did the baltimore and ohio railroad connect the north and south in any way

Answer 1

1860 maps show the B and O railroad routes going from the North down the East as far as South Carolina

and in the Midwest down through Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. (like the song lyrics to the Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton, about the War of 1812)

Ohio is in the North. Baltimore in Maryland headed South

but more recent maps do seem to have B and O rail lines limited to north of the Mason Dixon Line

as if Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged movie and book were prophetic about collapse of the railroads