In 1888, Henry Gassaway Davis began a railroad expansion from Thomas to Hendricks. The Black Fork grade is a prime example of 19th-century railway engineering, with grades reaching 3.75% to drop 1,236 feet in 10 miles of mountainous terrain. Bought by Western Maryland Railway in 1905, the line was abandoned by its successor, CSX, in 1983. It now is a recreational rail-trail.