The Atglen and Susquehanna Branch is an abandoned

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

that ran between Lemoyne and

Atglen, Pennsylvania Atglen is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population is 1,311. History Present-day Atglen was originally a wilderness where Native Americans made paths that cut across this area whe ...

. A portion of the line is now the Enola Low Grade Trail.

History

The Atglen and Susquehanna (A&S) Branch was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between 1902 and 1906. The branch was built to relieve congestion on the

Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line The Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. This is the only electrified Amtrak line in the United States outside of the main line of the Northeast Corridor. The line ...

and the railroad's Columbia & Port Deposit (C&PD) line. With freight service on the Main Line hampered by relatively steep

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

, the A&S Branch—which was specifically designed with minimal grades and curves—was often known simply as the "Low Grade". During construction of the A&S Branch, the existing C&PD stone bridge at the

Conestoga River The Conestoga River (), also referred to as Conestoga Creek (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through t ...

washed out. Rather than rebuild, the C&PD bridge was combined with the A&S bridge to form a unique two-line, two-level steel viaduct known as the Safe Harbor Trestle. This bridge at the Conestoga carried the C&PD line over the river, while the A&S ran parallel and approximately above. Construction was completed and the line opened by July 1906. When combined with the railroad's

Trenton Cutoff The Trenton Cutoff (sometimes spelled Trenton Cut Off) is a rail corridor in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid ...

and Philadelphia & Thorndale Branch, the new line permitted the PRR to operate a low-grade bypass between Morrisville, Pennsylvania (just south of

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

) and

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

. This allowed freight trains to avoid the congestion of the eastern seaboard and the steep grades of the Main Line. The line flourished with freight traffic until the decline of northeast railroads and overall reduction in traffic made the line redundant. The line survived PRR's short-lived successor

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

(1968–1976) and into the era of the PC's successor,

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

. Conrail downgraded the line, removing the overhead

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...

and later rerouting traffic over the former

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

's line between

and northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The last train ran on the line in 1988. Conrail petitioned the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

to abandon the line in 1989 and track was removed around 1990. While the track had been removed prior to the 1999 breakup of Conrail by the

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

(NS) and

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

, the

right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

was retained due to disputes over the historical nature of the line's bridges and passed to NS. A group called Friends of the Atglen–Susquehanna Trail proposed using the line as a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

, which was opposed by local residents and ultimately failed. In July 2008, NS sold a portion of the abandoned line to eight municipalities, charging each $1 and supplying a total of $1.4 million in grants for bridge removal or repair. NS also contributed $1.25 million to Manor Township to develop their portion of the right of way. After being abandoned, much of the right of way had been overgrown with heavy brush, and while the rail and

ties TIES may refer to: * TIES, Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science * TIES, The Interactive Encyclopedia System * TIES, Time Independent Escape Sequence * Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science * The International Ecotourism Society {{disambig ...

had been removed, a rough surface of loose

track ballast Track ballast is the material which forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties (UK: sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the compression load of the railroad ties, rails, and rolling stock; ...

remained.

Modern day

Enola Low Grade Trail

The portion of the right of way that was transferred to the Lancaster County municipalities is now a rail trail named the Enola Low Grade Trail. The eight municipalities have opened their sections at varying rates, with the first opening in September 2011. The portion in Manor Township opened in 2013, while Martic and Conestoga townships opened their improved portions in the first half of 2017, and a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 222 north of Quarryville opened in April 2018. The Safe Harbor Trestle opened in June 2022 after a multi-year overhaul, and in October 2022, a trestle in Martic Township reopened (it had first opened for trail users in 2015 but burnt down in 2018), forming a continuous improved segment between Manor Township and Quarryville. Of the remaining of unimproved trail, the portions in Eden and

Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

townships are expected to be improved in 2023–24, while funding is being sought to improve the final, easternmost segment through Sadsbury Township to Atglen, including a connection with the

Chester Valley Rail Trail Chester Valley Rail Trail is a rail trail which runs largely through the Great Valley of Pennsylvania (also known as the Chester Valley) in Chester and Montgomery counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. The west end is in Exton (Chester Cou ...

Amtrak power line

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, which received ownership of PRR's electric traction system, operates a power transmission line along the right of way under

easement An easement is a Nonpossessory interest in land, nonpossessory right to use or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B" ...

. Its two 138 kV lines supply electricity from

Safe Harbor Dam The Safe Harbor Dam (also Safe Harbor Hydroelectric Station) is a concrete gravity dam, with an associated hydroelectric power station, on the lower Susquehanna River. It is the most northerly and last of three Great Depression-era public electri ...

to Amtrak's Parkesburg traction substation. In 2011, Amtrak moved the line's cables from the old Pennsylvania Railroad catenary supports to new monopoles, upgrading the surface to crushed stone at the same time.

References

External links

* *AbandonedRails.com
"The Atglen and Susquehanna Branch"
* {{Susquehanna Valley Railroads Pennsylvania Railroad lines Pennsylvania Railroad Through-freight Lines Railroad cutoffs Railway lines opened in 1906 Railway lines closed in 1989 Closed railway lines in the United States