The Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

line built by the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(B&O) from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, to the Maryland-Delaware state line, where it connected with the B&O's Philadelphia Branch to reach

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

. It was built in the 1880s after the B&O lost access to its previous route to Philadelphia, the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

(PW&B). The cost of building the new route, especially the Howard Street Tunnel on the connecting

Baltimore Belt Line The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and New York City/Jersey City with the rest of the railroad at Baltimore, Marylan ...

, led to the B&O's first

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

. Today, the line is used by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

for

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

History

In 1838, the B&O began service from Baltimore to Philadelphia using the new PW&B line. Connecting trackage in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

ran from the B&O's Mount Clare terminal east along

Pratt Street Pratt Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It forms a one-way pair of streets with Lombard Street that run west–east through downtown Baltimore. For most of their route, Pratt Street is one-way in an eastbound di ...

and East Falls Avenue to the PW&B's President Street Station. From there the PW&B ran east on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

and Boston Street before leaving onto its own

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

. In 1881, the B&O attempted to gain control of the PW&B, but lost the stock battle to the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, which informed the B&O that it would lose access to the PW&B line in 1884. This forced the B&O to build a new route to Philadelphia. It acquired the

Delaware Western Railroad The Wilmington and Western Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch line between Wilmington and Hockessin. The railroad operates both steam and diesel ...

, which had a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

but no track, merged it into the Baltimore & Philadelphia in 1883, and began construction. The line was in full operation by 1886. 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. 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 Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

neighborhood, with a car ferry across the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...

to Locust Point. At the Philadelphia end, the new line crossed the PW&B and its old alignment (part of the

Philadelphia and Reading Railway The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

's branch to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

) and crossed to the east side of the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

on the new B&O Railroad Bridge, just south of the

Grays Ferry Bridge Gray's Ferry Bridge (more recently, Grays Ferry Bridge) has been the formal or informal name of several floating bridges and four permanent ones that have carried highway and rail traffic over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge tod ...

. A branch split there towards the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

, while the main line continued north along the Schuylkill, with a station downtown, and then passed through the Art Museum Tunnel to Park Junction with the

's main line; this tunnel, the last part of the line to be finished, opened on December 15, 1886. Perryville Railroad Bridge LOC 082060pu

The Reading, originally using the Junction Railroad west of the Schuylkill to access its Chester branch, obtained

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

over the Baltimore and Philadelphia, and the B&O obtained trackage rights over the Reading's lines from Philadelphia to

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. (This route via the Reading originally ran via the main line, Port Richmond Branch,

North Pennsylvania Railroad The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, ...

, North Pennsylvania Railroad Delaware River Branch, Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad and

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

, later using the shortcut of the

Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad The Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad was a railroad in southeastern Pennsylvania that is now a part of the SEPTA commuter rail system as the Fox Chase Branch. Despite the name, it only ever extended between Philadelphia and Newtown ...

and New York Short Line Railroad rather than the North Pennsylvania.) The Baltimore and New York Railway and Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway provided their own freight terminal, at St. George on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

. Though a surface alignment through downtown Baltimore was authorized by the

Maryland legislature The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the Maryland State House, State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper house, upper chambe ...

, the B&O instead obtained a charter for the Baltimore Belt Line to provide a completely grade-separated route. This new route entered the long Howard Street Tunnel at Camden Station, running north under downtown, and then turning east through two shorter tunnels to a junction with the Philadelphia Branch at

Bay View Yard A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...

. The Baltimore Belt Line was completed in 1895, and its expenses drove the B&O to

in 1896. The last

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...

s ran through the tunnel and over the Baltimore and Philadelphia in 1958; since then all traffic has been freight. The route is now operated by

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

as its

Philadelphia Subdivision The Philadelphia Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The line runs from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, southwest to Baltimore, Maryland, along a forme ...

Branches

;Delaware Branch ;Snyder Avenue Branch ;Point Breeze Branch ;Stock Yard Branch ;Oregon Avenue Extension from East Side Junction to wharves and yards along the Delaware River on the east side of Philadelphia. ;Crum Creek Branch extending both north and south of a connection to the main line at

Eddystone, Pennsylvania Eddystone is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,410 at the 2010 census. History The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans. The land was owned by Olof Persson Stille ...

along

Crum Creek Crum Creek (from the Dutch, meaning "crooked creek") is a creek in Delaware County and Chester County, Pennsylvania, flowing approximately , generally in a southward direction and draining into the Delaware River in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. ...

. Served Leiper's quarry to the north and the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades ...

to the south. ;Market Street Branch from the east end of Wilsmere yard (later, from Elsmere Junction) into

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

to a station at Market Street. Provided passenger and freight service from downtown Wilmington. ; South Side Extension or South Wilmington Branch from a junction on the Market Street Branch across the

Christina River The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near i ...

to Third Street Dock. Served industries on the south side of the river. ;Landenberg from Landenberg Junction (at the west end of Wilsmere yard) to

Landenberg, Pennsylvania Landenberg is an unincorporated community in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is, essentially, a post office address that covers parts of New Garden, London Britain and Franklin Townships. The White Clay Creek (and pres ...

. Later the

Wilmington and Western Railroad The Wilmington and Western Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch line between Wilmington and Hockessin. The railroad operates both steam and diesel lo ...

. ;Providence built from

Childs, Maryland Childs is an unincorporated community in Cecil County Maryland, United States. Etymology Childs was originally known as Spring Hill.Ask the Historical Society – Childs Station, Cecil Whig, Jan. 24, 2014, http://www.cecildaily.com/our_cecil/arti ...

to Providence, Maryland by the Lancaster, Cecil and Southern Railroad. Finished to a paper mill in Providence; a small amount of grading done to the north towards

Oxford, Pennsylvania Oxford is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Oxford is the closest town to Lincoln University. The population was 5,733 at the 2020 census. History The borough was once called Oxford Crossing and Oxford Village during the ...

. ;In Baltimore

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltimore Philadelphia Railroad Companies affiliated with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Defunct Maryland railroads Defunct Delaware railroads Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Railway companies established in 1883 Railway companies disestablished in 1989