Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad
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The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad (PG&N) was a railway company in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It was incorporated in 1831 and opened its first line in 1832, making it one of the
oldest railroads in North America This is a list of the earliest railroads in North America, including various railroad-like precursors to the general modern form of a company or government agency operating locomotive-drawn trains on metal tracks. Railroad-like entities (1700s ...
. The
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...
(a forerunner of the
Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...
) leased the company's lines in 1870, ending its period of independent operation. Today, its lines are part of the
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 ...
network in the
Philadelphia 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 ...
region.


History

The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad was incorporated on April 5, 1831. The company's initial line extended from Philadelphia to
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ger ...
, and opened on June 6, 1832. The company abandoned its original intention to extend to
Norristown Norristown may mean: * Norristown, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home ...
from Germantown and instead built west from 16th Street Junction in what is now
North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...
. This line reached Manayunk on October 18, 1834, and Norristown on August 15, 1835. The PG&N's Philadelphia depot was situated at Ninth Street and Green Street. Through the Swedes Ford Bridge Company, which it leased, the PG&N built a bridge over the
Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
between Norristown and
Bridgeport, Pennsylvania Bridgeport is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River. Former industries included paper, flour, cotton, woolen mills, steel works, and brickyards. Bridgeport is east of Valley F ...
. The bridge, which opened in 1851, created a physical connection with the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...
, whose main line ran down the west side of the river into Philadelphia. Another leased company, the
Chestnut Hill Railroad The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...
, built north from the end of the original line at Germantown into Chestnut Hill. The extension, just under , opened on December 1, 1854. The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown also controlled the
Plymouth Railroad Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth' ...
, which was chartered in 1836 and by 1840 had built north from the Norristown Branch at
Conshohocken Conshohocken ( ; Lenape: ''KanshihĂ kink'') is a borough on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in suburban Philadelphia. Historically a large mill town and industrial and manufacturing center, after the decline of industry in ...
. The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown took control via stock ownership in 1868 and extended the line another four miles to
Oreland Oreland is a United States census-designated place (CDP) in Springfield and Upper Dublin townships, just outside the Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy areas of Philadelphia. Oreland has a ZIP code of 19075, and the population was 5,678 at the 201 ...
and a junction with the
North Pennsylvania Railroad The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, ...
. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad leased the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown on December 1, 1870. The company continued to exist on paper, and with the
Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...
's final bankruptcy in 1976 its lines were conveyed to
Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
and
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 ...
.


Lines

The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown's lines, both those that it owned outright and those that it leased or otherwise controlled, are mostly still in use today: * The original main line from North Broad Street to is part of the
SEPTA Main Line The SEPTA Main Line is the section of the SEPTA Regional Rail system from the Zoo Interlocking in West Philadelphia to Lansdale Station in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The line is long, and serves all 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines. Current service ...
and hosts various commuter services. * The original main line from Wayne Junction to Germantown and the former route of the Chestnut Hill Railroad forms
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
Chestnut Hill East Branch The Chestnut Hill East Branch is a railway line in Pennsylvania. It runs from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line in Nicetown–Tioga, a neighborhood in Philadelphia, to Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. The oldest part of it was built in 1832 by the ...
and hosts the
Chestnut Hill East Line The Chestnut Hill East Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail (commuter rail) system. The route serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill. It is one of two lines that serve Ch ...
service. * The line to Norristown is now SEPTA's
Norristown Branch The Norristown Branch is a railway line in Pennsylvania. It runs from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line in North Philadelphia to Norristown, Pennsylvania. It was originally built by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad (PG&N) i ...
and hosts the
Manayunk/Norristown Line The Manayunk/Norristown Line is a commuter rail service in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and one of the 13 lines in SEPTA's Regional Rail network. It has the fourth highest ridership and the highest operating ratio (58%) on the SEPTA Regional Rail ...
commuter rail service. * The route of the Plymouth Railroad became the
Plymouth Branch Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
under the Reading and has since been abandoned. * The bridge at Swedes Ford became less important in 1903 when a new bridge was built further north, extending southwest from Norristown to a junction with the Reading main line. The Reading sold the lease to the Federal Bridge Company in 1930 and the bridge was demolished in 1939.


Notes


References

* * * * * * {{cite book , title=Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 , year=1975 , author=United States Railway Association , author-link=United States Railway Association , location=Washington, DC , url=http://multimodalways.org/docs/govts/federal/executive/Agencies/DOT/USRA/FSP/FSP%20VI.pdf , oclc=2889148 , volume=1 , ref={{Harvid, USRA, 1975 Companies affiliated with the Reading Company Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Railway companies established in 1831 Railway companies disestablished in 1976 Railroads transferred to Conrail American companies established in 1831