The Octoraro Railway was a

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

that operated in

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, ...

from 1977 to 1994. The company was formed in 1976. It obtained a lease from

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

to operate

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

s on the

Octoraro Branch The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port Dep ...

, a former Pennsylvania Railroad branch line, between

Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania Chadds Ford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware and Chester counties, Pennsylvania, United States, comprising the unincorporated communities of Chadds Ford and Chadds Ford Knoll. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census ...

and the state line near Sylmar, Maryland. It also leased the Wilmington and Northern Railroad, a former Reading Company branch, from Elsmere Jct. (

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

) to South Modena ( Modena, Pennsylvania). The company then created a connection between the two lines at Chadds Ford. U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB). Washington, DC (2003-07-24). "Morristown & Erie Railway, Inc.--Modified Rail Certificate," ''Federal Register,'' . The Octoraro Railway ceased operations on June 30, 1994. The Delaware Valley Railway acquired the company on July 1, 1994.STB (1999-06-10
"Certificate of Designated Operator, Brandywine Valley Railroad Company."
Decision no. STB D-OP No. 100. See footnote 1 in the STB certificate.

Successor operations

Delaware Valley, a subsidiary of

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...

, operated the line until 1999, followed by the Brandywine Valley Railroad (BVRY). The Morristown and Erie Railway provided freight service from July 1, 2003, to November 18, 2004, but operated under the trade name of Octoraro Railroad. East Penn Railway took over operation in 2004 and purchased the

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

from SEPTA.STB (2004-12-21)
"East Penn Railway, Inc.—-Modified Rail Certificate."
''Federal Register,'' . In 2007 the company merged to become East Penn Railroad and operates the Octoraro line.

References

Defunct Delaware railroads Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Railway companies disestablished in 1994 Railway companies established in 1977 {{US-rail-transport-stub

Successor operations

See also

References