148-596: The Queen City Hotel was constructed in 1871 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in Cumberland, Maryland to serve both as a train station and as a destination. Hosting 174 rooms, it also had such features as formal gardens with a fountain, a ballroom and 400-seat dining room. It was torn down in 1972 to make room for a new main United States Post Office and Distribution facility with
296-651: A Delaware Otsego (DO) subsidiary, for $ 1.5 million via a promissory note payable for over ten years. The NYS&W subsequently retained the Staten Island's freight operations, which served only ten customers by that time, and they had hopes of attracting more to boost profitability on the line. In 1989, the NYS&;W embargoed the trackage east of Elm Park on the North Shore Branch , ending all freight service to Saint George. Procter & Gamble ,
444-568: A car float at Saint George Yard. A smaller eastern portion, which provided seasonal passenger service to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark station (where the Staten Island Yankees played), operated from June 24, 2001, to June 18, 2010. In 2008, restoration was discussed along the mostly abandoned 6.1-mile (9.8 km) line as part of the island's light-rail plan. An environmental impact assessment
592-430: A $ 72-million project to enhance the old signal system was completed. The Signaling system was enhanced with an FRA-compliant 100 Hz, track-circuit-based automatic train control (ATC) signal system. As part of the project, forty R44 subway cars and four locomotives were modified with onboard cab signaling equipment for ATC bi-directional movement. A new rail control center and backup control center were built as part of
740-678: A bridge was destroyed (the wreckage burned for months and melted the metal coal hoppers), as well as later ironclad trains (one only disabled by an artillery shell piercing the boiler). On April 18, 1861, the day after Virginia seceded from the Union, Virginia militia seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry , which was also an important work station on the B&;O's main westward line. The following day, Confederate rioters in Baltimore attempted to prevent Pennsylvania volunteers from proceeding from
888-475: A comprehensive fashion as commercial ventures. Their investigation completed, they held an organizational meeting on February 12, 1827, including about twenty-five citizens, most of whom were Baltimore merchants or bankers. Chapter 123 of the 1826 Session Laws of Maryland , passed February 28, 1827, and the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 8, 1827, chartered the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company , with
1036-659: A decade of false starts. SIRT was transferred from the New York City Transit Authority's Surface Transit Division to its Department of Rapid Transit on July 26, 1993, and that year the Dongan Hills station became accessible, making it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 . MetroCards were accepted for fare payment at the St. George station beginning on March 31, 1994, and
1184-541: A filled-in bridge under McClean Avenue. This 4.1-mile (6.6 km) line left the Main Line at 40°37′08″N 74°04′18″W / 40.61889°N 74.07167°W / 40.61889; -74.07167 (south of the Clifton station), and was east of the Main Line. Although the right-of-way has been redeveloped, most of it is still traceable on maps; Lily Pond Avenue is built over the right of way where it passes under
1332-457: A fire destroyed the St. George Terminal; three people were killed, twenty-two were injured and damage totaled $ 22 million. The fire destroyed the ferry terminal, the four slips used for service to Manhattan and the SIRT terminal. Normal service was not restored until July 13, 1946, and a request for bids to build a temporary terminal was issued on August 21 of that year. On February 10, 1948,
1480-415: A fire in 1969, the building was inspected by the city and declared to be a hazard. The B&O made plans to demolish the hotel, and supporters of historic preservation attempted court action to save the building. These efforts were unsuccessful and the B&O began demolition of the building in 1971. The effort to preserve this ornate, Victorian-era structure was one of the classic preservation battles of
1628-853: A lawsuit against it by the Washington and Baltimore Turnpike Road. The B&O wanted links to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley , as well as the parts of western Virginia draining into the Ohio River valley and ultimately the Mississippi River , such as Wheeling (where the National Road crossed the Ohio River) and the Kanawha River valley. However, many Virginia politicians wanted the minerals, timber and produce of those areas to instead ship through Richmond and reach
SECTION 10
#17327799534561776-550: A line along the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge using B Division cars and loading gauge , but economic, political and engineering difficulties have prevented these projects from realization. In a 2006 report, the Staten Island Advance explored the restoration of passenger service on 5.1 miles (8.2 km) of the North Shore Branch between St. George and Arlington . Completion of a study
1924-470: A much smaller station for Amtrak service between the new Post Office and the railroad tracks. The hotel was built only a year after the B&O completed its rail connection to Pittsburgh . This placed Cumberland at a major junction of the route northwest to Pittsburgh and the B&O main line west of the Ohio River . The building was designed by Thomas N. Heskett of the B&O Road Department in
2072-511: A point near Parr's Ridge (now known as Mount Airy ), where the railroad would cross a height of land and descend into the valley of the Monocacy and Potomac rivers. Further extensions opened to Frederick (including the short Frederick Branch ) on December 1, 1831; Point of Rocks on April 2, 1832; and Sandy Hook on December 1, 1834. Sandy Hook, Maryland , on the north shore of the Potomac,
2220-697: A project began to extend the high-level platforms at six stations. A station-rebuilding program began in 1985, and the line's R44s were overhauled starting in 1987. The B&O became part of the larger Chessie System in a merger with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), and the island's freight operation was renamed the Staten Island Railroad Corporation in 1971. The B&O and C&O became isolated from their other properties in New Jersey and Staten Island with
2368-473: A rapid transit system, and exempt from certain regulations. The line uses modified R44 and R211S subway cars, the latter of which will replace the R44s throughout 2024 and 2025. The Staten Island Rail Road was incorporated on August 2, 1851, after Perth Amboy and Staten Island residents petitioned for a Tottenville -to- Stapleton rail line. The railroad was financed with a loan from Cornelius Vanderbilt ,
2516-530: A replacement terminal was promised by Mayor William O'Dwyer . The new $ 23 million terminal opened on June 8, 1951, with ferry, bus and rail service in one building; portions of the new terminal were phased into service earlier. Ridership decreased from 12.3 million in 1947 to 4.4 million in 1949 as passengers switched from the rail line to city-operated buses due to a bus-fare reduction. In September 1948, about half of weekday trains were cut, night trains after 1:29 a.m. were cancelled, and thirty percent of
2664-527: A steam locomotive from a New York foundry (which would reach 25 miles per hour and became the first passenger service by locomotive), while the B&O was still experimenting with horse power and sails. The B&O's first locomotive, Tom Thumb , was made in America as a demonstrator and could pull passenger and freight cars at 18 miles per hour. Developers decided to follow the Patapsco River to
2812-704: Is being worked on for the implementation of a bus rapid transit line on the North Shore Branch. The South Beach Branch opened on January 1, 1888, to Arrochar , and was extended to South Beach in 1893. The branch closed at midnight on March 31, 1953. It was abandoned and demolished, except for a few segments: a concrete embankment at Clayton Street and Saint John's Avenue, the Tompkins Avenue overpass, trestle over Robin Road in Arrochar and
