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  • Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.
Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.

Moderator: Franklin Gowen

 #1225265  by SilentCal
 
I remember reading a few years back about a local historian writing a book about the Philadelphia, Newtown & New York (a/k/a the Newtown branch). Does anyone know the book? Internet searches have turned up nothing. Perhaps I dreamed it?
 #1231339  by Franklin Gowen
 
I'm not aware of any present text work-in-progress concerning the Reading's Newtown Branch.

Indeed, the only book on this specific subject that I've ever remotely heard of was just a small booklet authored by Philly-area railfan Larry Eastwood. It's far from current, though; I believe the print date was sometime in the 1960s. I have never had the pleasure of actually seeing a copy of this work; it may have been privately published.
 #1263302  by RDGAndrew
 
I used this booklet as a reference while writing a paper in high school about Bucks County rail history. The Spruance Library in Doylestown (at the Mercer Museum) had a copy. It was called "Happy Birthday, Newtown Railroad!", I think. At the time you had to become a member to use the library, which for student-version of me in 1991 was $10. The Phila NRHS library probably has a copy too. The Newtown Historic Association may have one also.

My paper was part of a scholarship competition by the Bucks County Chamber of Commerce. Years later I picked up a book on rail abandonments in the eastern US, hoping to find more bits of information for my efforts at modeling the Newtown Branch. Sure enough, the PN&NY merited a chapter. I eagerly turned to the Sources and Further Reading section at the back...to find my name and a citation of my paper.
 #1263303  by RDGAndrew
 
Also, if it's technical info you want, download this PDF:

http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/govt ... Report.pdf

I had found a reference to a "Maher's siding" in Newtown in a book of special instructions for employes, which was a customer I hadn't heard of before. I Googled it and found that site, which has track charts of virtually the entire line including bridges, culverts, grades and curves, plus shippers' guides from several different decades.

Enjoy!
 #1326991  by SilentCal
 
Thanks, that is useful. I'll try to track down that pamphlet, too.
 #1328538  by glenonoko
 
Possibly what you might have heard about was the unpublished manuscript history of the PN&NY written by Richard Mansley. Richard spent a lifetime studying the Newtown line and has deposited all his research notes and the unpublished manuscript with the Newtown Historical Society. To read any of this, you need to make an appointment to visit the Newtown Historical Society.

-- Rick Bates