Tracks
along the Ditch
Patrick
H. Stakem
This site presents a guide to the many railroads that touched the C&O Canal. It is intended as a guide for the person interested in both canal and early railroad history. It is well known that the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal started off on same day, July 4, 1828, with the same goal. The canal stretches 186.5 miles from Georgetown in Washington, DC to Cumberland, Md. The old towpath is used by hikers and bikers, and the canal is a National Park, thanks to the efforts of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.
We will discuss each significant railroad location along the canal by milepost, east to west. Distances generally follow Hahn's towpath guide, 25th anniversary edition. The canal can be hiked from end to end, or can provide a series of weekend trips.
The National Park Service Site is at: www.nps.gov
Statistics
Railroads
This section gives a bit of background on the railroads mentioned in this guide. Some of these are still running, and some have been out of business for a hundred years. Some of these railroads interchanged cargo with the canal. Some merely crossed it on bridges, or ran along it. Most were standard gauge (4 feet, 8 1/2 inches); some were narrow gauge. Some were electric trolley lines. There are several tourist lines you can ride today.
East
to west discussion of rail-related topics along the C&O Canal
Tidewater to Great Falls
Great Falls to Harpers Ferry
Seneca
The Shenandoah Valley to Hancock
Big Pool
The Hard Part
Oldtown, Md.
Lynn Wharf, and Potomac River Wharfs
West of Cumberland
The canal never was built west of Cumberland, but the paths to the Ohio River were surveyed. As it turns out, the B&O railroad used two of the possible paths on its way to the same goal. This is not surprising, as there are few options through the steep grades of the Alleghenies, and no complete water-level route. Allow us some speculation. Here's what the Canal would have done on its extension to the Ohio River, and here are the railroads it would have interacted with. Let's look at the topology, with a view that George Washington would have lied for.
Alternative one: Alternative 1
Alternative two: Alternative 2
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Here, the good people of Pittsburgh prepared for the arrival of the C&O canal, and its tie-in to the Pennsylvania Canal system. B&O's Sandpatch grade;
Acknowledgements
Gary M. Petrichick, past C&O Canal Historical Society president - It's all his fault.
Bob Shives, PhotoArchivist of Western Maryland Railway Historical Society
Archives of WMRHS, Union Bridge
Archives of WMC-NRHS, Cumberland
C&O Canal Historical Society
C&O Canal Visitors Centers, Cumberland, Hancock, Great Falls, Williamsport.
Kate Mulligan, Author
Frank Tosh, Arlington, Va., Traction/Trolley Expert
Westernport (MD) Rail Museum
