Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, later the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, once provided rail service to Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

 and was one of the earliest railroads in the U.S. It later merged into the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway , now defunct, was an American railroad of central Maryland and Washington, DC built in the 19th and 20th century. The WB&A absorbed two older railroads, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad and the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line, and...

 and was finally abandoned. The only traces of it today are a few small sidings and utility poles that follow its former right of way.

Origins

In 1835, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 (B&O) opened its Washington Branch, connecting its main line just outside Baltimore to Washington, DC. In 1836, the Maryland General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...

 voted to sponsor construction of a rail line to service the state capital in Annapolis. On March 21, 1837, a charter was granted to the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad. As originally planned, instead of proceeding directly to Washington or Baltimore, the line was to start at Elk Ridge Landing
Elkridge, Maryland
Elkridge is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. The population was 22,042 at the 2000 census. Founded early in the 18th century, Elkridge is located at the confluence of three counties, the other two being Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties...

 in the western part of Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...

, now modern day eastern Howard County
Howard County, Maryland
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*62.2% White*17.5% Black*0.3% Native American*14.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.6% Two or more races*2.0% Other races*5.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

. There it could connect not only with the B&O but also with ships on the Patapsco River
Patapsco River
The Patapsco River is a river in central Maryland which flows into Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore...

. Instead, the line started at a point named Annapolis Junction
Annapolis Junction, Maryland
Annapolis Junction is an unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland, United States.-Demographics:The ZIP Code for Annapolis Junction is 20701. 2000 Census for 20701*Population 40*Median age 31.5 years*Single family homes 6...

 near Savage Factory
Savage, Maryland
Savage is a historic town located in Howard County, Maryland, about south of Baltimore and north of Washington, D.C. It is situated close to the city of Laurel and to the planned community of Columbia.A rich vein of American industrial history lies in Savage...

, near milestone 18 on the Washington Branch.

Construction started on June 12, 1838, and on December 25, 1840, and after $405,658.65 in construction, $300,000 of which came from the state, service was inaugurated out of the West Street station in Annapolis with fares of $2 to Baltimore, $2.50 to Washington, D.C., and local stations at 6¼ cents per mile. The railroad was single-tracked
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....

 along most of its length and followed the drainage divide (or crest) into the Severn River
Severn River (Maryland)
The Severn River runs through Anne Arundel County in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located south of the Magothy River, and north of the South River.-Geography:...

 on the north and the Patuxent River
Patuxent River
The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast passing through Baltimore, and the Patuxent River between...

 basin to the south. There were trestle
Trestle
A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...

s spanning Chandlers Run and Rouges Harbor Branch and an excavation at Magazine Hill, just east of Waterbury.

Elk Ridge later shortened its name to Elkridge, and the railroad did likewise, becoming the Annapolis & Elkridge Railroad. Crownsville
Crownsville, Maryland
Crownsville is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,670 at the 2000 census. It hosts the Anne Arundel County Fair each September, as well as the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival for several summer weekends. A state psychiatric hospital...

, Millersville
Millersville, Maryland
Millersville is an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States.-Geography:Millersville is located at .-History:...

, and later Odenton
Odenton, Maryland
Odenton is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,534 at the 2000 census. The town is named after former Governor of Maryland, Oden Bowie. It is bordered by Gambrills to the east, Severn to the north, Fort Meade to the west, and Crofton to...

 are other present-day towns that were served by the railroad.

Civil War Involvement

During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the railroad had strategic significance and was the scene of a minor conflict early in the war. The Union's Massachusetts Infantry
6th Massachusetts Regiment
The 6th Massachusetts Regiment also known as the 4th Continental Regiment was raised on April 23, 1775 under Colonel John Nixon outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton and the Battle of...

 was moving south to secure Washington, D.C., but Maryland, a slave state
Slave state
In the United States of America prior to the American Civil War, a slave state was a U.S. state in which slavery was legal, whereas a free state was one in which slavery was either prohibited from its entry into the Union or eliminated over time...

, contained many southern sympathizers and when the troops attempted to march through the city the Baltimore riot of 1861
Baltimore riot of 1861
The Baltimore riot of 1861 was an incident that took place on April 19, 1861, in Baltimore, Maryland between Confederate sympathizers and members of the Massachusetts militia en route to Washington for Federal service...

 broke out. Troops were subsequently shipped by ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 to Annapolis, where they attempted to use the railroad to reach Washington via Annapolis Junction. On April 21, 1861, the telegraph lines, railroad engine
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 and many sections of track
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...

 had been torn up by Marylanders dissatisfied with the outcome of the riot. The tracks and engine were soon repaired by troops under the command of General Benjamin Franklin Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....

.

Rail Expansion

The industrial era
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 saw a major expansion of railroads into the area. The Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

-controlled Baltimore and Potomac Railroad was built in the 1870s to compete with the B&O.
The town of Odenton (named for B&P president and Maryland governor Oden Bowie
Oden Bowie
Oden Bowie , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 34th Governor of the State of Maryland in the United States from 1869 to 1872.-Childhood:...

) grew up where this road crossed the Annapolis & Elkridge roughly five miles east of Annapolis Junction.

Bankruptcy

In October 1879 the Maryland Board of Public Works
Maryland Board of Public Works
The Board of Public Works is a three-member body consisting of the Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer of the state of Maryland in the United States. It oversees many aspects of the state's finances.-History and purpose:...

 began to investigate why, in 40 years, the railroad had not paid any of the interest on the state's $300,000 investment. The A&ER management blamed competition from ferry boats and high interchange tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....

s charged by the Baltimore and Ohio.

