Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway
The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) was an American railroad of central Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th and 20th century. The WB&A absorbed two older railroads, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad and the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line, and added its own electric streetcar line between Baltimore and Washington. It was built by a group of Cleveland, Ohio, electric railway entrepreneurs to serve as a high-speed, showpiece line using the most advanced technology of the time. It served Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis, Maryland, for 27 years before the "Great Depression" and the rise of the automobile forced an end to passenger service during the economic pressures of the 1930s "Depression" southwest to Washington from Baltimore & west from Annapolis in 1935. Only the Baltimore & Annapolis portion between the state's largest city and its state capital continued to operate electric rail cars for another two decades, replaced by a bus service during the late 1950s into 1968. Today, parts of the right-of-way are used for the light rail line, rail trail for hiking - biking trails, and roads through Anne Arundel County.
A postcard advertising WB&A's interurban service from the Democratic National Convention of 1912, held at the Fifth Regiment Armory on North Howard Street to nominate Woodrow Wilson for U.S. president.
6-car excursion extra departing Annapolis for Washington in 1910
Share of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railroad Company, issued 17. May 1921
WB&A arch window coach shown in 1908 timetable
Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad
The Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, later the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, once provided rail service to Annapolis, Maryland, and was one of the earliest railroads in the U.S. It later merged into the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway and was finally abandoned. The only traces of it today are a few small sidings and utility poles that follow its former right of way.
Annapolis Junction, where the A&ER met the B&O