Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) — Corporate Overview

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, chartered in 1827, was the oldest common-carrier railroad in the United States. Headquartered in Baltimore MD, the B&O connected the Chesapeake Bay tidewater with the Ohio River Valley and the Midwest, spanning Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The B&O merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway to form the Chessie System in 1972, which combined with Seaboard Coast Line Industries in 1980 to form CSX Corporation. B&O rolling stock, shops, and yards remained in service under Chessie and CSX branding for years after the corporate merger.

Premises Description

The B&O has been named as a premises defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation, including cases brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), for alleged asbestos exposure across its roundhouses, locomotive and car shops, yards, powerhouses, and rolling stock — including the Mount Clare Shops (Baltimore MD), the Cumberland MD shops and yard, the Grafton WV shops, the Glenwood shops (Pittsburgh PA), the DuBois PA shops, and other B&O and Chessie / CSX-legacy facilities.

B&O shops and rolling stock were heavy industrial premises: steam-locomotive erection and repair bays, diesel-electric locomotive shops, passenger and freight car repair shops, powerhouse and steam plants, and machine and pipe shops. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that pre-1980 B&O premises allegedly involved asbestos through:

  • Steam-locomotive-era asbestos boiler lagging and firebox packing
  • Diesel-electric locomotive asbestos traction-motor insulation, arc chutes, and exhaust-manifold lagging
  • Passenger car asbestos body panels, heating-duct lagging, and Vapor Clarkson steam generators
  • Freight car brake asbestos friction materials (WABCO / NYAB / Symington-Gould)
  • Roundhouse and shop asbestos pipe covering on steam and process piping
  • Asbestos-fabric arc chute plates in shop and yard switchgear
  • Asbestos sheet gaskets at compressor, air-brake, and steam-line flanges
  • Asbestos sprayed fireproofing on shop structural steel (pre-1973 EPA ban)

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs allegedly worked at B&O Mount Clare, Cumberland, Grafton, Glenwood, DuBois, and other B&O / Chessie / CSX-legacy shops and yards in trades including:

  • Machinists overhauling asbestos-lagged steam locomotives and diesel-electric prime movers
  • Boilermakers rebuilding asbestos-refractory-lined locomotive fireboxes and powerhouse boilers
  • Pipefitters (UA) breaking asbestos-gasketed flanges on air-brake, steam, and process piping
  • Insulators (HFIAW) applying and removing asbestos pipe covering and block on shop steam mains
  • Carmen rebuilding passenger and freight cars with asbestos brake shoes, body panels, and duct lagging
  • Electricians (IBEW / IBRW) on asbestos arc chutes in locomotive control cabinets and yard switchgear
  • Engineers, firemen, brakemen, and conductors exposed in cabs, engine rooms, and passenger equipment

FELA — Railroad Workers Have a Different Statute

Railroad workers exposed to asbestos on the job are generally covered by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) rather than state workers’ compensation. FELA claims have their own limitation periods, causation standards, and procedural rules. If you or a family member is a former B&O, Chessie, or CSX railroad worker with an asbestos-related diagnosis, do not assume state workers’ comp deadlines apply — talk to a firm that handles railroad-worker FELA asbestos claims.

If You Worked at the B&O

If you or a family member worked at a B&O / Chessie / CSX-legacy shop, roundhouse, yard, or in train service before 1980 and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, you may have a legal claim.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

Plants by State

The B&O operated shops, roundhouses, and yards across Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. State-level premises pages are being built out. State jobsite pages will be linked here as they publish.