- Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad
-
Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Locale Maryland Dates of operation 1850–1944 Successor Western Maryland Railway Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) Headquarters Mount Savage, Maryland The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P) was an American railroad which operated in Western Maryland. Primarily a coal hauler, it was owned by the Consolidation Coal Company, and was absorbed into the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1944.[1]:51
The line ran from Cumberland, Maryland to Piedmont, West Virginia, at both points interchanging with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The railroad's shops were located at Mount Savage, Maryland, also the location of its headquarters. On the way to Piedmont the line passed through (and under) Frostburg, Maryland, where the C&P station stands today as the western terminus of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
Contents
History
The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company was incorporated on March 4, 1850, with a charter from the Maryland General Assembly.[2] The early charter date reflects Mt. Savage as an early foundry of iron rail and manufacturer of locomotives in the United States. The first iron rail rolled in the United States was produced at Mt. Savage in 1844.[3]
In 1854 the C&P acquired the Mount Savage Railroad from the Mount Savage Coal and Iron Company. In 1863 the C&P acquired the Georges Creek Railroad from the Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company, and in 1870 it acquired the Eckhart Branch Railroad from the Maryland Mining Company.
In 1866 James Millholland opened the locomotive shops which became the center of the railroad. From 1868 to 1917 the shops produced at least 30 locomotives for the C&P, as well as standard and narrow gauge engines for other lines.[4]
The WM formally merged operations with the C&P in 1953.[5]:68 In 1954 the WM abandoned redundant C&P track between Mt. Savage Junction and Mt. Savage, and discontinued use of the tunnel under Frostburg, due to the tunnel's low clearances. Some branch lines to local mines were also eliminated.[1]:198 Coal traffic south of Frostburg was routed along the WM's Georges Creek Branch to the WM junction at Westernport, Maryland (directly across the North Branch Potomac River from Piedmont).
In addition to the station in Frostburg, many of the shop buildings still remain at Mt. Savage. Parts of the route north from Piedmont are still in service as part of CSXT and the Georges Creek Railway.
See also
- Georges Creek Valley
- List of defunct Maryland railroads
References
- ^ a b Cook, Roger; Zimmermann, Karl (1992). The Western Maryland Railway: Fireballs and Black Diamonds (2nd ed.). Laurys Station, Pennsylvania: Garrigues House. ISBN 0-9620844-4-1.
- ^ Patrick H. Stakem (2002). "Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad Revisited." p. 9. (Laurel, MD: Pat Stakem, 2002.) ISBN 0972596607.
- ^ "The Mount Savage Iron Works" Patrick H. Stakem
- ^ "The Mount Savage Locomotive Shops" Patrick H. Stakem
- ^ Salamon, Stephen J.; Hopkins, William E. (1991). The Western Maryland Railway in the Diesel Era. Silver Spring, Maryland: Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-07-X.
- Mount Savage Historical Society. "The Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad." Accessed 2009-06-14.
- Mellander, Deane. Rails to the Big Vein, the Short Lines of Allegany County, Maryland, January, 1981, Potomac Chapter, NRHS, Inc.
- Mellander, Deane. Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad, 1981, Newton, NJ: Carstens Publishers, Inc., ISBN 911868-42-9.
External links
- Photos of Mt. Savage Station, Yard & Locomotives - Mt. Savage Historical Society
- Great Allegheny Passage Trail
Categories:- Defunct Maryland railroads
- Allegany County, Maryland
- History of Cumberland, MD-WV-PA
- Predecessors of the Western Maryland Railway
- Railway companies established in 1850
- Railway companies disestablished in 1953
- Defunct West Virginia railroads
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