Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the B&O up to it's 1972 merger into Chessie System. Visit the B&O Railroad Historical Society for more information. Also discussion of the C&O up to 1972. Visit the C&O Historical Society for more information. Also includes the WM up to 1972. Visit the WM Historical Society for more information.
 #215959  by the missing link
 
does anyone have any info on this line?when was this last run?any photos?

 #216550  by hutton_switch
 
If you don't mind the music at the site, this link will provide you with a bunch of nice pictures of the last Bollman Truss bridge located at the mill at Savage, MD:

http://users.erols.com/rmayes/bollman_bridge_fotos.html

According to Herbert H. Harwood's Impossible Challenge II book, the Laurel/Savage Branch of the B&O was built in 1888 to serve the textile mill located 1.3 miles from the junction with the Washington Branch. The Bollman Truss bridge was originally constructed in 1869 and moved from its unknown original location in 1888 to its present location, and trains traversed it until 1947. It is now owned by Howard County, MD, but I don't have a date when the B&O deeded the bridge to the present owner. The county has done a decent job of preserving this historic structure, and seems committed to its preservation, for I would believe that it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1902, the branch was extended a further three miles to serve a series of granite quarries in the area; this operation continued until 1928, when that part of the line was discontinued in use, though kept in place for a while afterward.