Chestnut Hill West Branch
| Chestnut Hill West Branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | SEPTA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | Chestnut Hill West Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | June 11, 1884 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 6.9 mi (11.1 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrification | 12kv 25hz overhead catenary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Chestnut Hill West Branch is a railway line in Pennsylvania. It runs 6.9 miles (11.1 km) from a junction with the Northeast Corridor at North Philadelphia to Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. It was built between 1883 and 1884 by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill Railroad, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system (and later Penn Central) until 1976. Today it is owned by SEPTA and hosts the Chestnut Hill West Line commuter rail service. The line runs roughly parallel to the Chestnut Hill East Branch, formerly of the Reading Company.
History
[edit]The Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill Railroad reached the Chestnut Hill neighborhood in Philadelphia in 1854.[1][2] As the west side of Chestnut Hill attracted investment, developers sought to promote growth through a new railway line. This project attracted the interest of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill Railroad was incorporated on January 2, 1883.[3][4] Construction began that May, and the new line, double-tracked from the outset, opened on June 11, 1884. The new line branched off from the Connecting Railway's main line at North Philadelphia, and ran north to Chestnut Hill West, approximately 1,600 feet (490 m) south of Chestnut Hill East.[5]
Under the Pennsylvania Railroad the line was known as the Germantown and Chestnut Hill Branch or simply the Chestnut Hill Branch.[6][7] In 1913 the Pennsylvania decided to electrify the branch, along with the main line between Broad Street Station and Paoli and the New York division between Broad Street and North Philadelphia.[8] Electrified service to Chestnut Hill began in April 1918.[9]
The Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill Railroad was merged into the Connecting Railway in 1902.[10] The Connecting Railway remained the owner of the line through the Penn Central merger in 1968. With the Penn Central's final bankruptcy in 1976, the Chestnut Hill Branch was conveyed to Conrail and then SEPTA.[11] Between June 26 and December 17, 1989, service terminated at Allen Lane with shuttle buses serving St. Martin's, Highland and Chestnut Hill West because of unsafe conditions on the Cresheim Valley bridge. The original iron bridge dated to 1884 and was replaced with a $7.6 million steel structure financed by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration.[12] SEPTA activated positive train control on the Chestnut Hill West Line on August 22, 2016.[13]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Holton (1989), p. 257.
- ^ ICC (1931), p. 448.
- ^ Contosta (1992), p. 25.
- ^ Coverdale & Colpitts (1946), p. 101.
- ^ Coverdale & Colpitts (1946), pp. 102–103.
- ^ Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co. January 1904. OCLC 6340864.
- ^ "The Pennsylvania Railroad: Eastern Region: Timetable No. 23". Pennsylvania Railroad. April 30, 1967.
- ^ Bezilla (1980), p. 65.
- ^ Bezilla (1980), p. 71.
- ^ Coverdale & Colpitts (1946), p. 92.
- ^ USRA (1975), pp. 227, 267, 332.
- ^ Hollman, Laurie (December 17, 1989). "A Bridge Is Rebuilt With Clout". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
- ^ "Positive Train Control Update". SEPTA. May 1, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
References
[edit]- Bezilla, Michael (1980). Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1895–1968. University Park: Penn State University Press. ISBN 978-0271002415. OCLC 5336721.
- Contosta, David R. (1992). A Philadelphia Family: The Houstons and Woodwards of Chestnut Hill. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1406-2.
- Coverdale & Colpitts (1946). The Pennsylvania Railroad Company: The Corporate, Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned, Operated and Controlled To December 31, 1945. Volume II: Lines East of Pittsburgh. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott. OCLC 13172415.
- Holton, James L. (1989). The Reading Railroad: History of a Coal Age Empire : The Nineteenth Century. Vol. 1. Laury's Station, PA: Garrigues House. ISBN 0-9620844-1-7.
- Interstate Commerce Commission (1931). "Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports". U.S. Government Printing Office.
- United States Railway Association (1975). Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (PDF). Vol. 1. Washington, DC. OCLC 2889148.
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