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188:(48.8 km) route along the Schuylkill from Phoenixville to Reading in November 1882. On June 1, 1883, these two companies were consolidated with the Phoenixville and West Chester Railroad, then building the PRR's Phoenixville Branch, into the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad. It was immediately leased to the PRR for fifty years.
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due to the high cost, primarily for electrification of the entire line and the need to rebuild the entire
Philadelphia-Manayunk section of the Schuylkill Branch, alternate plans including using the ex-Reading Manayunk/Norristown route only, with partial extension of the electrified service as far as
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and
Manayunk/Ivy Ridge warranted its closure, forcing SEPTA to scale back service its Cynwyd Station in Bala Cynwyd. The viaduct has since been repaired and restored to its previous glory, though service has not resumed. SEPTA leased the unused section between Cynwyd and Ivy Ridge to local townships
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The PRR initially chartered two subsidiaries to build its line up the
Schuylkill: the Philadelphia, Norristown and Phoenixville Railroad and the Phoenixville, Pottstown and Reading Railroad were incorporated on September 20, 1882. The first had charter rights to run from some point on the PRR's main
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Prior to 1874, when a change to
Pennsylvania's constitution blocked further investment by transportation companies in mining properties, the PRR had invested more $ 5,000,000 in the anthracite business and owned an estimated 1 billion tons of recoverable anthracite, but it lacked an easy rail route
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to the
Schuylkill valley, and then up the river to Phoenixville. Construction began in August 1882, before the company was organized, along a 23.8-mile (38.3 km) route from the main line near Monticello Street in Philadelphia to Phoenixville. The second company began work on the 30.3-mile
162:, which had its own coal interests, while bringing anthracite to Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania's rails required it to travel a circuitous route via Sunbury and Harrisburg. A more direct route to Philadelphia was desirable. Furthermore, such a route would inevitably follow the
400:, an electrified rail service that would have restored passenger service connecting Philadelphia and Reading, would have used the ex-PRR/Penn Central tracks from 52nd Street to Ivy Ridge, connecting with the existing ex-Reading Manayunk/Norristown service to Reading.
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service in the late 1870s was intensely provocative to PRR management, and retaliation against the
Reading by breaking into its own territory on the Schuylkill played a role in the PRR's decision to build the branch.
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in
Pennsylvania in the 1950s, the PRR eliminated commuter rail service in 1960 north of Manayunk, yielding Philadelphia, Norristown, and Reading commuter and through-passenger service to the rival Reading.
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on May 12, 9.6 miles (15.4 km) to
Norristown on June 23, 22.7 miles (36.5 km) through Phoenixville to Pottstown on September 22, and a final 18.1 miles (29.1 km) to Reading on November 24.
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The
Pennsylvania Railroad Company: The Corporate, Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned, Operated and Controlled To December 31, 1945. Volume I: The Pennsylvania Railroad Proper
247:–Philadelphia intercity passenger and through-freight service under wire, the Schuylkill Branch was electrified from its 52nd Street Junction in Philadelphia to Haws Avenue in Norristown.
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The new company completed the
Phoenixville Branch on August 1, 1883. The first segment of the Schuylkill Branch, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the junction with the main line to
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service, the Schuylkill Branch service primarily as a commuter rail line between Philadelphia and Norristown, with the lines being within plain sight of each other between
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King of Prussia, and any service west of King of Prussia requiring the use of push-pull consists using
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in 1976 led to the closure and abandonment of the Schuylkill Valley Branch north of Manayunk.
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Map of the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad, the predecessor to the Schuylkill Branch
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from the anthracite fields to tidewater. Shipments to New York required cooperation of the
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The Schuylkill Branch originated as an attempt by the Pennsylvania Railroad to develop its
126:(PRR) Employee Timetable Philadelphia Region No.2, showing the then-active service between
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The line remains intact from Gibraltar, Pennsylvania at Gibraltar Road/PA Route 724 to
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and Norristown. Service to Pottstown was made available in 1886, and an extension to
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for Philadelphia–Reading service, when the latter decided to compete with the PRR for
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In the 1930s, as part of the extensive electrification project that brought New York–
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that is part of the Schuylkill River Trail; the PRR-era catenary poles remain.