2960-487: Is necessary to qualify the project for an estimated $ 360 million. A preliminary study found that ridership could reach 15,000 daily. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York requested $ 4 million of federal funding for a detailed feasibility study. In 2012, the MTA released an analysis of North Shore transportation solutions which included proposals for the reintroduction of heavy rail, light rail or bus rapid transit using
3108-679: Is no direct rail link between the SIR and the New York City Subway system, but SIR riders do receive a free transfer to New York City Transit bus and subway lines, and the line is included on official New York City Subway maps. Commuters on the railway typically use the Staten Island Ferry to reach Manhattan . The line is accessible from within the Ferry Terminal, and most of its trains are timed to connect with
SECTION 20
#17327799534563256-479: Is one of the few 24/7 mass-transit rail systems in the United States. Fares are only collected at two stations, St. George and nearby Tompkinsville . Although the railway was originally considered a standard rail line, the existing line is severed from the national rail system , and only a small portion of the former North Shore Branch still sees freight use. The passenger operations are now regulated as
3404-721: Is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority ( SIRTOA ), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , and operated by the New York City Transit Authority Department of Subways. SIR operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing local service between St. George and Tottenville , along the east side of the island. There is currently only one line on the island, and there
3552-510: Is performed at NYCT's Clifton Shops, and any work unable to be done at Clifton requires the cars to be trucked over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the subway's Coney Island Complex in Brooklyn . The right-of-way includes elevated, embankment and open-cut sections, as well as a tunnel near St. George. The Staten Island Railway uses Baltimore & Ohio Railroad-style color position light signals dating back to its B&O days. In 2007,
3700-578: Is provided by and Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX) for its co-owners, CSX , Norfolk Southern Railway . As part of the project, a portion of the North Shore Branch was rehabilitated, the Arlington Yard was expanded, and 6,500 feet (1,981 m) of new track was laid along the Travis Branch to Staten Island Transfer Station at Fresh Kills. Soon after service restarted on the line, Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially commemorated
3848-586: Is represented by United Transportation Union Local 1440. Only the Dongan Hills , St. George , Great Kills , New Dorp and Tottenville stations have been renovated to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ; these stations have elevators and/or ramps. As part of the MTA's 2020–2024 capital plan, two additional stations are planned to be renovated to become ADA-accessible, Huguenot and Clifton . The Prince's Bay , Huguenot , Annadale , Great Kills, Dongan Hills, and Arthur Kill stations have park-and-ride facilities. The newest station on
3996-518: The Tom Thumb in 1829. It built the first passenger and freight station (Mount Clare in 1829) and was the first railroad to earn passenger revenues in December 1829, and publish a timetable on May 23, 1830. On Christmas Eve 1852, the B&O line was completed between Baltimore and the Ohio River near Moundsville, West Virginia . Partial government ownership caused some operational problems. Of
4144-749: The BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, the SIRT electrified its lines with third rail power distribution and cars similar to those of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The first electric train was operated on the South Beach Branch between South Beach and Fort Wadsworth on May 30, 1925, and the other branches were electrified by November of that year. Electrification did not greatly increase traffic, and
4292-701: The Baltimore and New York Railway — 5.25-mile (8.45 km) line from Arthur Kill to the Jersey Central at Cranford, and was finished later in the year. On January 1, 1890, the first train operated from St. George Terminal to Cranford Junction . When the Arthur Kill Bridge was completed, the United States War Department was unsuccessfully pressured by the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania Railroads to have
4440-680: The Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad in Delaware and Pennsylvania and built a parallel route, finished in 1886. The 10th president, Charles F. Mayer , spearheaded the development of the Baltimore Belt Line , which opened in 1895, and recruited engineer Samuel Rea to design it. This belt line connected the main line to the Philadelphia Branch without the need for a car ferry across the Patapsco River, but
4588-499: The CSX Transportation (CSX) network in 1980. The B&O is noted for its pioneering innovations in railroading. It was the first U.S. railroad to operate a steam locomotive , it built historic infrastructure , and it operated prestigious passenger trains. It gained additional fame by lending its name as one of the four railroads in the original version of the popular board game Monopoly . The railroad did not reach
Queen City Hotel - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-637: The Italianate style, and the construction cost was over $ 350,000. The hotel served as a summer resort, although the railroad did not actively promote it as a tourist destination. Located in a valley surrounded by mountains, it provided an escape from the summer heat. The year the hotel was finished, the B&O expanded its resort business by constructing the Deer Park Hotel in Garrett County, Maryland . (The latter hotel closed in 1929 and
4884-474: The Long Bridge caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a bridge along the original plan of the B&O: Alexandria to Shepherd's Landing, Washington. Trains of empty freight cars were routed north and south over the structure, which was demolished after the end of World War II . Before either connection was made, however, another branch was built around the west side of Washington. During
5032-528: The Ohio River until 1852, 24 years after the project started. Yet the Ohio River was from the beginning the destination the railroad was seeking to link with Baltimore, at the time a transportation center. By crossing the Appalachian Mountains , a technical challenge, it would link the new and booming territories of what at the time was the West, particularly Ohio , Indiana , and Kentucky , with
5180-498: The Vanderbilt's Landing -to- Tompkinsville portion of the North Shore Branch began on March 17, 1884, and the line opened for passenger service on August 1 of that year. The lighthouse just above Tompkinsville impeded the line's extension to St. George but, after the SIRT lobbied for an act of Congress , construction of a two-track, 580-foot (180 m) tunnel under the lighthouse began in 1885 for about $ 190,000. The SIR
5328-558: The transfer station began in April 2007. The Mount Loretto Spur is an abandoned branch whose purpose was to serve the Mount Loretto Children's Home . The spur diverged from the Main Line south of Pleasant Plains . The B&O Railroad served the non-electrified branch, which had some industry and a passenger station, until 1950. Although its track was removed during the 1960s and 1970s, some ties were visible until
5476-657: The "branches" became the de facto mainline, though the Old Main Line was retained as a relief route. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) outmaneuvered the B&O to acquire the B&O's northern connection, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad , in the early 1880s, cutting off the B&O's access to Philadelphia and New York . The state of Maryland had stayed true to its implicit promise not to grant competing charters for
5624-467: The 1850s after the completion of the C&;O Canal, which brought additional competition to the B&O. In 1853, after being nominated by large shareholder and director Johns Hopkins , John W. Garrett became president of the B&O, a position he would hold until his death in 1884. In the first year of his presidency, corporate operating costs were reduced from 65 percent of revenues to 46 percent, and
