BALTIMORE TRANSIT

EARLY STREET RAILWAY COMPANIES

Several street railway companies were eventually consolidated into a single streetcar system in Baltimore.


Baltimore City Passenger Railway Co. - incorporated 1862.

Central Passenger Railway Co. - incorporated 1881, sold 1898 to Baltimore City Passenger Railway Co.

Baltimore Traction Co. - incorporated 1888, controlled North Baltimore Passenger Railway Co., Baltimore & Curtis Bay Street Railroad Co., Baltimore & Powhatan Railway Co., Citizens Railway Co., Peoples Railway Co., Pimlico & Pikesville Railway Co., Arlington & Pimlico Railway Co. Merged 1897 into Baltimore Consolidated Railway Co.

City & Suburban Railway Co. - incorporated 1892, consolidating Baltimore Union Passenger Railway Co., Highlandtown & Point Breeze Railway Co., Baltimore & Hampden Railway Co., Baltimore & Yorktown Turnpike Road, Baltimore Catonsville & Ellicott Mills Passenger Railway Co. Merged 1897 into Baltimore Consolidated Railway Co.

Lake Roland Elevated Railway Co. - incorporated 1892, consolidating North Avenue Railway Co., Baltimore Hampden & Lake Roland Railroad Co. Sold 1895 to City & Suburban Railway Co.

Baltimore & Northern Electric Railway Co. - opened 1897.

Gwynn Falls Street Railway Co. - owned by Baltimore Consolidated Railway Co.

Pimlico & Pikesville Railway Co. - owned by Baltimore Consolidated Railway Co.

Walbrook Gwynn Oak & Powhatan Railway Co. - owned by Baltimore Consolidated Railway Co.

Baltimore Gardensville & Belair Electric Railway Co.

Maryland Traction Co.

Shore Line Electric Railway Co.


The United Railways & Electric Co. was incorporated in 1899, and consolidated all above street railway companies, forming a single streetcar company in Baltimore. In 1935, the United Railways & Electric Co. was sold to Baltimore Transit Co., which operated the system until the public takeover in 1970. From 1944 to 1970, Baltimore Transit Co. was mostly controlled by National City Lines.


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