimore and Ohio Railroad scheme)—that were retired from Amtrak for executive office car service and geometry trains . Another locomotive, ex- MARC GP40WH-2 no. 9969

6375-428: The M&B rate for five years, subject to reasonable cost escalation. It also includes conditions protecting employees affected by the line sale, and requires noise mitigation efforts regarding the CSX portion. A few days before CSX and CPKC officially took over the former M&B line, Schneider National , CSX's one of major intermodal partners and CPKC's main partner, announced that a new interline service connecting

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6500-442: 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

6625-401: 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

6750-655: 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

6875-447: The STB approved the CSX–NS application and set August 22, 1998, as the effective date of its decision. CSX acquired 42 percent of Conrail's assets, and NS received the remaining 58 percent. As a result of the transaction, CSX's rail operations grew to include some 3,800 miles (6,100 km) of the Conrail system (predominantly lines that had belonged to the former New York Central Railroad ). CSX began operating its trains on its portion of

7000-482: The Seaboard Coast Line created Seaboard Coast Line Industries as a holding company. The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad had already held some of L&N's stock, but the new holding company began buying up as much as it could find and held nearly total control of shares by 1971. With this also came control of the Clinchfield Railroad and Georgia Railroad , both of which were nominally jointly owned by SCL and L&N. The resulting railroad conglomerate began operating under

7125-419: 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

7250-417: The Southeast (Florida and Georgia) with the Texas and Mexico markets via the route between Montgomery and Meridian will be launched beginning in December. CSX operated the Juice Train which consisted of Tropicana cars that carried fresh orange juice between Bradenton, Florida , and the Greenville section of Jersey City, New Jersey . The northbound train was originally designated on CSX as K650 during

7375-443: The Southern completed their merger and formed Norfolk Southern Railway , creating a competitor to CSX. One of the first issues the new railroad grappled with was the choice of name. Chessie and SCLI leadership agreed that, as a merger of equals, neither of the existing names could be used. A call for suggestions went out to employees of both railroads, who responded with a wide variety of initialisms combining C and S in some form. At

7500-399: The State of Virginia, which held partial ownership of the RF&P, was displeased with the merger agreement created by CSX. In particular the status of Potomac Yard , then a major classification yard in the RF&P system, was a matter of disagreement. The yard had potential for redevelopment, and as part of negotiations with the state, CSX ultimately agreed to decommission the rail yard by

7625-413: 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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7750-435: 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

7875-450: The boundary between Alexandria and Arlington . Access from Van Dorn Street to SR 420 is provided by a pair of intersections with Kenmore Avenue that lead to a pair of right-in/right-out intersections with the overpassing highway. SR 401 was assigned to its present location, previously unnumbered, in the early 1980s, but it only ran as far north as SR 236. In the mid-1980s, it was extended to its current terminus at SR 420. Its current route

8000-492: 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

8125-514: 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 the state expensive and technically challenging, and the Pennsylvania Railroad , linking Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, did not open its full length until 1852, and there

8250-471: The car is owned by a leasing company or private car owner. Chessie's public relations staff drafted a number of possible logos for the new railroad, but continued to strike out until it was suggested to combine the letters "C" and "S" in the shape of an X. Despite the merger in 1980, CSX was a paper railroad (meaning no CSX painted locomotives or rolling stock) until 1986. In that year, Seaboard System changed its name to CSX Transportation. On April 30, 1987,

8375-419: 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

8500-504: 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

8625-444: The competitors struck a deal to split Conrail between them. On June 23, 1997, CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) filed a joint application with the Surface Transportation Board for authority to purchase, divide, and operate the assets of the 11,000-mile (18,000 km) Conrail, which had been created in 1976 by bringing together several ailing Northeastern railway systems into a government-owned corporation . On June 6, 1998,

8750-436: 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

8875-439: 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

9000-556: 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

9125-542: 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

9250-588: 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 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

