The B&O's Mount Royal Station

Famed architect E. Francis Baldwin, of whom the B&O commissioned many times to design and build a number of stations for them, both large and small, built Mount Royal Station. The Baltimore Belt Railroad and Howard Street Tunnel project undertaken by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad essentially kicked off electrified rail operations in the United States for main line systems in 1895. Of note, however, the actual first electrified rail operations in the United States occurred in 1888 when General Electric successfully demonstrated the motive power on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway.

In any event, the B&O’s project was known as the Baltimore Belt Railroad, which was constructed to fill a gap to connect the railroad’s New York-Washington (north-south) and Washington – Cumberland (east-west) main lines. Prior to this the railroad had to use a circuitous car ferry operation across Baltimore Harbor to reach the two lines, which made competing effectively with rival Pennsylvania Railroad nearly impossible.

The primary reason for the B&O’s electrification of the Baltimore Belt Railroad was to solve a safety issue with its 1.25-mile long tunnel situated under residential neighborhoods in Baltimore where smoke would become a health issue. However, by this time steam locomotive smoke in large urban areas, in general, was becoming a serious health and safety issue and by the early 20th century, particularly after a New York Central passenger train collided with a New Haven suburban train in January of 1902 in New York City (because of a smoke-obscured signal), many cities began passing ordinances banning steam from their city limits.

Completed in 1896, Mount Royal Station was a beautiful structure that featured a clock tower, marble interior, and long train shed that has trains enter under it as soon as they exit the Howard Street Tunnel. Today, the shed still stands and recently received restoration work along with the rest of the station.

The B&O, which used the structure mostly for its famous Royal Blue passenger train moved out of the building in 1961 after calling it quits on the Northeast service (the PRR and NYC simply had the better edge). Later that year MICA leased the building and then purchased it in 1965. In 1974 the structure was given the rare distinction as a National Historic Landmark and between 2005 and 2007 received a multi-million dollar restoration that returns it to looking much as it did when it opened in 1896.

For more information about the B&O’s Baltimore Belt Railroad and Mount Royal Station please click here.

Also, for more reading about railroad stations you might want to consider a copy of Railroad Stations from author Brian Solomon. While the book is just a very general overview of some of the great stations that once stood in this country it is quite good with lots of historical photographs, including that of Grand Central Terminal and the late Pennsylvania Station (it also gives a history of the thousands of small depots that existed in most communities). All in all if you’re interested in stations and depots you’re sure to enjoy Mr. Solomon’s book on the subject.