Maryland and Delaware Rail Road Company
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Maryland,Delaware |
| Dates of operation | 1854–1877 |
| Successor | |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 55 miles (89 kilometres) |
The Maryland and Delaware Rail Road (M&D) was a railroad that ran between Clayton, Delaware and Oxford, Maryland in the second half of the 19th Century. It was chartered in 1854, began construction in 1857, started operation in 1868 and in 1877 reorganized as the Delaware and Chesapeake Railroad.
The line it built, sometimes called the Oxford Brach continued to operate, at least in part, under an assortment of owners and operators until 1996 when the last train ran. The state of Maryland, which purchased it in 1977, abandoned it in 2006 and railbanked it. Since then, localities have built several small trails on it and more have been proposed.