The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad in the United States connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).
For eleven decades, the Northern Central operated as a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad until much of its Maryland trackage was washed out by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, after which the Penn Central declined to repair destroyed sections and the remainder fell into disuse. It is now a fallen flag railway, having come under the control of Conrail and then the Norfolk Southern Railway.
Trackage from Camden Station in Baltimore to Timonium, Maryland, remains in service as part of the Baltimore Light RailLink line, while much of the line in Pennsylvania is operated by the Norfolk Southern for freight service. The Northern Central Railway of York, a heritage railway, operates on former Northern Central track between New Freedom and Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania.
The route between York, Pennsylvania, and the Maryland-Pennsylvania line is now the York County Heritage Rail Trail, much of which is side-by-side with still-functioning track. Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, a similar hike/bike trail in Northern Maryland, connects with the York County Heritage Rail Trail and continues down to Baltimore either on rural roads or the old railroad grade.
Early history The need for a railroad Farmers and producers in central and southern Pennsylvania were eager to sell their grain, coal, lumber, and other products, and the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia both wanted access to this potentially rich trade. But the ridges and valleys of the Piedmont and Appalachians blocked any easy trade routes from central Pennsylvania to markets on the coast. The upper Susquehanna River provided an important, navigable route throughout central Pennsylvania, but the Conewago Falls and other hazards below and southeast of Middletown made travel to Chesapeake Bay difficult; upstream traffic from the bay was impossible. Shippers tried to move cargoes using rafts, flatboats, or disposable “arks” that were flimsily built and loaded upstream, then dismantled at the river’s mouth in Havre de Grace, Maryland. But many craft were damaged or wrecked on the trip downstream.Gunnarsson, Robert L. (1991). The Story of the Northern Central Railway: From Baltimore to Lake Ontario. Sykesville, MD: Greenberg Pub. Co., p. 10.
Traffic that did successfully maneuver through the rapids typically went to Baltimore, the closest city to the river’s outlet on Chesapeake Bay.Gunnarsson, p. 10. This was not appreciated by merchants in Philadelphia: although in 1802 Pennsylvania and Maryland had agreed on building a canal from the Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, that project had foundered, so Philadelphia had no direct water access to the Susquehanna. Beginning in 1826, Pennsylvania committed to building a network of canals to ease navigation, the "Main Line," specifically opening up routes for trade to Philadelphia. But mountainous terrain made it difficult to build and operate canals, and slow travel times, inconvenient locations, and winter closures made the canals difficult to use.Gunnarsson, p. 11-12.
The Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad In 1827, a group of toll-road owners in York County, Pennsylvania, requested help from businessmen in Baltimore to explore building what eventually became the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad Company (B&S). The turnpike owners and farmers were frustrated by the difficulties of getting products to Philadelphia, where some felt exploited, forced to accept what merchants in Philadelphia were willing to pay. When surveys showed that building a railroad would be feasible, the York County group asked the General Assembly of Maryland to grant a railroad charter. This was approved on February 13, 1828, with an initial stock outlay of $800,000. The B&S was the second designated rail system in the state, given authority to construct a railroad from Baltimore northeast to York Haven, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River.Gunnarsson, pp. 12-13.
George Winchester, president of the new railroad company, made repeated requests to the Pennsylvania General Assembly to give their approval to the charter as set up by Maryland, with permission to operate in Pennsylvania. However, the legislators—especially those from Philadelphia—did not want trade from Pennsylvania going to Baltimore. Others wanted any railroad company operating in Pennsylvania to be owned and operated by Pennsylvanians, with profits staying in Pennsylvania. For these reasons, a charter for the B&S company was initially rejected.Gunnarsson, p. 13.
Nevertheless, construction of the Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad began in 1829, following the Jones Falls valley, and in 1831 reached Roland Run, at what today is Lake Roland. Construction had not been easy—the terrain north and west of Baltimore and Philadelphia presented significant challenges for building railroads. The only routes open to them were along fast-moving streams (called “Falls” because the whole stream was rapid) twisting through narrow valleys. Jones Falls provided a more open valley than some, but to create a workable grade the track still had to cross the stream frequently, with many curves and climbing stretches in betweenGunnarsson, p. 14.—Robert Gunnarsson reports that the B&S route eventually averaged about two bridges for every mile of track.Gunnarsson, p. 22.
On July 4, 1831, the railroad company celebrated the opening of its train service, carrying passengers pulled by horses to the Roland Run area and back to Belvedere Station in Baltimore (at or near the intersection of Guilford Avenue and Eager St today). The following year, they built a relay station near Roland Run, where fatigued horses could be exchanged for fresh ones; they called the station “Relay” (though this was sometimes confused with the Baltimore and Ohio’s station of the same name, around which the town of Relay, Maryland developed).Gunnarsson, p. 15. The location of Belevedere Station is discussed on p. 30.
