Visiting from Toronto, I was excited to see some interesting railway history here in Baltimore. I hope you'll join me for a quick event. Please bring any TBs that you'd like to move northward. I'll be in the B&O Railway Park, sitting on a bench, holding a logbook.
Optional: at 12:45 p.m.., I will be visiting the nearby Irish Railroad Workers Museum, should you wish to join me.
Hope to see you then!
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B&O Railway History
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (reporting mark BO) was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the National Road early in the century, wanted to do business with settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains. The railroad faced competition from several existing and proposed enterprises, including the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike, built in 1797, the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. At first, the B&O was located entirely in the state of Maryland; its original line extending from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook, Maryland, opened in 1834. There it connected with Harper's Ferry, first by boat, then by the Wager Bridge, across the Potomac River into Virginia, and also with the navigable Shenandoah River.
After a series of mergers in the 20th century, the B&O became part of the CSX Transportation (CSX) network in 1987.
When CSX established the B&O Railroad Museum as a separate entity from the corporation, it donated some of the former B&O Mount Clare Shops in Baltimore, including the Mt. Clare roundhouse, to the museum, while selling the rest of the property. The B&O Warehouse at the Camden Yards rail junction in Baltimore now dominates the view over the right-field wall at the Baltimore Orioles' current home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The B&O, while famous for its pioneering innovations in railroading (being the first US railroad to operate a steam locomotive, building historic infrastructure and operating prestigious passenger trains), also owes its fame, in part, to its inclusion as one of the four featured railroads in the original version of the popular board game Monopoly; it is the only railroad on the board that did not directly serve Atlantic City, New Jersey, the city whose street names were used in the game's original edition.
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About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found on the SideTracked Series website at www.sidetrackedseries.info https://www.sidetrackedseries.info