In 1826 Thomas and Brown met with 25 prosperous men concerned with Baltimore's economic future and who felt threatened by the canal. The meeting took place at Belvedere, an estate owned by Colonel John Edgar Howard, who Howard County was later named after. Philip's brother, Evan Thomas told the men about the Stockton & Darlington Railroad in England that was using horses to pull coal laden cars from the mines to the shipping docks.
More meetings were held at the home of William Patterson. Patterson had emigrated from Ireland in 1766 and was a prosperous shipping merchant. During a meeting held at the home of George Brown on February 1, 1827, Patterson was elected President of the group. During a meeting held at the home of George Brown held on February 12, 1827 it was decided to launch the railroad. John Van Leer McMahun, Esq. drew up the Railroad charter. Philip Thomas was elected President and George Brown as treasurer.
The company proposed to raise $1,500,000 through the issuance of stock. The idea of purchasing stock caused great excitement in Baltimore. In just twelve days, by April 1, 1827, the railroad had raised $4,178,000.
The first railroad company started in the United States went into business on April 24, 1827, with the following board of directors:
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The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1828. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, was present to turn the first spadeful of earth. At the time he was 91 years old. Aware of the momumentality of the event, Carroll exclaimed "I consider this among the most inportant acts of all my life, and 2nd only to my signing of the Declaration of Independence, if it can be 2nd even unto that.". To commemorate the event there was a huge parade unlike anything ever seen in Baltimore. The inscription on the stone reads: "THIS STONE Presented by the Stone Cutters of Baltimore In Commemoration of the Commencement of the BALTIMORE & OHIO RAIL ROAD, was here placed On the 4th of July, 1828, by the GRAND LODGE OF MARYLAND Assisted by CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON The last surviving Signer OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE And under the direction of the President and Directors OF THE RAIL ROAD COMPANY
Surveys had determined the best route West was the Patapsco valley. In October 1828, work began on this section of road. Insert track types here. The Carrollton viaduct was begun in December, 1828, Patterson viaduct began in January, 1829 & the cornerstone of the Oliver viaduct was laid on July 4th, 1829. On New Year's Day of 1830, the directors had a inaugural ride from Pratt St. to the Carrollton viaduct & back in a horse-drawn car. The next part of getting the line open to Ellicott's Mills came to be known as the "Deep Cut" & took 18 months to complete. By May 24, 1830, it was completed to Ellicott's Mills. The Baltimore and Ohio began making plans for Ellicott's Mills as the site for the first terminus and station. On May 22nd, an inaugural trip was run between Pratt St. & Ellicott's Mills. On May 24th, the railroad was opened for scheduled service, advertising 3 trips a day to Ellicott's Mills. The primitive cars, pulled by a team of horses took about 1 1/2 hours to make the 13 mile run. The first 4 months of operation generated an income of $20,000.
Ellicott's Mills was an important center of commerce on the Frederick Turnpike. Flour and other commodities could be shipped to Baltimore from this location. The Frederick Turnpike was financed by the Ellicott Bros. & George Washington did some of the surveying for the road.
To continue the line past Ellicott's Mills, a huge cliff area, locally known as Terrapin Rock, had to be blasted away. A single line of track was laid as far as Sykesville by 1831. In June of 1831, some workers had been left unpaid by a dishonest contractor. They rioted, & began to damage railroad property & tear up the track. The Baltimore militia was called out to end the riot, and arrived by train, the first use of a railroad to move troops.
All along the way, the line continued by building ledges against the granite cliffs. Streams had to be crossed and many stone arch bridges were built. Past Marriottsville, the Patapsco river had to be crossed with a 40' stone arch bridge due to unpassable rock formations. Continuing West, the line was divided, with the main line heading to Point of Rocks, with a branch going North to Frederick. The B&O was working on the line at many points along the way to speed up construction.
Also during 1831, Peter Cooper had built his "Tom Thumb" a tiny locomotive with a upright steam boiler, which he demonstrated to the directors of the B&O. After this demonstration the directors announced a challenge for a new design for a steam engine for regular service on the B&O. 5 engines were entered in the contest, which was won by the "York" built by Phineas Davis. The 3 1/2 ton York went into service pulling trains between Baltimore & Ellicotts Mills in June of 1831. The York was quickly overwhelmed by constant use, and was replaced by 1832 by the 6 1/2 ton "Atlantic" another Davis design.
By 1834, the line went as far as Harper's Ferry. In 1836, much of the line was rebuilt, the intent being to straighten the many tight curves, and arupt alignments where the track hugged stone cliffs. At the same time, it was realized that the track technology the engineers had employed all along the line was obsolete for use by the growing railroad. Insert granite roadbed, etc story here. The original design decision the engineers had made to use strap iron rail on granite stringers was made for economic reasons. It was now apparent that they needed a stronger track design for the line, and a decision was made to use rolled iron "T" rail. This rail was very expensive as it had to be imported from the iron roller-mills of England. Much of the iron strap rail was replaced with the new "T" rail over the next 10 years, however, some strap rail remained in use in several sections along the way until 1852. Amazingly, the B&O salvaged much of the strap iron rail for use on sidings and secondary lines.
The newest engines on the B&O were called "Grasshoppers" weing in at between 7 1/2 & 8 1/2 tons, they could almost reach 30 mph. By 1837, the "Norris" engines with the new horizontal boiler design became the new standard. The vertical-boilered"Grasshoppers" took a back seat to the new "Norris" style engines, but remained in service many years pulling freight cars.
After finally settling on a plan to get past Harpers Ferry, the line continued west to Martinsburg during 1839. By 1842 the line had reached Cumberland. In 1844 came the 0-8-0 Winans "Muddiggers" a 23 1/2 ton engine. In 1848 the Winans "Camels" arrived.
By 1850, the first of the "Bollman Truss" bridges were built and became the new standard B&O bridge design, replacing many wooden bridges.
Finally, the line reached Wheeling on January 1, 1853.
Sykes Hotel