5772-691: The 1880s the B&O had organised a group of bankrupt railroads in Virginia into the Virginia Midland Railroad . The VM track ran from Alexandria to Danville, Virginia . The line projected west across the Potomac River was intended to cross the Potomac just north of the D.C. line, to continue southwest to a connection with the B&O-controlled Virginia Midland (VM) in Fairfax (now Fairfax Station , to distinguish it from what
5920-525: The 1960s, but runs more or less at street level for a brief stretch north of Clifton, between the Grasmere and Old Town stations, and from south of the Pleasant Plains station to Tottenville—the end of the line. The terminus at St. George provides a direct connection with the Staten Island Ferry . St. George has twelve tracks, ten of which are in service. Tottenville has a three-track yard to
6068-675: The 1980s. A coal trestle is all that remains of the branch. South of the Richmond Valley station , a non-electrified spur, branched off the Tottenville -bound track. The spur, built in 1928, was called the West Shore Line by the B&O Railroad and delivered building materials to the Outerbridge Crossing construction site near Arthur Kill. Years later, the track was used to serve a scrapyard owned by
Queen City Hotel - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-675: The Atlantic through Norfolk , although the James River Canal required substantial maintenance and was never completed through the Appalachians to the Ohio River watershed. Thus, while the B&O reached Wheeling in 1853, political compromises meant the B&O would only reach Grafton to connect to Parkersburg on the Ohio River through a connection with the Northwestern Virginia Railroad which
6364-471: The B&O began constructing the Metropolitan Branch west out of Washington, which was completed in 1873 after years of erratic effort. Before this line was laid, rail traffic west of Washington had to travel first to Relay or Baltimore before joining the main line. The line cut a more or less straight line from Washington to Point of Rocks, Maryland , with many grades and large bridges. Upon
6512-535: The B&O in 1900, after which the B&O became profitable again. On October 25, 1905, New York City took ownership of the ferry and terminals and evicted the B&O from the Whitehall Street terminal. The St. George Terminal was then built by the city for $ 2,318,720, equivalent to $ 78,630,372 in 2023. In anticipation of a tunnel under the Narrows to Brooklyn and a connection there with
6660-601: The B&O railroad during this period were: The second half of the Civil War was characterized by near-continuous raiding, which severely hampered the Union defense of Washington, D.C. Union forces and leaders often failed to properly secure the region, despite the B&O's vital importance to the Union cause. There is no interest suffering here except the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and I will not divide my forces to protect it. This military strategy, or lack thereof, allowed Confederate commanders to contribute significantly to
6808-552: The B&O reached Sandy Hook, Maryland , in 1834; Cumberland in 1842; the Ohio River at Moundsville, Virginia , in 1852; Wheeling, Virginia , in 1853; and in 1857, Parkersburg, Virginia , below rapids that made navigation difficult during parts of the year. The railroad, whose owners were Union sympathizers, proved crucial to the North's success during the American Civil War , which caused considerable damage to
6956-783: The B&O shutdown, only partially alleviated by the summer 1861 Union army victories at the Battle of Philippi (West Virginia) and Rich Mountain , and vigorous army and company work crews which reduced the main-line gap to 25 miles between Harpers Ferry and Back Creek. Finally at year end, Samuel M. Felton , the PW&B President, wrote newspapers about the War Department's discrimination against his cooperating railroad line, which competed with Cameron's favored North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads. President Lincoln (familiar with railroad law since his days as an Illinois lawyer) in January 1862 replaced Cameron with Pennsylvania lawyer Edwin M. Stanton , who had been serving as Cameron's legal advisor. Furthermore, on January 31, 1862, Congress passed
7104-402: The B&O to pass no federal troops destined for any place in Virginia over the railroad, and threatening to confiscate the lines. Charles Town 's mayor also wrote, threatening to cut the B&O's main line by destroying the long bridge over the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, and Garrett also received anonymous threats. Thus he and others asked Secretary of War Cameron to protect the B&O as
7252-491: The B&O to skirt around a corner of the state, even though the Pennsylvania Railroad didn't even operate in that area of Pennsylvania. The railroad grew from a capital base of $ 3 million in 1827 (equivalent to $ 81 million in 2023) to a large enterprise generating $ 2.7 million of annual profit on its 380 miles (610 km) of track in 1854, with 19 million passenger miles. The railroad fed tens of millions of dollars of shipments to and from Baltimore and its growing hinterland to
7400-575: The B&O water station and machine shops also destroyed and 102 miles (164 km) miles of telegraph wire removed by the time federal control was restored in March 1862). By the end of 1861, 23 B&O railroad bridges had been burned and 36.5 miles (58.7 km) of track were torn up or destroyed. Since Jackson cut the B&O main line into Washington for more than six months, the North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads profited from overflow traffic, even as many B&O trains stood idle in Baltimore. Garrett tried to use his government contacts to secure
7548-412: The B&O's monopolies on the Washington Branch (between Relay and Washington DC) and westward through Cumberland, Maryland. Raids and battles during the war also cost the B&O substantial losses, many never indemnified. Master of Transportation Prescott Smith kept a diary during the war years, describing incidents such as the June 1861 derailment of a 50 car coal train, which plunged into a ravine after
SECTION 50
#17327799534567696-486: The B&O's monumental bridges have survived to this day, and many are still in active railroad use by CSX. Baltimore's Carrollton Viaduct , named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton , was the B&O's first bridge, and is the oldest railway bridge in the Americas still carrying trains (and the third oldest in the world, after the Skerne Bridge , Darlington, UK, of 1824–1825, and the Bassaleg Viaduct , Newport, UK, of 1826). The Thomas Viaduct at Relay, Maryland ,
7844-405: The B&O's right-of-way. The B&O approved the project with the agreement that the railroad would have free use of the line upon its completion. An impressive demonstration occurred on May 1, 1844, when news of the Whig Party 's nomination of Henry Clay for U.S. president was telegraphed from the party's convention in Baltimore to the Capitol Building in Washington. On May 24, 1844, the line
7992-481: The Baltimore/Washington line, but when a charter was granted in 1860 to build a line from Baltimore to Pope's Creek in southern Maryland, lawyers for the Pennsylvania RR picked up on a clause in the unfulfilled charter allowing branches up to 20 miles (32 km) long, from any point and in any direction. The projected route, passing through what is now Bowie, Maryland , could have a "branch" constructed that would allow service into Washington. The Pennsylvania picked up
8140-503: The Civil War, being the main rail connection between Washington, D.C., and the northern states, especially west of the Appalachian mountains. However, its initial problem became Lincoln's first Secretary of War, Simon Cameron , a major stockholder in the rival North Central Railroad, which received long haul freight destined for Baltimore from the rival Pennsylvania Railroad . Furthermore, the Pennsylvania Railroad and other investors sought permission to construct rail lines which threatened
8288-464: The Declaration of Independence) performed the groundbreaking by laying the cornerstone. The initial tracks were built with granite stringers topped by strap iron rails . The first section, from Baltimore west to Ellicott's Mills (now known as Ellicott City ), opened on May 24, 1830. A horse pulled the first cars 26 miles and back, since the B&O did not decide to use steam power for several years. Railroad men in South Carolina had earlier commissioned
