Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad: Difference between revisions

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

In 1838, the B&O began service from Baltimore to Philadelphia using the new PW&B line.<ref>{{cite webencyclopedia |url=http://www.mdoe.org/phil_wil_balt_rr.html |title=Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad |author=Herbert W. Harwood Jr.|date= |workencyclopedia=Maryland Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Maryland Historical Society |accessdateaccess-date=2010-05-12|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720135938/http://www.mdoe.org/phil_wil_balt_rr.html|archivedatearchive-date=2008-07-20}}</ref> Connecting [[rail tracks|trackage]] in [[Baltimore (MD)|Baltimore]] ran from the B&O's [[Mount Clare Station|Mount Clare]] terminal east along [[Pratt Street (Baltimore)|Pratt Street]] and [[East Falls Avenue (Baltimore)|East Falls Avenue]] to the PW&B's [[President Street Station]]. From there the PW&B ran east on [[Fleet Street (Baltimore)|Fleet Street]] and [[Boston Street (Baltimore)|Boston Street]] before leaving onto its own [[Right-of-way (railroad)|right-of-way]].

In 1881, the B&O attempted to gain control of the PW&B, but lost the stock battle to the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]], which informed the B&O that it would lose access to the PW&B line in 1884.<ref name="Stover">{{cite book |title=History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad |last=Stover |first=John F. |year=1987 |publisher=Purdue University Press |location=West Lafayette, IN |isbn=0-911198-81-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEPCqQErPHAC |accessdate=}}</ref>{{rp|154}} This forcesforced the B&O to build a new route to Philadelphia. It acquired the [[Delaware Western Railroad]], which had a [[charter]] but no track, merged it into the Baltimore & Philadelphia (called the '''Philadelphia Branch''' in Maryland) in 1883, and began construction.<ref name="Stover" />{{rp|154}} The line was in full operation by 1886.<ref>H.V. and H.W. Poor Co. [https://archive.org/download/poorsmanualofrai24newyuoft/poorsmanualofrai24newyuoft.pdf "Poor's Manual of Railroads of the United States: 1891."] p. 49. Accessed 2010-05-12.</ref> While the line in Delaware and Pennsylvania was operated by the Baltimore and Philadelphia, the line in Maryland was operated directly by the B&O as its Philadelphia Branch.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100479413 |title=Baltimore and Ohio railroad corporate histories ... |last2=United States |date=1922 |publisher=The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Valuation Department |location=Baltimore, Md. |pages=117}}</ref>

Except at its two ends, the line was built within a few miles to the northwest of the PW&B. At the Baltimore end, the line ended in the [[Canton, Maryland|Canton]] neighborhood, with a [[Train ferry|car ferry]] across the [[Patapsco River]] to [[Locust Point, Maryland|Locust Point]]. At the Philadelphia end, the new line crossed the PW&B and its old alignment (part of the [[Philadelphia and Reading Railway]]'s branch to [[Chester (PA)|Chester]]) and crossed to the east side of the [[Schuylkill River]] on the new [[B&O Railroad Bridge]], just south of the [[Grays Ferry Bridge]]. A branch split there towards the [[Delaware River]], while the main line continued north along the Schuylkill, with [[24th Street Station (Philadelphia)|a station downtown]], and then passed through the [[Art Museum Tunnel]] to [[Park Junction]] with the [[Philadelphia and Reading Railway]]'s main line; this tunnel, the last part of the line to be finished, opened on December 15, 1886.<ref name='HarwoodRoyalBlue'>{{cite book | last=Harwood Jr. | first=Herbert H. | title=Royal Blue Line: The Classic B&O Train Between Washington and New York | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | year=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xFtQGUUaxYC | accessdateaccess-date=2013-03-05 | isbn=0-8018-7061-5}}</ref>{{rp|27,31,39–41}}