Upton station was a former

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

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 ...

outside of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

. It was constructed as a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line near the location where the rail line now crosses

Interstate 476 Interstate 476 (I-476) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor through ea ...

between Villanova station and Radnor station, both of which are still operational as part of

SEPTA Regional Rail The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by SEPTA and serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, its suburbs and satellite town ...

Paoli/Thorndale Line The Paoli/Thorndale Line, commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and Delaware County, Pennsylvan ...

service.

Closure

A possibly apocryphal reason regarding the closure of the station has been attributed to former Pennsylvania Railroad president A. J. Cassatt. According to the story, a wealthy land owner that leased property to the railroad to have the station built on was angered when a train passed without stopping to allow guests of his to board at the station. After the incident, the land owner complained directly to Cassett in person. Cassett gave his word that a train would never fail to make a scheduled stop at the station again. To fulfill his promise, Cassatt promptly had the station closed and torn down before the next scheduled stop, with service redirected to the nearby Villanova and Radnor stations, making certain that the train would never miss a scheduled stop at Upton station again. The station is noted on an 1887

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of the area, suggesting service was available at least as late as that time.

References

{{reflist Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Stations on the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line Former railway stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania