The Wilmington and Northern Railroad was a regional rail line in the northeastern United States that operated between Wilmington, Delaware, and Reading, Pennsylvania from 1877 to 1976. It became part of the Reading Railroad system in 1898, became a paper railroad under their control in 1900 and went bankrupt with it in 1971. It still exists on paper as a subsidiary of Reading International, Inc.[2]
The line originated with the Wilmington and Reading Railroad, which constructed the main route from Wilmington to Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, between 1869 and 1871. An extension to High’s Junction was completed in 1874, where it connected to the Berks County Railroad for access into Reading. After the Berks County Railroad was foreclosed and reorganized under the control of the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road (“Reading”), the Wilmington and Reading also fell into financial distress and was foreclosed in 1876. It was reorganized in 1877 as the Wilmington and Northern Railroad.
Following its reorganization, the Wilmington and Northern operated in close affiliation with the Reading but maintained separate management until 1898, when the Reading acquired a controlling interest and integrated it into its system. The segment from Wilmington to Birdsboro became the Wilmington and Northern Branch, while the northern extension was incorporated into the Reading Belt Line. Despite this integration, the Wilmington and Northern continued to exist nominally as a corporate entity within the Reading system.
In the modern era, the line was gradually dismantled. The portion north of Modena, Pennsylvania, was transferred to Conrail in 1976, while the southern segment was retained by the Wilmington and Northern and later leased or sold in sections between 1981 and 2005.
First predecessors and construction
The first predecessor of the Wilmington and Northern to be organized was the Wilmington and Brandywine Railroad, chartered in Delaware on March 5, 1861.[3] It was to build from the Christina River at or near Wilmington to the state line in the direction of Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, with the power to consolidate with a connecting railroad in Pennsylvania from Parkesburg, Coatesville, or Downingtown. It was permitted to build branches, but the main line and branches were not to come nearer than 0.5 miles (0.80km) to any of the DuPont powder works.[4] On 5 February 1865, the Wilmington and Brandywine changed its name to the Delaware and Pennsylvania State Line Railroad.[3]
The Berks and Chester Railroad was incorporated on April 20, 1864,[3] and was authorized to build from Birdsboro (in Berks County, Pennsylvania) to a connection with any railroad in Chester County, Pennsylvania. A charter supplement on March 13, 1866, allowed the Berks and Chester to connect to and merge with the Delaware and Pennsylvania State Line.[5]
The two were consolidated as the Wilmington and Reading Railroad on May 29, 1866.[3] The directors of the consolidated company were Edward and George Brooke, Hiester Clymer, L. Heber Smith, Hugh E. Steele, Charles E. Pennock, Charles Huston, Joseph Tatnall, Edward Betts, Joshua T. Heald, Francis Barry, James Bradford, and William S. Hilles.[6] The first seven were ironmasters in Berks and northern Chester County, owning works along or near the proposed railroad, while the latter six were Wilmington businessmen. In addition to the industries along its route, supporters of the Wilmington and Reading anticipated that it would carry both anthracite and bituminous coal shipments furnished by the Reading, both to reach new markets along its line and to ship by water from Wilmington (relieving congestion at the Reading's Port Richmond docks).[7]
Surveys for the line were carried out in the summer of 1866, between Wilmington and Elverson, Pennsylvania (then known as Springfield). Three routes were examined between Wilmington and the West Branch Brandywine Creek near the mouth of Buck Run (the site of Steele's Laurel Iron Works); the railroad's charter restrictions forced them to avoid the Brandywine in the vicinity of Hagley Yards. The first route ran from Wilmington over the hills to the northwest, dropping into the valley of the Brandywine at Twaddell's Ford, ten miles above the city. The second route was surveyed up the Red Clay Creek via Marshallton, Delaware, Kennett Square and Unioniville, and the third even further west by way of Avondale. The first route was ultimately adopted by the company. From there it was to pass up the West Branch to Coatesville, cross into the watershed of the East Branch near Isabella Furnace, and then run via Elverson and down the valley of Hay Creek to Birdsboro, crossing the Schuylkill River to connect with the Reading. Branches were projected to Downingtown and West Chester[8] to connect with the Chester Valley Railroad and the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad but were never built.
