The Chester Creek Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 area in the 19th century. It operated 7.25 miles (11.7 km) of track between Lamokin Street

Lamokin Street (SEPTA station)

The Lamokin Street SEPTA Station is a former SEPTA Regional Rail station located on SEPTA's Wilmington/Newark Line at Lamokin Street in Chester, Pennsylvania, adjacent to an electrical substation that provides power to both Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and SEPTA's Media/Elwyn lines. The station also...

 in Chester

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

, and Lenni

Lenni (SEPTA station)

Lenni is a derelict train station located on the corner of Station Lane and Lenni Road in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's West Chester Line...

 in Middletown Township

Middletown Township, Pennsylvania

Middletown Township is the name of some places in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania:*Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania*Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania*Middletown Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania...

, where it connected with the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad

West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad

The West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad operated in the greater Philadelphia area in the 19th century. It later became the West Chester Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad , and is now called the Media/Elwyn Line on the SEPTA system....

 (WC&P). The line was later operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 as the Chester Creek Branch

Chester Creek Branch

The Chester Creek Branch railroad line ran from Lamokin Street in Chester, Pennsylvania to Lenni in Middletown Township, until 1972. It was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad , and later by Penn Central. The branch diverged from the Northeast Corridor main line near the now-defunct SEPTA Lamokin...

.

History

The railroad was chartered in 1866 and began service in 1869. Its route paralleled Chester Creek

Chester Creek

thumb|upright=1.45|Chester Creek near [[Upland, Pennsylvania]]Chester Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States.-East Branch:...

 from Lenni southeast to Upland

Upland, Pennsylvania

Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven member borough council. The population was 2,977 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Upland is located at ....

, where it veered south, ending at Lamokin Street and a junction

Junction (rail)

A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...

 with the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad was the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania southwest to Baltimore, Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

 (PW&B). The Chester Creek line was operated and leased by the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad

Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad

The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

 (owner of the WC&P), which owned the locomotives

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 and rolling stock

Rolling stock

Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

.

In 1916, the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad was purchased by the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad

Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad

The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia in the 20th century was a key component of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its 131 mile main line ran from Philadelphia to Washington...

 (successor to the PW&B). The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which controlled all of these companies, took control of the Chester Creek line. The PRR merged into Penn Central (PC) in 1968.

The line was damaged from floods during heavy storms in 1971 and Hurricane Agnes

Hurricane Agnes

Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...

 in 1972. The PC ended service and did not repair the line. Following the PC bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 in 1970, the line was acquired by ConRail in 1976, and then the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is a metropolitan transportation authority that operates various forms of public transit—bus, subway and elevated rail, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolley bus—that serve 3.9 million people in and around Philadelphia,...

 (SEPTA) in 1983.

Status

The rail line has not been repaired since the damage and termination of service in the 1970s. The right-of-way is still owned by SEPTA. A local organization called Friends of the Chester Creek Branch has proposed a rail trail

Rail trail

A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...

project, to build a multi-use trail along the right-of way between Wawa and Upland. As of 2010 government grants have been awarded for the first phase of the trail project, and engineering design work is underway.