The was the
Pennsylvania Railroad 's main line from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania southwest to
Baltimore, Maryland . It is now part of
Amtrak 's
Northeast Corridor ; freight is handled by
Norfolk Southern .
The was chartered in Pennsylvania on
April 2 ,
1831 , changing its name on
March 14 ,
1836 to the '''Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company'''.
Chapter 296 of the 1831 Session Laws of Maryland, passed
March 14 ,
1832 , chartered the to build from
Port Deposit or any other point on the
Susquehanna River to the Delaware state line. The '''Wilmington and Susquehanna Rail Road Company''' was chartered
January 18 ,
1832 in Delaware to continue the line to
Wilmington , and the two companies merged
April 18 ,
1836 to form the '''Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad Company'''.
The rest of the line to Baltimore, the , was chartered in Maryland by Chapter 188 of the 1831 Session Laws of Maryland, passed
March 5 ,
1832 . On
February 12 ,
1838 , the three companies merged to form a new '''Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company''', authorized to build a continuous line from Philadelphia to Baltimore.
The first section of line opened in
1836 , forming part of the line in Pennsylvania; the rest of the line was completed in
1837 . In Philadelphia, the line ended at Broad Street and Washington Avenue, where it connected with the
Southwark Rail-Road (built in
1835 ), which was used to reach the
Delaware River . In Baltimore, the PW&B ended at President Street. The
Baltimore And Ohio Railroad , which ended in Baltimore, worked closely with the PW&B to compete with the
Pennsylvania Railroad for travel west from Philadelphia, hauling coaches by horse down Pratt Street to reach the PW&B station. By
1853 the
Camden And Amboy Railroad and
New Jersey Railroad were also part of this agreement, providing through service from
New York City to the west.
{Link without Title}
On , which the PW&B began to operate on
January 1 ,
1857 . In 1859, the NC&F was abandoned west of
Rodney , the junction with the Delaware Railroad.
The , a new alignment from Philadelphia to ,
1873 the old alignment was leased to the
Philadelphia And Reading Railway for 999 years. The Reading originally used the
Junction Railroad to reach this branch and the connecting
Chester And Delaware River Railroad , but later obtained
Trackage Rights over the
Baltimore And Ohio Railroad 's
Baltimore And Philadelphia Railroad (opened
1886 ).
The
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) began running over the PW&B in
1873 with the opening of its
Baltimore And Potomac Rail Road . On
May 15 ,
1877 , the New Castle & Frenchtown and New Castle & Wilmington were merged into the PW&B, forming a branch line from Wilmington to Rodney. On
May 21 ,
1877 , the Southwark RR was merged in, extending the main line to the Delaware River waterfront.
In
1880 a major coflict began between the PRR and the B&O, both of which operated over the PW&B. The B&O arranged to divert its New York-bound trains away from the PRR route to the new Reading-controlled "Bound Brook Route", which had recently broken the PRR's New Jersey monopoly on Philadelphia-New York rail travel. B&O trains now left the PW&B at Gray's Ferry and travelled over the
Junction Railroad (jointly controlled by PW&B, Reading, and PRR) to Belmont, where they reached Reading rails. However, a mile of the Junction Railroad's track through Philadelphia was owned and used by the PRR, as well, and the PRR showed great ingenuity in arranging delays to B&O trains passing over this section of track.
The irate
John W. Garrett , president of the B&O, decided to counter-attack by quietly buying out the PW&B, cutting off the PRR from its Baltimore & Potomac subsidiary. However, his agent encountered unexpected difficulties in buying up a majority of the stock at the price specified. Meanwhile, the secret of Garrett's manuever became known to the PRR, which quickly bought out a majority of the stock at a somewhat higher price and took control of the PW&B instead. Garrett was forced to charter the
Baltimore And Philadelphia Railroad and construct an independent line to Philadelphia, while paying the PRR substantial fees to continue New York service over their lines.
A number of branches were built, bought and sold from 1881–1891, as described below. In
1895 , the main line was realigned and straightened at
Naaman's Creek . The old line would become sidings for
Claymont Steel .
The PRR's
Baltimore And Potomac Rail Road was formally leased to the PW&B on
November 1 ,
1891 ; the two companies merged on
November 1 ,
1902 to form the
Philadelphia, Baltimore And Washington Railroad .
The
Elkton And Middletown Railroad , opened in
1895 , was originally intended as a cutoff between the main line at
Elkton, Maryland and the
Delaware Railroad at
Middletown, Delaware . However, only a short piece of track serving industries in Elkton was ever constructed. It was consolidated into the PB&W on
September 15 ,
1916 .
;Southwark
;60th Street/Chester
;South Chester
;Edgemoor
;Augustine Mill
The or '''Brandywine Branch''' was built in
1882 from
Landlith north along the
Brandywine Creek to reach the Augustine Mills of the Jessup & Moore Paper Company, and was later extended further north to serve the Kentmere and Rockford Mills of Joseph Bancroft & Sons.
;Shellpot
The or '''Shellpot Cutoff''' was built in
1888 from
Edgemoor (near the crossing of the Shellpot Creek) around the south side of Wilmington to a point on the main line between Wilmington and
Newport . It served as a freight bypass, to avoid what was then street running on the main line through Wilmington.
;Delaware Branch
This branch was formed from the old New Castle & Frenchtown and New Castle & Wilmington trackage between Wilmington and Rodney, via New Castle. It was sold to the
Delaware Railroad in
1891 .
;New Castle Cut-off
The '''New Castle Cut-off'' was built in
1888 from a point on the Shellpot Branch just across the
Christina River from Cherry Island, south to New Castle and a connection with the Delaware Branch. It was sold with the Delaware Branch to the Delaware Railroad in 1891.
;Delaware City
This line was sold by the
Newark And Delaware City Railroad to the PW&B in 1881. It ran south and east from the main line at
Newark to
Delaware City .
;Port Deposit
The Port Deposit Branch was built in
1866 up the
Susquehanna River from
Perryville to the river town of
Port Deposit . In
1893 , it was sold to the
Columbia And Port Deposit Railway , also PRR-controlled, which connected with it at Port Deposit.
;Baltimore Union