The railroad's board was slightly rearranged at the annual meeting of the stockholders in March 1867. George Brooke, Smith, and Bradford left the board, and were replaced by Sheshbazzar B. Worth, another Coatesville ironmaster, and Victor and Irénée du Pont, of the gunpowder-making du Pont family.[9] At the subsequent directors' meeting, Edward Brooke was chosen president, while Hilles was chosen secretary and treasurer.[10] The company also obtained a charter supplement on February 25, 1867, allowing them to extend their rail line from the Christina to the Delaware River and build wharves and piers.[11] Brooke was replaced as president by Steele in January 1868; Heald and Barry left the board to be replaced by two other Wilmingtonians, Evan C. Stotsenburg and Charles Warner.[12]
The first revenue movement over the new railroad was a freight train from Coatesville south to Embreeville, Pennsylvania on July 28, 1869. Passenger service was inaugurated with a special train from Coatesville to Wilmington on December 24, 1869.[13] In the following year, construction continued north along the West Branch to Hibernia, site of an iron furnace, and on to Birdsboro and the Reading connection. The line to Birdsboro was opened for service on June 22, 1870.[13]
Berks County extension and bankruptcy
The railroad's terminus at Birdsboro, some distance below Reading, Pennsylvania on the Schuylkill, made it dependent entirely on the Philadelphia and Reading for coal traffic. The Reading's efforts to control shipment of coal from the Schuylkill coalfields were resented by many in the region, and while the Wilmington and Reading was still in construction, observers noted that extending it to Pottsville or other points in the coal region would free it from dependence on the Reading and provide an independent outlet for the region's coal.[14] The Manufacturers and Consumers Anthracite Railroad, a paper railroad chartered in 1866, was suggested as a vehicle for such an extension.[15] In 1870, Asa Packer, president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, proposed a similar project to build a rail line from the Lehigh Valley at Slatington, Pennsylvania around or through Reading to a connection with the Wilmington and Reading.[16] The proposed line was chartered in 1871 as the Berks County Railroad. Several of the Wilmington and Reading directors were on the board, and the new railroad was looked upon as essentially an extension of the Wilmington and Reading. The junction point between the two railroads was ultimately set at High's Junction or Poplar Neck (later Cumru Junction), along the Schuylkill just below Reading, and the Wilmington and Reading began constructing a branch from Birdsboro to that point in 1874, this became the "Reading Branch'.
The adventure proved to be a disastrous one for the company. Franklin B. Gowen, the aggressive president of the Reading, fiercely resisted the construction of the Berks County Railroad, and was rumored to have threatened to embargo the Lehigh Valley's coal trade if it cooperated with the venture. The Panic of 1873 ushered in a long depression that badly eroded the financial position of the railroads and of the Wilmington and Reading's directors. The Berks County Railroad was the first to fall; it was foreclosed in late 1874 and was reorganized as the Reading and Lehigh Railroad, under the presidency of the Reading's counsel, George F. Baer. The Wilmington and Reading attempted to assert its rights to operate the Reading and Lehigh under lease, but was unsuccessful; its rolling stock was ejected from the Reading and Lehigh north of Court Street, Reading, and the Reading and Lehigh was leased to the Reading on March 11, 1875.
Collapse soon followed for the Wilmington and Reading, which failed to make an interest payment on its bonds on April 1, 1875, and investers were left scrambling. Various expedients were looked to in the hopes of saving the railroad. In 1874, the South Mountain Railroad had announced its intention of building a branch to Reading, and hope was expressed that the Pennsylvania Railroad might lease the Wilmington and Reading and direct traffic via that branch.[17] While the Pennsylvania had been interested in the South Mountain as a route for coal to New England, it lost interest after the Panic and that railroad was never opened. Anticipating that the satisfaction of the bondholders' claims would leave nothing for the stockholders, the directors entered into negotiations with W. O. Leslie, a Philadelphia railroad promoter. Leslie was the president of the Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York Railroad, which enjoyed very broad charter rights in Pennsylvania and Maryland, but had little else to show in the way of assets except for a bit of grading near Towsontown, Maryland. Contemporary newspapers speculated that Leslie was secretly backed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, but this was not the case. Almost all of the stock was issued to Leslie (who never paid in his subscription on it). The two companies agreed to merge on May 31, 1875, but no particular change occurred in the running of the railroad, which defaulted on its mortgage later in the year and was placed in the hands of commissioners to operate. The vague hopes entertained that the Baltimore and Ohio would invest in the Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, or that its bonds could be readily placed in London, restoring some investment to the stockholders, failed to materialize.
