Lenni station is a defunct

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

station on the SEPTA Regional Rail R3 West Chester Line, located in

Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Middletown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,807 at the 2010 census. The Pennsylvania State University has an undergraduate satellite campus called Penn State Brandywine located in the ...

. The station and several others were closed in September 1986, and subsequently demolished.

History

Built by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name 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. It was named ...

, Lenni station stood on the corner of Station Lane and Lenni Road. It served as a stop on the West Chester Branch. It later became a part of

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

's R3 West Chester line. The PRR's former

Chester Creek Branch The Chester Creek Branch was a railroad line that operated in southern Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pe ...

terminated at Lenni. The line sustained heavy

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

damage in September 1971 (not due to the later

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the 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, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

as is sometimes claimed), and was taken out of service at that time. The railway was never officially abandoned, and has since been deeded to SEPTA via PennDOT.chestercreektrail.org
The station, and all of those west of

Elwyn station Elwyn station is a SEPTA Regional Rail station in Media, Pennsylvania. It was the former southern terminus of the SEPTA Media/Elwyn Line until its 2022 re-expansion to become the Media/Wawa Line. In 2013, the station saw 510 boardings and 496 ali ...

, was closed in September 1986, due to deteriorating track conditions and Chester County's desire to expand facilities at Exton station on SEPTA's

Paoli/Thorndale Line The Paoli/Thorndale Line, or R5 commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County and Delaware County to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates along the far east ...

. Service was suspended that time, with substitute bus service provided. Lenni station still appears in publicly posted tariffs. The station shed itself was demolished in 1990s; the asphalt platform and signage remained extant until around 2019. Since passenger service ended in 1986, vandals began stealing the copper catenary wire. A live

substation exists nearby with

transmission lines In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmis ...

connecting to Amtrak's Lamokin converter station. The line remains electrified as far west as the former Darlington station. Wire was removed for the remainder of the line out to West Chester over the summer of 2005 to prevent further theft. Resumption of SEPTA service to

Wawa station Wawa station is a commuter rail station on the SEPTA Regional Rail Media/Wawa Line, located adjacent to U.S. Route 1 in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The original station was built by the West Chester and Philadelphia Railr ...

, opened in August 2022, does not include an intermediate stop at Lenni, although the service restoration project provides for construction of a new station if demand warrants.

References

External links

Picture of original Lenni StationExisting Railroad Stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenni (Septa Station) Railway stations closed in 1986 Former SEPTA Regional Rail stations Stations on the West Chester Line Demolished railway stations in the United States 1986 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Former railway stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania