Maryland on Stamps & Covers
Baltimore-Washington HPO
Richard D. L. Fulton
The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a three-cent stamp on February 28, 1952, commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad.
The stamp depicted a horse-drawn railcar, the 1829-1930 Tom Thumb, and then-modern diesel. In addition, the legend on the stamps stated, “Baltimore & Ohio Railroad chartered February 18, 1827,” and “125 years of rail transportation.”
First day of issue covers (FDCs) were canceled at the Baltimore Post Office.
The B&O traces its origins back to Baltimore’s economic struggles, which the port city had faced in the mid-to-late 1820s.
An idea was suggested in 1826 by Evan Thomas, brother of Philip E. Thomas (president of the National Mechanics Bank of Baltimore) that railroads could be constructed and employed to transport goods. Evan Thomas had learned of the possibilities when he had visited England, according to The Great Railroads of North America (Bill Yenne, general editor, and Timothy Jones, editor).
In England, Evan Thomas had witnessed the operations of the British Stockton & Darlington Railroad, a small mining railroad.
Sold on the idea, Philip E. Thomas and George Brown (who was the director of the National Mechanics Bank of Baltimore) then became partners in establishing a “rail road” venture, and on February 28, 1828, incorporated the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company… thereby paving the way for the B&O to become the first (and ultimately the oldest) passenger and freight railroad in the nation.
The first leg of tracks was laid between Mount Clare, Baltimore, and Ellicott City, with the first “train” then having been in operation on this short line on May 24, 1930, according to Yenne and Jones. The “trains” consisted of a stagecoach-like car—the first car having been named “The Pioneer” and was pulled by horses. The horses also pulled wagons, which were designed for hauling freight.
On August 24, 1830, the first B&O steam engine made its debut, named the Tom Thumb, which had been constructed in 1929 by Peter Cooper. According to Yenne and Jones, the Tom Thumb made its first run from Baltimore to Ellicott City, traveling at an average of 18 miles per hour, while hauling a coach with 25 passengers.
On the Fourth of July in 1831, the B&O purchased the first eight-wheeled passenger cars, and by 1835, the B&O owned eight steam engines, 44 passenger cars, and 1,078 freight cars, according to Yenne and Jones.
On New Years Day, 1853, the B&O reached Wheeling (Virginia), thereby deeming the B&O as being the first railroad to reach the Ohio River from the East Coast. Subsequently, the B&O became the first through-train from the East Coast to have reached Saint Louis.
The subsequent War of Rebellion found the B&O serving an unanticipated duty: transporting Union troops and supplies to aid the Union forces in their attempts to restore order to the nation.
Serving the Union war effort proved to have been quite costly to the B&O. By the end of 1861 alone, dozens of B&O steam engines had been destroyed or captured, hundreds of railroad cars had been destroyed or captured, and nearly two dozen B&O railroad bridges had been destroyed, along with more than three dozen miles of railway.
The B&O reached its ultimate peak in the 1950s when it operated on some 5,658 miles of track between Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, and Saint Louis, the railroad tracks thereby spanning a total of 13 states.
The railroad faced financial difficulties entering the 1960s, was merged into the Chessie System, which joined with the Seaboard Coast Railroad in 1980, and was then consolidated into CSX Corporation.
In 1987, the B&O company was officially dissolved.
