Warminster Branch

Warminster Branch
Southbound Warminster Line train along the Warminster Branch between Hatboro and Willow Grove stations
Overview
Owner	SEPTA
Service
Services	Warminster Line
History
Opened	18 December 1872 (1872-12-18)
Technical
Line length	8.3 mi (13.4 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	12kv 25hz overhead catenary
Route map mi New Hope Railroad 8.20 Double H Plastics 8.00 Warminster 7.25 Bucks County Montgomery County 6.50 Hatboro 5.90 Fulmor Pennypack Creek 5.59 Pennsylvania Turnpike 5.39 Trenton Cutoff 4.30 Grove Siding 4.10 Willow Grove 3.30 Crestmont 2.10 Roslyn 0.90 Ardsley SEPTA Main Line 0.00 Carmel Glenside SEPTA Main Line This diagram: view talk edit

The Warminster Branch is a railway line in the state of Pennsylvania. It runs 8.3 miles (13.4 km) from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line just north of Glenside to Warminster, where it meets the New Hope Railroad. It was originally built by the North East Pennsylvania Railroad, a subsidiary of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, between 1872 and 1874. It was part of the Reading Company system from 1879 until 1976. Today it is owned by SEPTA and hosts Warminster Line commuter rail service. A later extension of the branch to New Hope, Pennsylvania is now the New Hope Railroad heritage railway.

History

The North East Pennsylvania Railroad was incorporated on December 14, 1870, to build northeast from the North Pennsylvania Railroad's main line at Glenside to Hatboro.^[1] The line was completed to the Bucks / Montgomery county line on December 18, 1872, a distance of 7.2 miles (11.6 km). A further 2.44-mile (3.93 km) extension to Hartsville, Pennsylvania, opened on November 9, 1874.^[2] The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad on May 14, 1879.^[3] Under Reading control, the line was extended to New Hope on March 29, 1891.^[2]

Under the Reading the line was known as the New Hope Branch. The Reading electrified the portion between Glenside and Hatboro on July 26, 1931.^[4] The North East Pennsylvania Railroad was one of twelve railroads merged into the Reading Company effective December 31, 1945.^[5] Passenger service beyond Hatboro ended on June 7, 1952. The New Hope and Ivyland Railroad purchased the section of the branch between Ivyland and New Hope on June 20, 1966, with the intention of running steam excursion service.^[6]

The Reading, with SEPTA's support, extended electrification from Hatboro to Warminster on July 29, 1974.^[4] With the Reading's final bankruptcy in 1976, the New Hope and Ivyland acquired the section of the New Hope Branch between Ivyland and Warminster, while the Glenside–Warminster section was conveyed to Conrail.^[7][8] Conrail conveyed the line to SEPTA in 1979.

Notes

1. Vernon (1874), p. 235.
2. ICC (1931), p. 680.
3. Holton (1989), p. 274.
4. Coates (1990), p. 84.
5. ICC (1947), p. 573.
6. Bell (1992), p. 69.
7. Bell (1992), p. 71.
8. USRA (1975), p. 281.

References

• Coates, Wes (1990). Electric trains to Reading Terminal. Flanders, NJ: Railroad Avenue Enterprises. OCLC 24431024.
• Bell, Kurt (October 1992). "New Hope for the New Hope". Railfan & Railroad. Vol. 11, no. 10. pp. 68–75. ISSN 0163-7266.
• 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.
• Interstate Commerce Commission (1947). "Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States, the Interstate Commerce Commission for the Year Ending December 31, 1945". 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.
• Vernon, Edward, ed. (1874). American Railroad Manual for the United States and the Dominion. United States: American Railroad Manual Company.

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