New Hope and Ivyland Railroad

Freight

NHRR is involved in the import and export of raw materials and manufactured products. Freight customers range from national chemical companies to consumer product manufacturers. NHRR interchanges with Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad in Warminster, which in turn interchanges with CSX Transportation in Lansdale. NHRR's primary customers are based in Warminster; CRC Industries, Castrol and Double H Plastics are served on a weekly basis.

Heritage

Heritage operations utilize steam and diesel locomotives, and depart from either New Hope or Lahaska. The typical NHRR excursion usually consists of one First Class parlor car, one coach car and in the summer through to October, an open-air observation car. The makeup of the consist is changed from time to time as operations require. The regular NHRR excursion is 45 minutes long with trains running every hour on the hour between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM (5:00 PM on weekends) during the summer months.

In addition to New Hope-Lahaska service, NHRR also operates Easter, fall foliage, Halloween and Santa trains. NHRR occasionally operates as far as Warminster — a distance of 17 miles (27 km) — to connect with SEPTA's Warminster Line. Yearly trains to Lansdale have started as a special on the NHRR. They occur every August.

The NHRR also offers a host of special excursions throughout its operating season. On weekends between May and October, the NHRR operates wine and cheese tasting trains dubbed the Grapevine Express. On select weekends, the railroad runs its Evening Star Dinner Train between New Hope and Buckingham Valley.

History

The NHRR was originally known as the New Hope Branch of the Reading Company (RDG), which leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad, of which it was a part. The railroad ran as far as Hartsville Station (near Bristol Road) until March 29, 1891, when the line was extended to the long-desired terminal of New Hope, Pennsylvania.

A decade after June 1952, when Hatboro-New Hope passenger service terminated, the RDG's financial situation was precarious. Looking to rid themselves of unprofitable branch lines via abandonment, a group of train buffs and businessmen led by Philadelphia attorney Kenneth Souser — established as Steam Trains, Inc. — were seeking to operate steam trains on a for-profit basis. Steam Trains, Inc. became organized as the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, and on June 20, 1966, the 16.7-mile line was sold for $200,000.

Steam Trains, Inc. started their operations on a high note, often in an extravagant fashion. The company leased freight locomotives from the RDG, and used only hired labor to operate their excursions. The "air rights" over the Southern portion of the line from Ivyland to just North of Almshouse Road, were sold to the former Philadelphia Electric Company (now Exelon) in order to stay solvent. Steam Trains, Inc. declared bankruptcy on June 5, 1970. Operations continued under a court-appointed trustee.

The Bucks County Industrial Development Corporation (BCIDC) purchased the trackage from the Steam Trains, Inc. in early 1974 to "preserve rail service through the center of Bucks County." The county selected McHugh Brothers Heavy Hauling, Inc. to operate freight service over the line via a lease agreement. McHugh Brothers continued hauling freight with Edward L. McHugh as president until his departure in 1989. By the summer of 1976, the railroad received state funding to rehabilitate crumbling infrastructure that sorely needed fixing. By August 1977, volunteers from the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association [BVTA] (now the Electric City Trolley Museum Association) were operating state-sponsored passenger service connecting the touristy town of New Hope with SEPTA/Conrail commuter trains at Warminster. Bucks County had made a wise investment, as both passenger and freight service flourished during the 1970s once track upgrades were made. Finally, on June 30, 1979, the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad finally emerged from its decade-long bankruptcy.

Beginning July 3, 1980, volunteers of the New Hope Steam Railway (NHSR) resumed weekend excursion service after the BVTA decided to end it. The NHSR ran trains under a lease agreement with the BCIDC until 1990, when the line and its equipment were once again in a state of decay and disrepair. The McHugh Bros. operated the NHRR until 1989 when their lease ended and the Morristown & Erie was contracted to operate the railroad. The BCIDC sold the line outright to the for-profit Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Corporation (BCRP&RC) in 1990, who slowly began to rebuild the railroad to its current state of good repair. BCRP&RC is the official corporate structure, doing business as the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad.

Perils of Pauline

In 1914, a segment of the classic silent film The Perils of Pauline was allegedly filmed on the tracks used by the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad today. The particular part was on the north side of the 1891 built Ingham Creek trestle bridge, notably one of NHRR's highest bridges on the whole line. The site has also been dubbed "Pauline's Trestle" because of the bridge's association to the silent movie. There is no real proof the movie was ever filmed on the bridge. Other supposed filming locations for the "Perils of Pauline" regarding the railroad line include the Belvidere Delaware Railroad line in Lambertville and Raven Rock, New Jersey and the Long Island Rail Road near the Hamptons.

Stations and trackage

The NHRR is a single-track railroad with passing sidings at Lahaska, Buckingham Valley, Wycombe and Ivyland. Only Wycombe and Lahaska have their run-around tracks cleared because Lahaska is used for daily excursion trips so that locomotives can uncouple and head back to New Hope on the opposing side of the train, and Wycombe is used for temporary equipment storage. All other sidetracks, run-arounds, passing sidings, and sidings are primarily used for the storage of maintenance rail cars, out-of-service passenger cars and freight cars. At Buckingham Valley, the railroad's small fleet of historic freight cars is stored, along with any borrowed maintenance equipment, and number of former Long Island Rail Road commuter coaches stored in case they are ever needed. At Ivyland, a short runaround exists which is often utilized by private charters and fall foliage excursions in the same manner as Lahaska.

A number of sidings also exist on the NHRR. At Buckingham Valley, a small siding that once served the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association is presently used as a Repair-in-progress, or RIP-track. At Wycombe, the team track once used for less-than-carload deliveries is utilized as car storage for a number of NHRR's out-of-service passenger cars. At Grenoble, another siding created by severing the southern switch of a passing siding is present. This siding once held a number of pieces of equipment that were eventually scrapped. Today only passenger car 1542 remains on this siding as it was flipped over onto its side by vandals. At Ivyland, exists another RIP-track, typically used for storing MoW equipment. The final siding on the railroad is in Warminster on the north side of the Street Road crossing. This siding is used for short-term storage of interchange freight equipment and storing the diesel locomotive assigned to freight service when not in use.

No block signalization exists on the NHRR; however, almost all highway grade crossings have been modernized with full signals and gates.

The stations along the NHRR were:

Italicized stations are no longer in existence

Roster

Locomotives used in the excursion passenger service is usually provided by steam locomotive #40, a 2-8-0 1925 Baldwin wheel arrangement. #40 (ex-Cliffside Railroad) is supplemented by diesel powered locomotives primarily for freight operations. The current active diesel roster consists of EMD GP30 #2198 (ex-PRR), GE C30-7 #7087 (ex-CSX), GMD GP-9RM 7010, and EMD SD40-2 #5577 (ex-Canadian Pacific).

Passenger excursions typically consist of 3–4 former RDG coaches built between 1913 and 1927; total NHRR passenger car count is 24, 9 of which are currently in service. The only locomotives owned by the corporate structure of the NHRR are #40 and #1533. All diesels are owned by a privately held company (Rail Power Inc.) and leased to the operation. Rail Power Inc. is owned by three NHRR employees and also owns subsidiary Pennsylvania Northeastern's locomotives.

Italicized indicates no longer owned by the NHRR

Steam Engines

Diesel Locomotives

Passenger Rolling Stock

Freight Rolling Stock

Cabooses