New Garden Historical Commission - The Pomeroy and Newark Railroad

<BODY text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#990099" lang=EN-US vLink=purple> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#999999"> <tr> <td><p align="center"><img src="../newgardenpanorama.jpg" width="200" height="70"></p> </td> <td align="center"> <h1><font color=black>New Garden Historical Commission</font></h1> <p><a href="../index.htm" target="_top"><font color=black>Click here</font></a> <font color=black> to return to the home page and links to other articles</font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <DIV class=Section1> <P style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in" class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 16pt">The Pomeroy and Newark Railroad</SPAN></B></P> <P style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in" class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">by Ben Marsden</SPAN></B></P> <P style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in" class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN></B> </P> <P style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in" class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN></B> </P> <P style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in" class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Dates of Construction:</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> 1869-1873</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Dates of Abandonment in New Garden Township:</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> 1937 South of Landenberg, 1943 North of Landenberg</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Length in New Garden Township:</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> 1.8 miles</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Stations in New Garden Township:</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Landenberg</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The Pomeroy and Newark Railroad was indisputably the least successful of the three lines winding through New Garden Township. Construction occurred during the second half of the 19<SUP>th</SUP> Century, the boom period of the railroad industry, when trains captivated the nation. No terrain seemed insurmountable and every small route appeared to possess great potential. Many of the speculative local lines built during this era promptly failed, swallowing the invested savings of thousands of farmers and businessmen. The Pomeroy and Newark never approached initial investors' expectations and losses were particularly high.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The original stakeholders built the line stretching from Pomeroy, Pennsylvania to Delaware City, Delaware to provide the Pennsylvania Railroad access to an ice free port on the Delaware River. The powerful Pennsylvania Railroad suffered from insufficient terminal facilities at the end of its Main Line in Philadelphia and sought another outlet for the growing freight traffic pouring in from new routes in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Although Delaware City was no more than a quiet town, railroad officials considered it a viable option for a port; it was mostly downgrade from the Main Line at Pomeroy allowing gravity to facilitate the passage of long coal trains, and far enough south to avoid the winter ice in the Delaware River (pollution and warmer temperatures had yet to prevent ice from sealing the port of Philadelphia). Furthermore, Delaware City's location closer to the mouth of the river reduced the total mileage freight had to travel from the west to reach the Atlantic. Shortening this distance promised to make the Pennsylvania Railroad more competitive with its rival, the New York Central, which enjoyed well established port facilities on the Hudson River. The small line did not go unnoticed by these competitive interests. A New York Times editorial in April 1873 cautioned readers about the potential threat from this new route: <BR></SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The communication between the navigable waters of the Delaware and the great West is becoming every day more and more intimate, and the foreign trade which at present appears to be so rapidly growing up on that river, small as it still is compared with that of this port, is a thing which should at least suggest to us the question whether we are not in danger of indulging a degree of confidence in our own position, which may in the end prove far from beneficial to our commercial prosperity. [1] </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Recognizing the speculative nature of the venture, the Pennsylvania Railroad encouraged local supporters to subscribe to stock in the line and attempted to limit its contribution primarily to political support and construction assistance. This typified the giant railroad's strategy in this time period. It leased and operated a line after others invested significant capital, leaving open the possibility to purchase the track for pennies on the dollar if the project failed.  </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG id="Picture 10" alt="1 - P&N Map.jpg" src="rr_files/image001.jpg" width=616 height=905></SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Significant lobbying was required to raise the funds needed for construction. An article written for the West Chester Jeffersonian paper blasted those who refused to contribute or stood in the railroad's path:</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Many who now think this road will be of no service to them, will, in future years, when advertising their farms for sale, give prominence to the fact that they are near a station on the Delaware and Pennsylvania R.R., well knowing that no purchaser of land will go far from a R.R. and buy unless at a very low rate.