In 1884 the elder Garrett died, and his son Robert was elected to succeed him. The old policy of independence and competition was continued, the objective point being now an entrance into New York. “When in 1885 the other trunk lines harmonized their differences, ...” said the Chronicle, “the Baltimore & Ohio ... pursued its policy of aggression.... The road must reach Philadelphia ... nay, must push ... on to New York.... Instead of seeking to avoid rivalry, its every effort seemed to encourage it. Rates were reduced, concessions made to shippers and travellers, the one idea apparently being to get traffic no matter what the cost.”[26] The necessity of a secure New York connection had been impressed upon the company in the course of the rate wars. The first step was to be actual construction to Philadelphia, the second, construction or traffic agreements from Philadelphia to New York. Bonds were issued in April, 1883, for construction of a so-called Philadelphia branch from Baltimore to the northern boundary of Cecil County, Maryland,[27] there to connect with the Baltimore & Philadelphia Railroad, which was being built through Delaware and Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. Entrance into Philadelphia was secured over the Schuylkill River East Side Railway, a corporation organized under the laws of Pennsylvania and doing business in the city only.[28] The distance was approximately ninety-nine miles; the cost was later asserted to have been $20,000,000. Beyond Philadelphia the Baltimore & Ohio relied on an agreement with the Philadelphia & Reading for trackage to Bound Brook, New Jersey,[29] and on a traffic contract with the Central of New Jersey for its line from Bound Brook to Elizabeth.[30] Terminals on Staten Island were secured by purchase of a controlling interest in the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company,[31] and connection between Elizabeth and the Island was obtained by new construction. The strength of this route was in its directness and in its independence of trunk-line control; its weakness was in its excessive cost between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and in its reliance upon traffic contracts north of the latter city. A proposition was advanced to unite the Baltimore & Ohio, the Philadelphia & Reading, and the Central of New Jersey with the Richmond Terminal System. This, however, fell through,[32] and the possibility still existed that the Baltimore & Ohio might some day construct a line of its own from Philadelphia to New York.