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B&O Washington Branch Milestones


B&O Washington Branch Milestones
Relay to Washington

When in 1835 the B&O railroad built the Washington Branch from Relay to Washington, DC, they installed stone mile markers along the route. Engraved into each stone is the distance from Baltimore and Washington. The values always total 40, since at the time, that was the distance between the B&O's primary passenger stations in those cities.

No markers between Baltimore and Relay (the first 8 miles) have been found, suggesting they may never have existed.

Some of these original markers between Relay and Washington survive to the present. All the known ones are located on the southeast side of the tracks, except at Relay which had markers on both sides until removal by CSX. A steel "S" post can be found at some of the mile locations... they designate the start/end of a measured mile for the purposes of locomotive speed tests.

The table below shows the status of the markers when last checked sometime within the first few decades of the 2000s.

Any comments? EMail me.

MILE NEAR NOTES / PICTURES ADC MAP
9 Relay north *, south; both removed 2007 Ba 41 H 12
10 Paradise Ave. extant * (DH) Ho 17 K 7
11 Patuxent Quarter Rd. extant * Ho 17 J 9
12 Smith Ave. removed, now at B&O Museum Ho 17 F 10
13 Dorsey Station NO; S post AA 1 B 12
14 End Oak Ave. damaged 2007; S post AA 6 A 1
15 Montevideo Road removed, now found elsewhere AA 5 J 3
16 Jessup NO AA 5 G 5
17 Jessup Yards gone * AA 5 F 7
18 Main St. gone * (DH) AA 5 E 9
19 Water Plant extant * (DH) AA 5 B 9
20 Pfister Lane extant * (DH) AA 4 K 11
21 Laurel Racetrack Station extant * (DH) (RDV), west of modern mp 21 AA 4 H 13
22 Milestone Manor Apts extant * PG 4 H 4
23 Holly St. extant * PG 4 G 7
24 Cemetery buried * (DH) PG 4 D 8
25 Muirkirk Road extant * PG 4 B 10
26 Ammendale Road NO, unless buried PG 4 A 12
27 Talbot Ave. NO, unless buried PG 7 J 2
28 Sunnyside Ave. extant * PG 7 J 4
29 Lackawanna St. NO (Greenbelt Metro) PG 7 H 7
30 Greenbelt Road extant * (DH) PG 7 G 9
31 Paint Branch + rediscovered 2021 *, study underway; S post PG 7 F 11
32 NOAA extant * (MH) PG 12 E 1
33 Kennedy St. reported gone 2022 * (MH) PG 12 D 4
34 Northwest Branch extant * (DH) PG 12 C 6
35 Newton Street extant * (DH) PG 12 A 8
36 24th Pl. extant * (DH) DC 10 J 10
37 Kendall St. NO (original route followed WV Ave.) DC 10 G 12
38 6th & I St. NO DC 10 E 13
39 Louisiana & New Jersey Ave. ? DC 16 C 2
< 40 Pennsylvania Ave. & 2nd St. ? DC 16 C 2

* Bonus picture (i.e. not shown in virtual tour)
+ newest find/photo addition
(DH) photo courtesy Dave Hiteshew, who also uncovered several I thought had been lost
(MH) photo courtesy Marty Hager
(RDV) spotted by Robert Della Vecchia


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