New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road

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New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road

Locale	Delaware and eastern Maryland
Dates of operation	1831 –
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters

The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road was the first railroad in Delaware and one of the first in the U.S., opening in 1831. About half of the route was abandoned in 1859; the rest became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's route into the Delmarva Peninsula and is still used by Norfolk Southern.

[edit] History

The New-Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company was chartered in Delaware on January 24, 1809 and in Maryland on January 6, 1810. It opened in 1815 and 1816, providing a turnpike from New Castle, Delaware on the Delaware Bay west-southwest to Old Frenchtown Wharf, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. The easternmost section, east of Clark's Corner (under 3 miles), had been built in 1812 by the New Castle Turnpike Company, chartered January 30, 1811. [1]

Chapter 207 of the 1827 Session Laws of Maryland, passed March 14, 1828, authorized the company to replace the turnpike with a railroad, and change its name to the New-Castle and French Town Turnpike and Rail Road Company. Similar laws did the same for the two companies in Delaware, renaming the New Castle Turnpike Company to the New Castle Turnpike and Railroad Company. The companies merged on March 31, 1830 to form the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road Company (no dash in New Castle), and the new railroad opened in 1831, using horses for about a year before switching to steam locomotives. [2]

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, opened in 1829, was a major competitor to the railroad.

On March 15, 1839 the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad bought the NC&F, using it as an alternate route. [3]

The New Castle and Wilmington Rail Road was connected to the New Castle end in 1852, and by 1856 the Delaware Railroad had opened, splitting from the New Castle and Frenchtown at Rodney, about halfway between the two ends. In 1859 the railroad was abandoned west of Rodney; most of the right-of-way is still cleared.

On March 28, 1877, the New Castle and Frenchtown was merged into the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. In 1891 the PW&B sold the old New Castle and Frenchtown line, as well as the New Castle and Wilmington, to the Delaware Railroad, which was leased to the PW&B.

The east half of the old alignment has since passed into Penn Central, Conrail and now Norfolk Southern, which uses it to reach the Delmarva Peninsula.

Preceded by New-Castle and French Town Turnpike and Rail Road Company The New Castle Turnpike and Railroad Company	The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road Company formed by merger March 31, 1830 merged May 15, 1877	Succeeded by Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company
Preceded by	The President, Managers and Company of the New-Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company chartered January 24, 1809 name changed March 14, 1828	Succeeded by New-Castle and French Town Turnpike and Rail Road Company
Preceded by The President, Managers and Company of the New-Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company	New-Castle and French Town Turnpike and Rail Road Company name changed March 14, 1828 merged March 31, 1830	Succeeded by The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road Company
Preceded by	The New Castle Turnpike Company chartered January 30, 1811 name changed February 7, 1829	Succeeded by The New Castle Turnpike and Railroad Company
Preceded by The New Castle Turnpike Company	The New Castle Turnpike and Railroad Company name changed February 7, 1829 merged March 31, 1830	Succeeded by The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road Company