Delaware River and Lancaster Railroad
| Locale | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1890 (1892?)–1893 |
| Successor | abandoned |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Delaware River and Lancaster Railroad, known locally as the Sowbelly Railroad, was a short-lived rail line along French Creek between Kimberton and St. Peters.
The railroad was originally chartered on March 24, 1868, to run from a railroad bridge crossing the Delaware River at Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania, to Lancaster, as part of a more or less direct route between New York City and Lancaster. However, the company was unable to raise funds for construction and the charter languished for some time. By 1883, the railroad was still unbuilt; the building contractor refused to construct it until all of the proposed right of way had been secured. Not for another five years was sufficient money raised (and then only enough for a line extending from Phoenixville to St. Peters, and possibly from there to Lancaster).
Control of the company eventually came into the hands of Davis Knauer, a successful local entrepreneur in northern Chester County, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1889, contracts were let for construction of a short portion of the route, between a connection with the Pickering Valley Railroad (a Reading subsidiary) near Kimberton, at a point called French Creek Junction, to St. Peters, where it connected with the Warwick Branch of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad. Track was laid in 1890 and the first train ran on November 10. The line largely followed French Creek north of Kimberton, passing through Wilsons Corner, Sheeder, Pughtown, Coventryville, and Knauertown before reaching St. Peters, where it connected with the Wilmington and Northern in a switchback via the spur serving Knauer's black granite quarries.
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