Trusted Friend and Advisor, but Garrett Was the Major Leader and the Chief Voice of the Corporation
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trusted friend and advisor, but Garrett was the major leader and the chief voice of the corporation. No Baltimorean before or since has carried more influence. As a business manager, Garrett had no equal and his responsibilities were vast. He presided over a railroad that had more than 500 miles of track, 236 locomotives, 3,668 freight cars, 124 passenger cars and approximately 4,500 employees. It was already the largest institution that 19th century Baltimore would ever produce. The economic depression following the 1857 panic reduced the B&O’s gross receipts by $200,000, but Garrett was able to cut costs by $800,000, producing a net profit of $600,000, more than it earned in some of its good years. Sure of his own judgment, the new president reorganized almost every aspect of the railroad’s operations. By 1860 the railroad had become far more efficient and showed better profits than at any time in its history. A grateful board reelected Garrett by a vote of 26-0 and Baltimore’s greatest economic institution finally seemed poised to fulfill its destiny. The B&O, of course, was not the only railroad in the city. Construction of a line called the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad began in 1829, less than a year after work started on the B&O. A second line, the Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad, was chartered in 1832. Neither of these two roads came close to matching the size of the mighty B&O, but together they played a significant role in opening different avenues of trade and contributing to the city’s commercial and industrial growth. The Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad grew out of the attempts by Baltimoreans to improve their transportation links to the counties of central Pennsylvania. While the York turnpike continued to bring a great deal of the Pennsylvania trade into the city, a number of merchants became convinced that a canal would increase trade even more. For a time it was thought that a canal along the Susquehanna might be able to connect with Philadelphia’s Main Line canal system and open trade all the way to Pittsburgh. However, when efforts to raise the money to build a Susquehanna canal stalled, a group of merchant-investors from Baltimore and several from central Pennsylvania sent petitions to Annapolis and Harrisburg for a charter to build a railroad from Baltimore through York, Pennsylvania, and north to York Haven on the Susquehanna River. The petitioners were led by George Winchester, the man who had previously led the fight to build a Susquehanna Canal. In fact, the railroad’s main rail yard and shops were placed at Bolton, Winchester’s suburban estate just north of the city (today it is the site of the Mount Royal Station). The railroad’s founders also included Charles Carnan Ridgely, Robert Purviance, Sheppard Leakin, and William Patterson’s son 100 .