New Hope Railroad facts for kids

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New Hope Railroad

Overview
Headquarters	New Hope, Pennsylvania
Reporting mark	NHRR
Locale	Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1966 (1966)–present
Technical
Length	18 miles (29 km)

The New Hope Railroad (reporting mark NHRR) is a shortline and heritage railroad located in New Hope, Pennsylvania which operates both steam and diesel powered locomotives. The railroad is an associate member of NORAC.

Services

Heritage

The heritage operations utilize both steam and diesel powered locomotives for excursion trips out of New Hope. Regular NHRR excursions are 45–50 minutes long with trains running every hour on the hour between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM (with a 5:00 PM 90-minute trip to Buckingham on weekends). The railroad mostly uses former Reading Company passenger cars, which date between 1914 and 1932, for excursions.

A semi-regular operation has recently began in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on the former Reading Bethlehem Branch between Lansdale station and Souderton Station in Souderton, Pennsylvania.

Freight

NHRR is involved in the import and export of raw materials and manufactured products. Freight customers range from national chemical companies to consumer product manufacturers. NHRR interchanges with Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad in Johnsville, which in turn interchanges with CSX Transportation in Lansdale. NHRR's primary customers are based in Warminster; CRC Industries, Castrol, and Double H Plastics are served on a weekly basis.

History

The line currently operated by the New Hope Railroad was originally known as the New Hope Branch of the Reading Company (RDG), which leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad, of which it was a part. The railroad ran as far as Hartsville Station (near Bristol Road) until March 29, 1891, when the line was extended to the long-desired terminal of New Hope, Pennsylvania.

First train to New Hope.

A decade after June 1952, when Hatboro-New Hope passenger service terminated, RDG's financial situation was precarious. Looking to rid themselves of unprofitable branch lines via abandonment, a group of train aficionados and businessmen led by Philadelphia attorney Kenneth Souser established Steam Trains, Inc. with the goal of operating steam trains on a for-profit basis. Steam Trains, Inc. became organized as the 'New Hope & Ivyland Railroad (NHIR), and on June 20, 1966, the 16.7-mile line was sold for $200,000.

Steam Trains, Inc. started their operations on a high note, often in an extravagant fashion. The company leased freight locomotives from RDG, and used only hired labor to operate their excursions. The "air rights" over the Southern portion of the line from Ivyland to just north of Almshouse Road, were sold to the former Philadelphia Electric Company (now Exelon) in order to stay solvent. Steam Trains, Inc. declared bankruptcy on June 5, 1970. Operations continued under a court-appointed trustee.

The Bucks County Industrial Development Corporation (BCIDC) purchased the trackage from the Steam Trains, Inc. in early 1974 to "preserve rail service through the center of Bucks County." The county selected McHugh Brothers Heavy Hauling, Inc. to operate freight service over the line via a lease agreement. McHugh Brothers continued hauling freight with Edward L. McHugh as president until his departure in 1989. By the summer of 1976, the railroad received state funding to rehabilitate crumbling infrastructure that sorely needed fixing. By August 1977, volunteers from the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association [BVTA] (now the Electric City Trolley Museum Association) were operating state-sponsored passenger service connecting the touristy town of New Hope with SEPTA/Conrail commuter trains at Warminster. Bucks County had made a wise investment, as both passenger and freight service flourished during the 1970s once track upgrades were made. Finally, on June 30, 1979, NHRR finally emerged from its decade-long bankruptcy.

Beginning July 3, 1980, volunteers of the New Hope Steam Railway (NHOP) resumed weekend excursion service after the BVTA decided to end it. The NHOP ran trains under a lease agreement with the BCIDC until 1990, when the line and its equipment were once again in a state of decay and disrepair. The McHugh Bros. operated NHIR until 1989 when their lease ended and the Morristown & Erie was contracted to operate the railroad. The BCIDC sold the line outright to the for-profit Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Corporation (BCRP&RC) in 1990, who slowly began to rebuild the railroad to its current state of good repair. BCRP&RC is the official corporate structure, doing business as the New Hope Railroad.

Stations and trackage

NHRR is a single-track railroad with passing sidings at Deer Park, Lahaska, Buckingham Valley, Wycombe and Ivyland. Deer Park is used as a passing siding for passenger trains during the Christmas season. Lahaska serves as the terminus point for the majority of the railroad's excursions. The siding at Buckingham Valley was the original terminus of excursions until the 1980s, and remains empty. At Wycombe, a number of out of service diesel locomotives, the railroad's vintage freight car fleet, and auxiliary Long Island Rail Road commuter coaches are stored. At Ivyland, a series of sidings are present for freight operations out of Johnsville Yard.

A number of stub tracks also exist on NHRR. At Buckingham Valley, a small siding that once served the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association is presently used as a Repair-in-Progress, or RIP-track, for maintenance-of-way crews. At Wycombe, the team track once used for less-than-carload deliveries is utilized as maintenance of way siding. At Grenoble, another siding created by severing the southern switch of a passing siding is present. This siding once held a number of pieces of equipment, but today only passenger car 1542 remains "on" this siding as it was flipped over onto its side by vandals. At Ivyland exists another RIP-track, typically used for storing MoW equipment. The final siding on the railroad is in Johnsville Yard at Warminster on the North side of the Street Road crossing. This siding is used for short-term storage of interchange freight equipment and storing the diesel locomotive assigned to freight service when not in use.

No block signalization exists on NHRR; however, almost all highway grade crossings have been modernized with full signals and gates.

The stations along the NHRR were:

Italicized stations are no longer in existence

Roster

The New Hope Railroad operates both steam and diesel in revenue passenger service. Their fleet of diesels usually hauls their regular 45-minute excursions, with steam locomotive No. 40 utilized for special events. Diesel locomotives are also primarily used for freight operations. The only locomotives owned by the corporate structure of the NHRR are Nos. 40 and 1533.

Passenger excursions typically consist of 3–5 former RDG coaches built between 1914 and 1932.

Locomotives

* No. 7010 is not owned by NHRR but is included in the roster list due to frequent use in freight operations on NHRR.

Rolling Stock

In Service Passenger Cars

Out-Of-Service Passenger Cars

Freight Cars

Cabooses

Other Equipment