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  • The End of the NS Devalt line.

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Pennsylvania
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Pennsylvania

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 #971018  by jrevans
 
As I type this, I'm sitting in training in an office building in Malvern (on General Warren Blvd) and the Devault Branch is visible out of the window.

I took a walk up there, and there are indeed tracks and a siding of some sort up there. As previously mentioned, the crossing at Route 29 by the PATPK has been removed.

I drove all the way down Route 29 and it's neat how high the line seems to be first on the high bridge, and then as it comes up by the quarry.

My sort-of-father-in-law was a PRR conductor who operated on this line and was telling me some good stories about it.
 #991624  by Tom_E_Reynolds
 
After living in this area for 15+ years, I guess its time to better understand this little line, now that its almost gone.

I used to live in Phoenixville in 1995, and a small train used to pass by my apartments on a regular basis. Crossing over at the intersection of Charlestown and West Pothouse Rd, I remember the train was mostly (if not only) tanker cars. I followed the train once to Devault, where I found the industry that received all those tanker cars. Don't think I ever saw a box car or covered hopper.

What industry was that and what was in those cars?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=devault,+ ... 18&vpsrc=6


Also, I saw on a map once where the PRR line also joined with the Reading somewhere in Devault. Are there any good Railroad Maps on-line somewhere that shows that connection and who owned what? Seems like this would be an interesting connection point. Was there an interchange or a station?

I can see the connection via Historic Aerials, http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials. ... &year=1951

Its interesting to see that in this photo, a small string of hopper cars can be seen in 1951, at what looks like the end of the usable line along Phoenixville Pike (sorta where the passing tracks still is today). Looks like these cars were used in building the Turnpike over pass, as the local roads were all moved to accommodate the bridge.

Was the PRR line not connected to Frazer by 1951?

What about the Reading line? Where was its connection point? (I see the bridge over RT 202, but don't know what the area was called). Was that also not used anymore?
 #991675  by jrevans
 
Tom_E_Reynolds wrote:After living in this area for 15+ years, I guess its time to better understand this little line, now that its almost gone.

I used to live in Phoenixville in 1995, and a small train used to pass by my apartments on a regular basis. Crossing over at the intersection of Charlestown and West Pothouse Rd, I remember the train was mostly (if not only) tanker cars. I followed the train once to Devault, where I found the industry that received all those tanker cars. Don't think I ever saw a box car or covered hopper.

What industry was that and what was in those cars?
Tom,
I believe those were cars of corn syrup destined for American Sweeteners in Devault.

Here's a Conrail picture along with a good description of the railroad operation: http://thecrhs.org/Images/CR-6502-at-Pe ... PA-81995-0

I too remembered seeing the tanker train once or twice in my travels down that way, but never followed the line to see where it went.
 #992011  by Tom_E_Reynolds
 
Len mentioned in an earlier thread that when the PRR's Frazer to Phoenixville line was built (NS Devault line), it was called the Phoenixville & West Chester branch.

Doing some searching I found this reference to the line being built in 1883. It also mentions how the passengers would go from Phoenixville to Frazer to West Chester.

http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his480/notes/rr-3.htm

I especially liked this one:

1883/08/13 "The Largest" in DAILY LOCAL NEWS (August 13,
1883), from the CCHS clippings file:
"Transportation, Pennsylvania Railroad, Frazer
Branch"

According to Conductor Keech, this morning's passenger train
to West Chester had the largest number of passengers ever
carried over the PRR-Frazer. Conductor Keech attributed
this to the opening of the PRR-P&WC, which delivered two
carloads of passengers from Phoenixville to Frazer for
transfer to West Chester.



On a different note, this is also really interesting, because it implies that this Devault line was the first PRR line to enter Phoenixville. I always thought the PRR's Schuylkill Branch would have been first, but I think that was built in 1884-1885. Is that correct?

Phoenixville must have been quite a prize for the PRR's spite line up into Reading Railroad territory.
The Reading Railroad would have had exclusive access to Phoenixville from the early 1840s, including during the 1860s boom when Phoenixville was a major producer of cannons for the Civil War.

Makes me wonder if the RDG's Cedar Hollow Branch was built in retaliation or competition to the PRR's Devault line?
 #992082  by RDGTRANSMUSEUM
 
working out of Abrams in the 1990's as a brakeman,we only took corn syrup tankers out to devault,the job was called the "sweetners. We used to taxi to the cedar hollow job at coatsville to get the power which ran all the way down the line to the quarry. that was my favorite job to catch on the extra list.
 #994353  by choess
 
According to the valuation records, the Schuylkill Valley Branch (Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad) was completed as far as Reading by 1884, so both PRR lines into Phoenixville probably got there more or less simultaneously. I'm not sure exactly what the PRR planned for the Phoenixville-Frazer line (chartered as Phoenixville and West Chester Railroad--line from Frazer to West Chester already existed). The main traffic was probably mineral freight from the Great Valley quarries. Other traffic was probably light agricultural; I doubt through traffic ever amounted to much.

The Cedar Hollow Branch was built as a private railroad of the Cedar Hollow Lime Co. in 1857. Their charter was voided in 1883, so I'd guess the line passed to the Reading Company around that time.