CSX Susquehanna River Bridge
| CSX Susquehanna River Bridge | |
|---|---|
Susquehanna River Bridge circa 1978
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| Coordinates | 39°34′08″N 76°05′13″W / 39.56884°N 76.0870°WCoordinates: 39°34′08″N 76°05′13″W / 39.56884°N 76.0870°W |
| Carries | CSX Philadelphia Subdivision (1 track) |
| Crosses | Susquehanna River |
| Locale | Havre de Grace, Maryland and Perryville, Maryland |
| Owner | CSX Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Through truss and deck truss |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 6,109 feet (1,862 m) |
| Longest span | 520 feet (160 m) |
| Clearance below | 85 feet (26 m) |
| History | |
| Constructed by | American Bridge Company |
| Opened | January 6, 1910 |
 Susquehanna River Bridge
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The CSX Susquehanna River Bridge is a railroad bridge that carries CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision across the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland, via Garrett Island. It was built in 1907-10 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on the same alignment as an 1886 B&O bridge. Like its predecessor, it was the longest continuous bridge on the B&O system.
The 1866 completion of the nearby Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore (PW&B) railroad bridge allowed trains between Baltimore and Philadelphia to cross the Susquehanna without the aid of a ferryboat for the first time. The B&O used trackage rights on the PW&B to operate trains to Philadelphia and Jersey City starting at about this time. In this way, the B&O was able to expand its service territory with minimal capital expenditure.
In 1869, the B&O began advertising this route as the “New York and Washington Air Line Railway.” Although the PW&B was an independent company at the time, the use of key sections of track in Philadelphia and New Jersey depended upon the cooperation of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). When the B&O's president John W. Garrett was outbid by the PRR for control of the PW&B in early 1881, Garrett realized that B&O's Philadelphia and New York connections were in jeopardy. B&O began planning immediately for its own line between Baltimore and Philadelphia, where a connection to the friendly Reading Railroad would provide access to the New York area.
B&O passenger trains continued crossing the river on the PW&B until the trackage rights agreement expired on October 12, 1884.
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