The history and construction of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad / James A. Lee

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IT'

"THE HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE
CUKBERLAED AKD PENNSYLVANIA
RAILROAD"

Jamea A. Lee
J//5/3/

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"BXBLIOGRAPEY"

1.

Most of this material was obtained from the
files of the Company in Cumberland, Maryland.

£•

Mr. W. Glaus, General Manager of the Cumber-
land and Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

3.

Number of stops and train route from Mr.
Lawrence Powers, Frostburg, Maryland.

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1 SUMMARY"

The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Hail road Company
has its main office located in the Clark Keaton Build-
ing on Baltimore Street, Cumberland, Maryland. A sum-
mary of a few statistics will show clearly the nature
and size of this road. The Company itself was organ-
ized in 1850. It now possesses a main track from Cum-
berland, Maryland to Piedmont, West Virginia a distir.ce
of 31,354 mile3. With various branches, side tracks,
it possesses 88,471 track miles. Although comparative-
ly small it did a large business during the coal opera-
tions in that section, but after the World War the coal
industry dropped off and at the present time very little
coal is hauled but an excellent passenger service is
maintained.

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"History and Construction of the Cumberland
and Pennsylvania Bail road"

The history of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Rail-
road covers a period of seventy- three years and is not the
history of one railroad but of eight distinct organizations
which st various times merged into one forming the Cumber-
land and Pennsylvania Railroad Company. To trace the con-
struction of this railroad is to trace the development of
each of these eight distinct organizations.

Early in 1804 coal was found west of Cumberland, Mary-
land in the Georges Creek and Echart regions. This discovery
led to a new industry in Western Maryland which at the time
depended mainly on the lumber and farming industries. Al-
though there was an abundance of coal there was very little
if any means of transportation and the industry was very slow
to grow. Practically the only men&3 of transportation were
boats which were floated down the Potomac River. Each winter
different individuals would dig a quantity of coal, build
their own flat-bottomed boats and when the spring freshets came
they would float the coal to a market in Washington where they
sold their boat and coal for whatever they could obtain and
make their way back to Cumberland on foot, a distance of 150
miles.

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This condition continued until 1842 although several
gmall railroads had been constructed to carry coal from the
mines to Cumberland. In 1850 the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
was finished and was opened in October of that year. This
afforded a means of transporting the bituminous coal of thst
region from Cumberland to a resdy market in the seaboard
cities. The same year the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Rail-
road was granted a charter by the General Assembly to form a
company with a capital stock of $1,000,000 to construct a
railroad from the town of Cumberland to some suitable point
on the Maryland-Pennsylvania state line. The history of this
involves the history of several companies that existed as
early as 1829 and is necessarily a part of the Cumberland and
Pennsylvania Railroad as it is today.

In the year 1838 the Maryland and Hew York Iron and
Coal Company became defunct and all their property was sold
to the losers* Corning, Winslow and Forbes. This contained
9 miles of railroad from Cumberland to Mount Savage and was
used to transport coal from the mines at Mount Savage to Cum-
berland. In 1848 this road was conveyed to the Mount Savage
Iron Company. The same year this road with 5 miles more run-
ning to Borden Yard was conveyed to the Cumberland and Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company for stock involved, this being the
first property owned by the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Rail-

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road Company. This gale also included 0.9 of a mile of
Potomac wharf giving the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company a good frontage along the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal where most of the freightage of that day was loaded.

The defunct company (Maryland and New York Coal and
Iron Company) are J given credit with the manufacture of the
first railroad rails in the United States. This of course
takes in the exception of the strap rails the t were in
common use at that time. The rails manufactured in the
vicinity of Mount Savage were of the inverted "U" type, and
weighed 42 pounds to every three feet.

With this as a start the Cumberland and Pennsylvania
Railroad Company issued $250,000 worth of bonds in 1856 se-
oured by a mortgage on their entire property. The money ob-
tained from these bonds was used in the construction of an
extension from Borden Yard to a point east of the town of
Lonaconing connecting with what was then the G-eorges Creek
Coal Company Railroad. In the summer of 1855, M. A. Miller,
engineer in charge, made extensive surveys of the route and
in 1856 construction was started under the supervision of
Messrs. Hunbird and Reynolds. The railroad wa3 single track
9.8 miles long. The only feature of construction was that of
a tunnel under the town of Frostburg which i3 537.4 feet long.
The length of the road up to this point is now 23.7 miles. The
original cost of this road can not be ascertained.

