The Shamokin Valley Railroad is a
short line 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 operates 27 miles of track in southern
Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Northumberland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,647. Its county seat is Sunbury.
The county was formed in 1772 from parts of Lancas ...
in the United States. It is part of the
North Shore Railroad System.
The line runs generally southeast between
Sunbury and the
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
village of Mount Carmel Junction (just east of the borough of
Mount Carmel in
Mount Carmel Township). Other communities served include the villages of Paxinos (in
Shamokin Township) and Weigh Scales (in
Ralpho Township), and the city of
Shamokin. The rail line runs east from Sunbury, then turns south through Paxinos and Weigh Scales to Shamokin, where it turns east again, always along or near
Shamokin Creek and roughly following the route of
Pennsylvania Route 61
Pennsylvania Route 61 (PA 61) is an state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route is signed on a north–south direction, running from U.S. Route 222 Business (US 222 Bus.) in Reading northwest to US 11/ US 15 ...
. It interchanges with the
Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad
The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad , sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. Its headquarters is in Port Clinton. The RBMN provides freight service on of track. Its mainl ...
in Locust Summit.
The corporate offices are located in
Northumberland, Pennsylvania
Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census.
History
A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded the town of Northumberland in ...
. There is a connection to the
Norfolk Southern Railway at Sunbury.
The system has
trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...
via the Norfolk Southern line. These allow the Shamokin Valley Railroad to connect to the north and west with the
North Shore Railroad (at Northumberland), the
Union County Industrial Railroad (at
Milton), the
Lycoming Valley Railroad at
Muncy and the village of Linden (in
Woodward Township, Lycoming County, and to the
Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad
The Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad is a short line railroad that operates of track in Blair, Centre, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System.
The line runs generally northea ...
at
Lock Haven
Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area ...
.
History
The line operated by the Shamokin Valley Railroad was formerly part of
Conrail. SEDA-COG JRA (Susquehanna Economic Development Association - Council of Governments Joint Rail Authority) was formed in July, 1983 to continue to provide rail service to communities whose rail lines Conrail had decided to abandon. In 1989 the JRA took over the line when Conrail abandoned it, and the Shamokin Valley Railroad was born as its third railroad.
See also
*
List of Pennsylvania railroads
The following railroads operate in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Common freight carriers
* Aliquippa and Ohio River Railroad (AOR) Genesee & Wyoming
* Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR)
* Allentown & Auburn Railroad (ALLN)
* BD Highspire Holding ...
*
Stourbridge Railroad (also operated by Robey Railroads)
External links
Shamokin Valley Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamokin Valley Railroad
Pennsylvania railroads
Spin-offs of Conrail
Companies operating former Pennsylvania Railroad lines
Companies operating former Reading Company lines
Transportation in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania