Page "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad" Paragraph 11

The State of Maryland granted the B & O a charter to build a line from Baltimore to Washington, D. C., in 1831, and the Washington Branch was opened in 1835.

This line joined to the original mainline at Relay, Maryland, crossing the Patapsco on the Thomas Viaduct, which remains one of the B & O's signature structures.

This line was partially funded by the state, and was operated separately until the 1870s, with the state taking a 25 percent cut of gross passenger receipts.

This line was built in stone, much like the original mainline.

By this time, however, strap rail was no longer used for new construction.

Most of the stone bridges on the Old Main Line did not last long, being washed out by the periodic flooding of the Patapsco River and replaced at first by Bollman Truss bridges.

The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad to Annapolis connected to this line at Annapolis Junction in 1840.

As an unwritten condition for the charter, it was understood that the state would not charter any competing line between Baltimore and Washington.