Western Maryland Railway
The Connellsville Extension from Cumberland
Financier George Gould purchased the Western Maryland as part of a transcontinental railroad scheme that would stretch from Baltimore to San Francisco. Gould extended the WM west to Cumberland, but went bankrupt, and his grand dream died. New management opened the Connellsville Extension in 1912 to connect with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and to move traffic to the eastern seaboard.
Construction of the 86-mile line cost nearly 12 million dollars and used the latest technology of the day, which included concrete, steel, dynamite, compressed air, and electricity.
The double-tracked Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which ran parallel to the WM, gained control of it in the 1920s. But because of legal considerations the WM remained independent. Eventually the Chessie System controlled the line, and abandoned it in 1975.
Marker can be reached from Main Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
