C&O Canal vs. B&O RR: Railroads of America 3

www.pedestrians.org
The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad both broke ground on July 4, 1828. Which one would reach the Ohio River first?
Why the rush? After the completion of the Erie Canal across New York in 1825, the cost of moving freight from Buffalo to Albany dropped by an order of magnitude from wagons pulled by oxen on primitive roads. Every major city on the east coast looked to building their own canals to avoid losing the interior trade from the Ohio River valley and the Great Lakes.
Washington could send a canal west along the Potomac River.
Baltimore had no good route for a canal, so they decided to try a railroad. Canals were a proven technology, while railroads were still experimental. But the barrier of the Allegheny Mountains would put any technology to the test. The future economic prosperity of Washington and Baltimore depended on the success of their respective ventures.
Produced by John Z Wetmore, producer of "Perils For Pedestrians".

[@Buffalodiv1968]

Interesting stuff! I’m proud to say that Mr Harwood has two paintings of the B&O that I painted last year. He and his wife are wonderful people, and his knowledge on the railroads is invaluable.

[@paulkirkmanMYTRAINS]

Very interesting. I grew up in Alexandria, VA and went on several bike trips up the canal. Beautiful place to go and watch trains too !!!

[@markhousman8447]

Thanks for posting. Extremely interesting.

[@mmi16]

Learn something every day!

[@LearnwithJanice]

Hello from Kansas 🇺🇸

[@justin_k9215]

I had to have the closed captions on. I have never been so confused.

[@JohnZWetmore]

Thanks for letting me know. RUclips's automatic captions don't always work well. I have gone in and fixed the errors. Please let me know if you come across caption problems on any other videos.

[@Vladimir82623]

I think they should still have water in the canal

[@JohnZWetmore]

There are a few places where there is still water in the canal, which you can find on the park website and visit. Unfortunately, due to extensive damage to the canal from several major floods since it closed, it would be difficult and expensive to rewater the entire canal.

[@Vladimir82623]

John Z Wetmore your right

[@gratzmyers3242]

Not so stiff next time! Move your arms around and point at what you're talking about! Great subject matter needs excited presenters! You did a good trial effort! Next time you'll be ready!