B&O Patuxent Branch Line

The early B&O railroad started by using Howard County granite to build sills and stringers, stabilize track beds, and build bridge abutments to create the first commercial granite uses in the County.  As granite quarries were prominently used in the early 1830s to support the B&O main line,  the same promise was held for the Guilford granite quarries as they opened in 1834.

The history of the Patuxent Branch Rail (PBR) line began in 1835 when the main Washington Branch Line opened linking Washington DC to Baltimore.  Even during this opening, there was hope that the line would be extended to Guilford as noted in the October 13, 1835 American and Commercial Daily Advertiser.  It stated that “Nineteen miles from Baltimore, the Savage Railroad diverges from the Washington branch, and leads to the Savage Factory and the most valuable quarries of granite in the neighborhood”, which were opened at Guilford.

Savage Rail Road Company

The Savage Rail Road Company was formed in 1835 to connect the Washington Branch to the Savage Factory and Guilford Quarries to the main line and ran until about 1844.  The charter was published in the September 22, 1835 Baltimore Gazette and Daily Advertiser and it was very clear the intent of this company – “construction and repair of a Rail-Road from the lateral branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-Road, to the city of Washington, and connected therewith; commencing near to the point where said lateral branch crosses the little Patuxent, and extending up said little Patuxent, passing by the Savage Factory, for a distance of not more than six miles”.  The length of the Patuxent Branch ended up being about 4.1 miles when it was completed in 1901.

The Savage Rail Road Company operated using horse power and never ended up extending beyond the Savage Factory itself.  Amos Williams, the company agent at the Factory, was one of the primary forces for this company and many of the stockholders were not pleased with this investment or the 10 percent annual fee for the cost of the rail road he wanted to charge the Savage Manufacturing Company. This was contrasted with the highest railroad dividend of 6% being charged by the Providence Rail Road.  George Williams wrote in a deposition that “Amos A. Williams had his own way out there. That was the way the use of the Road was forced on the Company”.

A $2,000-$3,000 bridge was constructed to Savage Factory by crossing the Little Patuxent River.  The Company lasted until about July of 1844.   In 1847, The Baltimore Sun reported that the bridge was washed away (Oct 9), but archaeologists in 1985 believed they may have found the remains of that original bridge buried beneath the river where the existing Bollman Bridge stands. More research is needed to determine whether other rail bridges were attempted to reconnect Savage Factory to the mainline.

Patuxent Branch Spur

In 1887, a B&O Patuxent Branch spur was finally built to Savage Factory/Mill across the newly installed Bollman Bridge, with again, the promise of connecting to the Guilford Quarries.  While the quarries commercial business increased, it was held back by the lack of easy transportation to the rail lines. Quarry blocks could now be hauled over the macadamized roads to the Savage Mill station saving more than a mile of effort. In 1889, the B&O railroad issued a book on their stations and the Patuxent Branch was officially listed at a distance of 1.3 miles.

In 1901, Maryland Granite Company took over the large quarry and completed the rail line between Guilford and Savage Mill providing us with the Pratt Through-Truss.  The full Patuxent Branch Rail (PBR) line of the B&O railroad operated between 1902 and 1928 and contained several commercial stops between the main Washington Branch Rail line Savage Switch and the end of the PBR at the Guilford Quarries. Those stops included:

·         Station C101C - J.K.L. Ross; Mile 1

·         Station C101 - Savage Factory; Miles 1.1 to 1.3

·         Station C101A - Gabbro; Mile 1.9

·         Station C102- Quarry Siding; Mile 2.3

·         Station C103 – Specht; Mile 2.9

·         Station C103A - B.F. Pope Stone Siding; Mile 3.3

·         Station C104A, C - Maryland Granite Co.; Mile 3.9

·         Station C104B, D - Maryland Granite Co.; Mile 4.1

·         Station C104 – Guilford; Mile 4.1 (1928); Mile 4.3 (1904, 1913)

·         Station C104E - Howard Granite Co.; Mile 4.3

Abandonment and the Future

In 1928, 2.5 miles of the Patuxent Branch line was officially abandoned between Guilford to Savage Mill (see below).  The declaration stated that there was no industry along the tributary and the quarries were abandoned in 1924 with only 15 train car loads of crushed stone being sent along the line that year.  It is not known which quarry was still crushing stone at the time.

In the 1960s, when the dream of Columbia was still in the works, it seemed that for Columbia to exist and grow, it needed an industrial employment anchor, and a railroad to serve it.  The Rouse Company courted several companies to move to Columbia and it ultimately landed General Electric for the enormous industrial park that is now Snowden Square shopping center and the Columbia Gateway Corporate Park.   GE required rail access and Howard County almost worked out a deal with the B&O Railroad to rebuild the Patuxent Branch Rail line in 1966 but by 1970 Rouse and others decided to go through a route from Jessup that crosses above Mission Road.

While there are no longer plans to reopen the railroad the rails went away, a small country dirt road was used in its place, and now the Patuxent Branch and and Wincopin Green Trails currently occupy the path that the B&O railroad traveled over 115 years ago. They are well worth the visit!

Resources:  

Primary sources for this information is available in Hidden History of Howard County (Arcadia Press).

Thank you to Amy Reytar from Savage, Maryland, and with NARA who helped us locate some of the historical documents from the Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Study.  

Thank you to the B&O History Museum Research Library in Baltimore as well as the B&O Historical Society in Eldersburg.