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The next expansion of the railroad was proposed in
July 1858. Surveys were ran for 1,2 miles of single track
up Neff Run from the main line to the mines of the Miller
Coel Company, The contract for this road was let to Messrs.
Thomas Frost and H, B. Sheffer of Fro3tburg who completed
the road on October 23, 1858. The mines finally ran out
and abont 1896 the track was abandoned.

In 1863 the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany completed its main line as it stands today. On October
23, 1863 the Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company conveyed to
the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company all of its
railroad from a point one mile ea3t of lonaconing f the end
of the piece last constructed) to the connection with the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Piedmont, West Virginia. The
9.2 miles of single track and all equipment were sold for
$250,000. The following year the Cumberland and Pennsylvania
Railroad Company constructed for the Midlothian Coal Company,
4,23 miles of track extending from 4000 feet east of Borden
Shaft to the village of Midlothian. The Midlothian Coal Com-
pany then sold the track to the Cumberland and Pennsylvania
Railroad Company to be paid for by the transportation of the
Midlothian coal.

The Company growing as it did deemed it adviseable at
that ti-ne to increase the Capital Stock, New equipment was
needed and several proposed branches were to be added. The

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Capital Stock wag then raised to $1,500,000 by an act of the
General Assembly in 1864.

Four years later the Consolidation Coal Company con-
veyed to the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroai Company the
following branches; Blast Furnace (1.3 miles), located near
Mount 3avage, The Consolidation Mine Branch Ho. 13 (1.3 miles),
located near Frostburg. The Blast Furnace Branch wa3 abandoned
in 1874 and the Consolidation Mine Branch was abandoned in 18 73
and reconstructed in 1913 on the Old Roar! Bed. From this time
on until the twentieth century very little addition was made to
the road. Several spurs were constructed. The Carlos Branch
was constructed in 1888 and was single track road 2 miles long.
The Union Branch (1 mile) was built from Alleghney to the Hew
York Mining Company* mine Ho. 2, in 1896 and the No. 7 branch
(1.07 miles) from Carlos to Consolidation mine Ho. 7 near Lord,
Maryland and was finished in 1897.

The Company in 1915 acquired more branches to various
mines. The development of these started as early as 1829. Prior
to that year the Maryland Mining Company had completed 9.0 miles
of single track from Echart, Maryland to Cumberland and also D03-
sessed one mile known as the Potomac Wharf Branch. In 1829 these
two branches were 3old to the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company.
They were used for some 12 years and finally sold to the Consol-
idation Coal Company along with 1.3 miles of track known as the
Hoffman Branch and all the personal property of the Company

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includlng engines, car3, etc., in 1841.

In addition to this property acquired from the Cumber-
land Coal and Iron Company, the Consolidation Coal Company
added 2.4 miles of track to the Pennsylvania State Line. In
1915 this was all acquired by the Cumberland and Pennsylvania
Railroad Company and with exception of a few spurs and aidings
complete the acquisition and construction of property by the
Company. All of this history may be followed closely on a
diagramatic chart showing the organization of the Company
which accompanies this thesis. The following chart compiled
from the history of the road will show the various branches,
by whom they were built, and when, although no data a3 to the
cost of construction could be obtained. (Chart on Page Hine)

The history of this road reveals that the Cumberland and
Pennsylvania Railroad Company is an accumulation of small rail-
roads that were in so much use during the rather feverish coal
operations. These roads have been all repaired and in some
place rebuilt making the main line an up-to-date, first-class
road. Since the engines and cars are not of the heaviest type,
the rails used in the construction are smaller than those used
on the larger roads* As to the construction of these various
branches very little could be found except in a general sense.

Prom Cumberland to Mount Savage there are three trades
all laid with hundred pound rails and completely tie plated.

Name of Company-

Name of Road

Length

Year

Maryland & New York Iron & Coal Co.

