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Maryland and Delaware Railroad
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Maryland and Delaware Railroad
The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company (reporting mark MDDE) was a Class III short-line railroad, formed in 1977 to operate several branch lines of the former Penn Central Railroad in both Maryland and Delaware, United States. These branches were omitted from the system plan for Conrail in 1976 and would have been discontinued without state subsidies. As an alternative to the higher cost of subsidizing Conrail as the operator of the branch lines, the Maryland and Delaware governments selected the Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company (MDDE) to serve as the designated operator.
The railroad did not own any of the track it uses until 2000 when it acquired a line between Frankford, Delaware and Snow Hill, Maryland from the Snow Hill Shippers Association. Today, the railroad operates on 92 miles of track and runs out of a restored station in Federalsburg, Maryland.
This railroad is not affiliated with the similarly named 19th Century Maryland and Delaware Rail Road Company, though it did for a time run on the corridor that the earlier railroad built.
On April 23, 2025, Carload Express completed its acquisition of MDDE, folding it into its Delmarva Central Railroad operation.
MDDE was incorporated in the State of Maryland on June 20, 1977, as a closely held, small railroad company. At that time, the states of Maryland and Delaware were paying subsidies to Conrail to operate branch lines, still owned by Penn Central, serving rural communities.
The Maryland Department of Transportation selected MDDE to operate five of the rural branch lines, which the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) purchased, in August 1977. These included the current Northern Line (sometimes considered two lines - the Chestertown Line to Chestertown, Maryland and the Cambridge Secondary Track (USRA line 168) to Cambridge, Maryland) and Seaford Lines, the discontinued Oxford Branch between Clayton, Delaware and Easton, Maryland, the discontinued Denton Branch between Queen Anne, MD and Denton, MD and the discontinued Preston Branch between Hurlock, Maryland and Preston, Maryland.
A fifth line was added when the Snow Hill Shippers Association purchased the branch currently known as the Snow Hill Line in 1982 and hired MDDE to serve as operator.
The MDDE reduced its operations the next year. The Denton and Oxford Branches had been operating at a loss for years, with declining use and in 1982 it was estimated that they needed $1 million in repairs. MDOT decided to end freight operations on those lines, which ceased on February 22, 1983, and abandoned the lines that same year.
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Maryland and Delaware Railroad
The Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company (reporting mark MDDE) was a Class III short-line railroad, formed in 1977 to operate several branch lines of the former Penn Central Railroad in both Maryland and Delaware, United States. These branches were omitted from the system plan for Conrail in 1976 and would have been discontinued without state subsidies. As an alternative to the higher cost of subsidizing Conrail as the operator of the branch lines, the Maryland and Delaware governments selected the Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company (MDDE) to serve as the designated operator.
The railroad did not own any of the track it uses until 2000 when it acquired a line between Frankford, Delaware and Snow Hill, Maryland from the Snow Hill Shippers Association. Today, the railroad operates on 92 miles of track and runs out of a restored station in Federalsburg, Maryland.
This railroad is not affiliated with the similarly named 19th Century Maryland and Delaware Rail Road Company, though it did for a time run on the corridor that the earlier railroad built.
On April 23, 2025, Carload Express completed its acquisition of MDDE, folding it into its Delmarva Central Railroad operation.
MDDE was incorporated in the State of Maryland on June 20, 1977, as a closely held, small railroad company. At that time, the states of Maryland and Delaware were paying subsidies to Conrail to operate branch lines, still owned by Penn Central, serving rural communities.
The Maryland Department of Transportation selected MDDE to operate five of the rural branch lines, which the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) purchased, in August 1977. These included the current Northern Line (sometimes considered two lines - the Chestertown Line to Chestertown, Maryland and the Cambridge Secondary Track (USRA line 168) to Cambridge, Maryland) and Seaford Lines, the discontinued Oxford Branch between Clayton, Delaware and Easton, Maryland, the discontinued Denton Branch between Queen Anne, MD and Denton, MD and the discontinued Preston Branch between Hurlock, Maryland and Preston, Maryland.
A fifth line was added when the Snow Hill Shippers Association purchased the branch currently known as the Snow Hill Line in 1982 and hired MDDE to serve as operator.
The MDDE reduced its operations the next year. The Denton and Oxford Branches had been operating at a loss for years, with declining use and in 1982 it was estimated that they needed $1 million in repairs. MDOT decided to end freight operations on those lines, which ceased on February 22, 1983, and abandoned the lines that same year.
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