{{more citations needed|date=April 2010}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox tunnel |name = Perkasie Tunnel |other_name = Landis Ridge Tunnel |image =2025-02-21 14 03 02 The south portal of the Perkasie Tunnel in Perkasie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.jpg |image_size = |caption = South portal of the Perkasie Tunnel in February 2025 |line =Bethlehem Branch |location = [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S. |coordinates = {{coord|40|22|49|N|75|17|37|W|name=Perkasie Tunnel|type:landmark_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}} |system = [[East Penn Railroad]] |status = |start = |end = |stations = |startwork = 1853 |opened = 1857 |close = |owner = |operator = |traffic = Rail |character = Freight |construction = [[Rock (geology)|Rock]] and [[brick]] |length = |linelength = {{convert|2,142|ft|m}}<ref name="HAER">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa3700/pa3719/data/pa3719data.pdf |title=North Pennsylvania Railroad, Landis Ridge Tunnel |last=Spivey |first=Justin M. |date=April 2001 |website=Historic American Engineering Record |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |page=1 |accessdate=January 30, 2014}}</ref> |tracklength = |notrack = [[Single track (rail)|Single]] |gauge = {{RailGauge|sg|al=on}} |el = |speed = |hielevation = |lowelevation = |height = |grade = }}
The '''Perkasie Tunnel''', also known as the '''Landis Ridge Tunnel''', is a train [[tunnel]] in [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]], [[Pennsylvania]] on a line owned by [[SEPTA]] and operated by the [[East Penn Railroad]]. The southern portal of the tunnel is in [[Perkasie, Pennsylvania|Perkasie]] just southeast of the intersection of [[Pennsylvania Route 563|Ridge Road]], Ridge Avenue and Tunnel Road, while the northern portal is near the southwest end of [[Pennridge Airport]] in [[East Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania|East Rockhill Township]]. Northbound passenger trains going through the tunnel traveled to Union Station in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]] and points beyond. Many southbound passenger trains were destined for Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. The [[Perkasie station]] on 8th Street was formerly equipped with a [[water tower]], of which not a trace remains.
==Physical features== [[File:2025-02-21 13 28 58 View south at the north portal of the Perkasie Tunnel in East Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|right|Interior of the tunnel, looking south from the north portal in February 2025]] The tunnel is curved and the entrances are constructed in such a way that light entering the tunnel at the 8th Street entrance is visible from the opposite end of the tunnel near Ridge Road; this is apparently not the case in the opposite direction. The edges of the tunnel are jagged, allowing beautiful ice structures to form when water dripping from the top and sides freezes in winter.
The tunnel is lined with stone masonry at both entrances. The walls in the interior of the tunnel are unfinished, blasted stone. The tunnel bore remains cool enough in summer that track workers or trespassers require a light jacket or sweatshirt. Signage on the Perkasie Tunnel consists of [[graffiti]] and the occasional "No Trespassing" sign. [[Cell phone]] service is unavailable inside the tunnel.
==Trains== The last scheduled passenger train traveled though Perkasie on July 29, 1981, after which passenger service terminated as part of a broader [[SEPTA]] strategy of discontinuing all non-electrified passenger service. Conrail continued freight operations to [[Quakertown, Pennsylvania|Quakertown]] until Conrail's demise in 1999, at which point [[CSX]] took over operations and leased the line between [[Lansdale]] and [[Telford, Pennsylvania|Telford]]. The trains passing through the Perkasie tunnel currently stop in the town of [[Perkasie]] only when necessary to switch freight cars to the (otherwise unused) Southbound track for storage.
SEPTA discussed abandoning the tracks between Telford and Quakertown when financial incentives for continued CSX freight service declined below the break-even point for a Class-1 railroad. This portion of the Bethlehem Branch was saved from abandonment when short line railroad company East Penn Railway (EPRY) leased the portion between Telford and Quakertown in 1997 to continue operations under the name [[East Penn Railroad]] (ESPN). Depending on the workload, East Penn Railroad, operating out of Quakertown, runs trains on the Bethlehem Branch two to three times a week as well as the occasional weekend. SEPTA remains owner of the [[Bethlehem Branch]] from Lansdale to [[Hellertown, Pennsylvania|Hellertown]]. [[Norfolk Southern]] owns the section from Hellertown through Bethlehem. Operational track presently ends at California Road just above Quakertown because the East Penn Railroad had no use for it.
See [[North Pennsylvania Railroad]] for more Bethlehem Branch information.
SEPTA has also proposed the re-activation of train service to Quakertown, but SEPTA has not planned such a task.
==See also== * [[List of tunnels documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *{{HAER |survey=PA-514 |id=pa3719 |title=North Pennsylvania Railroad, Landis Ridge Tunnel|photos=7 |color= |dwgs= |data=5 |cap=1}}
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Bucks County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Railroad tunnels in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania]]