9375-454: 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

9500-770: 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

9625-469: 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 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 ,

9750-425: The first responders and veterans respectively. Another special unit, ES44AH 3194, was unveiled on August 22, 2019, in honor of the law enforcement. On September 13, 2022, CSX unveiled SD70AC 4568 painted in honor of Operation Lifesaver's 50th anniversary. In May 2023, CSX unveiled their heritage unit program, beginning with ES44AH No. 1827 being painted for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad . CSX then stated that

9875-468: The general public. Crane's solution was ultimately adopted in 1987, keeping Conrail independent. This was not the end of CSX and NS interest in Conrail, and attempts by both competitors resumed in the 1990s. This time, CSX struck first, announcing a surprise deal to purchase Conrail in October 1996. NS promptly made an offer of its own and began a bidding war with CSX that was only resolved in January 1997 when

10000-520: 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 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

10125-515: The industrial southern edge of Alexandria, and has a trumpet interchange with a connector to Eisenhower Avenue and the Van Dorn Street station on the Washington Metro 's Blue Line . There is no ramp from the connector to northbound SR 401. The state highway crosses over Norfolk Southern Railway 's Washington District and Backlick Run and intersects Edsall Road. SR 401 continues through

10250-533: The intention to purchase Meridian and Bigbee Railroad (MNBR). The MNBR creates a connection 168 miles (270 km) between CSX in Burkville, Alabama near Montgomery , and Meridian, Mississippi , where it joins the Meridian Speedway heading west. Under the proposed agreement, CSX will resume operations between Montgomery and Myrtlewood, terminating the lease currently in place with MNBR, while CPKC will acquire

10375-400: 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

10500-399: The line and sparked an interest in purchasing it outright. An initial attempt to buy out the P&LE in partnership with an employee buyout by P&LE employees in 1988 failed when negotiations between CSX and the other railroad's unions could not come to an agreement. CSX instead purchased the P&LE main line outright in 1991, leasing it back to the P&LE. The next year, CSX formed

10625-532: The name "Family Lines". Despite this wave of mergers, one more was yet to come - the combination of Chessie System and the Family Lines. To this end, the CSX Corporation was organized on November 14, 1978, as a future vehicle for such a merger. Chessie and SCL Industries formally applied for ICC approval of their merger plans in January 1979, causing a rapid reaction from the region's other railroads. By April,

10750-451: 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

10875-610: The need for a third intermediate railroad to move such traffic. Currently, CSX traffic bound for Mexico is exchanged with the Union Pacific Railroad in New Orleans , who then takes it to the cross-border gateway in Laredo, Texas , where it is delivered to CPKC. In October 2024, the STB approved CSX's resumption of operations on the 93.7 miles (150.8 km) leased from M&B between Burkville and Myrtlewood and CPKC's purchase of

11000-549: 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

11125-583: 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 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

11250-565: The north shore of the Potomac, 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

11375-468: 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;

11500-477: 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

11625-628: 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

11750-402: 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

11875-622: 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

12000-509: The same time, the two companies' lawyers needed a name to use as part of their proceedings with the ICC. "CSC" was chosen but belonged to a trucking company in Virginia . "CSM" (for "Chessie-Seaboard Merger") was also taken. Needing some sort of identifier for the new railroad, the lawyers decided to use "CSX", and the name stuck, despite only being intended as a placeholder. In the public announcement, it

12125-597: 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

12250-429: 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

12375-442: The steel industry in the 1980s crippled the railroad. As local traffic dried up, conditions reached the point that the B&O was running as many as 20 trains per day on the P&LE main line versus just one run by the line's owner. When P&LE employees went on strike to protest a change in ownership of the railroad, the company cut maintenance and reduced its main line to one track to cut costs. This adversely affected CSX usage of

