Baltimore and Ohio Railroad or B&O, first U.S. public RR, chartered in 1827 by a group of Baltimore businessmen to regain trans-Allegheny traffic lost to the newly opened Erie Canal. Construction began in 1828, and the 1st division opened in May 1830, bet. Baltimore and Ellicott’s Mills, Md. Horses were the 1st source of power, but the successful trial run of Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb in Aug. 1830, brought the change to steam locomotives. The B&O expanded steadily and reached St. Louis in 1857. During the Civil War the RR moved Union troops and supplies. By the end of the 19th cent. the B&O had achieved most of its present 5,800 mi/9,334 km of track and connected with Chicago, Philadelphia, and N.Y. city. By the mid-1900s it had become mainly a freight carrier. Faced with financial difficulties, the B&O merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio in 1965. The B&O was the 1st RR to publish a timetable, to use electric locomotives and specialty cars (e.g., dining and baggage), and to run fully air-conditioned trains.
