Upton station was a former

railroad station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

of 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 ...

outside of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. It was constructed as a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line near the location where the rail line now crosses

Interstate 476 Interstate 476 (I-476) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor throu ...

between

Villanova station Villanova station is a SEPTA Regional Rail station on the campus of Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It is in Radnor Township, located on North Spring Mill Road ( PA 320) near County Line Road and serves most Paoli/Thorndale Line ...

and Radnor station, both of which are still operational as part of

SEPTA Regional Rail The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelphi ...

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.

Closure

A possibly apocryphal reason regarding the closure of the station has been attributed to former Pennsylvania Railroad president A. J. Cassatt. According to the story, a wealthy land owner that leased property to the railroad to have the station built on was angered when a train passed without stopping to allow guests of his to board at the station. After the incident, the land owner complained directly to Cassett in person. Cassett gave his word that a train would never fail to make a scheduled stop at the station again. To fulfill his promise, Cassatt promptly had the station closed and torn down before the next scheduled stop, with service redirected to the nearby Villanova and Radnor stations, making certain that the train would never miss a scheduled stop at Upton station again. The station is noted on an 1887

geological map A geologic map or geological map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock units or geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bedding planes and structural features such as faults, folds, are shown with st ...

of the area, suggesting service was available at least as late as that time.http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/atlas/maps/geo/large.jpg

References

Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line Former railway stations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-railstation-stub