Overview | |
---|---|
Locale | Washington, D.C., to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, and Brandywine, Maryland, to Patuxent River, Maryland |
Dates of operation | 1881–July 1954 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad (WB&PL) (originally, the Southern Maryland Railroad) was an American railroad that operated in southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., from 1881 to 1954. Its single-track line connected Patuxent River in Maryland to the Pennsylvania Railroad. It operated in and out of bankruptcy and changed its name numerous times.
The Southern Maryland Railroad (SMR) was incorporated on March 20, 1868, “for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and working a railroad from some point in Prince George’s County to Point Lookout.” The planned right-of-way ran along the peninsula created by two rivers: the Potomac and Patuxent. The company's founders hoped that a rail line from the major north-south Potomac River crossings into Virginia near Washington, D.C., to a port on the Patuxent River near the Chesapeake Bay would spur agricultural and mineral businesses on the peninsula. [1]
The company quickly set its sights on running into Washington, D.C. [2]
Work began on surveying the route and raising the required money, but work on grading the rail line did not start until the spring of 1872. [3] That same year a competitor railroad, the Washington City and Point Lookout Railroad was incorporated and the following year authorized to run trains between Washington, D.C., and Point Lookout with connecting steamers to Norfolk, Virginia. It would be a thorn in the SMR's side though the only rail it would build was the Alexandria Extension. [4] By mid-1873, the SMR had built 30 miles of roadbed from Brandywine to St. Joseph's Church in Morganza and 12 miles north from Point Lookout. [5] Work was delayed by the Panic of 1873. SMR officials frequently promised to complete the work, but had laid down no rails or ties when it was forced into receivership in 1875. [6] In 1876, the SMR was investigated for defrauding the state of Maryland, the sole shareholder in the company.
In 1874, the U.S. Naval Board reported that Point Lookout, with its key location and deep water, would be a good location for a coaling station. The Navy also thought that the railroad, paired with a steamer, could cut the travel time between Washington and Norfolk by six hours. The Navy thus supported a bill that would guarantee the SMR a payment if they completed the railroad, but it never passed. [7] Nonetheless the promise of a guaranteed customer if the line could be completed drew the frequent attention of other railroaders.
In 1878, the WC&PL was authorized to purchase the SMR but never did. [8]
In March 1881, the railroad began to lay track from Brandywine where it would connect with the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (later the Pope's Creek branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad). [9] The WC&PL also broke ground on its rail line to Point Lookout in 1881 and, like the SMR, it started at a connection with the Baltimore and Potomac at Brandywine. The two started work at almost the exact same time and their two roads were no more than 100 feet apart. At this point both companies had graded separated routes from Point Lookout to California, MD; but only the SMR had graded the road from California to Brandywine and so they were laying track faster. [10] [11] However, when it came time for them to issue more bonds to continue the work, a rumor that the SMR had secured a larger loan than the WC&PL scared off the WC&PL's English investors. The WC&PL formed and alliance with the B&O, but their plans were scuttled by company President John W. Garrett. Years later, when it became clear that endeavor was hopeless, the rails and ties, which had sat in piles in Brandywine were reallocated to the building of the Chesapeake Beach Railway. [12]
Over the next couple of years the SMR graded the railroad all the way to Esperanza and laid track to Mechanicsville. Trains began running between Brandywine and Mechanicsville in 1883. [13] At that time the railroad was still planning to build a line from Benning to Brandywine, to extend the line to Point Lookout and to build a spur off the mainline to Esperanza just across from Solomon's Island. [13] [14]
In 1882, the Southern was finally granted permission to enter the District of Columbia. [15] Work began on grading that 2.2 mile rail line from Benning via Deanwood in 1884 and some track was laid by 1885. [16] [17] By 1886, the railroad had laid down ties and some rail in D.C., but it never operated trains on this section, which later came under control of the Chesapeake Beach Railway. [18]
In 1885, having spent extensive money on construction but putting into operations only the lightly used line between Brandywine and Mechanicsville, the railroad went into default and in 1886 it was forcibly sold for $75,000 to a syndicate of Boston investors, who reincorporated it as the Washington and Potomac Railroad Company. [19]
In 1891, after the former SMR tracks to Mechanicsville had been idle for more than year, the WC&PL decided that the W&P's claim to them was void and they secured title, rebuilt the line, started clearing the right-of-way to Washington and preparing to build to Point Lookout. [20] [21] They also began running trains on the old line until they were sued and forced to stop. They lost the lawsuit in 1892, were forced into receivership and the railroad was sold at public auction in 1895 for $2500. [22] The WC&PL continued as an entity, owning land in the District of Columbia as late as 1935, well into the 20th Century but it was done running trains or building rail.
