Williamsport and North Branch Railroad
| Locale | Lycoming County, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1872–1882 |
| Successor | Williamsport and North Branch Railroad |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Hughesville, Pennsylvania |
| Locale | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1882–1922 |
| Successor | Williamsport and North Branch Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Hughesville, Pennsylvania |
| Locale | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1922–1937 |
| Successor | abandoned |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Hughesville, Pennsylvania |
The Williamsport and North Branch Railroad was a short line that operated in north-central Pennsylvania between 1872 and 1937. After a long struggle to finance its construction, it was completed in 1893. It derived most of its freight revenue from logging and to a certain extent from anthracite coal traffic. It also carried many passengers to mountain resorts in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. With the decline of the logging industry and increased accessibility of the region by automobile in the 1910s and 1920s, the railroad's business rapidly declined. The economic blow of the Great Depression proved insurmountable, and it was abandoned as unprofitable in 1937.
The railroad was originally chartered as the Muncy Creek Railway on May 21, 1864. It was intended to provide a railroad outlet for Laporte, the newly established county seat of Sullivan County, via the valley of Muncy Creek. Some surveying, and possibly even grading, was done, but the new corporation ran out of money around 1867 and remained quiescent for several years. Interest in the railroad did not resume until 1871, when the Catawissa Railroad, later part of the Reading system, completed its line up the east bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River, passing through Muncy and Halls. Muncy, near the mouth of Muncy Creek, was an established town and would have been the logical terminus of the railroad. However, residents of Muncy feared the railroad would compete with an existing plank road to Hughesville and refused it permission to enter the town. Accordingly, the railroad was built from Halls to Hughesville in 1872, but money for further work was again lacking. The railroad was extended to Picture Rocks in 1875 using wooden rails to save money. However, the wooden rails could not withstand the weight of trains and the extension was abandoned in early 1876. The Muncy Creek Railway continued to struggle along until 1881, when the bondholders petitioned to have it placed in receivership. It was foreclosed on August 9, 1882, and reorganized on September 1, 1882 as the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad.
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