The Wawa and Concordville Railroad was a

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

tourist railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

in the

U.S. 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 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

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 ...

during the late 1960s.

History

The Wawa & Concordville (W&C) was one of the earlier steam tourist railroads. It was conceived by local businessmen with the support of the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce in 1966. It operated from Concordville, near

U.S. Route 322 U.S. Route 322 (US 322) is a , east–west United States Highway, traversing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The road is a spur route, spur of U.S. Route 22, US 22 and one of the original highways from 1926. A portion of it at one time was c ...

, east to the village of Wawa. The railroad operated over a leased portion 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 ...

Octoraro Branch The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port D ...

. W&C utilized two steam locomotives for operations: former U.S. Navy 0-6-0T #3 and former Pacific Coast Lumber 2-8-2T #37. Most

passenger cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

were wooden boxcars that had been converted into open observation passenger cars prior to their use on the W&C. During the 1968 season, several homeowners along Pole Cat Road near Concordville complained of the noise and smell of steam locomotives coming across their yards. They pressured then-current landlord

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 ...

(PC), who opted not renew W&C's lease when it expired in 1968. W&C continued to renegotiate a lease after they were forced to halt operations. A flash flood in September 1971 and

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, ...

in 1972 severely damaged the line. The bankrupt PC decided to remove the line from service, not having the funds for necessary repairs. At the time, 12 freight cars were marooned on the derelict line.

Legacy

While the station was destroyed by fire, the locomotives and cars remained at the site for another 10 years. Both locomotives eventually were moved to

Marshallton, Delaware Marshallton is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The community was founded in 1836 and is named for John Marshall, mill owner. History ...

where they operated on the Wilmington & Western Railroad. Some converted boxcars were scrapped, but two remain near the site in derelict condition. A third is in Marshallton where it is used as a

flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on trucks (US) or bogies (UK) at each end. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted ...

. U.S. Navy, #3 was later moved to

Lewes, Delaware Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 3,303. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Del ...

to operate on the

Queen Anne's Railroad The Queen Anne's Railroad was a railroad that ran between Love Point, Maryland, and Lewes, Delaware during the late 19th and early 20th Century. It connected to Baltimore via ferry across the Chesapeake Bay, to Cape May, New Jersey via a ferry ac ...

. It currently serves as part of a railroad themed restaurant in

Ocean View, Delaware Ocean View is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,882 at the 2010 census, an increase of 87.1% over the previous decade. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies i ...

. #37 was on a siding in Marshallton, but was moved to the

Strasburg Railroad The Strasburg Rail Road is a Heritage railway, heritage railroad and the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, as well as the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 183 ...

and stored there awaiting a restoration until Timber Heritage Association sold it to Age of Steam Roundhouse in Ohio. The line itself was never formally abandoned and is still owned by SEPTA. Rails and wooden

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 ...

remain in place, but are buried beneath soil or are rotting away. The Wawa & Concordville Historical Society was formed in 2003 to document the railroad's brief history. It was founded by Paul Calpin, A. Marc DeCaro and Jenny Lohse Simpson. Today the group maintains a Facebook fan page. There was also a

G scale G scale or G gauge, also called large scale (), is a track gauge for model railways which is often used for outdoor garden railways because of its size and durability. G scale trains use a fixed track gauge of to accommodate a range of rai ...

Model railroad layout In model railroading, a ''layout'' is a diorama containing scale track for operating trains. The size of a layout varies, from small shelf-top designs to ones that fill entire rooms, basements, or whole buildings. Attention to modeling details ...

in Middletown, Delaware, for some time.

In print

The definitive piece of the W&C was written by Kurt R. Bell and published in the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society's ''High Line'' magazine.

References

External links

Wawa and Concordville Railroad Historical Society on ''Facebook''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wawa and Concordville Railroad Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Heritage railroads in Pennsylvania Transportation in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Railway companies established in 1967 Railway companies disestablished in 1968 Tourist attractions in Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1967 establishments in Pennsylvania 1968 disestablishments in Pennsylvania

History

Legacy

In print

See also

References

External links