Williamstown Railroad

Williamstown Railroad
Overview
Dates of operation1861 (1861)–1883 (1883)
SuccessorWilliamstown and Delaware River Railroad
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Length9 miles (14 km)
Route map
Map

The Williamstown Railroad was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1861 and began operating between Williamstown, New Jersey, and Atco, New Jersey, in 1874. It interchanged with the Camden and Atlantic Railroad in Atco. The company came under Philadelphia and Reading Railroad control in 1883 and was reorganized as the Williamstown and Delaware River Railroad. The company's line eventually passed to the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines and was abandoned between 1934 and 1942.

History

The Williamstown Railroad was incorporated on March 13, 1861.[1] Its backers were businessmen in Williamstown, New Jersey, who owned a glassworks. The company constructed a 9-mile (14 km) from Williamstown to Atco, New Jersey, where it connected with the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. This line opened in October 1872. Plans to extend the line west to Glassboro, New Jersey, were not realized.[2]

The railroad company entered bankruptcy in November 1881. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad took control in October 1883, reorganized the company as the Williamstown and Delaware River Railroad, and completed the extension to Glassboro.[2][3] The Reading-controlled 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway crossed the Williamstown at Williamstown Junction, about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) west of Atco. Once the Philadelphia and Atlantic City was converted to standard gauge in 1884 the importance of the Williamstown branch diminished.[4] The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines abandoned the branch between Williamstown and Williamstown Junction in 1934 and between Williamstown Junction and Atco in 1942.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ Coverdale & Colpitts (1946), p. 261.
  2. ^ a b Coxey & Kranefeld (2007), p. 107.
  3. ^ Coverdale & Colpitts (1946), pp. 267–268.
  4. ^ Hilton (1990), p. 446.
  5. ^ Coverdale & Colpitts 1946, p. 265.

References

  • Coverdale & Colpitts (1946). The Pennsylvania Railroad Company: The Corporate, Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned, Operated and Controlled To December 31, 1945, Volume IV Affiliated Lines, Miscellaneous Companies, and General Index. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott. OCLC 13172415.
  • Coxey, William J.; Kranefeld, James E. (2007). The Reading Seashore Lines: A Pictorial Documentary of the Atlantic City Railroad. Palmyra, New Jersey: West Jersey Chapter, National Railway Historical Society.
  • Hilton, George W. (1990). American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2369-9.