PRR Trenton Cutoff (Original Grade) (Abandoned)

USA / Pennsylvania / Langhorne /
 railway, abandoned / shut down, historical layer / disappeared object
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Original alignment of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Trenton Cutoff freight bypass. When the line was designated as a low-grade bypass of Philadelphia (similar to the Philadelphia & Thorndale and Atglen & Susquehanna lines), a new single-track alignment with lower grades (hills) was constructed next to the existing double-track alignment, as the original alignment had insufficiently high grades (hills); this would present a serious problem as far as heavy and/or long trains (such as those carrying iron ore) were concerned.

This addition also allowed for added capacity between Langhorne and the Morrisville yard, as there were now three tracks. However, as traffic declined on the line, one of the two tracks on the original grade was removed and then in the early 1990s, the second track was removed, leaving the entire original grade abandoned.

The original grade was also used for the single 138kV transmission line that ran along the line between the Earnest and Morrisville substations. Most of the transmission line and corresponding catenary poles were removed when PECO installed a new 3-phase utiliy line in the early 1990s.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°10'59"N   74°56'1"W

Comments

  • This line is not abandoned. In fact, it's quite active.
  • With what, a ghost train? look at little closer ;-)
This article was last modified 10 years ago