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Baltimore is served by two
Class I railroads, CSX and
Norfolk Southern. CSX is the
result of the consolidation
of many of the lines that
first served Baltimore — the
Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake
& Ohio andWestern Maryland.
hile John Work Garrett stood to gain the most from the rail
differential, there was profit aplenty for Baltimore’s railroads
during the latter part of the 19th century.
It was the era when Baltimore finally gained entry into the
uppermost echelon of great American cities, swept along by the
Port’s booming bulk trade which drew from — and economically
contributed to — every corner of Maryland.
Railroads tied it all together, wheeling and dealing their way
closer to the banks of the Patapsco until they eventually owned
or controlled most of the Port’s piers and waterfront facilities for
both general and bulk cargoes — a situation existing in no major
American port city, and one which returned to haunt Baltimore.
Federal Hill was steamship central. Charles Reeder’s shop specia-
lized in fabricating and installing engines, starting with Baltimore’s
first steamer, the paddle-wheeled
Chesapeake
. The Skinner yard
built barks and brigs for the coffee trade. The Booz Brothers moved
over from Canton in 1879; Redman and Vane specialized in repair-
ing wooden ships. Half of Baltimore turned out in 1890 to watch the
launching of the
Howard Cassard
— an odd duck named for a Bal-
timore lard mogul who financed the radically designed vessel, 222
feet long and only 16 feet wide. It was like trying to make a board
float edgewise; unable to sit upright, the boat later was scrapped.
Rail
R
ules
