Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)

First steam-operated railway in the U.S. to be chartered as a common carrier of freight and passengers (1827). The B&O was established by Baltimore merchants to foster trade with the West. By 1852 the railroad extended to Wheeling, Va. (now W.V.), and in the next two decades it reached Chicago, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo. The B&O's long-distance passenger trains were discontinued in 1971 after Amtrak was established. Many of B&O's operations were assumed by the CSX Corp. in 1980.

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