Daily Republican., 1881-03-09
TIE r, ". a d, RAILROAD.
a eheSt MistsFy Of the Read rbas
MAS Passed Under she Consroi
Of tho Pennsylvania MRfIRsad,


Baltimore Railroad, which has passed
under the control Of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, consist, Of main line nine
ty.six miles in length from Philadst'
phia to Baltimore, with a double trsct
OF steel ra lis. II was formed on fa6'
ruary 5, 1888, by consolidating the
Philadelphia and Delaware County
chartered April 2, 1881; the Whining
ton and Susquehanna, chartered IN
Delaware, January Is, 1882; the Della
ware and Maryland, chartered in Mary
land, March IA, 1882, and the Balti'
more and Port Deposit, chartered
March I, 1882. The main line was
completed at . cost Of 81, 1856, ,5ll, in
cludipg the schuylkill Bridge, finished
In 1888. II bought the New Castle and
Frsnohtown and the New Castle ana
Wilmington Roads, and merged them
In 1875, when II leased the Delaware
Railroad and its branches, l00s miles
long, and operates altogether 2v7 miles
including its Port Deposit branch from
Perryville. lis capital stock is $ll,
572,750, and its funded debt only
$2, ,753,S00. The latter consists OF a 8
psr cent convertible mortgage loan OF
s253, 500, due in 1884; registered 6 per
cent bonds for 81 ,00e, 900, due in 1887,
ditto for s70O, 900, due in 1882, and
sinking fund 6 per cents. tor ssOo. GOO,
dus In 1900. II has been paying s per
cent. dividends regularly for i've years
and It's ne. earnings increased from
Sl, ,0s5 203 in lS77-7s to Sl,2s2, IFS in
1878 70, and 70 81, ,3s6,l67 in 1880,
the financial year ending in this lst Of
November.
In order 10 give clear idea Of the
early workings Of the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and baltimore Railroad In
Phila., II 10 necessary 10 50 back a
little and take up another branch OF
primitive raiiroadiog. When the
State was building railroad from Phila.
to Columbia, the city OF Phiiadei.
phis also vent into the business and
built q railroad, one branch OF which
extended north and south on Broad
street the whole length Of the city,
that 10 TO say, from Cedar street (uow
South strset) to Vine street, where 1t
met the Philadelphia and ColumbiA
Railroad. The main stem of the City
Railroad ran down Market street 70
Third, down Third 70 Dock, and down
Dock to the Delaware.
By the same act Of Assembly shat
char tered the Philadelphia and Della
ware County Railroad another company
was moor porated, to be known as the
Southw ark Railroad Company, with
the right to build railroad from the
Delaware river in the District Of South
wark, to Broad and Cedar streets, in
such directions ss the company should
dssm best, TO connect with the terminus
Of the City Railroad. The company
were also authorized 10 extend their
road from Broad street to the SahHyl-
kill, bat this was never done. The
minutes OF the old Southwark Com
pany show that in 1885 the road had
been built from Cellar street down
Broad TO Prime (now Washington ave.)
and down Prime to the Delaware. Some
time afterwards tho road was extended
frsm the foot OF Prime street MP Swanson
street, near thu river front, TO Cedar.
The tracks Of the Philadolphts, VIII
minSton and Baltimore proper never
came into the city beyond the present
depot at Broad and Washington avenue.
Like the State railroad and City Rail-
road, anybody had the right to ran
oars over the SohthwsFd Road on pay
ment of the required tsLls, and it was
this old road that enaSled the Phila-
delphis, Wilmington, and Baltimore
Railroad Company 10 reach the centre
Of the oity and the Delaware river with
their traffic. Their first depot was ss-
tablished where TIE Bingham House
now stands, at the southeast corner Of
Eleventh and Market streets. and 1t
continued there until the compilation Of
the depot al Broad and Prime stres.s
in 1852, and during all those years the
passenger and freight cars OF the com
pauy were hauled from the west side
Of the Schuylkill, at Gray's Ferry, to
Eleventh and Market streets by horse
power.
In their report fer the year 1851 the
directors speak Of the progress OF the
work on the new depot, and express
the belief tha. when completed it
will be the largest and finest passenger
depot in America. Ia the report for
the following year they record the re-
moysl Of the busin ess TO the new depot
which took place May 7, 1852, and
congratulate the company on having
got rid Of the horse power nuisance.
AZ an early period the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
Company began to buy up the stocks
limited 10 $200,0 Of the South wsrk
Company, and in 1852 they owned it
nearly all. In the fall Of 1870 the
tracks OF the Southwark Railroad from
South street to Washington avenue
were removed, the city paying the COM
papy $4,000 for their right on Broad
street, The company was merged into
the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Bal
timors, and the directors adjourned
sine die April "a. 1877. The tracks
and franchises Of the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Company,
on Washington avenue, east Of Broad
street, and on Swanson street, north Of
Washington avenue. the whole length
Of the line being one mile and seventy