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Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Facts & Worksheets

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) is a railway operated by steam to engage in the transportation of goods and passengers and is connected to thirteen states.

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Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) is a railway operated by steam to engage in the transportation of goods and passengers and is connected to thirteen states. This has become one of America’s largest railroads under the CSX Corporation.

See the fact file below for more information on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Baltimore and Ohio Railroad worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

  • In the early years when railroads started operating, the carriages were pulled by horses but these were improved and turned into steam-powered railways.
  • As the people of Baltimore saw how their city was negatively affected by the opening of the Erie Canal, its elders thought of establishing a railroad. This was mainly to compete with New York that overtook being the gateway to the west, which was previously Baltimore.
  • Philip Thomas and George Brown, being the railroad project’s leading proponents, left the city of Baltimore and went to England to gather their needed information from those ongoing railway projects during that time.
  • One month after Thomas and Brown’s return from England, the states of Maryland and Virginia started the railroad project, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
  • The project was financed through a stock offering wherein almost all of the city’s people bought stock and they were able to raise a $3 million fund.
  • The construction of the railroad, running from the port of Baltimore to the Ohio River, started in 1828.
  • At first it was run by horses pulling carriages. But in 1829, they tried using steam engines and had them travel a 13 mile path for fifty seven minutes.
  • Having beaten the horse-driven carriages, the construction continued after many dry runs.
  • By 1834, the operation reached Virginia to Harper’s Ferry.

CONTRIBUTING TO THE ECONOMY OF BALTIMORE

  • The B&O Railroad achieved their aim of bringing back the title of being the gateway to the cities in the west to Baltimore, which was stolen by New York after the opening of Erie Canal.
  • This encouraged technological advancements in architecture and engineering. Its first year of operation progressed together with the city’s immigration rate.
  • A telegraph line was put along the tracks of the railroad in 1844. These two lead to the implementation of the standard time zone throughout the country. The standard time zone helped the railroad in scheduling the operation of its trains while the telegraph allowed one time to be accessible for the whole country.
  • Wendel Bollman, one of the railroad project’s engineers, developed the first cast-iron bridge system in the country.
  • In 1850, B&O Railroad Shop, a company working with an iron fabricator, began the production of architectural components of cast-iron. This led to huge progress in Baltimore’s landscape.
  • The foreigner intake of the port of Baltimore doubled each year after B&O Railroad’s operation.

FACING SOME STRUGGLES

  • B&O suffered from financial crisis in 1950.
  • This issue reached New York Central and in 1959, they suggested a three-way merger with B&O, with Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railway as the other one.
  • C&O did not agree with the plan and competed with New York Central in buying stocks.
  • New York Central owned about 10 percent of B&O’s stock but C&O succeeded in overpowering it and had up to 70 percent of the stock.
  • C&O, being the major stockholder of B&O, requested legal control of it which was granted in 1962 and became official around a month later.
  • In the early 70’s, Chessie System was created and both C&O and B&O were owned by it in 1973, though the companies remained their different identities.
  • Chessie System merged with Seaboard Coast Line Industries in 1978, incorporating CSX.
  • Also in 1978, B&O merged with C&O a long time after the latter company gained control of B&O, which also merged with CSX a few months later putting B&O under CSX.

THE B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM

  • The name “Baltimore and Ohio Railroad” was gone in the railway business as it merged with Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company.
  • As B&O had contributed a lot to Baltimore and to the railroad industry, a B&O Railroad Museum was built showcasing the world’s oldest American railroad collection.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Baltimore and Ohio Railroad worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) which is a railway operated by steam to engage in the transportation of goods and passengers and is connected to thirteen states. This has become one of America’s largest railroads under the CSX Corporation.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Facts
  • Fact or Bluff
  • Railway Tunnel
  • Bullet Train
  • Baltimore Wordscapes
  • Supply Line
  • Train Company Logo
  • Scrabble
  • Own Insights
  • Timeline
  • What If Not?

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Link will appear as Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 19, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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