Wanamaker, Kempton and Southern Railroad Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad
Overview

Headquarters	Kempton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Reporting mark	WKS
Locale	Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1963–present
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern, Inc. (often called WK&S) is a special kind of railroad in Kempton, Pennsylvania. It's a privately owned heritage railroad, which means it's dedicated to preserving old trains and railroad history. The company started in 1963. It runs on a small part of an old train line that used to belong to the Reading Company. People sometimes call it the Hawk Mountain Line because it's close to the Hawk Mountain area. The tracks follow Ontelaunee Creek, a place where many people enjoy watching birds.

What the WK&S Does
- The Kempton Station
A Look at WK&S History
- Saving the Railroad
The Trains of WK&S
Gallery
See also

What the WK&S Does

The WK&S runs fun tourist trains on about 3 miles (4.8 km) of track. These trains travel between Kempton and Wanamaker. You can ride them regularly on weekends from May to November, and also on special days. The trains are pulled by either diesel or steam engines.

The Kempton Station

The Kempton station isn't the original one that was built there. Instead, it's made up of old buildings from the Reading Company that were moved to this spot. The building where you buy your tickets used to be the station at Joanna, Pennsylvania. The company also owns a building where they fix trains, and an extra 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of track south of Kempton.

A Look at WK&S History

The story of the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern actually began way back in 1870. That's when a new railroad called the Berks County Railroad was created. But it didn't last long and quickly went out of business. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad took it over and renamed it the Schuylkill and Lehigh line. This was a smaller branch line that went from Reading to Slatedale. There, it connected with another railroad, the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

Saving the Railroad

Over time, many railroads started to decline. The Reading Company decided to close down the Schuylkill and Lehigh line. But in 1963, a group of volunteers stepped in! They started the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad. Their main goal was to save and preserve railroad history.

The original idea was to run trains on 11.5 miles (18.5 km) of track from Kempton all the way to Germansville. However, this didn't happen. A landowner didn't want the railroad to cross their property. So, the WK&S had to stop just north of Wanamaker, near Route 143. The new railroad bought 3 miles (4.8 km) of track.

Later, the rest of the line was going to be taken apart and sold for scrap. The WK&S didn't have enough money to buy more track. But luckily, the company that was scrapping the line decided to donate 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of track south of Kempton to the WK&S! This extended the line south to a place called North Albany.

The Trains of WK&S

The Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern has several different types of trains, called "motive power," which means they are used to move other cars. These include both steam and diesel locomotives.

Number	Builder	Year Built	Type of Train	Current Status	Notes
2	H.K. Porter	1920	Small steam engine (0-4-0)	Not running	No plans to fix it right now.
4	Baldwin	1914	Steam engine (2-6-2)	Stored	This train was bought in 2008 and will be fixed up to run again.
65	H.K. Porter	1930	Steam engine (0-6-0ST)	Being fixed	This train is being rebuilt to meet safety rules and will return to service.
250	Baldwin	1926	Steam engine (2-6-2)	On display	You can see this train at the Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts.
602	Whitcomb	1944	Diesel-electric engine	Running	This train is ready to go.
734	General Electric	1956	65-ton switcher	Running	This train was fixed up in 2010. It was traded for another train car.
7258	General Electric	1941	45-ton switcher	Running	This train is also ready to go.