12500-482: 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

12625-514: 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

12750-506: The time a deal was reached in October 1991 whereby CSX and the State of Virginia each purchased part of the RF&;P. From the 1930s, the B&O had used part of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) main line from McKeesport, Pennsylvania , to West Pittsburg via a trackage rights agreement. The P&LE remained healthy enough to escape inclusion in Conrail, but a severe downturn in

12875-562: 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

13000-464: 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

13125-564: 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

13250-593: The two companies, but CSX declined, and in 2015 Canadian Pacific made an attempt to purchase and merge with Norfolk Southern , but NS declined to do so as well. In 2017, CSX announced Hunter Harrison would become its new chief executive officer; a settlement with activist investor Paul Hilal and Mantle Ridge. CSX added five new directors to their board, including Harrison and Mantle Ridge founder Paul Hilal. Mantle Ridge owns 4.9% of CSX. Harrison quickly moved to convert CSX rail operations to precision railroading . On December 14, 2017, CSX announced that Hunter Harrison

13375-442: The two share a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the east half of the US. CSX is the result of a number of mergers among railroads operating in the eastern United States, the earliest among them the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) which formed in the 1820s. Many of the competing railroads along the east coast began merging from the 1950s onward as part of a broader trend of consolidation. An announcement from

13500-432: 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

13625-613: 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

13750-605: Was acquired by CSX in February 1990. The RF&P had historically been jointly owned by a number of connecting railroads through a holding company and operated as a bridge line . All of these owners except the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Southern Railway eventually became part of CSX, and the PRR stake was given up during the bankruptcy of Penn Central. This purchase added a new connection between Alexandria and Richmond , linking former B&O lines with those of C&O and Seaboard. However,

13875-504: Was acquired for the same purpose. With the arrival of Hunter Harrison , CSX began to store many locomotives. Following Harrison's death, his replacement James Foote largely continued his policies. The company had over 900 locomotives in storage in January 2018. CSX ordered ten SD70ACe-T4s in August 2018, which were delivered in July the following year. They are classified as ST70AHs. CSX also has

14000-614: Was bankrupt. The combined C&O/B&O purchased stock in the Western Maryland Railway until it was able to take full control in February 1967, bringing a third railroad into the combined entity, which in 1973 became formally known as the Chessie System after the C&O's historic cat mascot Chessie. While the railroads in Appalachia were merging, southern railroads (and historical competitors) Seaboard Air Line Railroad and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad decided to pursue

14125-527: 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

14250-525: 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

14375-683: 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 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

14500-475: 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 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

14625-531: 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

14750-734: Was on medical leave. Two days after the announcement, Harrison died, one day after being hospitalized for complications of an ongoing illness. CSX initially saw a 10% drop in its stock price, but turned around to hit a new 52-week high less than a month later (January 2018). Harrison's successors have continued the shift to precision railroading, with most hump yards converted to flat yards, low volume shipping lanes eliminated and reductions in rolling stock and work force. On November 30, 2020, CSX Transportation's parent company CSX Corporation announced on social media that they had come to an agreement with Pan Am Systems to purchase New England based Class II Pan Am Railways , pending regulatory approval from

14875-480: Was once part of Fairfax County, and the portion of SR 401 from immediately south of Edsall Road to its southern terminus was part of SR 613 until it was annexed by Alexandria in the 1950s. The entire route is in Alexandria . CSX Transportation CSX Transportation ( reporting mark CSXT ), known colloquially as simply CSX , is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and

15000-549: 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

15125-452: Was said that "CSX is singularly appropriate. C can stand for Chessie, S for Seaboard and X, the multiplication symbol, means that together we are so much more." However, an August 9, 2016, article on the Railway Age website stated that " ... the 'X' was for 'Consolidated' ". A fourth letter had to be added to CSX when used as a reporting mark because reporting marks that end in X mean that

15250-457: 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 the east coast rail and boat network, from Maryland northward. There was no rail link between Maryland and Virginia until the B&O opened

15375-480: 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

15500-434: 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 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

15625-593: 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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