Washington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad

The Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad (WB&PL), now defunct, was an American railroad of southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th century. The troubled WB&PL, originally the Southern Maryland Railroad operated in and out of bankruptcy and changed its name numerous times. It consisted of a single track line connecting Patuxent River, MD to the Pennsylvania Railroad. Despite numerous problems, the railroad was able to survive for 73 years before shutting down in 1954.

Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad
The Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad, then the Southern Maryland Railroad, as planned
Overview
LocaleWashington, D.C., to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, and Brandywine, Maryland, to Patuxent River, Maryland
Dates of operation1881–July, 1954
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

History

Origins

The Southern Maryland Railroad (SMR) was incorporated on March 20, 1868 “for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and working a railroad from some point in Prince George’s County to Point Lookout.” As was typical of the roads of the era, the alignment of the right-of-way bisected the peninsula created by the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. A rail line from the major north-south Potomac River crossings into Virginia near Washington, D.C., to a port on the Patuxent River near the Chesapeake Bay would be an ideal line to promote agricultural and mineral business and rail shipments from the counties of this peninsula.[1] A commission was appointed, money was raised, and an engineer was hired to build an eighty-mile rail line.

Washington City and Point Lookout Railroad

In 1872, a competitor railroad, the Washington City and Point Lookout Railroad was incorporated and authorized to run trains between Washington, D.C., and Point Lookout with connecting steamers to Norfolk, Virginia. They began building a line immediately parallel and adjacent to the SMR.[2] In 1876 the SMR was investigated for defrauding the state of Maryland, the sole shareholder in the company, and went bankrupt without running a single train.[3]

In 1878 the WC&PL was authorized to purchase the SMR but never did.[4]

Construction was later restarted in Brandywine where the SMR connected with the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (later the Pope's Creek branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad) and was built in a southeasterly direction. It wasn't until 1881 that the first train was run serving Charlotte Hall and Mechanicsville. By 1884, they'd built twenty-one miles and graded fifty more in Maryland.[5] They also graded and partially laid out the right-of-way for 2.2 miles of railroad from Deanwood to the Maryland line in the District of Columbia.[6] By 1886 they'd laid down ties and some rail in DC, but they never operated trains on this section which later came under control of the Chesapeake Beach Railway.[7]

Washington & Potomac Railroad

The line went into its next bankruptcy in 1886 and emerged on April 1, 1886, as the Washington & Potomac Railroad (W&P). The line wouldn't run farther south than Mechanicsville until the U.S. Navy took over during World War II.

In 1894, the W&P merged with the WC&PL, which was by then in receivership.[2]

Washington, Potomac & Chesapeake Railway

In 1900, the line went through another bankruptcy and emerged on July 24, 1901, as the Washington, Potomac & Chesapeake Railway.[8] The WP&C had a contentious relationship with the state. In 1910 they were ordered to run two trains a day - up from one and to drop their prices.[9] The line had trouble fulfilling its obligations and in 1914 the state of Maryland threatened to withdraw their charter.[10]

Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad

At the end of 1917 the line again found itself in bankruptcy and was very nearly scrapped due to the high price of scrap metal during World War I. In 1918, the state of Maryland attempted to have the U.S. government take over control of the railroad.[11] Farmers in the area were able to purchase the line from a salvage firm and in June 1918 the line began running again, this time under the name of the Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad.

In the 1930s, revenues were dropping due to increased competition from the automobile and the line probably would have been gone for good, except for the intervention of World War II.

In June 1942, the US Navy took over the line and extended it to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The name was changed again, this time to the more accurate Brandywine and Cedar Point Railroad. As late as the mid-1950s the Navy was still operating the line. The Navy operated an "accommodation" train that connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Brandywine until the PRR stopped passenger trains on the Pope's Creek Line in 1949.

Pennsylvania Railroad Control

In 1953 the railroad fell into disrepair. The extensive maintenance costs were too much to keep it in business and the Brandywine and Cedar Point was closed in 1954. The last regular run was made in July 1954 from the Naval Air Station to Hollywood, MD. Through the late 1950s/early 1960s, PRR trains used the line to deliver aviation fuel to the base. However, when fuel started coming in by barge, the importance of the line dwindled.

End of the Line

When train operation ceased, the line was offered for sale by the GSA but there were no takers. Then, on June 26, 1970, the St. Mary's County Commissioners purchased 28 miles of the abandoned right of way from Hughesville, Maryland, to Patuxent River, Maryland.[12] The tracks were removed in the mid-1970s.

Stations on the Line

Original line pre-1942

  • Brandywine
  • Cedarville
  • Woodville
  • Gallant Green
  • Hughesville
  • Oaks
  • Charlotte Hall
  • New Market
  • Mechanicsville (original end-of-the-line)

In 1942, the federal government took over operations of the railroad and continued to make deliveries to stops on the original route. In addition the line was extended and these stops added.

  • Oakville
  • Laurel Grove
  • Forrest Hall
  • Hillville
  • Hollywood
  • California
  • USN Pax River

After 1954-Pennsylvania Railroad operation

When the USN excessed the line in 1954 and the PRR took over operations, they delivered and took away freight shipments and occasionally carried a passenger car (USN) or caboose (also USN) for special movements to/from the Brandywine Junction which became a Department of Defense Warehouse and shipping point until it was destroyed by fire. The Brandywine terminal was U.S. government property and was maintained by Public Works personnel from Patuxent River. The terminal was turned over to the Air Force just before it burned.

Surviving Landmarks
  • CSXT Trackage that runs from Brandywine to Hughesville, MD where it connects to a spur to the Chalk Point Generating Station. These tracks are now part of CSX's Herbert Subdivision
  • From Hughesville to the Patuxent River Naval Station, the railroad's right-of-way is being used to create the 28 mile long Three Notch Trail. The first mile of which opened on June 3, 2006, and which by 2018 had been extended to 11 miles.[13]
  • Mile Posts, MP13 & W

References
  1. "Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland". March 30, 1868.
  2. "Maryland Session Laws, 1894". 1894.
  3. "Proceedings and Acts of the Maryland General Assembly, 1876". 1876.
  4. "Maryland Session Laws, 1878". 1878.
  5. "Maryland Session Laws, 1884". 1884.
  6. "Work on the Southern Maryland Railroad". The Evening Star. 9 June 1884.
  7. "The Washington and Potomac Railroad". The Evening Star. 2 April 1886.
  8. "Chesapeake Beach R Co v. Washington P & C R Co, 199 U.S. 247 (1905)".
  9. "Session Laws of Maryland, 1910". 1910.
  10. "Session Laws of Maryland, 1914". 1914.
  11. "Maryland Session Laws, 1918". 1918.
  12. "Amendments to Senate Bill 256" (PDF). 1998.
  13. "Three Notch Trail Awarded $4.1 Million in Funding for 3.3 Mile Extension". 29 September 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
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