Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad
| Locale | Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1886–1989 |
| Successor | CSX |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 109 miles (175 km) |
| Headquarters | Wilmington and Philadelphia |
The Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad was a railroad line built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Baltimore, Maryland. It was built in the 1880s after the B&O lost access to its previous route to Philadelphia, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B). The cost of building the new route, especially the Howard Street Tunnel on the connecting Baltimore Belt Line, led to the B&O's first bankruptcy. Today, the line is used by CSX Transportation for freight trains.
In 1838, the B&O began service from Baltimore to Philadelphia using the new PW&B line. Connecting trackage in Baltimore ran from the B&O's Mount Clare terminal east along Pratt Street and East Falls Avenue to the PW&B's President Street Station. From there the PW&B ran east on Fleet Street and Boston Street before leaving onto its own right-of-way.
In 1881, the B&O attempted to gain control of the PW&B, but lost the stock battle to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which informed the B&O that it would lose access to the PW&B line in 1884. This forces the B&O to build a new route to Philadelphia. It acquired the Delaware Western Railroad, which had a charter but no track, merged it into the Baltimore & Philadelphia (called the Philadelphia Branch in Maryland) in 1883, and began construction. The line was in full operation by 1886.
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