[2]</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">It continued by emphasizing the prospects for the line:</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The route is surrounded by almost every element of strength to make a successful and profitable road, either for freight or passengers, a dense population, a rich, agricultural region, numerous factories and villages, bodies of iron ore, and a limestone district on the borders of the Delaware, nearer to the peninsula than any other.[3]</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">As the article indicates, the railroad had the potential to serve numerous local purposes as well as the Pennsylvania Railroad's strategic interest. Most residents were thrilled about the prospect of this new form of transportation reaching their doorsteps. Communities were thriving up and down the Buck Run, Doe Run and White Clay Creek Valleys, and farmers and merchants looked to the railroad as a way to expand their markets. A few large contributors helped propel stock subscriptions for the portion of the line in Pennsylvania. One prominent initial investor was Martin Landenberger, the entrepreneur who consolidated and expanded the woolen mills in Landenberg. He served as an early director and reportedly contributed close to half a million dollars<B><SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN></B>to the construction of the line, an enormous sum in the 1870's. The railroad permitted the cheap and efficient movement of raw materials to the Landenberg mills and the distribution of yarn to the company's stocking mills in Philadelphia. Stock subscription in Delaware progressed more slowly, but by 1869 sufficient capital had been raised to complete surveys and begin grading the line.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The steep topography of the local valleys complicated the planning and construction of the railroad. The portion of the line in the southwest corner of New Garden Township exemplified this challenge. In order to thread the track into Landenberg, engineers built five large bridges over the White Clay Creek and blasted a 300 ft long, 50 ft deep cut through the hillside. Other than rudimentary dynamite, limited tools existed to help construct the rail bed. Many local farmers pitched in with their teams of horses to assist with the grading. Two teams and one man received $4.50 a day for their assistance. Hundreds of laborers, many of them recent immigrants, were recruited to supply additional manpower. Families along the line provided support for the workers. John and Lydia Miller, who lived off Garden Station Road in the extreme southeastern corner of London Grove Township provided accommodations for many of those engaged in constructing the line between Avondale and Landenberg.</SPAN></P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><IMG id="Picture 1" src="rr_files/image002.jpg" width=311 height=323></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Bridge #44, one of the five bridges over the White Clay Creek north of Landenberg</SPAN></I></P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><IMG id="Picture 9" alt="Landenberg - The Cut.tiff" src="rr_files/image003.jpg" width=334 height=482></SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Large cut north of Landenberg. Penn Green Road crossed the tracks on the bridge in the background. (New Garden Historical Commission files)</SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">After nearly four years of construction costing over two million dollars, the first regularly scheduled passenger train steamed down the track with much fanfare on June 30, 1873. The Daily Local News reported that, "The people are wild with enthusiasm over the event of the opening of this new thoroughfare of enterprise through their localities."[4] The original line, known as the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railway, opened with 17 stations (more were added). Many of these were named for the initial supporters' farms and villages through which it passed. Trains stopped at Baker Station north of Avondale where Baker & Phillips quarried limestone; Aaron Baker had been one of the early proponents of the line. Landenberg was the only official stop in New Garden Township. The railroad shared the station building with the Wilmington and Western Railroad, which arrived from Hockessin in the Fall of 1872. A passage in the local newspaper described the initial station, which opened in 1873, as "not strictly of the Grecian nor yet Roman order of architecture, but embraces much that is useful and beautiful from both."[5] Apparently it failed to embrace much of either as only two years later the railroads built a "new and handsome" station to replace the "old shed."[6] An additional track was added in Landenberg in 1876 to help facilitate the transfer of shipments between the railroads. A siding branched off to the north of line and ran both into and parallel to the<B><SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN></B>lumber and coal yard later owned by the Sheehan family. Customers pulled their wagons, and later trucks, up to the siding to receive loads of coal.