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The Bay Coast Railroad operated the former Eastern Shore Railroad line between Pocomoke City, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. The railroad interchanged with the Delmarva Central Railroad in Pocomoke City and Norfolk Southern in Norfolk; the interchange in Pocomoke City had been with Norfolk Southern prior to December 2016, when the Delmarva Central Railroad leased 162 mile (261 km) of Norfolk Southern track on the Delmarva peninsula.

Construction of a rail line from Pocomoke City to Cape Charles was completed on October 25, 1884, and operated as the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad (NYP&N). Its founder, Alexander Johnston Cassatt (12/08/1839 to 12/08/1906), designed a barge large enough to carry 18 railcars. His barges provided the new railroad with its connection across the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk by April 1885. The railroad's co founder, coal magnate William Lawrence Scott, financed construction of the new town of Cape Charles in 1884 at the point where the railroad's northern section met the Chesapeake Bay. From its inception, the NYP&N operated profitably and contributed to an economic boom on the Delmarva peninsula that continued until the Great Depression. By 1928, The Pennsylvania Railroad had taken over the NYP&N's operations and were looking for a faster route to the port to interchange with the Norfolk & Western. So in 1929 the PRR built the little creek yard in the little creek area of Virginia Beach near the Norfolk/Virginia Beach line. This small but impressive yard also had a float bridge for carfloats carrying passengers and mixed freight across the Chesapeake Bay from Cape Charles and places farther north such as Philadelphia and New York. The PRR also had a small shop building next to the yard (which is still is standing and in use as of 2018) for repairing locomotives. This new route supposedly saved the Pennsy 25 miles of carfloat travel from Cape Charles to Norfolk. After World War II, railroad passenger use declined in favor of the automobile. Passenger service on the NYP&N south of Delmar, Delaware at the Maryland Delaware border ended on January 12, 1958. In an effort to preserve freight rail service on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Northampton and Accomack counties formed the Accomack Northampton Transportation District Commission. The commission purchased the rail line in 1976 and selected Virginia and Maryland Railroad Company as its operator. Eastern Shore Railroad, Inc. replaced Virginia and Maryland as the operator in 1981. In 2005, Cassatt Management, LLC was selected as operator and the railroad acquired its current name.

BCR had three distinct operating areas. The 64.1 mile (103 km) northern portion of its rail system connects with the Delmarva Central Railroad in Pocomoke City (north) and the system's car float in Cape Charles, Virginia. A car float, crossing 26 mile (42 km) of the Chesapeake Bay from Cape Charles to Norfolk, comprises the middle portion. The southern end of the system is a terminal track around Little Creek, Virginia, connecting with Norfolk Southern Railway, CSX Transportation, and the Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad. At the regular meeting of the Accomack Northampton Transportation District Commission held at the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce Building, Melfa, Virginia, on Monday, November 6, 2017, at 5:30 p. m., BCR President Alex Parry "reported that the DCP traffic (butane)
has been lost from the Little Creek side; however, he is hopeful that other new traffic will be realized to fill the void." DCP traffic amounted to approximately 75% of the carloads handled by the railroad. In January 2018 the BCR suffered another loss when customer Bayshore Concrete announced it was putting its Cape Charles plant up for sale in the wake of declining business.

BCR used two tug boat guided railroad car floats of 25 and 15 car capacity to link the 26 mile (42 km) water route across the Chesapeake Bay between Cape Charles and Norfolk — using the north and south terminals of the now defunct Little Creek Cape Charles Ferry. This car float operation had been in continuous service since April 1885, and was one of only two remaining in the United States, the other being New York New Jersey Rail, LLC. In late March 2014 VP for operations Larry LeMond stated the railroad had not run the barge for more than a year and a half and had no intention to resume the service. He also stated that all of the railroad's traffic comes into Pocomoke City to the north and the company operates every other day. An article in Delmarva Now online dated January 14, 2019 noted that the minutes of the Accomack Northampton Transportation District Commission meeting of December 4, 2018 stated, "The rail car barge Nandua has been sold." The buyer, Iron Planet, seeks to sell it for $200,000.

In 2007, Bay Creek Railway began operating a self propelled dining car along BCR track, making one to two hour round trips from Cape Charles. This passenger excursion service used a restored interurban railcar built in 1913 by St. Louis Car Company. It originally served the former Texas Electric Railway in Dallas, Texas as car number 316. When Texas Electric ceased operating in 1948, its fleet of interurban railcars was sold for salvage. Car number 316 was used as a cabin at a ranch in Fort Worth, Texas until its restoration for the Bay Creek Railway. By December 21, 2011, the car was listed for sale on the Ozark Mountain Railcar equipment broker website. The initial asking price was $260,000, later reduced to $205,000. The dining car was eventually sold, loaded onto a flat bed trailer and departed Cape Charles on March 11, 2014.? It is now on the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, a tourist line in Trego, Wisconsin.