New Hope Branch Stations

Having the opportunity to railfan the entire New Hope branch this month (From New Hope to Glenside), I've noticed a huge difference in station design and construction.

With the exception of New Hope station, all stations up to Hatboro are exclusively wood construction. Hatboro & Willow Grove (probablly the only two Reading built stations on the rest of the line) are built from stone/brick. I assume the original stations looked more like Wycombe or Rushland. I'm guessing that Buckingham Valley is a reproduction of some sort, while Lahaska is a simple shed erected by NHIR for crew supplies.

Passenger service to New Hope ended in the 1950's, but Willow Grove & Hatboro stations were built much earlier than that. Did Reading already write off investing in newer structures North of Hatboro as early as the 20's or 30's when the new stations were built at Hatboro & south?

Its evident by the line's condition that it was not given a great deal of investment by the Reading, although NHIR has done a good job preserving what they can with the resources they have despite the line still being in a somewhat frail state.

I was riding past the buckingham Valley station the other day on a trip with my class from school....I noticed an old Blueliner painted in SEPTA colors sitting near the station...How did they get it up there?

With a diesel engine of course. Its been there for about a year now. NHIR has some old Metro North coaches in Warminster too. Looks like they have ambitious plans, but probablly takes time since they're a small short line RR.

where does the branch end up? i always thought it ended just past New Hope. Guess I was wrong.

sjasner wrote:where does the branch end up? i always thought it ended just past New Hope. Guess I was wrong.

You are correct, the North end is in the quarry just North of the New Hope Yards.
Grenoble was another stone station. In 1890 when the line was being built, a high official of the Reading owned land in the area and probably influenced the design. The neighborhood got its name because the station was designed like a building in Grenoble, France. Some of the stones still litter the area.
Buckingham Valley was formerly the Valley Forge Scenic Railway's Kimberton Station, built in the 1960's. The original BV station was more the wooden style of other New Hope Branch stations.
The original Lahaska station was moved a short distance to private property along Lower Mountain Rd. South of Street Rd., Lahaska.

ok...that's cool...thanks for the info...But if the station ends at the quarry, then on what set of tracks did they drag the blueliner to Buckingham valley? Or are we talking about the same set of tracks?

sjasner wrote:But if the station ends at the quarry, then on what set of tracks did they drag the blueliner to Buckingham valley?

The other end of the line connects with the S.E.P.T.A. Warminster line.

Does anyone know if the Reading had plans on crossing the Delaware River at New Hope?

I don't know about a Delaware River crossing at New Hope, but 15 years before that branch was built, the Philadelphia, Newtown & New York RR did want to cross South of Washington's Crossing. This would have been part of a connection between the section at Newtown, Pa. and the section along Jacob's Creek Rd. to Millstone in New Jersey, the route of the "Frog War".