New Hope and Ivyland Railroad

New Hope and Ivyland Railroad

New Hope & Ivyland 40 reversing over 2nd Ingham Run Bridge
Reporting mark	NHRR
Locale	Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1966 (1966)–
Length	17.1 miles (27.5 km)
Headquarters	New Hope, Pennsylvania
Website	www.newhoperailroad.com
Route map New Hope West Bridge Street Ferry Street Ingham Run Ingham Run West Mechanic Street Hood South Sugan Road Ingham Run Driveway Ingham Run Pennsylvania Shale Brick Company Reeder Road Reeder Aquetong Road Lower Mountain Road Driveway Street Road Lahaska Holicong Road Bycot Driveway Abandoned quarry spur Upper Mountain Road Durham Road Farm Lane Upper Mountain Rd Buckingham Valley Lower Mountain Road Creek Road New Hope Road Montessori School Smith Road Mill Creek Wycombe Township Line Road Driveway Mill Creek Mill Creek Rushland Swamp Road Neshaminy Creek Sackettsford Road Little Neshaminy Creek Grenoble Little Neshaminy Creek Almshouse Road Traymore West Bristol Road Ivyland Ivyland Road Johnsville Street Road Warminster Warminster Line PN to Glenside

The New Hope and Ivyland Railroad (reporting mark NHRR)^[1] (NH&I) is a shortline/heritage railroad in the state of Pennsylvania.

NH&I provides contract track and locomotive services to freight and passenger railroads in North America and has been involved with various film and television commercial projects. NH&I is also an associate member of NORAC.

Services

History

NH&I was originally known as the New Hope Branch of the Reading Company (RDG), which leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad, of which it was a part. The railroad ran as far as Hartsville Station (near Bristol Road) until March 29, 1891, when the line was extended to the long-desired terminal of New Hope, Pennsylvania.^[2]

First train to New Hope.

A decade after June 1952, when Hatboro-New Hope passenger service terminated, RDG's financial situation was precarious. Looking to rid themselves of unprofitable branch lines via abandonment, a group of train aficionados and businessmen led by Philadelphia attorney Kenneth Souser established Steam Trains, Inc. with the goal of operating steam trains on a for-profit basis.^[3] Steam Trains, Inc. became organized as the 'New Hope & Ivyland Railroad, and on June 20, 1966, the 16.7-mile line was sold for $200,000.^[2]

Steam Trains, Inc. started their operations on a high note, often in an extravagant fashion. The company leased freight locomotives from RDG, and used only hired labor to operate their excursions. The "air rights" over the Southern portion of the line from Ivyland to just North of Almshouse Road, were sold to the former Philadelphia Electric Company (now Exelon) in order to stay solvent. Steam Trains, Inc. declared bankruptcy on June 5, 1970.^[2] Operations continued under a court-appointed trustee.

The Bucks County Industrial Development Corporation (BCIDC) purchased the trackage from the Steam Trains, Inc. in early 1974 to "preserve rail service through the center of Bucks County."^[4] The county selected McHugh Brothers Heavy Hauling, Inc. to operate freight service over the line via a lease agreement.^[2] McHugh Brothers continued hauling freight with Edward L. McHugh as president until his departure in 1989.^[4] By the summer of 1976, the railroad received state funding to rehabilitate crumbling infrastructure that sorely needed fixing. By August 1977, volunteers from the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association [BVTA] (now the Electric City Trolley Museum Association) were operating state-sponsored passenger service connecting the touristy town of New Hope with SEPTA/Conrail commuter trains at Warminster.^[2] Bucks County had made a wise investment, as both passenger and freight service flourished during the 1970s once track upgrades were made. Finally, on June 30, 1979, NH&I finally emerged from its decade-long bankruptcy.^[4]

Beginning July 3, 1980, volunteers of the New Hope Steam Railway (NHSR) resumed weekend excursion service after the BVTA decided to end it. The NHSR ran trains under a lease agreement with the BCIDC until 1990, when the line and its equipment were once again in a state of decay and disrepair.^[4] The McHugh Bros. operated NH&I until 1989 when their lease ended and the Morristown & Erie was contracted to operate the railroad.^[3] The BCIDC sold the line outright to the for-profit Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Corporation (BCRP&RC) in 1990, who slowly began to rebuild the railroad to its current state of good repair. BCRP&RC is the official corporate structure, doing business as the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad.

