Catawissa Railroad

Catawissa Railroad

Catawissa Railroad map as of 1895
Bridge at Mainville, Pennsylvania, 1860s
Locale	Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Columbia and Schuylkill Counties, Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1860–1953
Predecessor	Catawissa, Williamsport and Erie Railroad
Successor	Reading Railroad
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	98.5 miles (158.5 km)
Headquarters	Philadelphia

The Catawissa Railroad was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania between 1860 and 1953. For most of its lifespan it was leased by the Reading Railroad, and was subsequently merged into the Reading.

The original company was chartered as the Little Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad in 1831. It planned to build a rail line between Tamanend (also called Little Schuylkill Junction; west of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania) and Milton. The principals in the company included Christian Brobst and Joseph Paxton of Catawissa. Construction began c. 1835, but the banking panic of 1837 restricted investments needed to continue work on the railroad.

In 1849 the company reorganized, to attract new investors, and became the Catawissa, Williamsport and Erie Railroad (CW&E). In the early 1850s construction resumed, and in 1854 the railroad reached Milton, where it connected with the Sunbury and Erie Railroad (renamed the Philadelphia and Erie in 1861). At Tamanend the railroad connected with the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad, which ran along the Little Schuylkill River to Tamaqua and Port Clinton, where it connected to the Reading Railroad. CW&E passenger train operations between Catawissa and Tamaqua began in July 1854. A bridge across the Susquehanna River to Rupert was completed in 1855. The 65 miles (105 km) route traversed some difficult terrain, and included three tunnels, and eight bridges and trestles.

Express train service from Philadelphia to Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Chicago began on 7 May 1855, using the CW&E, as well as the Reading and Little Schuylkill Navigation lines.