West Chester Railroad
| West Chester Railroad | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Locale | Chester/Delaware counties, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Terminus | West Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Commercial operations | |
| Built by | West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad |
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Reporting mark | WCRL |
| Length | 7.7 mi (12.4 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | November 1858 |
| 1858 | West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad begins |
| Closed | September 1986 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1997 | West Chester Railroad began operating |
| Headquarters | West Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Website | |
| westchesterrr.net | |
| West Chester Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The West Chester Railroad is a privately owned and operated tourist railroad that runs between Market Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in Chester County, and the village of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, in Delaware County.
It operates on 7.7 miles (12.4 km) of former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) track on the West Chester Branch between mile post 27.5 and 20.6. It is owned by the for-profit 4 States Railway Service, Inc. and operated by the West Chester Railroad Heritage Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the railroad. All employees of the railroad are volunteers.
The original West Chester Railroad Company was chartered in 1831 through an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and the company built its rail line to Malvern (later moved to Frazer). A quarter century later, West Chester got its second railroad, the West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad, which opened on November 11, 1858 with a more direct connection to Philadelphia via Media, Pennsylvania. Both lines became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system by 1881, when they were known as the "Frazer Branch" and "Media Branch," respectively.
The station at Market Street was the city's primary railroad facility. At its height, the PRR operated 24 daily passenger trains to West Chester, plus three scheduled freights and additional special trains as required. The line was electrified by the PRR in 1928. Although the Market Street Station was demolished in 1968, the Penn Central and SEPTA operated passenger trains until September 1986 when service was suspended due to low ridership and unsafe track conditions between Elwyn and Glen Mills Stations. For nearly a decade, the line remained derelict until a group of railroad enthusiasts approached the Borough of West Chester about restoring SEPTA train service.
...
Wikipedia