Connecting Railway Company

Product Details

$15 to $25

Historical Context

The Connecting Railway Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania and was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The line was formed to build a connection between the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad and the PRR in the city of Philadelphia.

The Connecting Railway mainline was operated as part of the PRR mainline from Philadelphia to New York City, providing through and local passenger service and extensive freight service to the many industries located in northern Philadelphia. The main passenger station on the line was North Philadelphia station. Because of the northern alignment of the Connecting Railway, passenger trains between New York and Pittsburgh would stop there only, bypassing 30th Street Station. The Chestnut Hill, Fort Washington and Bustleton Branches also saw passenger service; the other lines were exclusively freight lines. In particular, the Kensington & Tacony Branch served the upper Philadelphia waterfront and the Frankford Arsenal, and the Oxford Road Branch served a Sears distribution center near its crossing of the Reading.

Passenger service on the Bustleton Branch was discontinued in 1926, but the Chestnut Hill and Fort Washington Branches became part of the PRR suburban electrification program. Electrified service from Chestnut Hill to Broad Street Station began in 1918 and over the Fort Washington Branch in 1924. The rest of the mainline was electrified by 1935 to allow electric service to New York.

The little-used Fort Washington Branch was de-electrified, and passenger service discontinued in 1952. In 1953, the upper section of the branch from the Trenton Cutoff connection at Fort Hill to Wyndmoor was abandoned. In the 1960s, part of the right-of-way was used for Pennsylvania Route 309. The remaining section from Wyndmoor to Allen Lane continued to see freight service until the late 1970s; this remnant was abandoned and removed in the early 1980s.

The loss of industry in Philadelphia began to take its toll, and many of the freight branches became little-used. In 1973, the Oxford Road Branch was abandoned north of the Reading crossing. The Connecting Railway survived as a separate corporation through the Penn Central merger, but all its tracks were sold to Conrail and Amtrak in 1976 and the corporation was subsequently dissolved.

The main line became part of the Northeast Corridor, and the Chestnut Hill Branch was sold to SEPTA in 1983 (although Conrail continued switching industries along the line). The Bustleton Branch, Frankford Street Branch and Engelside Branch are still operated by Conrail. The Fairhill Branch, Oxford Road Branch, Midvale Branch and the Kensington and Tacony Branch were abandoned during the 1980s. The Kensington and Tacony right-of-way has been converted to a trail.

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