Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad
{{Short description|Defunct American railroad which operated in Western Maryland}}
{{Infobox rail | gauge={{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}|
|railroad_name = Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad
|logo_filename =
|logo_size =
|system_map = {{maplink-road|from=Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad.map|from2=Mount Savage Railroad.map|from3=Potomac Wharf Railroad.map|from4=Eckhart Branch Railroad.map|from5=Georges Creek Railroad.map}}
|map_caption =
|map_size =
|marks =
|image = FROSTBURG HISTORIC DISTRICT, ALLEGANY COUNTY.jpg
|image_size = 225px
|image_caption = Frostburg station
|locale = Maryland
|start_year = 1850
|end_year = 1944
|predecessor_line =
|successor_line = Western Maryland Railway
|electrification =
|length =
|hq_city = 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 purchased by the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1944.
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.
History
The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company was incorporated on March 4, 1850, with a charter from the Maryland General Assembly.Patrick H. Stakem (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=_0vgJGSwS-wC "Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad Revisited."] p. 9. (Laurel, MD: Pat Stakem, 2002.) {{ISBN|0-9725966-0-7}}. The early charter date reflects the prominence of 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.Patrick H. Stakem.[http://home.comcast.net/~VagelKeller/mtsvg_1a.htm "The Mount Savage Iron Works"] Accessed 2013-07-29. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002102024/http://home.comcast.net/~vagelkeller/mtsvg_1a.htm |date=October 2, 2015 }}
File:Cumberland MD C&O Canal-coal loading.jpg in Cumberland, early 20th century.]]
In 1854 the C&P acquired the Mount Savage Railroad from the Mount Savage Coal and Iron Company.Mount Savage Historical Society. [http://www.mountsavagehistoricalsociety.org/c&p/c&p%20shop.htm "Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad."] Accessed 2013-07-29. 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.Patrick H. Stakem. [http://home.comcast.net/~VagelKeller/mtsvg_2a.htm "The Mount Savage Locomotive Shops"] Accessed 2013-07-29. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060601210300/http://home.comcast.net/~VagelKeller/mtsvg_2a.htm |date=June 1, 2006 }} The C&P also built passenger cars, for its own use and for other railroads.
The WM purchased the C&P from Consolidation Coal in 1944.{{Cook-Western Maryland}}{{rp|51}} The operations of the two companies were formally merged in 1953.{{cite book| last = Salamon| first = Stephen J.| last2 = Hopkins| first2 = William E.| title = The Western Maryland Railway in the Diesel Era| place = Silver Spring, Maryland| publisher = Old Line Graphics| year = 1991| isbn = 1-879314-07-X}}{{rp|68}} All of the C&P locomotives were replaced with WM engines.{{rp|52}} 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.{{rp|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).
Extant facilities
The depot at Frostburg was originally designed for the C&P by architect Ephraim Francis Baldwin and built in 1891. It contained an office, waiting rooms, freight and baggage sections.{{Cite book|title=E. Francis Baldwin, Architect: The B&O, Baltimore, and Beyond|last=Avery|first=Carlos P.|publisher=Baltimore Architecture Foundation|year=2003|isbn=0-9729743-0-X|location=Baltimore, Maryland|pages=45, 128}}
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
{{Portal|Railways}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
- Mellander, Deane (1981). Rails to the Big Vein, the Short Lines of Allegany County, Maryland. January 1981. Potomac Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, Inc.
- Mellander, Deane (1981). Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad. Newton, NJ: Carstens Publishers, Inc. {{ISBN|0-911868-42-9}}.
{{Refend}}
External links
- [http://www.mountsavagehistoricalsociety.org/c&p/images/C&P%20LOCOMOTIVES.htm Photos of Mt. Savage Station, Yard & Locomotives] - Mt. Savage Historical Society
- [http://www.traillink.com/trail/great-allegheny-passage-(trail-system-overview).aspx Great Allegheny Passage Trail]
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Category:Defunct Maryland railroads
Category:Allegany County, Maryland
Category:History of Cumberland, MD-WV MSA
Category:Predecessors of the Western Maryland Railway
Category:Railway companies established in 1850
Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1953
Category:Defunct West Virginia railroads