Reorganization
Share of the Wilmington and Northern Rail Road Company, issued 2 April 1877
The bulk of the Wilmington and Reading was sold under foreclosure on December 4, 1876.[3] The branch from Birdsboro to Reading was sold under a separate mortgage. Due to differences in state law on mortgages, the line in Pennsylvania was reorganized as the Wilmington and Northern Railroad (of Pennsylvania) on February 5, 1877, while the portion in Delaware was reorganized as the Wilmington and Northern Railroad (of Delaware) on February 22, 1877.[3] These two were consolidated on April 3, 1877, under Pennsylvania law as the Wilmington and Northern Railroad.[3] The first annual meeting of the new company was held on May 7, 1877. Robert Frazer, Matthew Baird, Edward S. Buckley, Lammot du Pont, Charles Baber, George Brooke, and Daniel R. Bennett were chosen as directors.[18] Frazer was elected president, while Peter S. Ermold was appointed secretary and treasurer and J. M. Thompson engineer and general superintendent. At the close of 1877, the railroad owned 11engines, 11passenger and baggage cars, and an unspecified number of freight cars. While the depressed economic conditions limited the railroad's ability to put its physical plant in good order, a new connection was built to the Pennsylvania Railroad at Coatesville, a new station was built at Second and Cherry Streets in Reading (reached via the Reading and Lehigh), and arrangements were made to use the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad's station in Wilmington as the main passenger station there.[19]
Frazer and du Pont both resigned from the board in 1878. Frazer was succeeded as president by Bennett and as a director by L. Taylor Dickson, while Lammot was replaced by his first cousin Henry A. du Pont. The railroad made a considerable investment that year in filling in and replacing some of its bridges and replacing worn out rails. A high trestle at Dupont Station blew down in a storm on October 23 and had to be rebuilt.[20] Further rearrangement occurred in the following year. Bennett resigned as president and director and was succeeded by du Pont, who would hold that office for the remainder of the railroad's independent operation. Buckley also resigned from the board; they were replaced by L. Waln Smith and Charles Huston, the latter an original Wilmington and Reading director.
In 1879, the railroad sold bonds to finance the construction of two new branches.[21] The French Creek Branch, 5.7 miles (9.2km) long, was projected from Elverson to Saint Peters, the site of iron ore mines that supplied Edward and George Brooke's iron company at Birdsboro. The Rockland branch was to leave the main line at Montchanin, Delaware and run about 1 mile (1.6km) to the Jessup and Moore paper mill on Brandywine Creek at Rockland.
The railroad also faced complications at the northern end of the line. The Reading and Lehigh was independently owned, but leased to the Philadelphia and Reading. It was sold at foreclosure on September 23, 1879, terminating the Wilmington and Northern's agreement with it for trackage rights from High's Junction to Reading. By now, the Wilmington and Northern had abandoned ambitions of challenging the Philadelphia and Reading, and agreed not to bid against the latter at the foreclosure sale in return for perpetual trackage rights between Birdsboro and Reading over either the Reading and Lehigh or the Philadelphia and Reading.
Recovery and Expansion
Business on the railroad had begun to increase, and additional freight cars were rebuilt and new passing sidings laid to facilitate the increased traffic.[21] Baird left the board in 1880 and was replaced by Antoine L. Foster, du Pont's brother-in-law. The French Creek and Rockland branches went into service in May and June 1880, respectively, and were deemed satisfactory in increasing business on the railroad.[22] In 1881, a wye was built at St Peters to allow engines to be turned around when they reached the end of the branch. The railroad also prepared to extend its line in Wilmington to the Delaware River and began selling mortgage bonds for the extension.
