The Lebanon Valley Railroad was a railway company in the United States. It constructed the Lebanon Valley Branch between the cities of Harrisburg and Reading, both in the American state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The line opened on 18 January 1858. The company and its line were acquired by the

Philadelphia and Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

, a predecessor of the Reading Company, on 20 March 1858, which put them in direct competition with the Pennsylvania Railroad for the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

to Harrisburg route. The line now belongs to Norfolk Southern Railway and is part of its

Harrisburg Line 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 Harrisburg Line was formed the day Conrail began operations, ...

running between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

Passenger service

The line was the basis until the 1960s for passenger trains between Harrisburg and Jersey City, yet bypassing

, most famously, the 'Queen of the Valley.' Intermediate stations included

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, Reading,

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, Easton, Bound Brook and Bayonne.

References

RSME Timetable article
Railway companies established in 1850 Railway companies disestablished in 1858 Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Predecessors of the Reading Company 1850 establishments in Pennsylvania 1858 disestablishments in Pennsylvania American companies disestablished in 1858 American companies established in 1850 {{US-rail-transport-stub