Patrick H Stakem

Tracks along the Ditch, Relationships between the C&O Canal & the Railroads. Patrick H Stakem

This book explores the interaction of the various transportation technologies, driven by the profit motives and political situations of the time. The interaction of the Canal and the Railroads with the National Road is also touched upon. When it was constructed, the canal was based on tried and proven technology, and had an extensive history in Europe. The railroad was new, untried technology. At its inception, it was not clear if locomotives or horses would be used on the railroad. The C& O Canal owed its existence to the much earlier Patowmack Canal Project, championed by George Washington. Interestingly, the C& O Canal did not go from the Chesapeake not to the Ohio. Perhaps we should call it the Georgetown and Cumberland Canal. It was supposed to go to Pittsburgh as well.