1908: The Inaugural Trip of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway

February 7, 1908

A newly established electric streetcar line connecting Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis was formally launched. The first trip of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) began in Baltimore at 11 o’clock that morning.

“The cars are handsome, and of the newest design,” noted the next day’s edition of the Washington Herald. “They are sixty-two feet [18.9 meters] long, and seat comfortably seventy-five to eighty passengers.”

A total of 30 passengers, traveling in what the Washington Herald called a “palatial car,” were on board for this journey. These individuals included J.N. Shannahan, vice president and general manager of the WB&A; and J.J. Doyle, the company’s superintendent of construction. Other passengers included members of the press representing journals and newspapers such as the Engineering News; Street Railway Journal; Baltimore American; Electric Railway Review; Baltimore Sun; and Annapolis Capitol. There were also scientists and civil engineers on board for this fledgling WB&A trek between Maryland’s largest city and the nation’s capital.

After departing from Baltimore, the train made its way to Annapolis. Everyone disembarked there in the capital of Maryland to visit both the historic state house and the U.S. Naval Academy. By six o’clock that evening, these passengers were back on board the train for the final leg of the trip. This journey came to an end with the train’s arrival at the WB&A station at H Street and 15^th Street in northeast Washington. The party that had been traveling in that “palatial car” then went to the nearby Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue for a celebratory dinner hosted by WB&A.

Over the next several years, this electric railway became firmly established as a reliable interurban transit service for that region of the United States. The accompanying postcard from 1912, for example, promoted WB&A as “The Greatest Double Track Railroad in the World” and how it could expeditiously transport people to that year’s Democratic National Convention in Baltimore. WB&A remained in operation until 1935, when the economic ravages of the Great Depression ultimately led to its closure.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Additional information on the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_Baltimore_and_Annapolis_Electric_Railway