Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad
| Company type | Railroad |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Predecessor | Washington and Maryland Line Railroad, Columbia and Maryland Line Railroad |
| Founded | 1858 |
| Defunct | 1916 |
| Fate | Absorbed by Pennsylvania Railroad |
| Headquarters | Columbia, Pennsylvania , United States |
Area served | Pennsylvania, Maryland |
| Parent | Pennsylvania Railroad (after 1866) |
The Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad (C&PD) operated a principal rail line running between Columbia, Pennsylvania and Port Deposit, Maryland, situated along the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River. Subsequently, it expanded by acquiring a branch extending to Perryville, Maryland. The C&PD was eventually absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and, following the 1999 division of Conrail, ownership transferred to Norfolk Southern Railway.
History
Initially chartered in 1858 under the name Washington and Maryland Line Railroad, it was later renamed the Columbia and Maryland Line Railroad. Construction commenced in 1866. At that period, a branch line constructed by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B), which was under PRR control, was advancing toward Port Deposit from the southeast. In 1866, PRR secured a controlling stake in C&PD. The first portion of track opened in 1868, linking the newly established Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad at Rowlandsville—located four miles north of Port Deposit—to the PW&B branch. Completion of the entire route to Columbia occurred in 1877, with all infrastructure leased to PW&B.
After reorganizing as the Columbia and Port Deposit Railway in 1890, C&PD acquired the Perryville branch from PW&B in 1893 prior to PW&B taking ownership of C&PD.
Successor lines: Late 20th century to present
In 1902, PW&B merged into the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (PB&W), with C&PD being incorporated in 1916. Under PRR control, this line was designated as the Port Road Branch and underwent electrification in 1938. The Port Road designation extends northward from Columbia to Marysville along the Enola Branch.
Following PRR’s merger into Penn Central in 1968 and its bankruptcy declaration in 1970, ownership passed to Conrail in 1976. Passenger operations on the Port Road ceased on October 29, 1978, when Amtrak rerouted the National Limited through Philadelphia instead. Conrail dismantled the electrification infrastructure in 1981, although some elements such as catenary poles still remain visible. Upon Conrail’s division in 1999, Norfolk Southern assumed control of the Port Road Branch.
See also
- Atglen and Susquehanna Branch
- List of crossings of the Conestoga River
- List of defunct Maryland railroads
- List of defunct Pennsylvania railroads
- List of Pennsylvania Railroad predecessor railroads
External links
- C & PD Today – Information and photographs detailing operations on the Port Road Branch
- Conrail's Port Road – Visual archive from the Conrail period
- Port Road photos (2008)
- Articles with short description
- Conrail
- Defunct Maryland railroads
- Defunct Pennsylvania railroads
- Norfolk Southern Railway lines
- Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad
- Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad
- Railway companies established in 1858
- Railway companies disestablished in 1916
- 1858 establishments in Pennsylvania
- American companies established in 1858