The Queen Anne’s Railroad was a railroad that ran between Love Point, Maryland, and Lewes, Delaware, with connections to Baltimore via ferry across the Chesapeake Bay during the late 19th and early 20th Century. The Queen Anne's Railroad company was formed in Maryland in 1894, received legislative authorization from Delaware in February 1895 and began operation shortly thereafter between Queenstown, Maryland and Lewes.[1] In 1901 The Queen Anne's Railroad Company began operating a summer-only Cape May Express between Queenstown and Lewes with a connecting steamer across the Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersey. In 1902 it extended 13-mile (21 km) west to Love Point, Maryland,[2] where it connected to a ferry line, shortening the ferry trip to Baltimore.
The company owned and operated the Queen Anne's Ferry & Equipment Company which consisted of the steamers Endeavor, Queen Anne and Queen Caroline.[3]
In the 20th Century, the railroad struggled to compete with the automobile. Service was cutback and sections of the railroad were abandoned. The section from Ellendale, DE to Milton, DE is owned by the state of Delaware and operated by the Maryland and Delaware Railroad, but the rest of the line is in some state of non-use, abandonment, removal or trail conversion.
- ^ "Queen Anne's Railroad". State of Delaware, Delaware Public Archives. October 31, 2007. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010.
- ^ "Stevensville Train Depot". Historic Sites Consortium of Queen Anne's County.
- ^ Queen Anne's Railroad Company - Maryland 1902. Scripophily.com advertisement for 1902 stock certificate. Retrieved 2010-06-08