8436-458: The New York metropolitan area, two rail tunnels from Brooklyn (one to Staten Island and the other to Greenville, New Jersey ) were planned. On December 15, 2004, a $ 72 million project to reactivate freight service on Staten Island and repair the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge was announced by the NYCEDC and the PANYNJ. Projects on the Arthur Kill Bridge included repainting the steel superstructure and rehabilitating its lift mechanism. In 2006,
8584-442: The North Central Railway's Bolton station to the B&O's Mount Clare station, and Maryland's governor Hicks and Baltimore Mayor George W. Brown ordered 3 North Central and 2 Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) bridges destroyed to prevent further federal troop movements through (and riots in) the city. Soon B&O president John Work Garrett received letters from Virginia's Governor John Letcher telling
8732-411: The North Shore Branch and the South Beach Branch at midnight on March 31, 1953, due to competition from city-operated buses; the South Beach Branch was abandoned shortly afterwards, and the North Shore Branch continued to carry freight. On September 7, 1954, SIRT applied to discontinue passenger service on the Tottenville Branch on October 7 of that year; a large city subsidy allowed passenger service on
8880-419: The North Shore line's right-of-way. Other options included system management , which would improve existing bus service, and the possibility of future ferry and water taxi service. Bus rapid transit was preferred for its cost ($ 352 million in capital investment) and relative ease of implementation. In January 2018, the project had yet to receive funding. As part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program, $ 4 million
9028-401: The Pennsylvania Railroad, by the time the line was completed in 1910 there was no longer any point to the river crossing. Thus, the renamed Georgetown Branch came to serve a wide range of customers in Maryland and in Georgetown , such as the Potomac Electric Power Company , the Washington Milling Company , and the U.S. government. The line cut directly across various creeks, and includes what
SECTION 60
#17327799534569176-655: The Railways and Telegraph Act of January 31, 1862, creating the United States Military Railroad and allowing it to seize and operate any railroad or telegraph company's equipment, although Stanton and USMRR Superintendent Daniel McCallum would take a "team of rivals" approach to railroad management and allow civilian operations to continue. In February 1862, Union forces recaptured Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry, and work crews continued replacing wrecked bridges and equipment, although bushwhacker raids continued. Even then train movements were sporadic and subject to frequent stoppages, derailments, capture and attack. Prominent raids on
9324-402: The Rosebank neighborhood, which would bridge the longest gap between two stations ( Grasmere and Clifton ). The area was once home to the Rosebank station on the railway's now-defunct South Beach Branch, which was located east of the proposed station site. Several proposals have been made to connect the SIR to the subway system, including the abandoned, unfinished Staten Island Tunnel and
9472-573: The SIRT's accumulated debt, and the line was briefly profitable in the 1940s. All East Coast military-hospital trains were handled by the SIRT during the war, and some trains stopped at Staten Island's Arlington station to transfer wounded soldiers to a large military hospital. The need to transport war materiel , POW trains and troops made the stretch of the Baltimore & New York Railway between Cranford Junction and Arthur Kill extremely busy. The B&O also operated special trains for important officials, such as Winston Churchill . On June 25, 1946,
9620-419: The Secretary of War to retake Harpers Ferry and capture the insurgent abolitionists, which they quickly did. Garrett reported with evident relief the next day that aside from the cut telegraph line, which was quickly repaired, there had been no damage to any B&O track, equipment, or facilities. The government of Maryland published in a book the many telegrams sent by B&O employees and management during
9768-474: The Staten Island Expressway. The Robin Road trestle is the only remaining intact trestle along the former line. Developers purchased the land on either side of its abutments during the early 2000s, and the developers, the New York City Department of Transportation , and the New York City Transit Authority all claimed ownership. Townhouses have been built on both sides of the trestle. The Travis Branch , from Arlington Yard to Fresh Kills , runs along
9916-480: The Staten Island Railway, Arthur Kill , opened on January 21, 2017, and is ADA-compliant. The station is between (and has replaced) the now-demolished Atlantic and Nassau stations, which were in the poorest condition of all the stations on the line. On June 1, 2005, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Police Department was disbanded and its 25 railroad police officers became part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department . The MTA Police Department
10064-413: The area. As preparations for the battle progressed, the B&O provided transport for federal troops and munitions, and on two occasions Garrett was contacted directly by President Abraham Lincoln for further information. Though Union forces lost this battle, the delay allowed Ulysses S. Grant to successfully repel the Confederate attack on Washington at the Battle of Fort Stevens two days later. After
10212-435: The battle, Lincoln paid tribute to Garrett as: The right arm of the Federal Government in the aid he rendered the authorities in preventing the Confederates from seizing Washington and securing its retention as the Capital of the Loyal States. The Confederate leaders who led these operations and specifically targeted the railroad included: Bases of operation involved in raiding the B&O Railroad: A steel and stone bridge
10360-487: The beginning of the federally-financed National Road , provided a road link for animal-powered transport between Cumberland, Maryland , on the Potomac River and Wheeling, Virginia , in present-day West Virginia , on the Ohio River, when completed in 1837. It was the second paved road in the country. However, the 1831 DeWitt Clinton locomotive , running between Albany and Schenectady, New York , demonstrated speeds of 25 miles (40 km) per hour, dramatically decreasing
10508-431: The best means of restoring "that portion of the Western trade which has recently been diverted from it by the introduction of steam navigation." Their answer was to build a railroad: one of the first commercial lines in the world. Their plans worked well, despite many political problems from canal backers and other railroads. For example, only the Pennsylvania Railroad was allowed to build in its namesake state, requiring
10656-569: The branch to continue. In 1956, work began on the replacement of the Arthur Kill swing bridge by a single-track, 558-foot (170 m) vertical-lift bridge , which opened in August 1959. The prefabricated, 2,000-ton bridge was floated into place. The new bridge could rise 135 feet (41 m) and, since it aided navigation on Arthur Kill, the federal government assumed 90% of the project's $ 11 million cost. Freight trains started crossing
10804-669: The bridge at Sandy Hook, Maryland (end of the line before the bridge was built), and troops continued across the bridge on foot. Soon Garrett's Master of Transportation William Prescott Smith left Baltimore City, together with Maryland Gen. Charles G. Egerton Jr. and the Second Light Brigade , which train also picked up the Marines on the federal troop train at the junction in Relay, Maryland . All awaited Lt.Col. Robert E. Lee and Lt. J.E.B. Stuart , who had received orders from
10952-596: The bridge when it opened on August 25, 1959. The Travis Branch was extended in 1958 to a new Consolidated Edison power plant in Travis (on the West Shore), allowing coal trains from West Virginia to serve the plant. Operation of the Tottenville line was turned over to the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (a division of the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority ) on July 1, 1971, and