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><IMG id="Picture 2" alt="Landenberg - Train at Station.jpg" src="rr_files/image004.jpg" width=402 height=207></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Train at Landenberg Station (looking southeast). This is the side of the station building. The fencing in the foreground forms a small cattle pen. The building in the background is the creamery. The track in the front left of the photo runs to Sheehan's yard (see photo and map below). (New Garden Historical Commission files)</SPAN></I></P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG id="Picture 3" alt="Landenberg - Sheehan Bros..jpg" src="rr_files/image005.jpg" width=396 height=223></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Sheehan Brothers Warehouse. Sheehan ran a coal and lumber yard and sold farm supplies. (New Garden Historical Commission files)</SPAN></I></P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><IMG id="Picture 11" alt="Overhead Bridge Hebrener.bmp" src="rr_files/image006.jpg" width=405 height=241></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Bridge carrying the tracks over Landenberg Road. The steel road bridge in the foreground stood until the Fall of 2009. (New Garden Historical Commission files)</SPAN></I></P> <P class=MsoNormal> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><IMG id="Picture 4" alt="Valuation Map.jpg" src="rr_files/image007.jpg" width=463 height=304></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Landenberg Valuation Map (from Wilmington and Western blueprint). (New Garden Historical Commission files)</SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">A mile up the line, across the bridges and through the cut, engineers built a dam on the small stream that winds west from the end of Laurel Heights Road. Water flowed from the dam to the base of the hill through a small pipe. This provided steam engines with a source of water approximately half way along the line. It is unclear whether the railroad installed an elevated tank along the tracks to store the water and facilitate refueling or whether it was done from the pipe. There was also a siding used for public delivery on the east side of the main line where local farmers could receive and ship materials, with a small access lane off of Auburn Road. The stop was often referred to as "water plug siding," owing to the water source. However, the 1900 manual of stations and sidings on the Pennsylvania Railroad lists the stop as "Clay Siding." A significant quantity of kaolin clay was excavated from the McIntire farm, now developed as Somerset Lake, and it is possible that this siding was used for shipping some of the material. Then again, the Wilmington and Western handled most of the clay shipping due to its proximity to the deposits. "Clay Siding" may simply refer to the nature of the soil in the area.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG src="rr_files/image008.jpg" width=477 height=227></SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Remnants of the dam near the Water Plug Siding</SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The next official station on the line north of Landenberg was New Garden, located a few hundred meters into London Grove Township on Garden Station Road. A gristmill stood just north of the road and a siding ran on the west side of the main track. The precise location and appearance of the station building are not clear. Martin W. Meloney, who lived on a farm nearby, donated $100 for its construction, a sufficient amount at the time to build at least a small wooden structure.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG src="rr_files/image009.jpg" width=412 height=249></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Approximate location of New Garden Station (looking north from Garden Station Road)</SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Financial difficulty afflicted the railroad from the start. The winding nature of the line made operating long coal trains difficult; the curves stressed both the rails and the cars. Furthermore, large port facilities failed to materialize at Delaware City. Revenue from the local stores and industries fell far short of covering operating expenses. The numerous wooden bridges and grading required frequent maintenance, which compounded the problems. Trees and ice chucks lodged behind the timber bridge supports during floods, often exerting enough pressure to dislodge the structures from their foundations. One particularly nasty storm in 1878 debilitated numerous bridges on the line. In addition, the Board of Directors acquired $1,083,000 of first mortgage debt and $519,000 of second mortgage debt, both of which bore an interest rate of 7%. These required payments of over $112,000 each year. Even at its peak after the turn of the century this small line usually earned less than half of this in <I>revenue</I>, let alone profit. In addition to these mortgages, the railroad carried a small amount of floating debt. Needless to say the stockholders' $900,000 interest looked all but lost. The Pennsylvania Railroad elected not to renew its lease in 1879. This was likely the final straw, and the railroad, faced with insurmountable loses and the inability to satisfy creditors, declared bankruptcy later that year, after only six years of operations. </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Mr. Dell Noblit, President of the Philadelphia Corn Exchange, who was affiliated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, purchased the line for a meager $100,000 at public auction in August 1879, indicating the bleak prospects for the enterprise. Initial investors, including Landenberger, lost everything. Realizing that large port facilities were not materializing at Delaware City, the Pennsylvania Railroad considered leasing and using the Wilmington and Western line out of Landenberg to establish the warmer water port at Wilmington. This strategy fizzled as speculators and later the Baltimore and Ohio gained control of the Wilmington and Western to capitalize on its valuable trackage rights into Wilmington. The Pennsylvania Railroad reluctantly assumed control of and leased the portion of the Pennsylvania and Delaware line between Pomeroy and Newark, renaming it the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad in December 1881. The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, also controlled at this time by the Pennsylvania Railroad, acquired the line between Newark and Delaware City. With the original route divided at Newark, the Pennsylvania's dreams of using the line as a shortcut to a significant new port on the Delaware River effectively vanished. Fortunately, a much flatter and straighter route running along the Susquehanna River from Columbia to Perryville opened in 1877 and largely satisfied the need for such a line. The Pomeroy and Newark became mainly a local railroad.