Chesapeake Beach Railway
The Chesapeake Beach Railway (CBR), now defunct, was an American railroad of southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th century. The CBR ran 27.629 miles from Washington, D.C., on tracks formerly owned by the Southern Maryland Railroad and then on its own single track through Maryland farm country to a resort at Chesapeake Beach. The construction of the railway was overseen by Otto Mears, a Colorado railroad builder, who planned a shoreline resort with railroad service from Washington and Baltimore. It served Washington and Chesapeake Beach for almost 35 years, but the Great Depression and the rise of the automobile marked the end of the CBR. The last train left the station on April 15, 1935. Parts of the right-of-way are now used for roads and a future rail trail. History Origins In 1891, Baltimore lawyer (and later Maryland governor) Edwin Warfield and others organized the Washington & Chesapeake Beach Railway to connect Washington, D.C., with 3,000 acres (12 km²) of virgin bay front property at Fishing Creek where they would build a resort. Their Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, resort was to be a vacation spot for the rich and middle class alike, with two grand hotels, a boardwalk, racetrack, and amusements. A pier would accommodate Chesapeake Bay excursion steamers from Baltimore, Annapolis, and Eastern Shore points. In 1894, the W&CBR was granted a charter to incorporate the Town of Chesapeake Beach. Its grand schemes never bore fruit, and the railway was placed in receivership in 1895. A new company, the Chesapeake Beach Railway Company, took up the idea in 1896. In 1897, Otto Mears was placed in control of the company. He started construction in October 1897 at the B&O Railroad's Alexandria branch north of present Deane Avenue between Benning and Kenilworth. On April 7, 1898, the Chesapeake Beach Railway was given the franchise of the W&CBR. Mears optimistically anticipated that the railroad would be completed by July 1898. Before it could open, a draw span bridge over the Patuxent River would have to be built below Bristol. The Patuxent River being navigable as far north as Bristol had to be left unencumbered to steamboat traffic. Plans had to be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A contract to construct the bridge was awarded to the Youngstown Bridge Company and after numerous delays, the bridge was fully operational as of May 1899. Like much of the rail infrastructure throughout the United States, the CBR was built and maintained predominantly by African-American workers. The CBR was segregated by race, with separate waiting rooms and rail cars for African-Americans. The CBR entered into successful agreements with the B&O to extend service from their Hyattsville station on the Washington Branch and then along the Alexandria Branch for four miles to Chesapeake Junction. Trains would go on to Upper Marlboro and on December 5, 1898, the line from Hyattsville to Upper Marlboro was officially opened. Their primary goal was to tap into the Baltimore market by connecting directly with the