11100-424: The card enables free transfers for a continuous ride on the subway and bus systems, for many riders there is effectively no fare for riding the SIR, as long as they do not need to make a second transfer. Riders can also transfer between a Staten Island bus, the SIR and a Manhattan bus (or subway) near South Ferry . Because of this, the SIR's 2001 farebox recovery ratio was 0.16; for every dollar of expense, 16 cents
11248-594: The charter through the agency of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and in 1872 service between Baltimore and Washington began. ( See Pope's Creek Subdivision .) At the same time, the PRR outmaneuvered the B&O and took control of the Long Bridge across the Potomac River into Virginia, the B&O's connection to southern lines. In response, the B&O chartered the Philadelphia Branch in Maryland and
11396-715: The charter, it was understood that the state of Maryland would not charter any competing line between Baltimore and Washington, and no such charters were approved until well after the American Civil War, when the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired a railroad on the Delmarva Peninsula, which had the power to build short branch lines, so it was able to connect to Washington through Bowie, Maryland . The B&O also wanted access to Pittsburgh and coal fields in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Although
11544-492: The company's employees were laid off . After backlash, service was slightly increased. On September 22, the Interstate Commerce Commission allowed the SIRT to abandon the ferry it had operated for 88 years between Tottenville and Perth Amboy, New Jersey , and the ferry operation was transferred to Sunrise Ferries of Elizabeth, New Jersey on October 16. SIRT discontinued passenger service on
11692-610: The confluence of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers) and ultimately Huntington (which was named after a major B&O investor) on the Ohio River more than a decade after the American Civil War and the creation of the state of West Virginia . Meanwhile, the State of Maryland granted the B&O a charter to build a line from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. , in 1831, and the Washington Branch was opened in 1835. This line joined to
11840-706: The construction of Washington Union Station saw the south end of the branch realigned to link to the PRR trackage in Anacostia, across the Anacostia Railroad Bridge , into the Virginia Avenue Tunnel , through Southwest Washington, D.C. , to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia . ( See RF&P Subdivision .) The Alexandria Branch trackage to Shepherd's Landing was heavily used during World War II when traffic congestion on
11988-574: The cost of constructing the Howard Street Tunnel drove the B&O to bankruptcy in 1896. Two other lines were built in attempts to reconnect to the south. The Alexandria Branch (now called the Alexandria Extension ) was built in 1874, starting from Hyattsville, Maryland , and ending at a ferry operation at Shepherd's Landing. The ferry operation continued until 1901 when the trackage rights agreement concluded as part of
12136-524: The cost of transportation and announcing the coming end of the canal and turnpike (road) systems, many of which were never completed since they were or would soon be obsolete. In New York, political support for the Erie Canal detracted from the prospect of building a railroad to replace it, whose full length did not open until 1844. Mountains in Pennsylvania made construction in the western part of
12284-560: The creation of Conrail on April 1, 1976, in a merger of bankrupt lines in the northeastern U.S. Their freight service now terminated in Philadelphia , but for several years afterward B&O locomotives and one B&O freight train a day ran to Cranford Junction . In 1973, the Jersey Central's car float yard was closed; however, the B&O's car-float operation was later brought back to Staten Island at Saint George Yard, after having ended in September 1976. This car-float operation
12432-495: The directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad wanted a monopoly in their state, delays in laying track to Pittsburgh led the Pennsylvania legislature in 1846 to require construction to be completed within 10 years, else competition would be allowed. The Pennsylvania Railroad finished its trans-Allegheny track with two years to spare, thus the B&O would only be able to extend its tracks up the Youghiogheny River valley to
12580-509: The early 1970s. It was one of the last remaining railroad hotels in the U.S. The battle was lost when the building was demolished. The hotel site is now occupied by the Cumberland Post Office. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ( reporting mark BO ) was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States . It operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it
12728-541: The east coast rail and boat network, from Maryland northward. There was no rail link between Maryland and Virginia until the B&O opened the Harpers Ferry bridge in 1839. Starting in 1825, the Erie Canal provided an animal-powered water facility, connecting New York City with Ohio via Lake Erie . It took ten days to travel downstream from Buffalo, New York , to New York City. The Cumberland Road , later
12876-656: The east of the station, which itself has two tracks and an island platform. Rolling stock consists of modified R44 subway-type cars built in early 1973, added to the end of the R44 order of subway cars for New York City Transit; they were the last cars built by the St. Louis Car Company . They are being replaced by seventy-five R211S subway cars, which entered service on October 8, 2024. The line also has four BL20G locomotives manufactured by Brookville , which were delivered in 2009 and are used for work service. Heavy maintenance
13024-454: The end of the line. The final section linked Piedmont on July 21, 1851, and Fairmont on June 22, 1852. It first reached the Ohio River at Moundsville later in 1852, and port facilities were built there. The B&O reached Wheeling, West Virginia (then part of Virginia) on January 1, 1853. That would remain the terminus through the American Civil War (apart from conflict-related outages principally between Cumberland and Martinsburg during
13172-777: The federal government. In May, CSA Colonel Jackson's operations against the B&O Railroad (1861) began. Stonewall Jackson initially permitted B&O trains to operate during limited hours over the approximately 100 miles from Point of Rocks to Cumberland. On June 20, 1861, Jackson's Confederates seized Martinsburg , a major B&O work center, having blown up the Harpers Ferry railroad bridge on June 14. Confederates confiscated dozens of locomotives and train cars and ripped up double track in order to ship rails for Confederate use in Virginia (14 locomotives and 83 rail cars were dismantled and sent south, and another 42 locomotives and 386 rail cars damaged or destroyed at Martinsburg, with
13320-405: The ferry. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 6,151,400, or about 16,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. The line has a route bullet similar to subway routes: the letters SIR in a blue circle. It is used on timetables, the MTA website, some signage, and on R211S trains, but not on R44 trains. Like the New York City Subway, the line runs 24 hours a day every day of the year, and
13468-651: The freight line connection reopened from New Jersey to the Staten Island Railroad, including the Arthur Kill Bridge. Regular service began on April 2, 2007 (16 years after it had closed) to ship container freight from the Howland Hook Marine Terminal and other industrial businesses. The service at the marine terminal is part of the PANYNJ's ExpressRail system completed with of the single-track Chemical Coast connector. Service
13616-542: The island's West Shore . The branch was built in 1928 to serve Gulf Oil along the Arthur Kill , south from Arlington Yard into the marshes to Gulfport. It was extended to Travis to serve the new Consolidated Edison power plant in 1957. In 2005, the branch was renovated and extended from the old Con Edison plant to the Staten Island Transfer Station at Fresh Kills; regular service to
13764-507: The island's most prominent residents, organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company (SIRT) on March 25, 1880, and partnered with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) to build a large rail terminal on the island and centralize the six-to-eight ferry landings. He secured an extension on a land-purchase option from George Law by offering to name it " St. George " after him. Construction of
