For faster train travel, Amtrak wants to fix railway bottlenecks in Maryland

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. You are correct, but freight traffic through Baltimore is hauled by diesels.

That's all on CSX, and CSX's entire fleet of locomotives is diesel.

The original mainline railroad electrification project in this country was the B&O's Howard Street Tunnel, but the wires came down in ... oh, now I have to go to Wikipedia. Hold on.
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Baltimore Belt Line

Electrification



Baltimore & Ohio electric engine

By this time the Pennsylvania Railroad line through Baltimore and points south had been in operation for twenty years. Due to the built-up nature of the area traversed and the hilly terrain, much of its line through town was in tunnels, which posed severe ventilation problems. Large chimneys were constructed above the Pennsylvania line, in a not entirely successful attempt to disperse the fumes from the coal-fired locomotives. However, by 1890 electric locomotion was beginning to appear possible, and in 1892 the B&O thus contracted with General Electric (GE) for electric locomotives, powerhouse equipment, and an electrical distribution system. This equipment was delivered beginning in 1895, and the first train pulled by an electric locomotive operated through the Howard Street Tunnel on June 27, 1895.
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The electrification was finally discontinued in 1952 when dieselization made it unnecessary.

Highly recommended:



I see (this morning, for the first time) that there is a second edition:

When the Steam Railroads Electrified, Revised Second Edition

The author, William D. Middleton, died a few years back. I have the honor of having an autographed copy of the first edition.