The Green Spring Branch Concerned that the Pennsylvania legislature might never approve their route to the Susquehanna River, in 1830 the B&S obtained an amendment to its charter from the Maryland legislature. The charter’s wording was somewhat ambiguous, stating that the end point of the new line would be “the headwaters of the Monocacy River in the vicinity of Westminster”:Quoted in Gunnarsson, p. 16. Westminster, in Carroll County, is on the very eastern edge of the Monocacy’s drainage area, while the river’s headwaters are actually farther north, in the area of Gettysburg and across the state line into Pennsylvania.Kmusser, Map of the Monocacy River, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monocacy.png, 2006. Map made using USGS and U.S. Federal Census data.
In fact, the company set their sights at first only as far as Owings Mills, where several grist mills and other businesses were eager to pay for better transportation to markets. The new line started from Relay House and ran west through the Green Spring Valley, reaching the Reisterstown Road at Owings Mills in August, 1832. Connecting to the turnpike allowed the railroad to collaborate with stage companies to carry U.S. mail north from Baltimore. In the meantime, the B&S Company also built the Green Spring Hotel just east of Garrison, so that when the railroad reached that point, they could begin to carry tourists from Baltimore to the fresh air and beautiful scenery of Green Spring Valley.Gunnarsson, pp. 16-17.
While construction was ongoing, the B&S purchased its first steam locomotive, which they named the Herald. Made in England by Robert Stephenson, it arrived in autumn of 1832, but with a 0-4-0 configuration that couldn’t handle the tight curves of the Jones Falls route. The configuration was successfully adapted by using a leading 4-wheel truck that swiveled, and using just two driving wheels, for a 4-2-0 pattern. The Herald began twice-daily round trips to Green Spring Valley and Owings Mills beginning in October, 1832.Gunnarsson, pp. 17-18. This section of the line became known as the Green Spring Branch, and would later take on a life of its own.
The York and Maryland Line Rail Road The B&S had continued to seek permission to enter Pennsylvania, and in 1831 Pennsylvania’s Governor George Wolf stepped in to broker a deal. He wanted to see trade with Baltimore rather than isolated rivalry, so with his influence the railroad and the state legislature reached an agreement. If Maryland wanted railroad access to the Susquehanna River, the Maryland legislature would have to approve completion of a canal from Chesapeake Bay to the navigable portion of the river.Gunnarsson, p. 18. Maryland had wanted just such a canal for over 20 years, and they readily agreed.Gunnarsson, p. 10. However, Pennsylvania lawmakers still wanted any railroad operating in the state to be a Pennsylvania-based firm. The result was the incorporation of a new company, the York & Maryland Line Railroad Company (Y&ML), on March 14, 1832.Gunnarsson, pp. 18-19; the date is given on p. 186, where he cites "An Act to Incorporate the York and Maryland Line Railroad."Reporting mark (Y&ML) confirmed by Williams, Robert L. (2021). Northern Central Railway: Images of Rail. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, p. 87.
The Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad was given “’limited’ authority in Pennsylvania,”Gunnarsson, pp. 18-19, quoting "An Act to Incorporate the York and Maryland Line Railroad," which he cites on p. 186. and with that authority, they started once again to extend their initial line northwards, reaching Timonium in 1832. That same year, in addition to constructing the branch line to Owings Mills, building the Green Spring Hotel and the relay station mentioned earlier, as well as purchasing its first locomotive, the B&S also began setting up the Bolton Station and Yard, which would become its main terminal, repair shop, and switching yards. Built on land donated by George Winchester, the first B&S president, it later became the site of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Mt. Royal Station, and eventually the Maryland Institute College of Art. The company also gained rail access to Baltimore Harbor by cooperating with the Baltimore and Ohio to construct a jointly owned track connecting Bolton Yard to the B&O line at Pratt Street, with permission to use the B&O's harbor freight terminals.Gunnarsson, p. 30. Because much of the harbor line ran on city streets, however, a city ordinance allowed only the use of horses to pull freight cars to the harbor.Gunnarsson, p. 32.
But after all those expenditures, the B&S could not cover the costs of further northward construction. Although the railroad had some income from the Green Spring Branch,Gunnarsson, p. 19. it was also hampered financially by a provision in its original charter that allowed customers to use their own freight cars, which the B&S would then have to move at a rate lower than its own freight costs.Gunnarsson, p. 35. Early investors had been disappointed by minimal returns on their investments, so people were reluctant to spend money on further railroad stock.Gunnarsson, p. 8. But the State of Maryland and the City of Baltimore both gave their support, purchasing close to half of the $450,000 in shares that the B&S did sell over the next few years, and loaning the railroad a combined total of $2.7 million.Gunnarsson, p. 20.