Connecting Railway
The Connecting Railway was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, incorporated to build a connection between the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad and the PRR in the city of Philadelphia.
Construction and assembly
Connecting Railway
The PRR controlled the Philadelphia & Trenton, and had originally intended to directly connect the two lines through the heart of Philadelphia. However, attempts to buy out and demolish buildings in the right-of-way led to riots, and the Philadelphia & Trenton was forced to end at
Bustleton Branch
Chestnut Hill Branch
On January 2, 1883, the Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill Railroad was incorporated, to construct a line between
Kensington & Tacony Branch
On March 26, 1884, the Kensington and Tacony Railroad was incorporated. From a connection with the Philadelphia & Trenton at Tioga Street and Delaware Avenue, it built 1.65 miles (2.66 km) along Delaware Avenue between 1886 and 1887. The Frankford Creek Railroad was incorporated March 17, 1890, and built 0.62 miles (1.00 km) of track from the Philadelphia & Trenton down Butler Street and towards Frankford Creek. It was merged on April 14, 1891 into the Kensington & Tacony as the Frankford Street Branch. The K&T built 2.85 miles (4.59 km) further along Delaware Avenue in 1891–1892 to connect to the Philadelphia & Trenton just east of
Oxford Road Branch
The Philadelphia and Bustleton Railway was incorporated on March 17, 1892 to build from Front Street and Erie Avenue, on the Connecting Railway mainline, to Bustleton. The Bustleton and Eastern Railroad was incorporated on January 27, 1893 to extend the Philadelphia & Bustleton from Bustleton to Fallsington, just west of Morrisville on the Trenton Cut-Off. The two were consolidated into the Philadelphia, Bustleton and Trenton Railroad on May 1, 1893.
The Philadelphia & Bustleton had done only a little grading and built several cuts and viaducts. The cuts and viaduct work that were performed can be seen today, as they are used as a bridle path through the Pennypack Park that run about 1/2 mile that runs from Krewstown Road to about 1/4 of a mile west of Bustleton Avenue on the south side of the Pennypack Creek. On the north and south sides of the creek, there is evidence of approach work for a trestle over the Pennypack Creek.
The Philadelphia, Bustleton & Trenton, after completing 3.55 miles (5.71 km) of the line in December 1896, built no further towards Fallsington. It crossed the
Fairhill Branch
On June 13, 1892, the Fair Hill Railroad was incorporated, and built 0.78 miles (1.26 km) of line from the Connecting Railway mainline near Rosehill Street to Cambria Street 1895–1896.
Engelside Branch
On September 22, 1892, the Engelside Railroad was incorporated, and built 0.17 miles (0.27 km) of line from the Connecting Railway mainline near 32nd and Jefferson Streets to near 32nd and Thompson Streets, where it connected with the Reading (former Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad trackage).
On January 1, 1902, these seven corporations were consolidated into The Connecting Railway Company. This company and all its predecessors were directly or indirectly controlled by the PRR throughout their history. On December 9, 1956, the Pennsylvania, Ohio and Detroit Railroad, an agglomeration of certain PRR Lines West, was merged into the corporation. This was solely for the sake of corporate bookkeeping and had no effect on operations.
Operations
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 Bustleton Branch diverged here (center of picture) and the K&T Branch diverged from the track leading the crossover at the bottom left. The tower closed in 1992.
Abandonment
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
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
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 Shared Assets Operations. 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 rail trail. [2]
Gallery
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Abandoned K&T Branch, Behind Frankford Arsenal, 2006. Note rails disappearing into roadway for river access point
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Abandoned K&T Branch, Behind Frankford Arsenal, 2006. Switch buried in weeds is one siding leading into the old arsenal complex
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Abandoned K&T Right of Way, looking North just above Frankford Arsenal. Power lines followed the branch from Port Richmond to Tacony
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Abandoned K&T Bridge over Frankford Creek behind Frankford Arsenal, looking towards Kensington
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Abandoned Tioga Street trackage linking the Philadelphia and Trenton to the Kensington and Tacony Branch (tank cars are on the old P&T)
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Tioga Street trackage curved to the right and up a ramp to the P&T. The old roadbed ramp is now weed-covered and new curbing and railing blocks the old right of way
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Repurposing of K&T Branch right-of-way as a rail trail at Lardner's Point in 2022
References
- ^ "Bustleton Trains Stop". The Philadelphia Inquirer. February 14, 1926. p. 4. Retrieved August 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Boyle, John (2017-05-22). "The K&T Trail Opens Along the Delaware River". Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
- Netzlof, Robert T. (2001-03-28). "Corporate Genealogy: The Connecting Railway". PRR Corporate History. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
- Taber, Thomas T. III (1987). Railroads of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia and Atlas. Thomas T. Taber III. ISBN 978-0-9603398-5-3.