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Chestnut Hill And Fort Washington Branches, The PRR T&HS Philadelphia Chapter
The Chestnut Hill And Fort Washington Branches PRR T&HS Philadelphia Chapter
1982 May #6
40 pages
Stapled
Contents
The Chestnut Hill Branchpage
Background 3
Planning 3
Construction 4
Stations & Facilities 4
Signalling 21
Branches21
Organization21
Growth of Traffic 21
North Philadelphia Changes23
Electrification 24
1918 WW II23
WWII Present 25
Passenger Operations 25
Freight Operations30
Map33
The Fort Washington Branch
Background34
Planning & Construction 34
Stations & Facilities 34
Signalling 35
Electrification 35
Passenger Operations 36
This work focuses on the development, construction and operation of the rail line which eventually became known as the Pennsylvania Railroad's "Chestnut Hill Branch" and its offshoot, the "Fort Washington Branch".
Noted author Nathaniel Burt in his The Perennial Philadelphians reflected on the growth of Philadelphia in the last half of the Nineteenth Century.
"The railroads in those early years knew a good thing and soon took an active hand in creating semi-rural paradises. The Germantown boom was ... deliberately cultivated by The Pennsylvania, and so was Chestnut Hill in a less direct way. Chestnut Hill was more or less the personal creation of one man, Henry H. Houston (18201895). He made it his in The Railroad, of which he was a director and in real estate ... Houston owned most of the land on which the western side of Chestnut Hill now stands ... He laid out the streets, financed the relocation of the Philadelphia Cricket Club there in 1883, built a summer hotel which is now Chestnut Hill Academy, and like the Robertses (President George B. of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company) erected for himself a family church, St. Martins-in-the Fields, to the Glory of God ..."
The author would be remiss if he did not acknowledge those persons who contributed to the writing of this work. Firstly, thanks must go to William Closs, Sr., who spent the first half of the Twentieth Century in service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, much of which was on the Branch. Mr. Closs provided valuable information from the early years of this Century.
In addition, gratitude is expressed to Charles Blardone, Jr., Abram D. Burnett, William Closs, Jr., Ian S. Fischer, William James, Walter P. Keely, Jr., Carl Landeck and George D. Stock for their assistance and suggestions in preparing this essay.
Finally, many of the unique photographs of the Branch in its early years appear through the generosity of Ted Xaras.
Now, up to "The Hill"!
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