Wilmington and Western Railroad

Wilmington and Western Railroad

Reporting mark	WWRC
Locale	New Castle County, Delaware, USA
Dates of operation	1872–1877, 1966–present
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters	Marshallton, Delaware
Wilmington and Western Railroad
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
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Location	2201 Newport Gap Pike, Wilmington, Delaware
Coordinates	39°44′17″N 75°37′58″W / 39.73806°N 75.63278°W / 39.73806; -75.63278
Area	73 acres (30 ha)
Built	1867 (1867)
NRHP Reference #	80000932
Added to NRHP	September 8, 1980

[ ] Wilmington and Western Railroad
DE 41 Hockessin Red Clay Creek DE 82, Yorklyn Red Clay Creek, Ashland Red Clay Creek Mt. Cuba Picnic Grove Red Clay Creek Mount Cuba Wooddale Red Clay Creek Red Clay Creek DE 48 Red Clay Creek Faulkland DE 34 Red Clay Creek Greenbank Red Clay Creek DE 41 DE 2 Greenbank Marshallton Yard DE 62 Landenberg Junction--Philadelphia Subdivision

Marshallton, Delaware

The Wilmington and Western Railroad (reporting mark WWRC) is a freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch between Wilmington and Hockessin. The 10.2-mile (16.4 km) railroad operates both steam and diesel locomotives. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district in 1980. Wilmington Western serves one customer for revenue service, and interchanges with CSX Transportation at Landenberg Junction, Delaware

The Delaware and Chester County Railroad was incorporated in February 1867 to build from Wilmington in the direction of Parkesburg or Atglen, Pennsylvania, and was renamed the Wilmington and Western Railroad in March 1869, opening the line to Landenberg in 1872. A foreclosure sale in April 1877 produced the Delaware Western Railroad, which was incorporated in June 1877 and merged into the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad, a B&O subsidiary, in February 1883.

The B&O cut back the line to Southwood in the early 1940s and to Hockessin in the late 1950s. Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc. began operating steam tourist trains on weekends in 1966, reusing the old W&W name, and in August 1982 the W&W bought the branch from the Chessie System for $25,000, which included Ex-B&O SW1 #8408 as a part of the purchase.