13912-516: The length of the war, by conducting free-ranging military operations against the region and railroad. Before the Battle of Monocacy , B&O agents began reporting Confederate troop movements eleven days prior to the battle, and Garrett had their intelligence passed to authorities in the War Department and to Major General Lew Wallace , who commanded the department responsible for defense of
14060-470: The line was purchased by the city of New York. As part of the agreement, freight on the line would continue to be handled by the B&O under the Staten Island Railroad. The first six R44 cars (the same as the newest cars then in use on the subway lines in the other boroughs) were put into SIRT service on February 28, 1973, replacing the ME-1 cars which had been in service since 1925. Between 1971 and 1973,
14208-577: The line's primary customer, closed in 1990, resulting in a further decline in freight traffic. On July 25, 1991, the Arthur Kill Bridge was removed from service, and the line's final freight train operated on April 21, 1992. The North Shore Branch and the Arthur Kill Bridge were then taken over by Chessie's successor, CSX Transportation (CSX). The line and bridge were sold again in 1994 to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), followed by
14356-443: The line. Three afternoon express trains were added to the schedule on April 7, 1999, nearly doubling the previous express service. The express trains skipped stops between St. George and Great Kills. A several-hundred-foot section of the easternmost portion of the North Shore Branch was reopened for passenger service to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark , home of the Staten Island Yankees minor-league baseball team, on June 24, 2001;
14504-527: The marshes of the island's western shore to Gulfport in the early 1930s. The Port Richmond–Tower Hill viaduct, the nation's largest grade-crossing-elimination project, was completed on February 25, 1937. The viaduct, more than a mile long, spanned eight grade crossings on the SIRT's North Shore Branch and was the final part of a $ 6 million grade-crossing-elimination project on the island which eliminated thirty-four crossings on its north and south shores. Freight and World War II traffic helped pay some of
14652-567: The national capitol's main westward link. Cameron instead warned Garrett that passage of any rebel troops over his line would be treason. The Secretary of War agreed to station troops to protect the North Central, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and even the PW&;B, but flatly refused to help the B&O, his main competition. The B&O had to repair damaged line at its own expense, and often received late or no payment for services rendered to
14800-497: The needed protection, from Maryland Delegate Reverdy Johnson to General George McClellan and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase . As winter began, coal prices soared in Washington, even though the B&O in September arranged for free coal transport from its Cumberland, Maryland, terminal down the C&O Canal (which reduced prices somewhat, although Confederates also damaged the C&O canal that winter). Furthermore, western farmers could not get their produce to markets because of
14948-407: The newly built bridge replaced with a bridge with a different design; according to the railroads, it was an obstruction to navigation of the large numbers of coal barges past Holland Hook on Arthur Kill. In 1897, the terminal at Saint George (which served the railroad and the ferry to Manhattan) was completed. Improvements were made to the SIRT after the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) took control of
15096-688: The only two Staten Island Railway stations with turnstiles, received OMNY readers in December 2019. During the early 2000s, plans to reopen the Staten Island Rapid Transit line in New Jersey were announced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). Since the Central Railroad of New Jersey became a New Jersey Transit line, a new junction would be built to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad . So all New England and southern freight could pass through
15244-474: The opening of this line, through passenger traffic was rerouted through Washington, and the Old Main Line from Point of Rocks to Relay was reduced to secondary status as far as passenger service was concerned. The Washington to Gaithersburg section of the Met Branch was double-tracked during 1886–1893. Rebuilding in the early 20th century and complete double-tracking of the branch by 1928 increased capacity;
15392-558: The original line (from Clifton to Tottenville) was called the Staten Island Railway. In 1886, Congress passed a law authorizing the construction of a 500-foot (150 m) swing bridge over Arthur Kill , after three years of effort by Wiman. The bridge was completed three days early, on June 13, 1888, at 3 p.m. The Arthur Kill Bridge was the world's largest drawbridge when it opened, and there were no fatalities in its construction. In 1889, construction began on
15540-484: The original mainline at Relay, Maryland , crossing the Patapsco River on the Thomas Viaduct (which remains one of the B&O's signature structures). This line was partially funded by the state of Maryland, and was operated separately until the 1870s, with Maryland receiving a 25 percent cut of gross passenger receipts. The B&O's charter also forbade further taxation of the railroad, and that no-tax provision
15688-687: The past, passengers had avoided paying the fare by exiting at Tompkinsville and walking a short distance to the St. George Ferry Terminal. As a result, the MTA installed turnstiles at Tompkinsville and a new station building, which opened on January 20, 2010. On October 23, 2017, it was announced that the MetroCard would be phased out and replaced by OMNY , a contactless fare payment system also by Cubic, with fare payment being made using Apple Pay , Google Pay , debit/credit cards with near-field communication technology, or radio-frequency identification cards. The St. George and Tompkinsville stations,
15836-466: The project. The line uses NYC Transit-standard 600 V DC third-rail power. Trains run up to 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) in passenger service, although trains are limited to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) on tail tracks, sidings and in yards. Demetrius Crichlow has been the railway's president and chief officer since his appointment in October 2024. The workforce, about 200 hourly employees ,
15984-642: The raid. At the outset of the Civil War , the B&O possessed 236 locomotives, 128 passenger coaches, 3,451 rail cars and 513 miles (826 km) of rail road, all in states south of the Mason–Dixon line , as Garrett had noted before the war began. Although many Marylanders had Southern sympathies , Garrett and Hopkins supported the Union . The B&O became crucial to the Federal government during
16132-632: The railroad and ferry were in receivership . On September 17, 1872, the company was sold to George Law in foreclosure . The following April 1, the Staten Island Rail Road was transferred to the Staten Island Railway Company. By 1880 the railway was barely operational, and New York State sued (through Attorney General Hamilton Ward ) to dissolve the company in May of that year. Erastus Wiman , one of
16280-402: The railroad began distributing profits to its shareholders. The B&O played a major role, and got national attention, in the response to abolitionist John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry , Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), in October 1859. Black porter Hayward Shepherd , to whom there is a monument in Harpers Ferry , was the first man killed; stationmaster Fontaine Beckham, who was also
16428-628: The reactivation on April 17, 2007. As of 2019, the New York City Department of Sanitation's contractor was moving containers of municipal solid waste by barge from Queens and Manhattan to the Howland Hook Marine Terminal for transfer to rail there. Along the remainder of the North Shore Branch, there are still tracks and rail overpasses in some places. Elected officials on Staten Island, including State Senator Diane Savino , have demanded
