Would it still be here?

[waltersrails]

Would the B&O still be around if it took part in the transcontinial railroad?
Also would it be the biggest and oldest railroad around?

[David_Telesha]

Its not the oldest. A quarry RR in Mass was chartered before the B&O and later became part of the NHRR.

[Kevin C. Smith]

It would depend who they teamed up with. If by "the transcontinental railroad" you mean UP, I'd say they'd be around and probably the biggest. If with later arrivals like the Hill Lines or SP, also a good chance. If they teamed up with the poor Milwaukee-well, sorry. Of course, I'm assuming that they would not have ended up the only transcon, so others (no way the PRR would've taken a situation as that lying down) would be competing with them all the way across the country, too. Except for the AT&SF or CMStP&P, there would have to have been an intermediate road to bridge the gap between Chicago or Saint Louis and the western lines which began in Omaha (UP), Minneapolis (GN & NP), Denver (D&RGW) or Texas (SP). That could have made a big difference. If the CB&Q came along with it's historical parents, the B&O would be hauling Powder River coal today. With the MP, they'd have a minor transcon (with D&RGW and WP) but probably the best route to Mexico and east Texas oil/chemical fields (I think the B&O had the shortest route from St. Louis to the east coast, so that could've fit very well). The C&NW to UP would make them big grain haulers today. If they'd tried to reach Espee with the CRI&P, I don't think the 20th Century would've been a good time for them. They'd need a pretty good traffic generator to boost overall tonnage east from Chicago (I think the B&O was alway a distant 3rd to the NYC & PRR).

A coincidence: there were six trunk lines going east from New York City (PRR, NYC, B&O, Erie; and LV and DL&W with connections to NKP and Wabash) and six trancontinentals (UP/SP, NP, GN, AT&SF, CMStP&P and MP-D&RGW-WP) with plenty in between to "connect the dots". They could've made some interesting combinations.

[waltersrails]

all my history books say B&O first could you show me where you found your info.

[David_Telesha]

Skewed history books. Look it up.

Granite Railroad, Quincy MA - chartered 1826 - BEFORE the B&O.

They hauled blocks of granite mined in West Quincy to the Neponset River. Some of the granite was used to build the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. The Granite RR was purchased in 1870 by the Old Colony Railroad, and the OCRR was purchased by the New Haven in 1893.

So there.

[waltersrails]

ok thanks i learned something new today.

[waltersrails]

Can someone also tell me about the B&O merger?