The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company - (B&O), first steam-operated railway in the United States to be chartered as a common carrier of freight and passengers (1827). The B&O Railroad Company was established by Baltimore, Maryland, merchants to compete with New York merchants and their newly opened Erie Canal for trade to the west. A driving force in its early years was the Baltimore banker George Brown, who served as treasurer from 1827 until 1834 and had Ross Winans build the first real railroad car.