16576-665: The replacement of the railway's aging R44 cars. Although the Metropolitan Transportation Authority initially planned to order R179s for the Staten Island Railway, it was later decided to overhaul R46s to replace the R44s. However, the R46 overhaul plan was also dropped, and 75 R211S cars will replace the R44s. In the meantime, the R44s are receiving intermittent rounds of scheduled maintenance to extend their usefulness until at least 2025. There has been discussion of building an in-fill station in
16724-632: The report was not a hoax, Garrett telegraphed President James Buchanan , the Secretary of War , the Governor of Virginia , and Maryland Militia General George Hume Steuart about the insurrection in progress. The B&O made its rolling stock available to the military. At 3:20 pm a train left Washington Depot with 87 U.S. Marines and two howitzers, and a 3:45 p.m. train from nearer Frederick, Maryland , carried three Maryland militia companies under Col. Edward Shriver. These trains stopped before
16872-612: The same year, workers began the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia . Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight trains, to roll until the third wage cut was revoked. West Virginia Governor Henry M. Mathews sent in state militia units to restore train service but the soldiers refused to fire on the strikers. The strike spread to Cumberland , and when Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll attempted to put down
17020-512: The service was discontinued on June 18, 2010. A new station building at Tompkinsville opened on January 20, 2010, with turnstiles installed to prevent passengers from exiting (free of charge) at Tompkinsville and walking the short distance to the St. George ferry terminal. Although the Staten Island Railway originally consisted of three lines, only the north-south Main Line is in passenger service. It has been grade-separated from all roads since
17168-429: The soft coal fields in 1871. When construction began on the B&O in the 1820s, railroad engineering was in its infancy. Unsure exactly which materials would suffice, the B&O erred on the side of sturdiness and built many of its early structures of granite. Even the track bed to which iron strap rail was affixed consisted of the stone. Though the granite soon proved too unforgiving and expensive for track, most of
17316-533: The sole Staten Island-to-Manhattan ferry operator on the East Shore , his first involvement in a railroad. The line was completed to Tottenville on June 2, 1860. Under the leadership of Vanderbilt's brother, Jacob H. Vanderbilt, the Staten Island Rail Road took over several independent ferries. The Staten Island Railway and ferry line made a modest profit until the explosion of the ferry Westfield at Whitehall Street Terminal on July 30, 1871. By July 1872,
17464-489: The state expensive and technically challenging, and the Pennsylvania Railroad , linking Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, did not open its full length until 1852, and there was no rail link west from Pittsburgh to Ohio for several more years. The fast-growing port city of Baltimore, Maryland , faced economic stagnation unless it opened a route to the Western states. On February 27, 1827, twenty-five merchants and bankers studied
17612-496: The station became the 50th MTA rapid transit station to accept them. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) restored the line's original name on April 2 of that year as the MTA Staten Island Railway (SIR). On July 4, 1997, the MTA eliminated fares for travel between Tompkinsville and Tottenville as part of the year's "One City, One Fare" fare reductions. United Transportation Union Local 1440,
17760-502: The station. The remainder of the North Shore Branch, to its terminus at Erastina , was opened in the summer of 1886. On January 1, 1888, the South Beach Branch opened for passenger service to Arrochar . In 1893, the South Beach Branch was extended from Arrochar to a new terminal at South Beach . The new lines opened by the B&O were known as the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway, and
17908-488: The strike by sending the state militia from Baltimore, riots broke out resulting in 11 deaths, the burning of parts of Camden station, and damage to several engines and cars. The next day workers in Pittsburgh staged a sympathy strike that was also met with an assault by the state militia; Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. The strike ended after federal troops and state militias restored order. In 1866
18056-559: The system. After the Civil War, the B&O consolidated several feeder lines in Virginia and West Virginia, and expanded westward into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. At the end of 1970, the B&O operated 5,552 miles of road and 10,449 miles of track, not including the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) or the Reading Railroad and its subsidiaries. After a series of mergers, the B&O became part of
18204-476: The task of building a railroad from the port of Baltimore west to a suitable point on the Ohio River. The railroad, formally incorporated April 24, was intended to provide a faster route for Midwestern goods to reach the East Coast than to the hugely successful but slow Erie Canal across upstate New York . Thomas was elected as the first president and Brown the treasurer. The capital of the proposed company
18352-524: The thirty members on its board of directors , twelve were elected by shareholders, while eighteen were appointed either by Maryland or the Baltimore City Council . Many had conflicting interests: the directors appointed by the state and city desired low fares and all construction to be funded from corporate revenues, while the directors elected by shareholders desired greater profits and dividends . These conflicts became more intense in
18500-571: The time, the line had three, the York, Atlantic, and the Franklin. When planning the extension to Sandy Hook, Maryland , and then Harpers Ferry , the company was uncertain if the engines' metal wheels would grip the metal rails sufficiently to pull a train up to the top of the ridge. The railroad decided to construct two inclined planes , one on each side of the ridge, along which teams of horses, and perhaps steam-powered winches, would assist pulling
18648-470: The town's mayor, was killed the next day. Raiders had cut the telegraph line, and stopped the 1:30 am Wheeling to Baltimore express, but after several hours the train was allowed to continue and at the first station with a working telegraph (Monocacy) the conductor sent a telegram to B&O headquarters. After confirming from the Martinsburg station (via Wheeling, because of the cut telegraph line) that
18796-571: The trains uphill. The planes, about a mile long on each side, quickly proved an operational bottleneck . Before the decade of the 1830s ended, the B&O built a 5.5-mile-long (8.9 km) alternate route that became known as the Mount Airy Loop. The planes were quickly abandoned and forgotten, though some artifacts survive to the present. In 1843, Congress appropriated $ 30,000 for construction of an experimental 38-mile (61 km) telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore along
18944-409: The tunnel was never built. During the 1920s, a branch line along Staten Island's West Shore was built to haul building materials for the Outerbridge Crossing . The branch was cut back to a point south of the crossing after the bridge was built. The Gulf Oil Corporation opened a dock and tank farm along Arthur Kill in 1928; to serve it, the Travis Branch was built south from Arlington Yard into
19092-399: The union representing SIR employees, was concerned about the fare reduction in part because of an expected increase in ridership. No turnstiles were installed at the other stations on the line, and passengers at St. George began paying when entering and exiting; fares had previously been collected on board by the conductor. The removal of fares was blamed for an immediate spike in crime along
19240-432: The war) until a railroad bridge could be constructed across the Ohio River. The narrow strip of available land along the Potomac River from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry caused years of legal battles between the B&O and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal , as both sought to exclude the other from its use. A compromise eventually allowed the two companies to share the right of way . The B&O also prevailed in
