Allentown | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 4th and Hamilton streets (PA 222), Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 40°36′14″N075°27′51″W / 40.60389°N 75.46417°W | |||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Lehigh Valley Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1890 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | 1961 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Former services | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Allentown was a train station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was opened by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1890 and closed in 1961. The building was demolished in 1972. The station was located one block west of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Allentown station.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad opened its original line between Allentown and Easton, Pennsylvania in 1855; the first passenger train ran between the two cities on June 11. [1] In 1890, the Lehigh Valley Railroad relocated its station to downtown Allentown, just off its main line. The station stood near the intersection of Hamilton and 4th streets, adjacent to Jordan Creek. [2]
Long-distance passenger trains included the Asa Packer, which ran from New York City to Mauch Chunk in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, the John Wilkes, which ran from New York City to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Black Diamond and the Star, which both ran from New York City to Buffalo, and the Maple Leaf , which ran from New York City to Toronto. Each of these had continuing equipment or connecting services to Philadelphia. [3]
The railroad abandoned its remaining passenger trains on February 4, 1961, after years of financial losses and declining patronage. [4] Allentown was one of several passenger-only stations that closed as a result. [5] The abandoned station was demolished in 1972 to permit the construction of an enlarged road bridge over Jordan Creek. [6]
Service along the former Lehigh Valley route to Allentown resumed in 1978. Conrail, which took over the Lehigh Valley Railroad's lines in 1976, began operating commuter trains from Allentown to Philadelphia. The service was funded by the federal government and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Trains stopped at a platform at Third and Union Streets in Allentown, approximately a block south of where the Lehigh Valley's station had stood.
Service began on July 31, 1978, with four round trips to Philadelphia. The service was an extension of SEPTA's existing Bethlehem Line trains. [7] The station included a platform, small shelter, and an unpaved parking lot. Service between Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ended on August 20, 1979, amid low patronage and a dispute over the subsidy for the service. [8] [9]
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central, Jersey Central Lines or New Jersey Central, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States.
The Raritan Valley Line is a commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) which serves passengers in municipalities in Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Essex, and Hunterdon counties in the Raritan Valley region, primarily in central New Jersey and a smaller portion of northern New Jersey, in the United States. The line's most frequent western terminus is Raritan station in Raritan. Some weekday trains continue farther west and terminate at the High Bridge station, located in High Bridge. Most eastbound trains terminate in Newark; passengers are able to transfer to NJ Transit using a combined ticket or PATH and Amtrak to New York City. A limited number of weekday trains continue directly to New York.
North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852, and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, predecessor to the Reading Company, leased the North Pennsylvania in 1879. Its tracks were transferred to Conrail and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 1976.
The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. With a headquarters in Port Clinton, the RBMN provides freight service on over 400 miles (640 km) of track. Its mainline consists of the Reading Division between Reading and Packerton and the Lehigh Division between Lehighton and Dupont. This mainline gives the RBMN a direct route from Reading to Scranton, the first such route to exist under the control of a single railroad. Founded in 1983 to take over from Conrail on the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Schuylkill Branch between Reading and Hamburg, the railroad quickly grew over the next several decades to become the largest privately-owned Class II railroad in the United States. Its main freight cargo is anthracite coal, but also sees significant shipments in frac sand, forest products, petrochemicals and minerals, food and agricultural products, metals, and consumer products.
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LCAN) (1988–2010) was a modern-day anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It acquired many properties and relaunched the Lehigh Coal Companies brand in 1988. The LCAN ran strip mining operations in the Panther Creek Valley east of Lansford, Pennsylvania along U.S. Route 209 with vast properties dominating the coal areas of Tamaqua, Coaldale, and Lansford.
The Lansdale/Doylestown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to Doylestown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Until 1981, diesel-powered trains continued on the Bethlehem Branch from Lansdale to Quakertown, Bethlehem, and Allentown.
The Quakertown Passenger and Freight Station is a historic train station and freight depot located at Quakertown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The two buildings were designed by Wilson Bros. & Company in 1889 and built by Cramp and Co. for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in 1902. The passenger station is constructed of dark Rockhill granite and Indiana limestone and is in a Late Victorian style. It is 1+1⁄2 stories tall and measures 25 feet wide by 97 feet 6 inches, long. It has a hipped roof with an eight-foot overhang. The freight station is a 1+1⁄2-story, rectangular stone block building measuring 128 by 30 feet. Also on the property is a large crane that was used for freight movement. The Quakertown station had passenger rail service along the Bethlehem Line to Bethlehem and Philadelphia until July 27, 1981, when SEPTA ended service on all its intercity diesel-powered lines. SEPTA still owns the line and leases it to the East Penn Railroad. Other towns, stations, and landmarks on the Bethlehem Line are Perkasie, Perkasie Tunnel, and Perkasie station.
Allentown station is a defunct train station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was constructed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and Reading Railroad in 1888 and 1889. For most of the late 19th and early 20th century, it provided passenger train service between Allentown and various U.S. Coast locations.
The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad is a defunct railroad that operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the 19th and 20th centuries. The company was a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N). For much of its lifetime, however, it was leased by the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
The Lehigh Line is a railroad line in Central New Jersey, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The line runs west from the vicinity of the Port of New York and New Jersey in Manville, New Jersey via Conrail's Lehigh Line to the southern end of Wyoming Valley's Coal Region in Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania.
Bethlehem Union Station is a former train station located in the South Side neighborhood of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1924 by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Reading Company, replacing an earlier station built in 1867. Passenger service to Philadelphia on the SEPTA Regional Rail Bethlehem Line lasted until 1981. The station was renovated in 2002 and used for medical clinics beginning in 2003. It is owned by St. Luke's Hospital.
The Bethlehem Line was a SEPTA Regional Rail service on the former Reading Company Bethlehem Branch between Lansdale and Bethlehem. Some trains continued over the electrified Lansdale/Doylestown Line to the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia.
Phillipsburg Union Station is an active railroad station museum, in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, United States, at 178 South Main Street. Opened in 1914, Union Station was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) and shared with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and was situated where the lines merged before the bridge crossing the Delaware River. Designed by Frank J. Nies, the architect who produced many of DL&W stations now listed state and federal registers of historic places, the 2+1⁄2 story, 3 bay brick building is unusual example of a union station and a representation of early 20th century Prairie style architecture. The Phillipsburg Union Signal Tower, or PU Tower, is nearby, also restored to its original form, and available for tours.
The Hellertown station was a train station which was located in Hellertown, Pennsylvania on the former Bethlehem Line of the North Pennsylvania Railroad. Closed in July 1981, it was razed on December 6, 1982; no trace of it remains.
Perkasie is a defunct train station formerly operated by SEPTA Regional Rail in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA. It closed on July 29, 1981, after SEPTA cancelled its diesel train routes.
Bethlehem is a disused train station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was constructed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) in 1873. Passenger service to the station ended in 1967. A restaurant opened within the station in 1976, and the building has continued to serve that role through several changes in ownership.
Lehighton station was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station that was located in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, USA. It was part of the Lehigh Valley main line, and was also the eastern terminus for Hazleton Branch passenger trains, although the branch diverged at Penn Haven Junction, north of Jim Thorpe.
The Jim Thorpe station, also known as the Mauch Chunk station or East Mauch Chunk station, was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station that was located in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.