This driveway leading up from Twin Arch Road to a junkyard marks the
location of B&O Plane 1, the first inclined plane encountered on the
trip west.
Basically, each of Mt. Airy's four inclined planes occupied a relatively
steep area of terrain. When B&O planned this right of way in 1830,
no one accurately knew the gripping ability of a steam locomotive's metal
wheels upon metal rails. There were but a handful of primitive steam
locomotives to be found anywhere at that time, and B&O didn't have
an operating one to test.
As a result, B&O chief engineer Jonathan Knight's estimate of how
steep a grade future locomotives could climb was little more than
an educated guess, and that guess turned out to be quite conservative.
Consequently Plane 1 hardly looks formidable by today's standards.
Is this surely the location of Plane 1? The even grading, the angle,
the unusual road surface, the cut, the proximity of commercial
property (the junkyard) in an otherwise residential area all say a
railroad had been here. The curve, however, is a puzzle. It is
likely the planes were straight, or nearly straight, runs, so the
I surmise the curve was added later, perhaps to facilitate room
for a nearby house.
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