East Penn Railroad
Encyclopedia
The East Penn Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates a number of mostly-unconnected lines in the U.S. state
s of Pennsylvania
and Delaware
. Except for two industrial park
switching operations, all are former Pennsylvania Railroad
or Reading Company
lines, abandoned or sold by Conrail or its predecessors.
ESPN was formed in 2007 through the merger of East Penn Railways and Penn Eastern Rail Lines , each of which began operating in the 1990s. The railroad is owned by Regional Rail, LLC, which also owns the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad.
Track ownership:
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
. Except for two industrial park
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
switching operations, all are former Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
or Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
lines, abandoned or sold by Conrail or its predecessors.
ESPN was formed in 2007 through the merger of East Penn Railways and Penn Eastern Rail Lines , each of which began operating in the 1990s. The railroad is owned by Regional Rail, LLC, which also owns the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad.
Lines operated
The East Penn Railroad operates the following railroad lines:- Bristol – industrial park trackage in the Bristol, PennsylvaniaBristol, PennsylvaniaBristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Philadelphia opposite Burlington, N.J. on the Delaware River. Bristol was first incorporated in 1720. Although its charter was revised in 1905, the original charter remains in effect, making Bristol one of the older boroughs in...
area, interchanging with Conrail Shared Assets OperationsConrail Shared Assets OperationsConrail Shared Assets Operations is an American railroad company. It operates three networks—the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Areas, where it serves as a local carrier and switching company for CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway...
(CSAO). - Kutztown – owns and operates from Kutztown, PennsylvaniaKutztown, PennsylvaniaKutztown is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Allentown and northeast of Reading. As of the 2000 census, the borough has a total population of 5,067. It is the site of Kutztown University.- History :...
southeast to interchange with NS in Topton, PennsylvaniaTopton, PennsylvaniaTopton is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,948 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Topton is located at ....
. - Lancaster Northern – owns and operates from Ephrata, PennsylvaniaEphrata, PennsylvaniaEphrata is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, south east of Harrisburg and about west by north of Philadelphia. It is named after Ephrath, a biblical town in what is now Israel. Ephrata's sister city is Eberbach, Germany, the city where its founders originated. In its...
northeast to interchange with NS in Reading, PennsylvaniaReading, PennsylvaniaReading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, using trackage rightsTrackage rightsTrackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
on NS between Sinking Spring, PennsylvaniaSinking Spring, PennsylvaniaSinking Spring is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,639 at the 2000 census. Sinking Spring was given its name for a spring located in the center of town, the water in which would sink into the ground from time to time, giving it the illusion of having...
and Reading. - Manheim – owns trackage in Manheim, PennsylvaniaManheim, PennsylvaniaManheim is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,784 at the 2000 census.-General information:*ZIP code: 17545*Area code: 717*Education: Manheim Central School District and Manheim Central High School-History:...
area, interchanging with NS. - North East Philadelphia – trackage in Northeast PhiladelphiaNortheast PhiladelphiaNortheast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 Census, the Northeast has a sizable percentage of the city's 1.547 million people — a population of between 300,000 and 450,000,...
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, interchanging with CSAO in BustletonBustleton, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Bustleton section of Northeast Philadelphia is located in the Far Northeast, north of Rhawnhurst and Fox Chase and south of Somerton; sitting between Roosevelt Boulevard to the east, the city boundary to the west, Red Lion Road to the north, and Pennypack Park to the south, it is centered at...
. - Octoraro – owns and operates trackage (the former Octoraro Branch) from end-of-track in Sylmar, Pennsylvania east to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania where they connect to the Wilmington & Northern line. SEPTA still owns the passenger rights on the Octoraro Line.
- Perkiomen – owns and operates from Pennsburg, PennsylvaniaPennsburg, PennsylvaniaPennsburg is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,843 at the 2010 census.It is part of the Upper Perkiomen School District....
north to interchange with NS in Emmaus, PennsylvaniaEmmaus, PennsylvaniaEmmaus is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is located five miles southwest of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The population of Emmaus was 11,313 at the 2000 census...
. - Quakertown – operates on SEPTA-owned trackage from Quakertown, PennsylvaniaQuakertown, PennsylvaniaQuakertown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 8,979. The borough is south of Bethlehem and north of Philadelphia, making Quakertown a border town of both the Delaware Valley and Lehigh Valley metropolitan areas...
south to interchange with CSX TransportationCSX TransportationCSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
in Telford, PennsylvaniaTelford, PennsylvaniaTelford is a borough in Bucks and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 4,872 at the time of the 2010 census.- History :...
. - Wilmington & Northern – owns and operates from interchange with CSX in Elsmere Junction, Delaware north to interchange with NS in Coatesville, PennsylvaniaCoatesville, PennsylvaniaCoatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,100 at the 2010 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia....
. Also the Octoraro Line connects with the Wilmington & Northern line in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. - York Industrial Track - operates trackage York, Pa., to Stony Brook, Pa.
Track ownership:
- owned- 85 miles
- leased- 30 miles
Former
- Colebrookdale – operated from end-of-track in Boyertown, PennsylvaniaBoyertown, PennsylvaniaBoyertown is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,940 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
south to interchange with NS in Pottstown, PennsylvaniaPottstown, PennsylvaniaPottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States northwest of Philadelphia and southeast of Reading, on the Schuylkill River. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the...
. The line was abandoned by the East Penn Railroad in 2008. The Berks County Redevelopment Authority is currently planning on reactivating the line, with the Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad appointed to operate the line beginning in October 2010. - Chester Valley – owned and operated from King of Prussia, PennsylvaniaKing of Prussia, PennsylvaniaKing of Prussia is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,936. The community took its name in the 18th century from a local tavern named the King of Prussia Inn, which was named after...
north to interchange with Norfolk Southern RailwayNorfolk Southern RailwayThe Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
(NS) in Bridgeport, PennsylvaniaBridgeport, PennsylvaniaBridgeport is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 18 miles north of Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River. The old-time industries were paper, flour, cotton, and woolen mills, steel works, brickyards, etc. Bridgeport is six miles east of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania...
. The line was abandoned by the East Penn Railroad in 2010; tracks were dismantled in May 2011. The line will be converted into a rail trailRail trailA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
by Montgomery CountyMontgomery County, PennsylvaniaMontgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
.
External links
- East Penn Railroad (includes a map)
- Norfolk Southern List of Short Lines: East Penn Railroad (includes a map)
- East Penn Railroad discussion group