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG id="Picture 14" alt=Organization.jpg src="rr_files/image010.jpg" width=623 height=463></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Local traffic remained insufficient to cover operating expenses and the line ran at a loss even in good years. The corporate ledger lists deficits in every year from 1881 to 1911. What revenue the line did earn came primarily from freight service. In addition to agricultural products, the Buck Run and Doe Run Valleys had numerous paper, saw and flour mills. E.A. and J.L. Pennock ran a successful lumber business in Chatham. Further south, the lime quarries and later stone quarries at Baker Station provided additional freight. Train crews also unloaded significant quantities of beer at Baker in the mid-1890's, prompting a correspondent for the Daily Local News to ponder whether it was a speakeasy: </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The amount of beer unloaded every two or three days at Baker Station... is a source of wonder to the beholders. On Saturday afternoon last the supply shipped to that point consisted of ten kegs, containing not less than fifty gallons, beside six cases of two dozen bottles each of this intoxicating beverage. A train official told a passenger that this was no unusual shipment and the matter is a general topic of discussion among travelers...[7]</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Most of the business in New Garden Township came from Landenberg. In addition to the woolen mills and Sheehan's coal and lumber business, a bone mill on the southern edge of town, just south of the New Garden Township line received shipments of buffalo bones from the Great Plains to grind into fertilizer. Most of the industry south of Landenberg was concentrated on the northern side of Newark. A lumber business, the Atlantic Refining Company, and later the American Vulcanized Fibre Company provided traffic for the route. In the early days before the bankruptcy the portion of the line near Delaware City handled peaches bound for markets to the north and west. According to Amos Osmond, the longtime conductor on the Pomeroy and Newark, the railroad also hauled munitions and other sensitive materials under the watchful eyes of soldiers during the First World War. </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><IMG alt="New Garden Phosphate Mill 1910.tiff" src="rr_files/image011.jpg" width=379 height=286></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">The Bone Mill south of Landenberg. The siding running next to the top story facilitated the loading and unloading of materials. (New Garden Historical Commission files)</SPAN></I></P> <P class=MsoNormal> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The railroad also carried smaller shipments of goods for the local stores, which residents depended on for their everyday needs. A wreck in 1887 one and half miles below Landenberg exposed one transported commodity. The local newspaper correspondent on the scene reported, "One car was partly loaded with watermelons. The younger part of the spectators seemed to know it, as your correspondent saw some watermelons take legs after dark, walk up the bank and disappear into a corn field beyond. Some few rushed down the railroad and disappeared in the darkness."[8] Milk traffic was another significant source of business for the line. Chester County had numerous dairies, and farmers used the railroad to ship their raw milk to creameries. An icehouse on the northern portion of the line above Clonmell station provided crews with a source of ice to keep the milk cool during transit. Milk cans were a common sight on station platforms as farmers would often leave the full vessels for freight handlers to load and return empty later in the day. </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Receipts from passenger service were small, averaging slightly over $5,000 a year between 1881 and 1893. A ticket in 1907 cost three cents per mile in Delaware and two cents per mile in Pennsylvania. The entire journey from Pomeroy to Newark cost slightly over 50 cents. Passenger trains ran twice a day in each direction, departing Newark around 7am and 2pm and Pomeroy around 10am and 5pm. In the 19<SUP>th</SUP> century the passenger cars were coupled to the freight trains, which precipitated notorious delays. After only two months of operations the Daily Local News reported, "A joker says that the passenger trains on the P. & D. R.R. from Pomeroy to Delaware City, run tri-weekly, meaning that it takes them one week to go up and two weeks to come down."[9]  Beginning in 1901, the Pennsylvania Railroad began operating passenger only trains. The steam engine pulled a passenger coach, baggage car (which doubled as a smoker) and at times a milk car to pick up and drop off cans along the route. Amos Osborne's two sons worked along side him as the baggagemaster and fireman, prompting the local paper to joke, "Conductor Osborne is sorry that he ran out of sons before the train was fully equipped."