The Pennypack Trail is 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 ...

located in eastern

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County, colloquially referred to as Montco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553, making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania after Philadel ...

in the United States. The trail runs from Rockledge north to the County Line Road border with

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

in Huntingdon Valley (an extension completed in May 2021) along the former alignment of

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

Fox Chase-Newtown Line The Fox Chase Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail service connecting Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia with Fox Chase, Philadelphia, Fox Chase. It uses the Fox Chase Branch, which branches off from the SEPTA Main Line at Newtown Junct ...

. The trail is maintained by the Montgomery County Division of Parks, Trails, & Historic Sites.

Route

Pennypack Trail south of Bryn Athyn station

Montgomery County's Pennypack Trail begins in the borough of Rockledge near Rockledge Borough Park at the intersection of Robbins and Rockledge avenues near the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

border. This trailhead is less than a mile from the northern terminus of

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is the most populous of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania and the 24th-most populous county in the nation. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,603,797. It is coextensive with Philadelphia, the nation's ...

's Pennypack Trail, which runs north from the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

Holmesburg Holmesburg began as a Village within Lower Dublin Township, Pennsylvania. It is now a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Holmesburg was named in Honor of Surveyor General of Pennsylvania Thomas Ho ...

. After beginning, the trail passes over Shady Lane before heading over a stream valley on a long, high bridge. From here, the Pennypack Trail continues north into Abington Township and forms the western border of Lorimer Park, which has a trail network along with parking, picnic areas, restrooms, and water fountains. Here, the trail crosses Moredon Road and begins to run parallel to

Pennypack Creek Pennypack Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 creek in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It runs southeast through lower Bucks Coun ...

on the west bank. Past here, the trail heads north and crosses the creek before passing under

Pennsylvania Route 232 Pennsylvania Route 232 (PA 232) is a state highway located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/U.S. Route 13 in Pennsylvania, US 13 at ...

(Huntingdon Pike). The trail enters Lower Moreland Township and heads across the Pennypack Creek again before coming to a

grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The t ...

with

West Trenton Line The West Trenton Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail service connecting Center City Philadelphia to the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey. Route The West Trenton Line connects Center City Philadelphia with the West Trenton ...

. The trail heads across the Bethayres Swamp before it reaches

Pennsylvania Route 63 Pennsylvania Route 63 (PA 63) is a state highway located in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area. The western terminus of the route is at PA 29 in Green Lane, Montgomery County. The eastern terminus is at Interstate 95 ...

(Welsh Road). The trail crosses Terwood Road before it heads across the Pennypack Creek on a long bridge and then enters

Bryn Athyn Bryn Athyn is a home-rule borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census. It was formed for religious rea ...

. The Pennypack Trail crosses Fetters Mill Road near the former Bryn Athyn station (which now serves as a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

) then north through the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust. Near Creek Road, the trail passes the site of a train wreck in 1921 where two trains collided head-on. The trail previously terminated at Byberry Road in

. On May 11, 2021, an extension north to County Line Road at the

border opened, which crosses under both a

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 ...

bridge and the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...

. A connection at County Line Road will link the Pennypack Trail to the under-construction Newtown Rail Trail which will eventually extend to Newtown, Bucks County.

History

Pennypack Trail bridge north of Bryn Athyn station

What is now the Pennypack Trail was originally part of the

Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad The Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad was a railroad in southeastern Pennsylvania that is now a part of the SEPTA commuter rail system as the Fox Chase Branch. Despite the name, it only ever extended between Philadelphia and Newtown, ...

, a railroad line that ran from

north to Newtown. The line was part of the

Reading Railroad 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 Railr ...

system and was electrified between

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the ci ...

and Fox Chase with service between Fox Chase and Newtown powered by diesel trains. Passengers traveling from north of Fox Chase had to transfer from diesel to electric trans in Fox Chase, and vice versa. In 1976, the Reading Railroad became a part of

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 ...

. SEPTA acquired operation of the line in 1981, which became its

. In January 1983, SEPTA suspended service between Fox Chase and Newtown because of low ridership, a labor dispute, and failing diesel equipment on this section of line, which lacked electrification. In 2009, Montgomery County leased the line from SEPTA for $1 and the rails were removed and sold. SEPTA retains complete ownership of the corridor for future passenger rail service. The rail trail was extended north from Welsh Road to Byberry Road on September 18, 2015.

References

External links

* {{PennsylvaniaRailtrails Rail trails in Pennsylvania Protected areas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 2009 establishments in Pennsylvania Reading Company