The Southern Maryland Railroad was eventually sold to a new company called the Washington & Potomac Railroad (W&P) on April 1, 1886 and trains continued to run until the end of 1889 when a fire destroyed the round-house, engines and rolling stock. [23] A lawyer from New York, working with the WC&PL, received permission from the underlying land owners for building another line on the same route and began running trains on it again but was stopped by an injunction brought by the legal owners of the W&P. [24] [25] After a lengthy 1892 court case, the WC&PL lost and was placed into receivership under control of the W&P. [26]
The W&P was unable to expand the rail line in any direction due to lack of funding, fighting by opposing railroads (like the Washington and Seaboard) who wanted to build the same connection and a constant need to extend the deadline to complete the road to Point Lookout. After their attempt to get an extension on the deadline was killed by the Maryland House in March of 1900, the Union Trust Company foreclosed on the railroad, it was put in receivership and then forcibly auctioned off on the steps of courthouse in Upper Marlboro in July for $100,000. [27] [28]
After the Washington and Potomac was sold, there were many people interested in acquiring its assets and trying to connect it to Point Lookout and its strategic location and deep water, included a group headed by Edgar Allan Poe, his cousin John Prentiss Poe and John's son Johnny Poe. [29] But the group that secured the company, composed of Philadelphia capitalists called their corporation the Washington, Potomac & Chesapeake Railway. [30]
The new company was primarily interested in running the existing line but over the years the B&O and other railroads still showed interest in completing the line or a parallel one. [31]
The line had trouble fulfilling its obligations and in 1914 the state of Maryland threatened to withdraw their charter. [32]
At the end of 1917, the line again found itself in bankruptcy and was nearly scrapped due to the high price of scrap metal during World War I. In 1918, the state of Maryland attempted to have the U.S. government take over control of the railroad. [33] Farmers in the area bought the line from a salvage firm and in June 1918 the line began running again, this time under the name of the Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad, using a new gasoline engine. In November of 1921, work began on expanding the line to Hollywood and then to Esperanza (located on the Patuxent just downstream from the current Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge) with a spur off the main line south of California, where they hoped to gain access to an important freight terminal, and then later to Point Lookout. The work was made easier because much of the route had been surveyed and graded in the 1880's. [34] They had hoped to reach Hollywood by the summer of 1922, but work stalled and the extension only made it as far as Forrest Hall, where a new station opened in 1926. [35] [36] In 1928, the railroad ended passenger service because it was no longer profitable. [37]
In the 1930s, revenues were dropping due to increased competition from the automobile and the line probably would have been gone for good, except for the intervention of World War II.
In June 1942, the U.S. Navy took over the line, extended it to Millstone Landing on the Patuxent River the Patuxent River Naval Air Station's northernmost point and changed the name officially to the U.S. Naval Air Station Railroad although it was also known as the Brandywine and Cedar Point Railroad. The railroad included a wye just north of Lexington Park with a small stub into north Lexington Park. [38] The Navy operated an "accommodation" train that connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Brandywine until the PRR stopped passenger trains on the Pope's Creek Line in 1949. By 1952, the Navy had 55 miles of track, three diesel locomotives and three dozen railcars, but repairs became so costly by 1953 that the Navy decided to discontinue service and the last train ran in July 1954. [37]
From 1954 to 1966, The PRR continued to run a weekly train through St. Mary's and used the line to deliver aviation fuel to the base. However, when fuel started coming in by barge, the importance of the line dwindled. [37]
In 1962, the Pennsy built a spur off of the line from the north side of Hughesville to the new Chalk Point Generating Station to deliver coal, bringing renewed value to the northern 11.5 miles of track. [39] This track is called the Herbert Subdivision.
In 1966, the line south of Hughesville was declared government excess. [37]
When train operation ceased on the section from Hughesville to Patuxent, it was offered for sale by the GSA, but there were no takers. On June 26, 1970, the St. Mary's County Commissioners purchased 28 miles of the abandoned right-of-way from Hughesville, Maryland, to Patuxent River, Maryland. [40]
The tracks were removed in the mid-1970s.
Original line: pre-1942
In 1942, the federal government took over operations of the railroad, extended the line, and added these stops:
After 1954: Pennsylvania Railroad operation
When the Navy decided it no longer wanted to operate the line 1954, the PRR took over operations, moving freight and occasionally a USN passenger car or caboose for special movements to/from the Brandywine Junction, which became a Department of Defense Warehouse and shipping point until it was destroyed by fire. The Brandywine terminal was U.S. government property and was maintained by Public Works personnel from Patuxent River. The terminal was turned over to the Air Force just before it burned.
