Hanover Subdivision

The Hanover Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Baltimore, Maryland west to Hagerstown, Maryland along several former Western Maryland Railway (WM) lines. It meets the Baltimore Terminal Subdivision at its east end, and the Lurgan Subdivision heads both north and west from its west end.

The first section of the Hanover Branch was built was between Porters, Pennsylvania and Hanover, Pennsylvania, opened in 1852 as part of the Hanover Branch Railroad. The Gettysburg Railroad opened a section between Hanover and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1858.

The WM initially built from the end of the Northern Central Railway's Green Spring Branch at Owings Mills, Maryland to Hagerstown. Construction began in 1857. The line reached Westminster in 1861 and Hagerstown in 1872. In 1873 the WM built its own line from Owings Mills to Fulton Junction in Baltimore. The WM designated the Baltimore-Hagerstown line as its East Subdivision.

The Bachman Valley Railroad built a line from Valley Junction (1.25 mi east of Porters) south to the Maryland state line in 1872, and the Baltimore and Hanover Railroad continued the line south to Emory Grove, MD, connecting with the WM in 1879. In 1886 the WM acquired control of the line from Emory Grove to Hanover. It also took control of the Gettysburg Railroad. The Hanover Junction, Hanover and Gettysburg Railroad had extended the line from Gettysburg west to Orrtanna, Pennsylvania in 1885, and the Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway opened the rest of line from Orrtanna west to Highfield in 1889, where it connected with the existing East Subdivision. The Emory Grove-Gettysburg-Highfield route became the WM's Hanover Subdivision. In addition to servicing industries and cities in Pennsylvania, the Hanover Sub provided an alternate route between Baltimore and Hagerstown, although it was 23 miles (37 km) longer than the East Sub.

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