Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
Industry | Rail transport |
---|---|
Founded | May 6, 1853 |
Founder | |
Defunct | November 1, 1902 |
Fate | Merged with Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad |
Successor | Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad |
Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
Area served | |
Revenue |
|
Total assets |
|
The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) operated from Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D.C., from 1872 to 1902. Owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the second railroad company to connect the nation's capital to the Northeastern U.S., and competed with the older Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Part of the B&P route is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the most heavily traveled American intercity passenger line; and of the Penn Line of the Maryland Transit Administration's MARC commuter train service. Its Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, bored under north Baltimore in 1871, remains in use.
History
Competition
The leading advocate for expanding the railroad system into
The B&P was organized on December 19, 1858, and began surveying the route on May 3, 1859. Construction started in 1861 but with increasing delays caused by the
Thus the new Baltimore-Washington line opened on July 2, 1872, and the required "main line" to
Baltimore and Potomac Station in Washington, D.C.
The first Baltimore and Potomac station in Washington was a simple wood-frame structure. A more substantial brick and stone building opened in 1873 at the southwest corner of Sixth Street and B Street NW, later renamed
On the morning of July 2, 1881, U.S. President James A. Garfield was shot in the waiting room of the B&P station in Washington, D.C.[7] Although the shot was not fatal, he died in September 1881 as a result of infections from the injury.
On November 1, 1902, B&P was consolidated with PW&B to form the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PB&W), also controlled by PRR.[8][9]
New Washington Union Station alignment
The
In 1968, the line has passed under control of
Branches
Catonsville
The Catonsville Short Line Railroad opened in 1884 and was immediately leased by the Baltimore & Potomac. This provided a short branch from just south of Baltimore to Catonsville.
Southern Maryland Line
The 48.7-mile (78.4 km) branch to
There was a passenger and freight station at Collington on the Southern Maryland Line.[11][12] Today, a 5,200-foot railroad siding is all that remains of this stop, although the spur is still in use. It is located at milepost 3.0 on the spur,[13] just south of where the spur crosses under Maryland Route 450 near Maryland Route 197.[14]
References
- ^ a b Poor's Manual of Railroads. Vol. 26. p. 972.
- ^ Maryland General Assembly. Chapter 194 of the 1853 Session Laws of Maryland, May 6, 1853
- ^ a b c d Wilson, William Bender (1895). History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company: With Plan of Organization. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Company – via Archive.org.
- ^ "PRR Chronology: 1867" (PDF). PRR Research. Philadelphia Chapter, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. June 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
- ^ Netzlof, Robert T. (June 12, 2002). "Corporate Genealogy Union Railroad". Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
- ISBN 1-58834-105-4.
- ^ "Garfield Still Lives". Pittsburgh Daily Post. July 4, 1881. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Another Merger: Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Stockholders Ratify Agreement". Reading Times. Reading, Pennsylvania. August 22, 1902. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kuhn, Loeb & Co. (December 29, 1903). "$10,000,000 Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "PRR Chronology: 1907" (PDF). PRR Research. Philadelphia Chapter, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. March 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
- ^ The Official railway guide: North American freight service edition. Philadelphia: National Railway Publication Co. 1889. p. 230 – via Google Books.
- Sacred Heart Church. Archived from the originalon March 21, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
- ^ "CSXT - Popes Creek Subdivision". The Mainline. 2000. Archived from the original on July 7, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
- ^ Hogan, Reverend John F. (1975). Sacred Heart Chapel 1741-1975: A Monograph on the Foundation and the Development of the old Sacred Heart Church - White Marsh.
External links
- Corporate Genealogy - Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MD-163, "Baltimore & Potomac Interlocking Tower", 11 photos, 27 data pages, 2 photo caption pages