Allentown branch

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

Legend
Unbuilt grade
to Port Clinton
4.4
 Kutztown
Reading Line
to Reading
0.0
 Topton
Reading Line
to Bethlehem
This diagram:
  • view
  • talk
  • edit

The Allentown branch, also known as the Kutztown branch or the Kutztown industrial track, is a railway line in Pennsylvania. It runs 4 miles (6.4 km) from a junction with the Reading Line at Topton to Kutztown. The line was built in 1870 by the Allentown Railroad and was part of the Reading Company system until 1976. The Kutztown Transportation Authority has owned the line since 2000. The Allentown and Auburn Railroad is the current operator.

History

Promoters of the Allentown Railroad conceived of a new through route between the Lehigh Valley and Port Clinton. These plans never developed, and in the end only a 4.4-mile (7.1 km) branch from Topton to Kutztown was built.[1] Operation began on January 10, 1870.[2]

The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad leased the Allentown Railroad from the beginning of operation.[3] The line was known first as the Allentown branch and later as the Kutztown industrial track.[4] The Allentown Railroad was one of twelve railroads merged into the Reading Company effective December 31, 1945.[5]

On the Reading Company's final bankruptcy in 1976, ownership of the line remained with the reorganized Reading estate. The final system plan of the United States Railway Association classed the line as "light density" and it was not conveyed to Conrail.[6] Conrail operated the line under subsidy.[7] After Conrail ceased operating the line in 1982, the state purchased the line and designated the Anthracite Railway as operator beginning in 1983. The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad replaced the Anthracite Railway in 1989, followed by Penn Eastern Rail Lines in 1996.

The Kutztown Transportation Authority acquired the line from Pennsylvania in 2000.[8] In 2013, the Allentown and Auburn Railroad took over as its operator.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Holton (1989), p. 125.
  2. ^ "Opening of the Kutztown & Topton R. R." Reading Times. January 14, 1870. p. 1. Retrieved July 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ ICC (1931), p. 437.
  4. ^ "Reading Company Timetable" (PDF). Reading Company. January 1, 1973.
  5. ^ ICC (1947), p. 573.
  6. ^ USRA (1975), pp. 443–444.
  7. ^ "Local officials proven right, Boyertown line in the black". The Mercury. November 12, 1976. p. 29. Retrieved July 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Devlin, Ron (September 25, 2000). "Kutztown authority to buy rail line". Morning Call. p. 13. Retrieved July 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Allentown and Auburn Railroad Company, Inc.—Change in Operators Exemption—Rail Line of Kutztown Transportation Authority" (PDF). Surface Transportation Board. September 13, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2022.

References

  • Holton, James L. (1989). The Reading Railroad: History of a Coal Age Empire : The Nineteenth Century. Vol. 1. Laury's Station, PA: Garrigues House. ISBN 0-9620844-1-7.
  • Interstate Commerce Commission (1931). "Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports". U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • Interstate Commerce Commission (1947). "Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States, the Interstate Commerce Commission for the Year Ending December 31, 1945". U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • United States Railway Association (1975). Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (PDF). Vol. 2. Washington, DC. OCLC 2889148.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)