Overview | |
---|---|
Locale | Washington, D.C., to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, and Brandywine, Maryland, to Patuxent River, Maryland |
Dates of operation | 1881–July 1954 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad (WB&PL) (originally, the Southern Maryland Railroad) was an American railroad that operated in southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., from 1881 to 1954. Its single-track line connected Patuxent River in Maryland to the Pennsylvania Railroad. It operated in and out of bankruptcy and changed its name numerous times.
The Southern Maryland Railroad (SMR) was incorporated on March 20, 1868, “for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and working a railroad from some point in Prince George’s County to Point Lookout.” The planned right-of-way ran along the peninsula created by two rivers: the Potomac and Patuxent. The company's founders hoped that a rail line from the major north-south Potomac River crossings into Virginia near Washington, D.C., to a port on the Patuxent River near the Chesapeake Bay would spur agricultural and mineral businesses on the peninsula. [1]
The company quickly set its sights on running into Washington, D.C. [2]
Work began on surveying the route and raising the required money, but work on grading the rail line did not start until the spring of 1872. [3] That same year a competitor railroad, the Washington City and Point Lookout Railroad was incorporated and the following year authorized to run trains between Washington, D.C., and Point Lookout with connecting steamers to Norfolk, Virginia. It would be a thorn in the SMR's side though the only rail it would build was the Alexandria Extension. [4] By mid-1873, the SMR had built 30 miles of roadbed from Brandywine to St. Joseph's Church in Morganza and 12 miles north from Point Lookout. [5] Work was delayed by the Panic of 1873. SMR officials frequently promised to complete the work, but had laid down no rails or ties when it was forced into receivership in 1875. [6] In 1876, the SMR was investigated for defrauding the state of Maryland, the sole shareholder in the company.
In 1874, the U.S. Naval Board reported that Point Lookout, with its key location and deep water, would be a good location for a coaling station. The Navy also thought that the railroad, paired with a steamer, could cut the travel time between Washington and Norfolk by six hours. The Navy thus supported a bill that would guarantee the SMR a payment if they completed the railroad, but it never passed. [7] Nonetheless the promise of a guaranteed customer if the line could be completed drew the frequent attention of other railroaders.
In 1878, the WC&PL was authorized to purchase the SMR but never did. [8]
In March 1881, the railroad began to lay track from Brandywine where it would connect with the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (later the Pope's Creek branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad). [9] The WC&PL also broke ground on its rail line to Point Lookout in 1881 and, like the SMR, it started at a connection with the Baltimore and Potomac at Brandywine. The two started work at almost the exact same time and their two roads were no more than 100 feet apart. At this point both companies had graded separated routes from Point Lookout to California, MD; but only the SMR had graded the road from California to Brandywine and so they were laying track faster. [10] [11] However, when it came time for them to issue more bonds to continue the work, a rumor that the SMR had secured a larger loan than the WC&PL scared off the WC&PL's English investors. The WC&PL formed and alliance with the B&O, but their plans were scuttled by company President John W. Garrett. Years later, when it became clear that endeavor was hopeless, the rails and ties, which had sat in piles in Brandywine were reallocated to the building of the Chesapeake Beach Railway. [12]
Over the next couple of years the SMR graded the railroad all the way to Esperanza and laid track to Mechanicsville. Trains began running between Brandywine and Mechanicsville in 1883. [13] At that time the railroad was still planning to build a line from Benning to Brandywine, to extend the line to Point Lookout and to build a spur off the mainline to Esperanza just across from Solomon's Island. [13] [14]
In 1882, the Southern was finally granted permission to enter the District of Columbia. [15] Work began on grading that 2.2 mile rail line from Benning via Deanwood in 1884 and some track was laid by 1885. [16] [17] By 1886, the railroad had laid down ties and some rail in D.C., but it never operated trains on this section, which later came under control of the Chesapeake Beach Railway. [18]
In 1885, having spent extensive money on construction but putting into operations only the lightly used line between Brandywine and Mechanicsville, the railroad went into default and in 1886 it was forcibly sold for $75,000 to a syndicate of Boston investors, who reincorporated it as the Washington and Potomac Railroad Company. [19]
In 1891, after the former SMR tracks to Mechanicsville had been idle for more than year, the WC&PL decided that the W&P's claim to them was void and they secured title, rebuilt the line, started clearing the right-of-way to Washington and preparing to build to Point Lookout. [20] [21] They also began running trains on the old line until they were sued and forced to stop. They lost the lawsuit in 1892, were forced into receivership and the railroad was sold at public auction in 1895 for $2500. [22] The WC&PL continued as an entity, owning land in the District of Columbia as late as 1935, well into the 20th Century but it was done running trains or building rail.
