{{redirect|Norristown Line|the commuter rail service|Manayunk/Norristown Line|the interurban light metro line|Norristown High Speed Line}} {{Infobox rail line | box_width = | name = Norristown Branch | other_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | color = | logo = | logo_width = | logo_alt = | image = SEPTA Silverliner V 704 at Norristown Transportation Center.jpeg | image_width = | image_alt = | caption = An outbound Manayunk/Norristown Line train on the Norristown Branch at Norristown Transportation Center | type = | system = | status = | locale = | start = | end = | stations = | routes = {{rcb|SEPTA|Manayunk/Norristown|inline=yes}} | daily_ridership = | ridership2 = | planopen = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}--> | open = {{Start date|1834|10|18|df=y}} | yearcommenced = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}--> | yearcompleted = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}--> | close = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}--> | event1label = | event1 = | event2label = | event2 = | event3label = | event3 = | owner = [[SEPTA]] | operator = | character = | depot = | stock = | linelength_km = | linelength_mi = 14.6 | linelength = | tracklength_km = | tracklength_mi = | tracklength = | tracks = | gauge = {{Track gauge|sg|allk=on}} | old_gauge = | load_gauge = | minradius = | racksystem = | routenumber = | linenumber = | electrification = [[SEPTA's 25 Hz traction power system|12 kV 25 Hz]] overhead catenary | speed_km/h = | speed_mph = | speed = | signalling = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | elevation = | website = | map = {{Norristown Branch}} | map_name = | map_state = | embedded = }}
The '''Norristown Branch''' is a railway line in [[Pennsylvania]]. It runs {{convert|14.6|mi}} from a junction with the [[SEPTA Main Line]] in [[North Philadelphia]] to [[Norristown, Pennsylvania]]. It was originally built by the [[Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad]] (PG&N) in 1834, and was a part of the [[Reading Company]] system from 1870 until 1976. Today it is owned by [[SEPTA]] and hosts the [[Manayunk/Norristown Line]] commuter rail service.
== History == The [[Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad]] completed its initial line between Philadelphia and [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown]] in 1832. The geography of the [[Wissahickon Creek]] frustrated plans to build directly from Germantown to [[Norristown, Pennsylvania|Norristown]], so the company built west from what is now 16th Street Junction in [[North Philadelphia]].{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=66}} This line reached [[Manayunk, Philadelphia|Manayunk]] on October 18, 1834, and Norristown on August 15, 1835. The line followed the east bank of the [[Schuylkill River]] and made no crossing of it.{{sfnp|Poor|1860|p=480}}
The [[Philadelphia and Reading Railroad]] extended its [[Main Line (Reading Company)|main line]] down the west bank of the Schuylkill in 1838. The Reading served [[Bridgeport, Pennsylvania|Bridgeport]], across the Schuylkill from the PG&N's terminus at Norristown, but no physical connection existed.{{sfnp|Holton|1989|p=24}} This was remedied in 1851 when the [[Swedes Ford Bridge Company]], a lessee of the PG&N, constructed a railway and road bridge between the two locations.{{sfnp|Holton|1989|p=293}}{{sfnp|Bean|1884|p=748}} This allowed the two railroads to interchange traffic, and some passenger trains of the Reading began using the PG&N depot at Ninth Street and Green Street.{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=66}}
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad leased the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown on December 1, 1870.{{sfnp|Holton|1989|p=279}} The company continued to exist on paper, and remained the owner of the line between 16th Street Junction and Norristown, although control now rested with the Reading.{{sfnp|USRA|1975|pp=227–228; 281; 332}} The [[Stony Creek Railroad]], controlled by the [[North Pennsylvania Railroad]], had built south from [[Lansdale, Pennsylvania|Lansdale]] to Norristown, terminating at Main and Markley, the present site of {{stl|SEPTA|Main Street}}. This line opened in 1874.{{sfnp|Bean|1884|p=748}} The Reading, through the [[Norristown Junction Railroad]], built a connection between the two lines in 1880.{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=66}}
Another significant change came in 1903 and opening of a new bridge across the Schuylkill to replace the original connection at Swedes Ford. This new connecting line diverged from the Norristown Branch just west of the former PG&N station in Norristown, crossed [[Barbadoes Island (Pennsylvania)|Barbadoes Island]], and made a connection with the Reading main line.{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=66}}<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Railroad Bridge Converted into Temporary Highway Bridge | journal=Railway Engineering and Maintenance | volume=22 | issue=6 | pages=234–235 | date=June 1926 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4n7mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA234}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Swedes Ford Bridge Company: Cessation of employer status | url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-RR-7d1cf5dde105b0f870ffde7050bbed80/pdf/GOVPUB-RR-7d1cf5dde105b0f870ffde7050bbed80.pdf | date=September 7, 1977}}</ref> The Reading electrified the branch from 16th Street Junction to Elm Street, on what had been part of the Stony Creek Railroad, in 1933.{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=68}} With the [[Reading Company]]'s final bankruptcy in 1976, the Norristown Branch was conveyed to [[Conrail]] and then [[SEPTA]].{{sfnp|USRA|1975|pp=227–228; 281; 332}}
Early in 2013, SEPTA began to undertake major operational improvements and physical rehabilitation on branch. Central to this project is the replacement of the 80-year-old wayside [[Automatic Block Signaling|automatic block signal]] system with one that [[Cab signaling system|displays only in the operating cab]], and operates in both directions on both tracks, thereby allowing greater operational flexibility. Two new remotely controlled interlockings are being constructed to facilitate bidirectional operation, one at Miquon, the other in Norristown between the main station and the Ford Street crossing. An electrified storage track is also being constructed at Miquon to allow for temporary turnback of trains at that station, as the line is periodically subjected to flooding from the [[Schuylkill River]] around Spring Mill and Conshohocken. Ongoing replacement of the line's [[Overhead line|overhead catenary]], most of which is 80 years old, will continue along with the signal replacement. Also occurring in conjunction with these projects are the replacement of [[Railroad tie|crossties]], renewal of [[Level crossing|grade crossing]] surfaces, and trimming of brush and trees alongside the right-of-way.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manayunk/Norristown Line Shuttle Busing: An Explanation|url=http://www.septa.org/alert/man-nor-shuttle-details.html|publisher=SEPTA|access-date=18 March 2013}}</ref> SEPTA activated PTC on the Norristown Branch on August 15, 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 1, 2017 |title=Positive Train Control Update |url=http://www.septa.org/service/rail/ptc/2017-04-update.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523052557/http://www.septa.org/service/rail/ptc/2017-04-update.html |archive-date=May 23, 2017 |access-date=May 17, 2017 |publisher=SEPTA}}</ref>
== Notes == {{Reflist}}
== References == * {{cite book | editor-last=Bean | editor-first=Theodore Weber | title=History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania | volume=2 | location=United States | publisher=Unigraphic | date=1884 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3U88AAAAIAAJ}} * {{Coates-Reading}} * {{Holton-Reading-1}} * {{cite web |last=Poor |first=Henry Varnum | authorlink=Henry Varnum Poor |title=History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States |location=United States |publisher=J.H. Schultz & Company |date=1860 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0YKAAAAIAAJ}} * {{cite book | title=Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 | year=1975 | author=United States Railway Association | author-link=United States Railway Association | location=Washington, DC | url=http://multimodalways.org/docs/govts/federal/executive/Agencies/DOT/USRA/FSP/FSP%20VI.pdf | oclc=2889148 | volume=1 | ref={{Harvid|USRA|1975}} }}
[[Category:SEPTA Regional Rail lines]] [[Category:Railway lines opened in 1834]] [[Category:Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Reading Company lines]]