Steam & Excursion > Wilmington & Western History

I read the following on W&W's website doing a bit of research on a photo.
Needless to say, a quick fact became an all night pursuit in history ending
in the purchase of a book on Amazon - B&O's Royal Blue Line - excited and waiting.

Back to the topic - this was on W&W's site:

"In the 1880s, the line was purchased by the Baltimore & Philadelphia Railroad (B&P), a subsidiary of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O). Purchase of the line by the B&P provided the Baltimore & Ohio with an access route to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad for passengers and freight traveling between Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City..."

Is this accurate?

I am having a hard time picturing B&O's passenger service traveling from Baltimore to Philadelphia via Wilmington & Western's twisting tracks through the woods North of Wilmington. From what I was able to find, the line went to Pomeroy, PA on the DE /PA border where it connected with another line which in turn connected with, of all RR's, the PRR which was not a friendly competitor to the B&O. Did the W&W somehow connect to the Reading or CNJ allowing a rather twisted route to Philadelphia?

/Mitch

Mitch, I'm thinking that this is a punctuation or grammatical problem. The P&B was purchased by the B&O and it was the Royal Blue Line that provided that alternative route in the 1880s. I'm sure others will provide more details.

Tom

I'd agree that it's a grammatical error, that the B&P owned the Landenberg Branch, as B&O called it, and it was the B&P that made up the Royal Blue Line, joining with the Reading at Park Junction in Philadelphia.

The Landenberg Branch, now the Wilmington & Western, extended between Landenberg Jct, at the south end of Wilsmere Yard in Elsmere, DE, just southwest of Wilmington, and Landenberg, PA, where it shared "Landenberg Union Station" with the Pomeroy & Newark branch of the PRR. Old-timers tell me that the P&N, known locally as the Pumpsie Doodle, was originally the New Castle & Pomeroy, but I don't know that for sure. The Landenberg Branch served several local industries on the way to Landenberg, mostly factories of National Vulcanized Fibers (NVF), but several others, too.

But not enough, and B&O gave up. And none too soon... W&W has had two devastating floods in the last 10 years, one of which was the result of a freakish stalled storm which dropped 10 inches of rain on the area in six hours, and caused the Red Clay Creek, normally six or eight inches, maybe a foot, deep to swell to 17 feet deep as it roared down the steeply sloped valley toward the Christina River. Both times, Delaware rose to the occasion and paid the lion's share of the line's rebuilding, something that B&O never could have done. I think the second rebuilding was along the lines of $24 million, but I'm sure that another Trainorders person will have the exact number.

I went on a three-mile walking tour of the Landenberg Branch a couple of years ago southeast from Landenberg, sponsored by the Friends of White Clay Creek State Park (yes, there's a Red Clay Creek and a White Clay Creek, and the Landenberg Branch served both valleys). Nature has done a thorough job of reclaiming the right-of-way and development has obliterated it in other locations, but as we hiked southeast from Landenberg, about a half-mile out of the village we came upon a stone-lined turntable pit, and the foundation for the old Landenberg engine house, cut into the hillside. There's no room in the valley at Landenberg itself for an engine facility, even one so tiny, so B&O had gone back down the valley a little ways to provide a turning facility. I don't know how you'd get to it, except by engine or walk; I didn't see a road or cartway.

But you're right, Mitch; the Landenberg Branch would be of no use to B&O for its Royal Blue passenger service. The W&W simply operated between Wilsmere Yard and Landenberg, PA, just across the DE/PA border from the present end-of-track at Hockessin, DE. Palmerton, PA? That's up in the coal country, above Allentown, near Jim Thorpe. Are you thinking of a different town?

knotch8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Palmerton, PA?
> That's up in the coal country, above Allentown,
> near Jim Thorpe. Are you thinking of a different
> town?

Pomeroy, PA is the location I meant.

Maybe the details will be further explained in the
book I had ordered regarding the history of the
Royal Blue Line. Could be that part ownership in the
line gave the B&O lead in traffic - or opened to
the B&O connections that the W&W, by then Delaware
Western may have had.

Thanks for the related info - quite fascinating.

/Mitch