Capital Subdivision

The Capital Subdivision is a

Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) Washington Branch.^[1] The subdivision's Alexandria Extension provides a connection to Virginia and points south.^[2]^[3]

Route description

Capital Subdivision

Legend

MP

Baltimore Terminal Subdivision

5.8

HX Tower

to Old Main Line Subdivision

9.0

Relay

Thomas Viaduct (Patapsco River)

Hanover

Waterloo Industrial Track

Columbia Industrial Track

Jessup Yard

16.6

Annapolis Junction (

Corridor Industrial Track

Savage Industrial Track

30.0

Berwyn

31.4

College Park

Riverdale Park Junction

Metropolitan Subdivision

38.7

Washington Union Station

to Shady Grove

RF&P Subdivision via First Street Tunnel

flag stop

The northeast end of the line is at Halethorpe, Maryland, (BAA 5.8) just north of the historic

Union Station, at a junction with the Metropolitan Subdivision and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor

.

Between Elkridge and Laurel (BAA 21.7), 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.

History

In 1831 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 the B&O main line at Relay, roughly 7 miles (11 km) from Baltimore.^[5]

^: 157

Notable structural features on the original line include the

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.^[5]^: 361 ^[6]

Washington depots

Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The first B&O

Union Station

in 1907, that alignment was changed to the current routing, partially using the former location of Delaware Avenue.

Acquisition

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),^[7]

which now owns the line.

References

^ CSX Timetables: Capitol (sic) Subdivision
^ "WS-Capital Sub - the RadioReference Wiki".
^ http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ETTs/CSX%20Baltimore%20Div%20ETT%20%234%201-1-2005.pdf CSX Baltimore Division Timetable
^ Chapter 158 of the 1830 Session Laws of Maryland, February 22, 1831.
^
ISBN 978-0-8047-2629-0
.

^ Note: the present-day Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge, located on a railroad spur in Savage, was originally built for an unknown location on the Old Main Line, and relocated to Savage in 1877.
^ "History".

Harwood, Jr., Herbert H. (1979). Impossible Challenge: The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Maryland. Baltimore, MD: Barnard, Roberts.
ISBN 0-934118-17-5
.

External links

Mileposts from CSX Transportation Timetables
Washington Branch Milestone Pictures
JDTower.org - Photos and stories about JD Tower

[1] CSX Timetables: Capitol (sic) Subdivision

[2] "WS-Capital Sub - the RadioReference Wiki".

[3] ttp://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ETTs/CSX%20Baltimore%20Div%20ETT%20%234%201-1-2005.pdf CSX Baltimore Division Timetable

[4] Chapter 158 of the 1830 Session Laws of Maryland, February 22, 1831.

[Dilts-5] 
ISBN 978-0-8047-2629-0
.

[6] Note: the present-day Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge, located on a railroad spur in Savage, was originally built for an unknown location on the Old Main Line, and relocated to Savage in 1877.

[7] "History".

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