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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | York, Pennsylvania formerly Baltimore, Maryland |
| Reporting mark | MPA |
| Locale | York County in Pennsylvania, and Baltimore and Harford counties and Baltimore City in Maryland |
| Dates of operation | 1901–1999 |
| Predecessor | York Southern Railroad, Baltimore and Lehigh Railway |
| Successor | York Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | Baltimore–York line: 77.2 miles (124.2 km) York–Hanover line: 19 miles (31 km)[1] |
The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark MPA), colloquially known as the "Ma and Pa", was an American short-line railroad between York and Hanover, Pennsylvania, formerly operating passenger and freight trains on its original line between York and Baltimore, Maryland, from 1901 until the 1950s. The Ma and Pa was popular with railfans in the 1930s and 1940s for its antique equipment and curving, picturesque right-of-way through the hills of rural Maryland and Pennsylvania. Reflecting its origin as the unintended product of the merger of two 19th-century narrow-gauge railways, the meandering main line took 77.2 miles (124 km) to connect Baltimore and York (via Bel Air, Maryland and Delta, Pennsylvania), although the two cities are only 45 miles (72 km) apart.[2]
Passenger service on the railroad was discontinued on August 31, 1954, and its trackage in Maryland was abandoned in June 1958. The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad acquired a former 19-mile (31 km) Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) branch line between York and Hanover in 1976, now operated by a successor corporation, York Railway. Most of the remaining original line in Pennsylvania was abandoned by 1984.[3]
- ^ Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co., February 1956, p. 347.
- ^ Frank P. Donovan, ed. (1949). "The Ma & Pa by William Moedinger Jr.". Railroads of America. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing. LCCN 49048570.
- ^ Craig Sansonetti (1997-06-05). "A History of the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad". Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad Preservation Society. Archived from the original on December 30, 2005. Retrieved 2008-05-25.