The grading of the Delaware River Extension began at the end of July 1881. Rails were laid 0.75 miles (1.21km) from the junction with the main line to the Christiana River, where an iron drawbridge was to be constructed; grading continued on the other side.[23] During 1882, the extension of 3.5 miles (5.6km) to the Delaware River at Pigeon Point was completed. To capture additional industrial traffic from South Wilmington (between the two rivers), the company also built a branch of 1.87 miles (3.01km) along Christiana Avenue to serve the Old Ferry Rolling Mills and several other industries. The Christiana Avenue Branch was finished in October 1882, and the Delaware River Extension and its wharf on the Delaware were finished in December.[24]
Another set of bonds was approved in July 1883 to construct another branch: the Kentmere Branch, leaving the main line near Silverbrook, Delaware (Barley Mill area of Wilmington today) and curving eastward to Kentmere and the DuPont Powder Mills on the Brandywine Creek just north of the Wilmington city limits. The line ended at Brandywine Bridge, just across the river from the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad.
In 1883 the W&N leased their right-of-way to the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad for 999 years, allowing the latter to construct a parallel line along the Reading Branch from Birdsboro to Naomi, near High's Junction. This revenue was applied to the construction of a 1.07 miles (1.72km) line, the South Walnut Street Branch, projecting from the Delaware Extension in South Wilmington, and of the Water Street Branch, an extension along the south side of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad as far as French Street, reaching industries along the Christiana waterfront.[25]
In 1898, Henry A. DuPont sold a controlling interest in the W&N to the Philadelphia and Reading railroad.[28] On February 1, 1900 the W&N ceased to operate by its own organization and instead became a paper railroad operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway under a 999 year lease agreement.[29]
In 1924 the Philadelphia and Reading Railway ceased operations and was replaced by the Reading Company, the P&R's holding company, and the W&N became a part of that entity.
In 1971 the Reading Company was forced into bankruptcy due to dwindling coal sales.[30] In 1976 it sold all of its railroad assets, including the W&N, to Conrail.
Conrail
In 1977 Conrail, after decided not to continue service on the W&N Branch, leased it to Octoraro Railway until 1994. It was later sold to East Penn Railroad.
Legacy
Several segments of the railroad line are still in operation, at least one segment has been turned into a trail and other pieces are abandoned. The section between Birdsboro and Coatsville was abandoned by Conrail in 1972 following damage caused by Hurricane Agnes. Another section from Elsmere Junction to Pigeon Point is also abandoned, except for ~1000feet or rail south of J Caldwell Lane in Wilmington. Along both rights-of-way there are remaining rail, bridges and other infrastructure.
The French Creek, Rockland (Rockland Industrial Track), Kentmere and South Walnut Street and Wharf Branches have all been abandoned; as has the Mill Creek Connection. The Rockland Mills railroad bridge over Brandywine Creek, the French Creek Railrod Bridge near Saint Peters, PA and the Kentmere Branch Bridge over Rising Sun Lane are some of the remaining infrastructure from those spurs.
Most of the Delaware River Extension Branch has been abandoned or is out of service.
The rail line from Valley Township, just north of Coatesville, to Wilmington is called the Wilmington and Northern Branch and has three sections with three different owners. The Brandywine Valley Railroad has owned the section from Coatesville to Modena since in bought it from Conrail in 1982. The section from Modena to the Delaware State line has passed from the Reading to the state of Pennsylvania in 1981, then to the Brandywine Valley Railroad in 2001 and to East Penn Railways in 2005. East Penn Railways (now East Penn Railroad) also purchased the section from the Delaware state line to Elsmere Junction.
~1000 feet of rail, that was part of the Delaware River Extension Branch, just south of J. Caldwell Lane is used to connect businesses there to the New Castle Secondary.
Stations
Elverson Railroad Station in 2025
The Elverson Train Station, built in 1870 as the Springfield Station still stands in Elverson.
Trails
The Rim Trail in Hibernia County Park was built on 2.2 miles of former W&N rail line.
Mansley, Richard N., ed. (1996). The History of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad. Wilmington, Delaware.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Taber, Thomas T. III (1987). Railroads of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia and Atlas. Thomas T. Taber III. ISBN0-9603398-5-X.
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