[10] A mail handler also frequently worked on the passenger trains, picking up, sorting and delivering mail to the stations. The mail contract generated approximately $800 a year in additional revenue. Locals affectionately referred to the train as the "Pommie Doodle," and looked upon it fondly despite the generally low patronage. The Pennsylvania Railroad had a less affectionate view owing to high operating costs and steep loses. In the last few years of service the Pennsylvania used single<B><SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN></B>gasoline powered cars for passenger service to replace the more expensive steam powered trains.  </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG id="Picture 7" alt="1910 Schedule.jpg" src="rr_files/image012.jpg" width=382 height=288></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Pomeroy and Newark Railroad schedule from 1910 with connections to Philadelphia. "f" indicates a flag stop, when the train would only stop upon notice to the conductor. These occurred at the smaller stations. (Author's collection)</SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The tracks suffered from deferred maintenance and derailments were frequent.  Thousands of wooden ties rotted and had to be replaced in 1882. Reports of the train running off the tracks due the misalignment of the rails or crumbling bridge supports were frequent. One particularly nasty accident occurred on bridge number 42 at the New Garden and Franklin Township line in January 1904. Chunks of ice rushing down the flooded White Clay Creek damaged the bridge and caused the supports to give way under the weight of the afternoon train. Part of the passenger car and the tender were launched into the raging stream. Fortunately, no one was killed. Haphazard repairs were common, but the poor conditions eventually forced the railroad to significantly rebuild many of the 65 bridges on the line. Some of the wooden structures were replaced with steel, and the loose stone abutments were restored with newly invented poured concrete. Many bridges bear the date of their upgrading. Work began on the southern end near Newark in 1910 and reached Avondale in 1911. A few of the abutments on the northern end have 1912 stamps.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="PAGE-BREAK-AFTER: avoid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><IMG src="rr_files/image013.jpg" width=389 height=195></SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoCaption align=center><I><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Abutment dated 1910 in the White Clay Creek Preserve</SPAN></I></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">            By the 1920's automobiles and trucks were rapidly cannibalizing the Pomeroy and Newark's small sources of revenue. Because of weak patronage and the loss of the mail contract, the railroad petitioned to abandon passenger service in the late 1920's. The last passenger train rolled down the tracks in September<B><SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN></B>1928. Freight traffic continued to decline as well and the Pennsylvania Railroad filed to sever the line in 1936.  Business between Landenberg and Thompson, Delaware (just south of the state line) had been weak for years, and the tracks and bridges were removed in 1937. An additional three-mile stretch from Thompson to above the industries on the northern edge of Newark was scrapped in 1939. </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Freight trains continued to operate on the line between Pomeroy and Avondale three times a week into the early 1940's. Railcars traveled further south to Landenberg as deliveries or pick-ups necessitated. However, by this time partial carload delivery was outsourced to trucking, and little demand remained south of Avondale for full railcars. In 1942 the line hauled only 23 carloads south of Avondale. Six delivered fertilizer<SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN>(probably carloads of horse manure for mushroom compost) to the New Garden Station, and 17 continued on to Landenberg, including six containing fertilizer, one holding coal, nine with mill products and one containing agricultural products. The revenue from this traffic allocated to this portion of the line south of Chatham was only $36.36. Simply keeping the track in operating shape cost $4,156.[11]</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Sheehan Brothers, the one remaining business in Landenberg that could have provided the line with some traffic, received most of the supplies for their lumber and coal business on the Wilmington and Western Railroad. In the fall of 1942 the Wilmington and Western filed to abandon the end of their line from Southwood to Landenberg. Fearing that this abandonment would force the prolongment of their service to Landenberg, the Pennsylvania Railroad scrambled to petition the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon this stretch of tracks. The railroad cited the dearth of traffic and the importance of the scrap metal from the rails and bridges, valued at $35,000, for the World War II effort. The Sheehan business, now controlled by Wilson & Brosius after Mr. D. Francis Sheehan's sudden death in September of 1942, protested but to no avail. Permission to abandon the tracks was granted in 1943. The Pomeroy and Newark and Wilmington and Western had reached Landenberg together 70 years before, and in less than one year, they were gone.   </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">The Pennsylvania Railroad continued infrequent operation of the 11.5 mile stretch of the Pomeroy and Newark between Pomeroy and Chatham until the early 1950's when additional miles of track were torn up south of Doe Run. Trains off loaded cattle at Doe Run for King Ranch into the 1970's when the last significant section of the line disappeared. The one-mile stub serving the industries in Newark lingered slightly longer, but it too has vanished.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Today all that remains of the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad are portions of the old track bed, many of the concrete and stone bridge abutments, and a few of the bridges, mainly on the northern portion above Doe Run. Development and farming have erased significant stretches of the grade and even some of the abutments between Doe Run and Avondale. Because of the major grading required, the railroad's short route through New Garden Township is well preserved. Access to the rail bed is difficult because most of the right-of-way has reverted back to or been sold to property owners adjacent to the line. Fortunately, large sections of the abandoned track bed are accessible south of Landenberg as it twists through the Pennsylvania White Clay Creek Preserve and Delaware's White Clay Creek State Park.<B> </B>Many of the Park's trails follow the grade, which is still coated with the cinders spewed from the fireboxes of the Pommie Doodle steam trains. Efforts are underway to use more sections of the line for public paths. The City of Newark is converting the last few miles of the rail bed into a rail trail, and New Garden Township has purchased and hopes to use a portion of the line north of Landenberg for a trail. </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Lifelong</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> New Garden resident, Ben Marsden, graduate of Haverford College, developed an interest in the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad while running on the old rail bed. Grandson of Margaret and Pownall Jones, Marsden shares their curiosity about local history.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P></DIV> <DIV><BR clear=all> <HR align=left SIZE=1 width="33%"> <DIV id=edn1> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><FONT face=Cambria>[1] </FONT>"A Little Railroad." <U>The New York Times</U> 30 Apr. 1873: Page 6. Available at: </SPAN><A href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html</SPAN></A><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn2> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[2] "Delaware and Pennsylvania Railroad." <U>Jeffersonian</U> 12 Jun. 1869. </SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn3> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[3] Ibid.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn4> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[4] "The Penn'a & Delaware R.R. - An Accident." <U>The Daily Local News</U> 2 Jul. 1873.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn5> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[5] "Union Depot Built." <U>The Daily Local News</U> 22 Jul. 1873.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn6> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[6] "New Depot." <U>The Daily Local News</U> 3 Nov. 1875.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn7> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[7] "Is it a Speak-Easy." <U>The Daily Local News</U> 19 Feb. 1895.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn8> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[8] "A Wreck on the Pomeroy Railroad." <U>The Daily Local News</U> 19 Aug. 1887.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn9> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[9] No title. <U>The Daily Local News</U> 27 Aug. 1873.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV id=edn10> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">[10] No title. <U>The Daily Local News</U> 18 Jan. 1901.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><FONT face=Times>[11]</FONT> <SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Finance Doc No. 14068. Interstate Commerce Commission. Available at Hagley Archives. </SPAN></P> <P class=MsoEndnoteText> </P></DIV> <DIV id=edn11> <P class=MsoEndnoteText><A title="" href="#_ednref11" name=_edn11></A><U><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Additional Pomeroy & Newark Resources</SPAN></U></P> <P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.5in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in" class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">- Hagley Museum and Library (1937 track charts, Chatham to Landenberg abandonment file, 1881- 1917 Corporate ledger) </SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.5in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in" class=MsoEndnoteText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">- Chester County Historical Society Library (Organized collection of historical newspaper articles pertaining to the line)</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: -0.5in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">- Series of four articles by Pete Small in the High Line published by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. (Autumn-Winter 1990, Spring 1991, Summer 1991, Autumn 1991)</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"></SPAN> </P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">If you have any questions, corrections or additional information about the Pomeroy and Newark, please contact Ben Marsden at bhmarsden(at)gmail(.)com.</SPAN></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class=MsoNormal> </P></DIV></DIV></BODY>