The Lycoming Valley Railroad is a short line that operates of track in Lycoming and Clinton counties in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

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. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System. The line runs generally west between Muncy (in Lycoming County) and

Avis Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to: Aviation *Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project) *Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane *Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...

(in Clinton County). Other communities served include Montoursville, Williamsport (and its western neighborhood of Newberry), the

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

of Linden (in Woodward Township) and Jersey Shore (all in Lycoming County). of track are in Lycoming County and is in Clinton County. The rail line runs north and then west along the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

of the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the exten ...

, roughly following the routes of Interstate 180 and

U.S. Route 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways which run east-west. US 220 extends for f ...

. The corporate offices are located in

Northumberland, Pennsylvania Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census. History A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded the town of Northumberland in ...

. There are connections to the Norfolk Southern Railway line at Muncy and Linden (as well as an indirect connection to Canadian Pacific Railway service). The Lycoming County Visitors Bureau offers occasional train excursions, departing from Williamsport and going to either Jersey Shore or Muncy and returning. In the fall these are billed as "Fall Foliage Excursions" and in December there are

Polar Express ''The Polar Express'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detai ...

rides with Santa Claus. The system has

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

via the Norfolk Southern line. These allow the Lycoming Valley Railroad to connect to the west with the

Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad The Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad is a short line railroad that operates of track in Blair, Centre, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System. The line runs generally northea ...

(at

Lock Haven Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

) and, to the south, with the Union County Industrial Railroad (at Milton), the North Shore Railroad (at

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

), and

Shamokin Valley Railroad The Shamokin Valley Railroad is a short line railroad that operates 27 miles of track in southern Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System. The line runs generally southeast bet ...

(at Sunbury).

History

The line operated by the Lycoming Valley Railroad (Initials are LVRR) was formerly part of the Reading Company and

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

and was absorbed into Conrail. SEDA-COG JRA was formed in July 1983 to continue to provide rail service to communities whose rail lines Conrail had decided to abandon. In 1996 the JRA took over the line when Conrail abandoned it, and the Lycoming Valley Railroad was born as its fifth railroad. Vast stands of timber and nearby coal deposits brought three early railroads to the Williamsport area. In December 1854, the Sunbury & Erie RR, a PRR predecessor, built northward through Williamport. The Catawissa, Williamsport & Erie RR, a Reading predecessor, ran its trains to Williamsport over Sunbury & Erie from 1854 until its own line was constructed 1871. The New York Central presence in the Valley dates from 1883, when its Pine Creek RR opened between Wellsboro and Newberry, to haul coal. All these routes were merged into Conrail in 1976. Purchased by the SEDA-CoG Joint Rail Authority, they have been operated by the Lycoming Valley Railroad Company since August 15, 1996. On September 8, 2011 the railroad bridge over

Loyalsock Creek Loyalsock Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in ...

was heavily damaged by flooding. Heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee raised the creek "higher than anything we've seen in recorded history", according to a Lycoming County official. According to USGS gauge height recordings upstream at Loyalsockville, the creek crested that day at 70,000 cubic feet per second or 31.5 million gallons per minute. The damage to the bridge was severe enough that the bridge was not able to be saved. While she still stood, one of the middle piers had become dislodged and the rails were bent. The bridge over the Loyalsock Creek was rebuilt and opened in 2014.

References

External links

Lycoming Valley Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lycoming Valley Railroad Pennsylvania railroads Spin-offs of Conrail Transportation in Clinton County, Pennsylvania Transportation in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

History

See also

References

External links