Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road
Encyclopedia
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and the District of Columbia. The line runs from near Baltimore, Maryland southwest to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
along the former Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) Washington Branch. The subdivision's Alexandria Extension provides a connection to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and points south.
Route description
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Main line
The northeast end of the line is at Halethorpe, Maryland, just north of the historic Thomas ViaductThomas Viaduct
The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay and Elkridge, Maryland, USA. It is the first multi-span masonry railroad bridge in the United States to be built on a curve...
, where it meets the Baltimore Terminal Subdivision and the Old Main Line Subdivision. Its southwest end is at the yard north of Union Station, at a junction
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
with the Metropolitan Subdivision and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
.
Between Elkridge and Laurel, the Capital Subdivision's rail alignment forms the border between Howard
Howard County, Maryland
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*62.2% White*17.5% Black*0.3% Native American*14.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.6% Two or more races*2.0% Other races*5.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
and Anne Arundel
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...
counties, having been built before Howard County was created from western Anne Arundel County in 1844.
MARC Train
MARC Train
MARC , known prior to 1984 as Maryland Rail Commuter Service, is a regional rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration , a Maryland Department of Transportation agency, and is operated under contract...
's Camden Line
Camden Line
The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs between Union Station, Washington, D.C. and Camden Station, Baltimore, Maryland over the CSX Capital Subdivision. Service began along this route in 1835 as part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , making it the oldest passenger rail line in...
provides passenger service over the entire length of the main line.
Alexandria Extension
The Alexandria Extension runs south 7.2 miles (11.6 km) from a junction at Hyattsville, MarylandHyattsville, Maryland
Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 17,557 at the 2000 census.- History :The city was named for its founder, Christopher Clark Hyatt. He purchased his first parcel of land in the area in March 1845...
to the Anacostia Railroad Bridge
Anacostia Railroad Bridge
The Anacostia Railroad Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., USA. The bridge is owned by CSX Transportation...
and the RF&P Subdivision in Southeast D.C. This busy route is used by freight train
Freight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
s to Virginia. It runs past Benning Yard and interchanges with the Landover Subdivision.
Main line
In 1831 the Maryland General AssemblyMaryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
authorized the B&O to build a branch from their main line within 8 miles (13 km) of Baltimore, to Washington. As this line would take much business from the parallel turnpikes
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
, 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 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
Thomas Viaduct
The Thomas Viaduct spans the Patapsco River and Patapsco Valley between Relay and Elkridge, Maryland, USA. It is the first multi-span masonry railroad bridge in the United States to be built on a curve...
, the first multi-span masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
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
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
designed by Wendel Bollman
Wendel Bollman
Wendel Bollman was an American self-taught civil engineer, best known for his iron railway bridges. Only one of his patented "Bollman truss" bridges survives, the Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge in Savage, Maryland...
and installed at Savage
Savage, Maryland
Savage is a historic town located in Howard County, Maryland, about south of Baltimore and north of Washington, D.C. It is situated close to the city of Laurel and to the planned community of Columbia.A rich vein of American industrial history lies in Savage...
.
Washington depots
The first B&O passenger station (1835–1852) was located west of the CapitolUnited States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, at 2nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In 1852 a new 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
Right-of-way (railroad)
A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted, through an easement or other mechanism, for transportation purposes, such as for a trail, driveway, rail line or highway. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way...
just south of the current location of Louisiana Avenue. When the Washington Terminal Company
Washington Terminal Company
The Washington Terminal Company was a corporation created in Washington, D.C. to provide support to railroads using Washington's Union Station. The company was established in 1901 and was jointly owned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad. The...
opened the new Union Station in 1907, that alignment was changed to the current routing, partially using the former location of Delaware Avenue.
Alexandria Extension
The Alexandria Extension, originally called the Alexandria Branch, was built in 1874 and ran 12.5 miles (20.1 km) to Shepherds Landing along the eastern shore of the Potomac RiverPotomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, to provide a connection to Virginia. The B&O had lost access to the Long Bridge across the river in 1870 due to political maneuvering by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P)(controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR)). In order to efficiently route its trains to points south of Washington, the B&O set up a car float
Car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go, and is pushed by a towboat or towed by a tugboat...
operation at Shepherds Landing, which carried freight cars across the river to Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
. The ferry operation was discontinued in 1906 when the B&O obtained trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
from PRR. The B&O built a connecting track from the Alexandria Extension to the B&P's Anacostia Railroad Bridge
Anacostia Railroad Bridge
The Anacostia Railroad Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., USA. The bridge is owned by CSX Transportation...
, which provided access to PRR tracks in southwest D.C. (now called the CSX RF&P Subdivision) and the Long Bridge.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the B&O re-activated the Shepherds Landing crossing at the request of the U.S. Army. The Army had requested an additional Potomac River crossing for troop movements to supplement those on the Long Bridge, and the Corps of Engineers built a temporary bridge across the river in 1942. Both B&O and PRR trains traveled over the 3,360 foot (1,020 m) bridge. Train operations on the bridge ceased in 1945 at the end of the war, and the bridge was demolished in 1947.
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For many years the junction at Hyattsville, called Alexandria Junction, was controlled by JD Tower. B&O built its first interlocking tower building at the site in 1894, and rebuilt the tower in 1912 and again in 1917. CSX closed this tower in 1992, and demolished it in 1994 after a fire.
The original track from the junction at Anacostia Bridge to Shepherds Landing became known as the Shepherd Branch. This spur served several industries, including Bolling Air Force Base
Bolling Air Force Base
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling is a military installation, located in Southeast Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission...
and the Blue Plains
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority provides drinking water, sewage collection and wastewater treatment in Washington, D.C., USA. DC Water also provides wholesale wastewater treatment services to several adjoining municipalities in Maryland and Virginia...
sewage treatment
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
plant. (Shown as "Shepherd Industrial Track" on the diagram.) The Blue Plains plant was the only customer on the branch when rail service ended in 2001.
Acquisition
The B&O became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio RailwayChesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
in 1963 and the Chessie System
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...
in 1973. In 1980 Chessie became part of CSX, which now owns the line.
External links
- Mileposts from CSX Transportation Timetables
- Washington Branch Milestone Pictures
- JDTower.org - Photos and stories about JD Tower