 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1850–1858 |
| Successor | Philadelphia and Reading Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 55 miles (89 km) |
The Lebanon Valley Railroad was a railway company in the United States. Its company leaders oversaw the construction of the Lebanon Valley Branch between the cities of Harrisburg and Reading, Pennsylvania, which opened on January 18, 1858.
This company and its line were acquired by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, a predecessor of the Reading Company, on March 20, 1858, which put the company in direct competition with the Pennsylvania Railroad for the Philadelphia to Harrisburg route.
The line now belongs to Norfolk Southern Railway and is part of its Harrisburg Line which runs between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.
Up until the 1960s, this railroad line was the foundation of passenger train operations between Harrisburg and Jersey City, yet bypassing Philadelphia. The most famous train to operate on this line was the "Queen of the Valley."
Intermediate stations included Lebanon, Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Bound Brook and Bayonne.
The Keystone Service is a 195 mile regional passenger train service from Amtrak between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line. Most trains continue along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) to Penn Station in New York City.
The Reading Company was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976.
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 Lehigh and New England Railroad was a Class I railroad located in Northeastern United States that acted as a bridge line. It was the second notable U.S. railroad to file for abandonment in its entirety after the New York, Ontario and Western Railway. It was headquartered in Philadelphia.
The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad in the United States connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).
The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets.
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 Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Bridge carries Norfolk Southern rail lines across the Susquehanna River between Lemoyne, Pennsylvania and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Some of its concrete piers encase stone masonry piers from an earlier truss bridge on this site, completed in 1891 by the Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh Railroad, which was then acquired by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad to connect its Harrisburg and Lurgan lines. The current structure was constructed from 1920 to 1924 by replacing the trusses with concrete arches one track at a time. The bridge has fifty-one concrete arches, three more than the nearby Rockville Bridge.
Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a long and variegated history. An early-settled part of the United States, and lying on the route between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, it has been the site of early experiments in canals, railroads, and highways. Before all these, at least ten Native American paths crossed parts of the county, many connecting with the Susquehannock village of Conestoga.
The Lebanon and Tremont Branch of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad was a railroad line in Lebanon and Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, built to tap the coal fields in the West End of Schuylkill County and send coal southward to Lebanon.
The Harrisburg Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg.
The Schuylkill Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in Pennsylvania. The line ran from the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line at 52nd Street in Philadelphia north via Norristown, Reading, and Pottsville to Delano Junction, about 2.5 mi (4.0 km) northeast of Delano. From Delano Junction, the PRR had trackage rights over the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Hazleton Branch and Tomhicken Branch to Tomhicken, where the PRR's Catawissa Branch began.
The Cumberland Valley Railroad was an early railroad in Pennsylvania, United States, originally chartered in 1831 to connect with Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works. Freight and passenger service in the Cumberland Valley in south central Pennsylvania from near Harrisburg to Chambersburg began in 1837, with service later extended to Hagerstown, Maryland, and then extending into the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester, Virginia. It employed up to 1,800 workers.
The Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railway was a Pennsylvania line from near Carlisle southward to Gettysburg operated by a subsidiary of the Reading Company. The line also included the Round Top Branch over the Gettysburg Battlefield to Round Top, Pennsylvania until c. 1942.
Reading Depot, commonly referred to as Reading outer station, was a train station in Reading, Pennsylvania, that served as a major hub between Philadelphia and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Built in 1874, the station closed on March 16, 1969; this was following the discontinuance of the last medium distance route to pass through the city, the Reading Railway's Queen of the Valley. It was destroyed by fire on February 20, 1978.
The Lebanon Valley Branch was a railway line in Pennsylvania. Built between 1857–1858, it linked the cities of Harrisburg and Reading. It was part of the Reading Company system from its completion until 1976, when it was conveyed to Conrail. Under Conrail, the branch was merged with part of the former Reading Main Line to become the Harrisburg Line. It remains an important freight route.
The Main Line of the Reading Company was a railway line in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The 88-mile-long (142 km) main line ran from Philadelphia to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, following the Schuylkill River.
The Cornwall Railroad, formerly the North Lebanon Railroad, was a railway company in the state of Pennsylvania. It was incorporated in 1850 and opened its initial line between Lebanon and Cornwall, Pennsylvania, in 1855. The Reading Company bought the Cornwall Railroad in 1968. The line passed to Conrail on the Reading's bankruptcy in 1976 and has since been abandoned. The line ran parallel to that of the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad, later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system.
The Reading Belt Branch is a railway line in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It runs 18.8 miles (30.3 km) from the north end of Reading, Pennsylvania, to Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. It was built by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway in 1902 to allow long, heavy coal trains to bypass downtown Reading. Today, it is part of the Harrisburg Line of the Norfolk Southern Railway.