In 1884 the railroad's private stockholders
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....

 sued to force the sale of the railroad to recover part of their investment. The state attempted to prevent the sale, but in July 1885 the injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...

 they had obtained was dissolved and on November 10 of that year the Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad was sold for $100,000.

Reorganization

The railroad was reorganized on March 24, 1886 and rechartered as the Annapolis, Washington & Baltimore Railroad (AW&B) with power granted to expand to multiple locations throughout the state.

Connection Lines and Competition

While the A&ER reorganized, a new railroad, the Annapolis and Bay Ridge Railroad began operation on July 10, 1886. It connected to the AW&B at Bay Ridge Junction and connected Annapolis with the resort town of Bay Ridge, Maryland. In September of that year it was bought out by the B&O railroad.

Competition came in the form of the Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad, later the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line Railroad, which opened in 1887. It also served Annapolis, but provided a faster connection to Baltimore, taking a more direct path along the north shore of the Severn River. It also connected to the AW&B at Bay Ridge Junction.

Purchase and Merger

In 1902, the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway , now defunct, was an American railroad of central Maryland and Washington, DC built in the 19th and 20th century. The WB&A absorbed two older railroads, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad and the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line, and...

 began constructing a third rail line between Baltimore and Washington. This line crossed the AW&B just east of Odenton at a place called Naval Academy Junction. The WB&A was an electric interurban streetcar line, a new and exciting mode of transportation at the turn of the 20th century.
In 1903, the AW&B was purchased by the WB&A and reopened in 1908 as an electric interurban line.. The two lines crossed just east of Odenton at a point called Naval Academy Junction. In 1921, the WB&A also acquired the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line. After the acquisition the AW&B trackage was termed the South Shore Division, and the Short Line was called the North Shore Division.

World War I

In 1917, as the U.S. entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 the railroad interests in the area persuaded the U.S. Army to acquire land and open a training facility in the area roughly bounded by the B&O Washington Branch on the west, the Pennsylvania Railroad on the east, and the South Shore line of the WB&A to the south. The installation was named Camp Meade and was supposed to be a temporary facility, used only for the duration of the war (it is still in use today). The WB&A saw record traffic during this time as a result of freight and passenger service to the camp. In 1918, the railroad system carried 5,946,697 paying passengers.

End of the Line

In 1931, during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, the WB&A went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...

. The rise of the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 marked the end of the WB&A, along with most other electric interurbans. The system remained in operation for four more years until operation officially ceased on August 20, 1935. The WB&A was sold at public auction
Public auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

 with scrap dealers buying most of the rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

. In 1935 the vast majority of the South Shore division was abandoned and sold for scrap. The portion between Annapolis Junction and Odenton was purchased and operated by the B&O to serve Fort Meade until, sometime before 1981, it too was removed. This left only the junction tracks at Annapolis Junction—now part of an aggregates terminal.

Stations on the Line with Modern Day Related Place Names

  • Annapolis Junction - connection with the B&O
  • Camp Meade Junction
  • Portland
  • Disney (Disney Rd)
  • Admiral
  • Fairall
  • Odenton
    Odenton, Maryland
    Odenton is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,534 at the 2000 census. The town is named after former Governor of Maryland, Oden Bowie. It is bordered by Gambrills to the east, Severn to the north, Fort Meade to the west, and Crofton to...

     - connection with the Pennsylvania RR (B&P)
  • Naval Academy Junction - connection with the WB&A (Academy Junction Shopping Center)
  • Sappington (Sappington Station Rd)
  • Gambrills
    Gambrills, Maryland
    Gambrills is an unincorporated town in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in the Baltimore metro area.The community was named for Augustine Gambrill, plantation owner.-Population:...

  • Holladay
  • Millersville
    Millersville, Maryland
    Millersville is an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States.-Geography:Millersville is located at .-History:...

  • Arundel
  • Waterbury (Waterbury Rd)
  • Gott
  • Crownsville
  • Belvoir (Belvoir Manor)
  • Arth
  • Iglehart (Sherwood Forest)
  • Woytych
  • Hockley
  • Best Gate
  • Camp Parole
  • Homewood
  • Cedar Park
  • Bay Ridge Junction - connection with the A&BR
  • Annapolis at the West Street Station
  • Annapolis at the U.S. Naval Academy

Surviving Landmarks

  • The wye of track where the Annapolis & Elkridge joined the B&O Washington Branch (now owned by CSX) in Annapolis Junction is still intact. It now serves a cement plant.
  • A short siding in Odenton that follows the original roadbed just east of the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak
    Amtrak
    The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

    ). It crosses MD 170, curves to the north past Academy Junction Shopping Center, crosses MD 175 and heads north into the former Odenton Nevamar Factory. This factory was built in 1943 by then-National Plastics using the WB&A Railroad's repair buildings and tracks. Some of the former electric trolley car repair buildings still remain.
  • Bridge over Dorsey Run
  • The Maryland Department of Natural Resources
    Maryland Department of Natural Resources
    The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is a government agency in the state of Maryland charged with maintaining natural resources such as the 66 state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, wildlife and recreation areas....

     plans to build a bicycle trail, called the South Shore Trail, on 10 miles of the right-of-way between Odenton and Bestgate Road in Annapolis.
  • Generals Highway was built on the right of way.
  • The Poplar Trail, a half mile hike-bike rail trail
    Rail trail
    A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...

    in Annapolis, was built next on the right of way.

External links

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