Main Line Cumberland
to Mount Savage

9.0

1845

Maryland Mining Company

Echart Branch

9.0

1846

Maryland Mining Company

Potomac Wharf #1

0.94

1850

Mt. Savage Iron Company

Potomac Wharf #2

0.9

1850

Mt. Savage Iron Company

Mount Savage Wye

5.0

1851

Georges Creek I. & C. Company

Loconaconing to
Piedmont

9.2

1852

Cumberland & Penna E. E. Company

Borden Yard to
lonaconing

9.8

1857

Cumberland & Penna E. E. Company

Neff Eun Branch

1.2

1858

Cumberland Coal & Iron Company

Hoffman

1.5

1859

Consolidation Coal Company

Blast Puniance Br.

1.3

1867

i

i

Consolidation Coal Company

Branch #13

1.3

1867

Midlothian Coal Company

Midlothian Branch

1.23

1664

Cumberland & Penna B. E. Company

Main Line #2 Track
Cumber land-Mt. Savage

3.2

1872

Consolidation Coal Company

State Line Branch

2.4

1878

Cumberland & Penna E. B. Company

Main Line, Valley Tr.

1.3

1879

Cumberland & Penna E. E. Company

Carlos Branch

2.0

1888

Cumberland & Penna E. E. Company

Union Branch #2

1.0

1896

Cumberland & Penna E. B. Company

Branch #7

1.07

1897

Cumberland & Penna B. E. Company

Main Line #3 Branch Tr

. 2.9

1902

Cumberland & Penna B. B. Company

Union Branch #1

.88

1906

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From Mount Savage to Piedmont the road is one track and laid
with 80 pound rails (rail3 weighing 80 pounds to the yiard)
which are only tie plated on the curves. All the main tracks
are ballasted with limestone and the bridges are very solidly
built being made of concrete with stone masonry piers, abut-
ments, and steel superstructures.

Although few facts could be found on the construction
some statistics may help to show what faced the contractors
in charge. The average grade of all the lines is 1.6$, while
the maximum grade is 3.2$. There are 29.51 miles of curved
track and 25.68 miles of tangent track, the maximum curve be-
ing 20 degrees. The road is built in a valley but must cross
several mountains near Frostburg, Maryland which necessitated
some extensive surveying. At Borden Yard it was necessary to
construct a switch-back to number nine. The train must pull
into Borden Yard beck up a 3.2$ grade to number nine and then
pull out of the switch-back into Frostburg. This makes it one
of the few railroads that must actually b^ck up a hill. This
is plainly shown on the accompanying map.

A general description of the main line may be observed
first hand if one ride3 from Cumberland to Piedmont, the full
length of the road. leaving Queen City Station in Cumberland
at an altitude of 646 feet the road passes through the Cum-
berland Narrows, a valley 300 feet wide and walls of sheer
ro3*ck 950 feet high. The road then winds up Wills Creek Val-
ley to Mount Savage, an altitude of 698 feet which lies at the

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base of the Georges Creek Divide. Here the first railroad
rails were made in the United States by the Mount Savage Iron
Works in 1848, Up the Divide to Borden Yard at which point
the train must back up a 3,2^ grade to pull into Frostburg
at an altitude of 1990 feet. It then passes under Frostburg
and goes down the Divide to Piedmont, West Virginia. The
train makes 89 stops and tak^s approximately one hour and a
half to make the trip. The steam locomotive* has been re-
placed by gas-electric motors.

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I l-H-93

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Cftrmoliau t u>*> tool Cwnpamj, ( TKe }

i
c.awinq, Crp-.+us at us.
narfen, John H ct. -.jk.
(wc-gKi trr^H LO-lE and Ir-on CorijEinu.
Uulwcrth Iron Company ttrw 3

Mur.jla*ia and r*ew Vorii Iron and Coal CompCPTVy.
Mqruknd Mining Gorftpamf Cfhr}

■j and Cu»>nis|ift<.'tll*; fcijilr*wa C;-
Wmvsiam , John lr, .

Chart ttoc'-o

pfcj

CuMMPLANO ***? PEHHSYLVA
R^ilHOAB COHPAh"

Incorporated in Maryland,
torch. *.iaSO.