The Southern Maryland Railroad was eventually sold to a new company called the Washington & Potomac Railroad (W&P) on April 1, 1886 and trains continued to run until the end of 1889 when a fire destroyed the round-house, engines and rolling stock. [23] A lawyer from New York, working with the WC&PL, received permission from the underlying land owners for building another line on the same route and began running trains on it again but was stopped by an injunction brought by the legal owners of the W&P. [24] [25] After a lengthy 1892 court case, the WC&PL lost and was placed into receivership under control of the W&P. [26]
The W&P was unable to expand the rail line in any direction due to lack of funding, fighting by opposing railroads (like the Washington and Seaboard) who wanted to build the same connection and a constant need to extend the deadline to complete the road to Point Lookout. After their attempt to get an extension on the deadline was killed by the Maryland House in March of 1900, the Union Trust Company foreclosed on the railroad, it was put in receivership and then forcibly auctioned off on the steps of courthouse in Upper Marlboro in July for $100,000. [27] [28]
After the Washington and Potomac was sold, there were many people interested in acquiring its assets and trying to connect it to Point Lookout and its strategic location and deep water, included a group headed by Edgar Allan Poe, his cousin John Prentiss Poe and John's son Johnny Poe. [29] But the group that secured the company, composed of Philadelphia capitalists called their corporation the Washington, Potomac & Chesapeake Railway. [30]
The new company was primarily interested in running the existing line but over the years the B&O and other railroads still showed interest in completing the line or a parallel one. [31]
The line had trouble fulfilling its obligations and in 1914 the state of Maryland threatened to withdraw their charter. [32]
At the end of 1917, the line again found itself in bankruptcy and was nearly scrapped due to the high price of scrap metal during World War I. In 1918, the state of Maryland attempted to have the U.S. government take over control of the railroad. [33] Farmers in the area bought the line from a salvage firm and in June 1918 the line began running again, this time under the name of the Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad, using a new gasoline engine. In November of 1921, work began on expanding the line to Hollywood and then to Esperanza (located on the Patuxent just downstream from the current Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge) with a spur off the main line south of California, where they hoped to gain access to an important freight terminal, and then later to Point Lookout. The work was made easier because much of the route had been surveyed and graded in the 1880's. [34] They had hoped to reach Hollywood by the summer of 1922, but work stalled and the extension only made it as far as Forrest Hall, where a new station opened in 1926. [35] [36] In 1928, the railroad ended passenger service because it was no longer profitable. [37]
In the 1930s, revenues were dropping due to increased competition from the automobile and the line probably would have been gone for good, except for the intervention of World War II.
In June 1942, the U.S. Navy took over the line, extended it to Millstone Landing on the Patuxent River the Patuxent River Naval Air Station's northernmost point and changed the name officially to the U.S. Naval Air Station Railroad although it was also known as the Brandywine and Cedar Point Railroad. The railroad included a wye just north of Lexington Park with a small stub into north Lexington Park. [38] The Navy operated an "accommodation" train that connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Brandywine until the PRR stopped passenger trains on the Pope's Creek Line in 1949. By 1952, the Navy had 55 miles of track, three diesel locomotives and three dozen railcars, but repairs became so costly by 1953 that the Navy decided to discontinue service and the last train ran in July 1954. [37]
From 1954 to 1966, The PRR continued to run a weekly train through St. Mary's and used the line to deliver aviation fuel to the base. However, when fuel started coming in by barge, the importance of the line dwindled. [37]
In 1962, the Pennsy built a spur off of the line from the north side of Hughesville to the new Chalk Point Generating Station to deliver coal, bringing renewed value to the northern 11.5 miles of track. [39] This track is called the Herbert Subdivision.
In 1966, the line south of Hughesville was declared government excess. [37]
When train operation ceased on the section from Hughesville to Patuxent, it was offered for sale by the GSA, but there were no takers. On June 26, 1970, the St. Mary's County Commissioners purchased 28 miles of the abandoned right-of-way from Hughesville, Maryland, to Patuxent River, Maryland. [40]
The tracks were removed in the mid-1970s.
Original line: pre-1942
In 1942, the federal government took over operations of the railroad, extended the line, and added these stops:
After 1954: Pennsylvania Railroad operation
When the Navy decided it no longer wanted to operate the line 1954, the PRR took over operations, moving freight and occasionally a USN passenger car or caboose for special movements to/from the Brandywine Junction, which became a Department of Defense Warehouse and shipping point until it was destroyed by fire. The Brandywine terminal was U.S. government property and was maintained by Public Works personnel from Patuxent River. The terminal was turned over to the Air Force just before it burned.