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101-609: The northeast end of the line is at Halethorpe, Maryland, (BAA 5.8) just north of the historic Thomas Viaduct , where it meets the Baltimore Terminal Subdivision and the Old Main Line Subdivision . Its southwest end is at the yard north of Washington Union Station , at a junction with the Metropolitan Subdivision and Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor . Between Elkridge and Laurel (BAA 21.7),

202-665: 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

303-520: 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

404-483: A large bridge on a curve. The design called for several variations in span and pier widths between the opposite sides of the structure. This problem was solved by laying the lateral pier faces on radial lines, making the piers essentially wedge-shaped and fitted to the 4-degree curve. The viaduct was built by John McCartney of Ohio , who received the contract after completing the Patterson Viaduct . Caspar Wever,

505-813: 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

606-501: 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,

707-515: 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

808-460: Is 4 feet (1 m) wide and supported by cast iron brackets and edged with ornamental cast iron railings. The viaduct contains 24,476 cubic yards (18,713 m ) of masonry and cost $ 142,236.51, equal to $ 4,201,024 today. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States. Construction began on July 4, 1828, with the original route following the upper branch of

909-482: Is still in use today, making it one of the oldest railroad bridges still in service. This Basket-handle arch stone bridge with three centers is divided into eight spans . The bridge deck is 26' wide, broad enough to hold a double track. It was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II , then B&O's assistant engineer and later its chief engineer. The main design problem to overcome was that of constructing such

1010-683: The Capital Limited to Chicago and the National Limited to St. Louis . With the advent of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, B&O ended its passenger train service, except for local Baltimore and Washington commuter trains. In 1986, CSX acquired the B&O and all of its trackage, including the Thomas Viaduct. Today, MARC 's "Camden Line" train service runs daily trains over the Viaduct. See Capital Subdivision . During design and construction,

1111-508: 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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1212-650: 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

1313-491: 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

1414-468: 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

1515-567: 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

1616-638: The Patapsco River which led west to Ellicott's Mills (later renamed Ellicott City) from the lower Patapsco which is the "Basin" (now Inner Harbor ) at downtown Baltimore and the Baltimore Harbor and Port of the lower river estuary leading southeast 15 miles to flow into the Chesapeake Bay . ( See Baltimore Terminal Subdivision and Old Main Line Subdivision . ) In 1835, the Washington Branch

1717-735: The Western Maryland Railway ). In 1980 the Chessie System merged with the Seaboard System to form CSX Corporation . In 1987 the CSX Corporation merged the B&O into the C&;O, then, later that same year, merged the C&O into CSX Transportation (CSXT), which now owns the line. Thomas Viaduct The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay, Maryland and Elkridge, Maryland , USA. It

1818-635: 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

1919-415: 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

2020-663: 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

2121-644: 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

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2222-462: 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

2323-523: The B&O main line at Relay , roughly 7 miles (11 km) from Baltimore. Notable structural features on the original line include the Thomas Viaduct , the first multi-span masonry railroad bridge in the United States, and the largest bridge in the country when it was completed in 1835; and the earliest example of an iron truss bridge designed by Wendel Bollman and installed at Savage .   The first B&O passenger station (1835–1851)

2424-596: 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

2525-540: 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

2626-987: 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

2727-520: The B&O to build a branch from their main line within eight miles (13 km) of Baltimore , to Washington, D.C. As this line would take much business from the parallel turnpikes , especially the Washington and Baltimore Turnpike , the charter specifically allowed those companies to subscribe to the stock of the railroad. Construction began in July 1833, and the line opened on August 25, 1835, splitting from

2828-402: 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

2929-555: 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

3030-679: 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

3131-519: 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

Capital Subdivision - Misplaced Pages Continue

3232-650: 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 ,

3333-515: 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

3434-602: 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

3535-535: The Capital Subdivision's rail alignment forms the border between Howard and Anne Arundel counties, having been built before Howard County was created from western Anne Arundel County in 1844. MARC Train 's Camden Line , descended from B&O commuter service between Baltimore and Washington, operates over the entire length of the main line. In 1831, the Maryland General Assembly authorized

3636-557: 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

3737-575: 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

3838-506: 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

3939-644: 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

4040-779: 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

4141-471: 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

Capital Subdivision - Misplaced Pages Continue

4242-631: The Thomas Viaduct was nicknamed "Latrobe's Folly" after the designer Benjamin Latrobe II because, at the time, many doubted that it could even support its own weight. Contrary to these predictions, the Thomas Viaduct survived the great flood of 1868 as well as Hurricane Agnes in 1972, two floods that wiped out the Patapsco Valley and destroyed nearly everything in their path; and to this day, it continues to carry 300- ton (270 tonne ) diesel locomotives passengers and heavy freight traffic . The bridge

4343-474: The Viaduct on its list of the top 10 endangered historic places in Howard County. The Patapsco Heritage Greenway group announced plans to add handrails to the bridge in 2015. 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

4444-403: The application of a grout mixture to the stone spandrels filling. Nevertheless, the bridge is still indicative of the way in which the B&O track and major structures were put down in the most permanent manner possible. At an unknown date, railing blocks were removed from the north side of the deck, and a bracketed walkway was added, giving more lateral clearance. Little work had been done on

