The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad, also known as the SB&B Railroad or the Weak and Weary Railroad, which referred to the fact that it was not a financial success, was a railroad in northeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

until 1918. The route ran from

Watsontown, Pennsylvania Watsontown is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,237 at the 2020 census. It was named for John Watson, an early settler. History Land in the Watsontown area was first purchased by John Watson ...

Berwick, Pennsylvania Berwick is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. As of the 2020 United States census, 202 ...

. The railroad was 39.22 miles long, with 3.51 miles of

branches A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includi ...

, totaling 42.83 miles. The railroad was also known as the "Sweet By and By". Trains typically ran along the railroad six days a week. What remains of it is currently a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the

Pennsylvania Railroad Company The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its p ...

Predecessors

The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick began as the Wilkes-Barre and Western Railway, incorporated on June 22, 1886 to build from Watsontown to Shickshinny. It opened of line from Watsontown to Millville in 1887, and in 1891, opened an additional from Millville Junction, just south of Millville, to Orangeville. The promoters of the Wilkes-Barre and Western envisioned it as part of a trunk line which would move

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, ...

east from the Clearfield Coalfield and

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...

west from Wilkes-Barre. Two affiliated railroads were chartered to help build these connections: the Turbotville and Williamsport Railroad was incorporated on November 18, 1892 to build from

Turbotville Turbotville is a borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the t ...

to Williamsport, while the Orangeville and Lehigh Railroad was incorporated on December 12, 1892 to build north from Orangeville to Hauser's Mills, now Pocono Lake, on the line of the

Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad The Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad (WB&E) was a railroad that operated in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States from 1892 to 1939. History The WB&E was a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York, Susquehanna and ...

. Neither of these two roads were constructed and they were consolidated with the Wilkes-Barre and Western on March 1, 1893 to form the Central Pennsylvania and Western Railroad. This railroad was reorganized on July 31, 1902 as the Susquehanna, Bloomsburrg and Berwick Railroad.

History

The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad was originally called the Wilkes-Barre and Western Railroad, but renamed when its ownership was passed to a different company. Under this name, it was formed in 1885 and carried the first trains in 1887. The railroad was mostly constructed using manual labor. The laborers consisted of locals, Italian workers, and Hungarian workers. By 1891, the road extended as far east as Orangeville, but this course was abandoned in favor of routing the railroad to Berwick via Lightstreet. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad originally only ran from Watsontown to Lightstreet, Pennsylvania. However, in 1903 the railroad was extended from Berwick to Eyers Grove. In that year, the railroad company discontinued its branch line from Eyers Grove to Orangeville due to a lack of business. However, it retained its branch line from Eyers Grove to Millville. By 1911, the Pennsylvania Railroad owned nearly all of the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad Company's stock. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad was absorbed by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its ...

in 1918. It carried passengers for some years longer, although by 1940, passenger trains stopped running along the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad. However, the rail line continued to be used for other purposes until the late 1960s, when the American Car and Foundry plant in Berwick closed. After the closing of the plant, the railroad's use was negligible and the tracks entered a state of disrepair. By the beginning of the 1980s, the tracks east of Washingtonville had been removed. However, as of 2009, the railroad tracks from Washingtonville to Watsontown are still used. There were once plans to extend the railroad as far east as Shickshinny, but these plans were never put into practice. Additionally, there were plans to extend the railroad west from Watsontown to merge with railroads carrying

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

from Clearfield County.

Stations and Intersections

The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad intersected the

Bloomsburg and Sullivan Railroad The Bloomsburg and Sullivan Railroad, (e.1888-d.1972) also called the B & S Railroad, was a long-lived independent shortline railroad that existed under that name operating independently from 1888 to 1928As stated in the article, the railroad e ...

near Lightstreet. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad intersected another railroad in Eyers Grove. The railroad had stations in Watsontown, McEwensville, Warrior Run,

, Schuyler, Ottawa, Washingtonville, Derry, Jerseytown, Eyers Grove, Millville, Buckhorn, Paper Mill, Lightstreet, Bloomsburg, Cabin Run, Fowlersville, Dennis Mills, and Berwick.

Financial information

In 1908, the total

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

s of the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad company were $1,826,856.48. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad, then known as the Wilkes-Barre and Western Railroad was sold in 1902. Some months later in 1902 the railroad was sold again, and this time renamed the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad. In 1905, the total cost of the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick Railroad was $1,672,118.13. Between 1910 and 1916, the

net income In business and Accountancy, accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and Amortization (a ...

of the railroad ranged from $7342 in 1915 to $159,159 in 1916. Their

gross revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

between 1910 and 1916 ranged from $108,687 in 1915 to $320,072 in 1916. The company's

capital stock In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory. At the macroeconomic level, ...

consisted of $1,000,000 in the form of $50 shares.

Course

The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad started in Watsontown, and, passing through Jerseytown, Mordansville. From Mordansville, the railroad went down the Little Fishing Creek river valley, then turned east to cross Fishing Creek. The route also passed through Lightstreet and Briar Creek before terminating in Berwick. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad had two

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

s. One of them went from Eyers Grove to Millville and the other went from Eyers Grove to Orangeville.

Uses

When the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad was first built in 1887, it was intended to be used for the

fields on the North Branch and

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 ex ...

. Starting in 1902, the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad carried most of the cars manufactured by Berwick's

American Car and Foundry Company ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad railroad car, rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of Motor bus, motor coaches ...

to their owners. Despite usually running only six days a week, trains would sometimes go along the railroad on Sundays to the Bloomsburg fairgrounds and

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

grounds at Eyers Grove. These runnings of trains were termed "Special Sunday excursions". In the 21st century, the remaining part of the railroad is used to provide service to the

PPL Corporation PPL Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as and is part of the S&P 500. As of 2022, the compa ...

plant.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last=Taber , first=Thomas T., III , year=1987 , title=Railroads of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia and Atlas , publisher=Thomas T. Taber III , isbn=0-9603398-5-X Railway lines opened in 1902 1902 establishments in Pennsylvania 1918 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania railroads Railway companies established in 1902 Railway companies disestablished in 1918