Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society

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The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society (PRRTHS) is a railroad historical society founded in 1974 and organized as a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation and recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization by the United States Internal Revenue Service. [1] The Society defines its mission as bringing together those interested in the Pennsylvania Railroad and its predecessors and subsidiaries for the purpose of preserving and recording all information available about them. [2] The society is recognized as the source for PRR information by railroad periodicals such as RailModel Journal, [3] RailPace [4] and Model Railroader. [5]

Publications

The PRRTHS has published a quarterly illustrated journal, The Keystone , since 1968. The journal contains researched articles on topics related to the PRR, as well as reader questions and answers, news items of PRR interest, and reviews of PRR-related publications. [2]

Related Research Articles

Pennsylvania Railroad American Class I railroad (1846–1968)

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was so named because it was established in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

<i>Metroliner</i> (train) Former express train between Washington, D.C., and New York City

The Metroliners were extra-fare high speed trains between Washington, D.C. and New York City which operated from 1969 to 2006. They were briefly first operated by Penn Central Transportation, then by Amtrak for 35 years.

<i>Keystone Service</i>

Amtrak's 195-mile (314 km) Keystone Service provides frequent regional passenger train service 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 Pennsylvania Station in New York.

MARC Train Commuter rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area

MARC Train Service, previously known as Maryland Rail Commuter, is a commuter rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) agency, and is operated under contract by Bombardier Transportation Services USA Corporation (BTS) and Amtrak over tracks owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Amtrak.

Northeast Corridor Line Commuter rail line in New Jersey and New York

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Suburban Station

Suburban Station is an art deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center, Philadelphia. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is owned and operated by SEPTA and is one of the three core Center City stations on SEPTA Regional Rail. The station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to replace the original Broad Street Station and opened on September 28, 1930.

New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Railroad Company

The New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road (NC&F) was opened in 1831, was the first railroad in Delaware and one of the first in the United States. About half of the route was abandoned in 1859; the rest became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) route into the Delmarva Peninsula and is still used by Norfolk Southern Railway. The abandoned segment from Porter, Delaware, to Frenchtown, Maryland, the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad Right-of-Way, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated from 1836 to 1881. Formed as a result of the merger of four small lines dating from the earliest days of American railroading in the late 1820s and early 1830s, it was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1881, becoming part of their main line in 1902.

West Baltimore station

West Baltimore is a regional rail station located in the western part of the City of Baltimore, Maryland along the Northeast Corridor and is served by MARC Penn Line trains. It is positioned on an elevated grade above and between the nearby parallel West Mulberry and West Franklin Streets at 400 North Smallwood Street. Three large surface lots are available for commuters. The station is not handicapped accessible, with four low-level side platforms next to the outer tracks, but MTA Maryland plans to later renovate the outdoor station with accessible platforms and entrances.

Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad

The Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad (M&NB) was chartered in the mid-19th century as a seven-mile long branch line from New Brunswick, New Jersey to East Millstone, New Jersey. Construction was completed and the line began operation on December 19, 1854. In 1871, under the order of the company's president Martin Howell, the M&NB signed a 999-year lease with the United Jersey Railroad Company, which would later become part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) known as the "Millstone Branch." In 1915, the company was dissolved and became part of the United Jersey Railroad Company.

Butler Branch (Indiana)

The Butler Branch is a historic railroad line that operated in Indiana, USA. It ran between the city of Logansport on the Wabash River in north central Indiana and the namesake town of Butler near the Ohio border in northeastern Indiana.

Popes Creek Subdivision

The Pope's Creek Subdivision is a CSX Transportation railroad line in Maryland, running from Bowie to Morgantown where the Morgantown Generating Station is located and the Chalk Point Generating Station.

Bowie State station

Bowie State is a regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located adjacent to the campus of Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland. It is served by MARC Penn Line commuter rail trains. The station is located on a three-track section of the Northeast Corridor, with two side platforms next to the outer tracks.

Bowie Railroad Buildings

The Bowie Railroad Buildings comprise three small frame structures at the former Bowie train station, located at the junction of what is now the Northeast Corridor and the Pope's Creek Subdivision in the town center of Bowie, Maryland. The complex includes a single-story freight depot, a two-story interlocking tower, and an open passenger shed. The station was served by passenger trains from 1872 until 1989, when it was replaced by Bowie State station nearby. The buildings were restored in 1992 as the Bowie Railroad Museum and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Paoli/Thorndale Line

The Paoli/Thorndale Line, commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates on Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line, which in turn was once the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and is now part of the Keystone Corridor, a federally-designated high-speed rail corridor.

Long Bridge (Potomac River)

Long Bridge is the common name used for a series of three bridges connecting Washington, D.C. to Arlington, Virginia over the Potomac River. The first was built in 1808 for foot, horse and stagecoach traffic. Bridges in the vicinity were repaired and replaced several times in the 19th century. The current bridge was built in 1904 and substantially modified in 1942 and has only been used for railroad traffic. It is owned by CSX Transportation and is used by CSX freight trains, Amtrak intercity trains, and Virginia Railway Express commuter trains. Norfolk Southern Railway has trackage rights on the bridge but does not exercise those rights. In 2019 Virginia announced that it would help fund and build a new rail bridge parallel to the existing one to double its capacity, following the plans that have been studied by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) since 2011.

County Yard is a rail yard in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, along the Northeast Corridor (NEC). Originally developed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it is owned by Amtrak. The New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJT) Jersey Avenue Station, served by its Northeast Corridor Line, is just south of the yard. In 2014, NJT began a project to upgrade the yard and build a "train haven" and re-inspection station. County Yard will be able to store 132 rail cars. The Delco Lead, south along NEC, would be expanded to five additional tracks able to park 312 rail cars and a service and inspection facility would be built to return equipment to service.

Lanham station was a regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located just outside the Capital Beltway off Route 450 in Lanham, Maryland. It was served by the predecessor of today's MARC Penn Line, until August 1982.

Raritan River Bridge

The Raritan River Bridge is a rail bridge over the Raritan River, in New Brunswick and Highland Park in Middlesex County, New Jersey, U.S. The arch bridge carries the Northeast Corridor (NEC) at MP 30.92. It used by Amtrak, including Northeast Regional service, and New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line. It also crosses over New Jersey Route 18 and the East Coast Greenway.

The New Portage Branch was a rail line which ran between the New Portage Tunnel and Duncansville, Pennsylvania.

References

  1. "PRRTHS History". National Society. Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. October 28, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Mission and Membership". National Society. Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. October 28, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  3. "Railroad Historical Societies". RailModel Journal. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  4. "RailPace Interlocking". RailPace Newsmagazine. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  5. "PRR listings". Model Railroader. Retrieved December 9, 2008.