O

PiTfcixjraj

and < onnel Isvii le

Railroad Company

.iLJTk- ■

a>tai [V^vmxh Wh*#-MVj

No.T
M t. Savage iron Company.
ifTCHSrporoted in Mfcriflondl

F«* T, 1B46
Jun.f-i.BM Cbnv*uiH>C»PBEfj
Mart Lint Cu"ifc*rrtend to
Bordsn YarO Via MtSnvcxw
Wya. 14-0 M ■ IwS ureS Pu>+
Mama Whorl Bra i h ttM -.-,

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EXPLANATION

" Ha Q-Hjrt Wmnbur-, : , ,
fne Ineta ^ pp*w a* Top od' Tm
t*>Ck±> unU o-rtjfe on fine
ratO^rtpOnun yq Chu^t, w*4cti or',
r^rl*TtJ Iherco" "" +*T« QAMr Of

litjtc erf PnGM*pBt'!arf Von ■ "H"H

■ Of «s* ilotc nclntj nuntO*F «S«..

Th. pact nurnbara -*rf«- to.
th* pommon «# *n* bioc^a *jnd
£3Vi»l& en *>i*j Cnurt, whKh am

r.i.i'trrinl rttWirti. gtMMW ■

frorn left h> nqW, i«if*T.T'

Cirek* in +h* lQw*r r «|nT Hard
co'ner.

Th* Btecks inaicote
j»vrterBn>p of, Pyglft ItfiJofr* JqtjJ]
*t*c Qj'ubo^and ana ftrmayhanlo
%3i|rocxj Company,

DIAGRAMMATIC CHART

sunns!; okuhmih

Hi' in

CUMBERLAND »•» PENNSYLVANIA
RAILROAD COMPANY.

Georges Creek Coal

and Iran Company

Incorporated in MarnkBtJ

Jurm I, IMfc

M

nolo

The Consolidation
Cool Con-pony

Incorpora-hgd in Maryland
March %. is&o.

March 3, 1 ftfcS QjnMua to the
CfcPBPCo. Naat- FurTtnc*
Track 1-3. MM**, h^wAhanopnea
N&IS Bronchi 1.5 Mil** Since
Abanaonocl a^d 8?«cnrwrtnjttoiJ
by Th* ConMddCTf ran Cool Co. /ft

MMB

Tnm CaiaolKloticn

Cjral Company

IncorporffteJ tn Maryland

hjv B.GI1 Convtub 1ft C 1 PRUt In.
deMw* ferancn lie Milt-,
Hnffrnan Bronen. l^MKre.

.■.,-uim™e Branch J1" '-

— = l»ftfli~f P»

ho*
Marylon«0i ■araJMewUfcrfc
Injoand Coal CpnTpH,in4

M"! rwntfc ■ k ; ■

Mw%*
Jot MMftia ti ■ ■ * ■

■
■

^

Eta&tua Corning.ttu^.

1 M

W» Luhvarth irorfCe-
Har Lin* Epilrooqi
Cumberland to Mt. 9a*aga
fl.O Milefl. _
£1

MM

LuLwar+h

[ran Company.

Inrorparated in Mari|land

March t, IB4T

^ct of r*h 7, ift4S

Chang/ng Home to

Mt, Savage ^non Co. -

Ho. I

The Mary land Mining

Company.

irxcrponotiscr in Maryland

Manih >i?,IB»
Hcv. 4, IM! Conv*«jft Uj 1Kiste*a
*othe CwiTh Ooar ■ Iror* Co.
EchhaH- BronCh $G Mlh-i,
fctemft Wharf Brt«h
O MilftS. (I

_to|

and Iran Campdnij

fWtrparated in M'ji yljiwirl
Fotruarij IP, IWH
Mar.i, «n rwi^iJl *J tCT"", r n»< To
E'.fc^^-t 0rOn#T*fl H.lft-,
utafffnrjn ™rar>th i.l nihn
Potomac Wharf Brarx>i IR'Hilf.

MP SHOWING

CUMBERLAND «• PENNSYLVANIA

RAILROAD COMPANY S

SYSTEfl

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