4545-467: 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

4646-656: 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

4747-487: 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

4848-431: 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

4949-492: 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

5050-419: 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

5151-504: 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

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5252-436: 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

5353-439: 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

5454-432: 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

5555-404: 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

5656-408: The current location of Louisiana Avenue . When the Washington Terminal Company opened Washington Union Station in 1907, that alignment was changed to the current routing, partially using the former location of Delaware Avenue. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway acquired control of the B&O in 1962, and the B&O and C&O both became a subsidiaries of the Chessie System in 1973 (Along with

5757-476: The deck of the viaduct while mock " baptizing " them with a pint of whiskey . Soon after its completion, two European engineers visited the Viaduct and reported on it. During the period of 1834-1835, Michel Chevalier was commissioned by the French government to study the North American canal and railroad networks. Chevalier produced a two-volume report, "Histoire et description des voies de communication aux etats-Unis (1840–1841). By 1838, Franz Anton von Gerstner

5858-427: 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

5959-421: 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

6060-454: 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

6161-714: 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

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6262-400: 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

6363-451: 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

6464-497: 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

6565-415: 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;

6666-421: 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

6767-427: 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

6868-402: 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

6969-569: The railroad's chief of construction, supervised the work. The span of the viaduct is 612 feet (187 m) long; the individual arches are roughly 58 feet (18 m) in span, with a height of 59 feet (18 m) from the water level to the base of the rail. The width at the top of the spandrel wall copings is 26 feet 4 inches (8 m). The bridge is constructed using a rough-dressed Maryland granite ashlar from Patapsco River quarries , known as Woodstock granite . A wooden-floored walkway built for pedestrian and railway employee use

7070-520: 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

7171-481: 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

7272-429: 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

7373-484: 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

7474-482: 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

7575-540: 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

7676-470: 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

7777-514: 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

7878-562: 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

7979-464: 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

8080-564: 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

8181-479: The viaduct until the repairs of 1937 and 1938, which, according to a 1949 report by the Chief Engineer of the B&O, would keep future maintenance to a minimum. From the 1880s to the 1950s, Thomas Viaduct carried B&O's famed Royal Blue Line passenger trains between New York and Washington. Until the late 1960s, the bridge also carried B&O passenger trains traveling to points west of Washington, such as

8282-484: 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

8383-567: 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

8484-613: 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

8585-527: 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

8686-524: Was commissioned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O); built between July 4, 1833, and July 4, 1835; and named for Philip E. Thomas , the company's first president. Some claim it to be the world's oldest multiple arched stone railroad bridge. However, the Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened in 1830 and finally completed in 1833. At its completion, the Thomas Viaduct

8787-525: 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

8888-449: Was completed, a 15-foot (5 m) obelisk with the names of the builder, directors of the railroad, the architect (engineer) and others associated with the viaduct was erected at the east end in Relay, by builder John McCartney. On one side the monument reads: The Thomas Viaduct, Commenced July 4, 1833 Finished, July 4, 1835 . He also celebrated the completed work by having his men kneel on

8989-412: Was constructed, including the Thomas Viaduct. This new line branched at Relay , the site of a former post road hotel and changing point for stage horses. The 1830s Relay House served as a hotel until it was replaced by the $ 50,078.41 (equal to $ 1,273,661 today) Viaduct Hotel in 1872. The Gothic combination railroad station and hotel operated until 1938 and was torn down in 1950. When the Thomas Viaduct

9090-518: Was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 28, 1964, and administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. In 2010, the bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers . In 2014 and 2015, the non-profit historic preservation organization Preservation Howard County placed

9191-585: Was essential for supply trains to reach the capital of the Union during that conflict. Union troops stationed along its length heavily guarded the bridge to prevent sabotage. In 1929, extensive mortar work on the masonry was carried out, and again in 1937. To counteract the deterioration of the masonry, the Thomas Viaduct underwent more cosmetic upgrades in 1938 performed by the B&O Maintenance of Way Department. The work consisted primarily of improving facilities for drainage, relocation of loose arch ring stones, and

9292-521: 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

9393-594: Was located west of the Capitol , at 2nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In 1851, the New Jersey Avenue Station was built at a point slightly north of the Capitol, on New Jersey Avenue NW, in the area now called Union Station Plaza. Trains reached that location via the current location of West Virginia Avenue , street-running trackage on I Street NE and Delaware Avenue , and private right-of-way just south of

9494-510: 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,

9595-481: 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

9696-549: 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

9797-400: Was the "... leading engineer and scholar of the emerging railroad industry on the continent of Europe." Because of railroad growth in the United States, von Gerstner felt the need to study American railroads, including the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Thomas Viaduct. Until after the American Civil War , the B&O was the only railroad into Washington, D.C. ; thus, the Thomas Viaduct

9898-533: 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

9999-407: Was the largest railroad bridge in the United States and the country's first multi-span masonry railroad bridge to be built on a curve. In 1964, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark . In 2010, the bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers . The viaduct is now owned and operated by CSX Transportation and

10100-480: 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

10201-593: 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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