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With the surge in automobile sales and construction of extensions of the
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The Pennsylvania Railroad: Volume I, Building an Empire, 1846–1917
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to Delano Junction, about 2.5 mi (4.0 km) northeast of
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In conjunction with the Catawissa Branch, Nescopeck Branch, and
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before 1870, but this was leased by the PRR in 1885.
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The abandoned Schuylkill Branch Bridge crossing the
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298:Former section of the Schuylkill Branch in the
154:holdings in the upper Susquehanna watershed.
286:concrete viaduct connecting the line between
262:With the bankruptcies of the PRR's successor
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539:PRR Corporate History: Pennsylvania Railroad
348:Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad
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90:'s Hazleton Branch and Tomhicken Branch to
684:Closed railway lines in the United States
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609:. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott.
557:August 1, 1870 Lehigh Valley Railroad map
322:, a short piece in Norristown is used by
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650:Template:Attached KML/Schuylkill Branch
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316:Valley Forge National Historical Park
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342:is part of the currently dormant NS
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60:Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line
16:Former railroad line in Pennsylvania
694:Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania
291:for used as an interim rail trail.
203:Opened in 1884 to compete with the
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603:Coverdale & Colpitts (1946).
314:connecting Philadelphia with the
50:owned and operated by the former
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578:University of Pennsylvania Press
403:Because of its rejection by the
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278:rail service until 1986, when
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488:Coverdale & Colpitts 1946
476:Coverdale & Colpitts 1946
344:Phoenixville Industrial Track
320:King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
132:Philadelphia Suburban Station
572:Churella, Albert J. (2013).
354:(north of Reading) north to
332:Morrisville Connecting Track
689:Pennsylvania Railroad lines
663:Geographic data related to
371:25 Hz traction power system
179:line to Pittsburgh between
134:; service was truncated to
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256:Interstate Highway System
373:, as it powers both the
324:Norfolk Southern Railway
58:. The line ran from the
36:Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania
445:"WILKES BARRE DIVISION"
398:Schuylkill Valley Metro
363:Birdsboro, Pennsylvania
122:Pages 188-189 from The
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229:Lehigh Valley Railroad
160:Lehigh Valley Railroad
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88:Lehigh Valley Railroad
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252:Pennsylvania Turnpike
124:Pennsylvania Railroad
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654:KML is from Wikidata
413:ALP-45DP locomotives
466:, pp. 514–515.
350:owns the line from
334:. The line between
330:, as part of their
183:, Philadelphia and
99:Wilkes-Barre Branch
417:New Jersey Transit
391:York, Pennsylvania
382:Keystone Corridors
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282:conditions on the
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62:at 52nd Street in
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665:Schuylkill Branch
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302:section of
288:Bala Cynwyd
276:Cynwyd Line
144:Cynwyd Line
678:Categories
566:References
450:2008-11-29
410:dual-power
312:rail trail
300:Roxborough
245:Harrisburg
241:Washington
221:New Boston
128:Norristown
76:Pottsville
68:Norristown
66:north via
615:858982132
596:759594295
376:Northeast
92:Tomhicken
86:over the
54:(PRR) in
48:rail line
38:, in 2011
632:KML file
542:Archived
421:Montreal
280:spalling
254:and the
217:Manayunk
197:Manayunk
172:New York
136:Manayunk
356:Hamburg
268:Conrail
223:, near
142:to the
109:History
72:Reading
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367:Amtrak
352:Temple
346:. The
185:Radnor
80:Delano
74:, and
46:was a
431:Notes
318:near
272:SEPTA
140:SEPTA
641:help
637:edit
611:OCLC
592:OCLC
582:ISBN
419:and
379:and
338:and
336:Oaks
243:and
193:Bala
130:and
42:The
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425:Exo
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