19388-579: The west, thus making the city the commercial and financial capital of the region south of Philadelphia. Although the Albany and Schenectady Railroad was chartered a year earlier, in 1826, the B & O Railroad was the first to open in the US. Philip E. Thomas and George Brown were the pioneers of the railroad. In 1826, they investigated railway enterprises in England , which were at that time being tested in
19536-630: Was Fairfax Court House and is now the City of Fairfax, Virginia ), and if possible to a connection with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in Quantico . The branch was started in 1892 and reached Chevy Chase, Maryland , the same year. Financial problems in both the VM and B&O forced a halt to construction and led to the B&O's loss of control of the VM. Following bankruptcy, and control by
19684-731: Was allocated for an analysis of Staten Island light rail . The North Shore Branch closed to passenger service at midnight on March 31, 1953. A small portion of the western end is used for freight service as part of the ExpressRail intermodal network at the Howland Hook Marine Terminal . The network, which opened in 2007, connects to the Chemical Coast after crossing the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge . The North Shore Branch served Procter & Gamble , United States Gypsum , shipbuilders and
19832-536: Was built across the Ohio River between Bellaire, Ohio , and Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1871, connecting the B&O to the Central Ohio Railroad , which the B&O had leased starting in 1866. This provided a direct rail connection to Columbus, Ohio , and the lease marked the beginning of a series of expansions to the west and north. Other railroads included in the B&O were: (This list omits certain short lines.) The Chicago and Alton Railroad
19980-529: Was completed in 1857. During the "Great Railway Celebrations of 1857", a large group of notables boarded the B&O in Baltimore, then transferred to steamboats that took them from Wheeling to Marietta, Ohio , where they boarded a railroad to Cincinnati, where after another celebration, they boarded the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad , which brought them to St. Louis, Missouri, three days after they had started their journey. The B&O would only reach Charleston (at
20128-749: Was created in 1998 with the merger of the Long Island Rail Road Police Department and the Metro-North Railroad Police Department. The MTA Police Department then opened its newest patrol district, Police District #9, which began covering the Staten Island Railway. The cash fare is $ 2.90, the same fare as the New York City Subway and MTA buses . Fares are paid on entry and exit only at St. George and Tompkinsville . Rides not originating or terminating at St. George or Tompkinsville are free. Fares are payable by MetroCard or OMNY . Since
20276-521: Was fixed at five million dollars, but the B&O was initially capitalized in 1827 with a three million dollar issue of stock. Half of this stock was reserved for the Maryland state government and the municipal government of Baltimore, which invested $ 1,000,000 and $ 500,000, respectively, in the new company. Around twenty-two thousand people—a quarter of the city's population—bought the remaining private equity. Construction began on July 4, 1828, when Charles Carroll of Carrollton (the last living signer of
20424-415: Was later destroyed by fire.) The B&O completed construction of a new, expanded passenger station component in 1912. The station occupied three floors and included offices for the railroad company. As with other railroads, passenger traffic on the B&O line declined in the mid-20th century. Interest in and occupancy of the hotel also declined. The hotel closed to the public in December 1964. Following
20572-608: Was leased to the B&O for 99 years in 1885. Proceeds of the lease were used to complete the terminal at Saint George, pay for two miles of waterfront property, complete the Rapid Transit Railroad, build a bridge over the Kill Van Kull at Elizabethport , and build other terminal facilities. The North Shore Branch opened for service on February 23, 1886, to Elm Park . The Saint George terminal opened on March 7, 1886, and all SIR lines were extended to
20720-521: Was merged into the Chessie System ; its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation . The railroad was founded to serve merchants from Baltimore who wanted to do business with settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains . It would compete with several existing and proposed turnpikes and canals, including the Erie and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal . Building west from the port of Baltimore,
20868-420: Was officially opened as Samuel F. B. Morse sent his famous words, "What hath God wrought", from the B&O's Mount Clare station to the Capitol by telegraph. Contrary to legend, the B&O was not the first chartered railroad in the United States; John Stevens obtained a charter for the New Jersey Railroad in 1815. The B&O was, however, the first company to operate a locomotive built in America, with
21016-400: Was purchased by the B&O in 1931 and renamed the Alton Railroad . It was always operated separately and was eventually bought by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad after receivership in 1942. As a result of poor national economic conditions in the mid-1870s following the Panic of 1873 , the B&O attempted to reduce its workers' wages. After a second reduction in wages was announced in
21164-494: Was recovered in fares (the lowest ratio of MTA agencies). The low farebox recovery ratio is part of the reason the MTA sought to merge the SIR with the subway to form MTA Subways in October 2002: to simplify accounting and subsidy of a single line. Before the 1997 introduction of the one-fare zone, with the MetroCard's free transfers from the SIR to the subway system and MTA buses, fares were collected from passengers boarding at stops other than St. George by onboard conductors. In
21312-451: Was said to be the longest wood trestle on the railroad over Rock Creek ; and a short tunnel, Dalecarlia Tunnel , under the Washington Aqueduct . The line was almost completely abandoned in 1986 by CSX and is presently used in part as the right-of-way for the Capital Crescent Trail . Staten Island Rapid Transit The Staten Island Railway ( SIR ) is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Staten Island . It
21460-408: Was taken over by the New York Dock Railway in September 1979, and ended the following year. Only a few isolated industries on Staten Island continued to use rail services, and the yard at Saint George was essentially abandoned. In April 1985, as a result of a decline in freight traffic, the Chessie System sold the Staten Island Railway to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W),
21608-435: Was the end of the line until the B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing opened in 1836, linking Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (until 1863, Virginia). The connection at Harpers Ferry with the Winchester and Potomac Railroad , running southwest to Winchester, Virginia , opened in 1837, then the line northwest to Martinsburg in May 1842; Hancock in June 1842; and Cumberland, Maryland , on November 5, 1842, for some years
21756-431: Was the longest bridge in the United States upon its completion in 1835. It also remains in use. The B&O made extensive use of the Bollman iron truss bridge design in the mid-19th century. Its durability and ease of assembly aided faster railroad construction. As the B&O built the main line west to Parr's Ridge , near Mount Airy, Maryland , it had limited information about the capabilities of steam locomotives; at
21904-538: Was upheld in the 1840s after Baltimore City tried to tax it. This Washington Branch line was built in stone, much like the original mainline. By this time, however, strap rail was no longer used for new construction. Most of the stone bridges on the Old Main Line did not last long, being washed out by the periodic flooding of the Patapsco River and replaced at first by Bollman Truss bridges . The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad to Annapolis connected to this line at Annapolis Junction in 1840. As an unwritten condition for
#455544