Perils of Pauline

In 1914, a segment of the classic silent film The Perils of Pauline was allegedly filmed on the tracks used by the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad today. The particular part was on the north side of the 1891 built Ingham Creek trestle bridge, notably one of NHRR's highest bridges on the whole line. The site has also been dubbed "Pauline's Trestle" because of the bridge's association to the silent movie. There is no real proof the movie was ever filmed on the bridge. Other supposed filming locations for the "Perils of Pauline" regarding the railroad line include the Belvidere Delaware Railroad line in Lambertville and Raven Rock, New Jersey and the Long Island Rail Road near the Hamptons.

Stations and trackage

NH&I is a single-track railroad with passing sidings at Lahaska, Buckingham Valley, Wycombe and Ivyland. Only Wycombe and Lahaska have their run-around tracks cleared because Lahaska is used for daily excursion trips so that locomotives can uncouple and head back to New Hope on the opposing side of the train, and Wycombe is used for temporary equipment storage. All other sidetracks, run-arounds, passing sidings, and sidings are primarily used for the storage of maintenance rail cars, out-of-service passenger cars and freight cars. At Buckingham Valley, the railroad's small fleet of historic freight cars is stored, along with any borrowed maintenance equipment, and a number of former Long Island Rail Road commuter coaches stored in case they are ever needed. At Ivyland, a short runaround exists which is often utilized by private charters and fall foliage excursions in the same manner as Lahaska.

A number of sidings also exist on NH&I. At Buckingham Valley, a small siding that once served the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association is presently used as a Repair-in-progress, or RIP-track. At Wycombe, the team track once used for less-than-carload deliveries is utilized as maintenance of way siding. At Grenoble, another siding created by severing the southern switch of a passing siding is present. This siding once held a number of pieces of equipment that were eventually scrapped. Today only passenger car 1542 remains on this siding as it was flipped over onto its side by vandals. At Ivyland, exists another RIP-track, typically used for storing MoW equipment. The final siding on the railroad is in Warminster on the north side of the Street Road crossing. This siding is used for short-term storage of interchange freight equipment and storing the diesel locomotive assigned to freight service when not in use.

No block signalization exists on NH&I; however, almost all highway grade crossings have been modernized with full signals and gates.

The stations along the NHRR were:

Italicized stations are no longer in existence

Roster

NH&I #40

Locomotives used in the excursion passenger service is usually provided by steam locomotive No. 40, a 2-8-0 1925 Baldwin wheel arrangement. No. 40 (ex-Cliffside Railroad) is supplemented by diesel powered locomotives primarily for freight operations. The current active diesel roster consists of EMD GP30 No. 2198 (ex-Pennsylvania Railroad), GE C30-7 No. 7087 (ex-CSX), GMD GP-9u No. 8218 (ex-Canadian Pacific), and GMD SD40-2 No. 5577 (ex-Canadian Pacific).

Passenger excursions typically consist of 3–4 former RDG coaches built between 1913 and 1927; total NH&I passenger car count is 24, nine of which are currently in service. The only locomotives owned by the corporate structure of the NH&I are Nos. 40 and 1533. All diesels are owned by a privately held company (Rail Power Inc.) and leased to the operation. Rail Power Inc. is owned by three NH&I employees and also owns subsidiary Pennsylvania Northeastern's locomotives.

Steam Locomotives

Former Steam Locomotives

Diesel Locomotives

Passenger Rolling Stock

Out-Of-Service Passenger Cars

Freight Rolling Stock

Cabooses

See also

• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad

References

• http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rslist.aspx?id=NHIR

External links

• New Hope & Ivyland Railroad – Official site
• New Hope & Ivyland Railroad Photos