The Lycoming Valley Railroad is a short line that operates of track in Lycoming and Clinton counties in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is part of the

North Shore Railroad System The North Shore Railroad System in the United States includes the following short lines: *Juniata Valley Railroad (JVRR)* * Lycoming Valley Railroad (LVRR)* *Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad (NBER)* * North Shore Railroad (NSHR)* *Shamokin Valley ...

. The line runs generally west between Muncy (in Lycoming County) and Avis (in Clinton County). Other communities served include Montoursville, Williamsport (and its western neighborhood of Newberry), the unincorporated

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Linden (in Woodward Township) and

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

(all in Lycoming County). of track are in Lycoming County and is in Clinton County. The rail line runs north and then west along the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the ex ...

, roughly following the routes of Interstate 180 and

U.S. Route 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways, which run east-west. US 220 extends for ...

. The corporate offices are located in

Northumberland, Pennsylvania Northumberland is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,911 at the 2020 census. History A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, founded the town of Northumb ...

. There are connections to the

Norfolk Southern Railway 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 ...

line at Muncy and Linden (as well as an indirect connection to

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

service). The Lycoming County Visitors Bureau offers occasional train excursions, departing from Williamsport and going to either Jersey Shore or Muncy and returning. In the fall these are billed as "Fall Foliage Excursions" and in December there are Polar Express rides with

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

. 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 c ...

via the Norfolk Southern line. These allow the Lycoming Valley Railroad to connect to the west with 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 northeas ...

(at Lock Haven) and, to the south, with the Union County Industrial Railroad (at Milton), the North Shore Railroad (at

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

), and

Shamokin Valley Railroad The Shamokin Valley Railroad is a short line railroad that operates 27 miles of track in southern Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System. The line runs generally southeast be ...

(at Sunbury).

History

The line operated by the Lycoming Valley Railroad (Initials are LVRR) was formerly part of the

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 ...

and

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

and was absorbed into

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 ...

. SEDA-COG JRA was formed in July 1983 to continue to provide rail service to communities whose rail lines Conrail had decided to abandon. In 1996 the JRA took over the line when Conrail abandoned it, and the Lycoming Valley Railroad was born as its fifth railroad. Vast stands of timber and nearby coal deposits brought three early railroads to the Williamsport area. In December 1854, the Sunbury & Erie RR, a PRR predecessor, built northward through Williamport. The Catawissa, Williamsport & Erie RR, a Reading predecessor, ran its trains to Williamsport over Sunbury & Erie from 1854 until its own line was constructed 1871. The New York Central presence in the Valley dates from 1883, when its Pine Creek RR opened between Wellsboro and Newberry, to haul coal. All these routes were merged into Conrail in 1976. Purchased by the SEDA-CoG Joint Rail Authority, they have been operated by the Lycoming Valley Railroad Company since August 15, 1996. On September 8, 2011, the railroad bridge over

Loyalsock Creek Loyalsock Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in ...

was heavily damaged by flooding. Heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee raised the creek "higher than anything we've seen in recorded history", according to a Lycoming County official. According to USGS gauge height recordings upstream at Loyalsockville, the creek crested that day at 70,000 cubic feet per second or 31.5 million gallons per minute. The damage to the bridge was severe enough that the bridge was not able to be saved. While she still stood, one of the middle piers had become dislodged and the rails were bent. The bridge over the Loyalsock Creek was rebuilt and opened in 2014.

References

External links

Official website

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lycoming Valley Railroad Pennsylvania railroads Spin-offs of Conrail Transportation in Clinton County, Pennsylvania Transportation in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

History

See also

References

External links