 An 1881 map shows the planned Southern Maryland Railroad, which would become the Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Washington, D.C., to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, and Brandywine, Maryland, to Cedar Point, Maryland |
| Dates of operation | 1883–1965 |
| Predecessors | Southern Maryland Railroad, Washington & Potomac Railroad |
| Successor | U.S. Naval Air Station Railroad, Herbert Subdivision |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Washington, Brandywine & Point Lookout Railroad (WB&PL) (originally, the Southern Maryland Railroad) was an American railroad that operated in southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., from 1918 to 1942; but it and other, shorter-lived entities used the same right-of-way from 1883 to 1965. The single-track line connected Mechanicsville, Maryland to the Pennsylvania Railroad in Brandywine. Most of the rail was constructed by the Southern Maryland Railroad, which also built a section of track in East Washington that was intended to connect with this line but never did. The WB&PL was later acquired by the Navy, which extended the line to Cedar Point and the Patuxent Naval Air Station. In 1962, the Pennsylvania Railroad constructed a spur from Hughesville, Maryland to the Chalk Point Generating Station. During the 1960s and 1970s, the section from Hughesville to Cedar Point was abandoned and removed, and this area has since been repurposed for a highway, roads, a utility corridor, and a bike trail. The section from Brandywine to Hughesville, extending to Chalk Point, remains in use, though infrequently, as the plant ceased using coal in 2022.