The rail line from Pocomoke City to Cape Charles, Virginia was built by the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Company (NYP&N) in 1884.

[1] By 1885 it had built a car float system, using barges to cross the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk.

The rail line then came under control of Conrail in 1976 and at the same time Northampton and Accomack counties created the Accomack-Northampton Transportation District Commission (A-NTDC).

[1] That arrangement lasted until 1981, when the Canonie Atlantic Company purchased the track and created the Eastern Shore Railroad (ESHR) (unaffiliated with a 19th Century railroad of the same name that built the line from Pocomoke City north to Delmar) to provide service from the Maryland border to Little Creek.

As part of the deal they agreed not to use the Eastern Shore name and so they renamed it the Bay Coast Railroad.

In June 2018, the Delmarva Central Railroad took over the portion between Pocomoke City and Hallwood, Virginia where the remaining customers were located.