Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad

Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad
PN 5342 along SEPTA's Warminster Line in Hatboro
Overview
HeadquartersLansdale, Pennsylvania
Reporting markPN
LocaleSoutheastern Pennsylvania
Dates of operation2011–present
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length55.53 miles
Other
Websitehttp://www.PNrailroad.com/

The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad (reporting mark PN) is a short-line railroad operating on trackage mostly in Bucks and Montgomery counties to the north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created in 2011, taking over former operations from CSX Transportation. The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad interchanges with CSX in Lansdale, the East Penn Railroad in Telford, and the New Hope Railroad in Warminster.

Operations

The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad operates on 55.53 miles (89.37 km) of SEPTA-owned trackage mostly in Bucks and Montgomery counties to the north of Philadelphia, with some lines extending into northern portions of Philadelphia. The lines operated by the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad include the Bethlehem Branch from Newtown Junction to Telford, the Doylestown Branch from Lansdale to Doylestown, the New Hope Branch from Glenside to Ivyland, the New York Line from Jenkintown to Neshaminy Falls, as well as a 3-mile (4.8 km) portion of the Stony Creek Branch near Lansdale. The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad also operates the Lansdale Yard in Lansdale.[1][2] The railroad interchanges with CSX Transportation in Lansdale, the New Hope Railroad in Warminster, and the East Penn Railroad in Telford. The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad offers various freight rail services including transloading of bulk commodities between railcars and trucks, rail access to warehouse facilities including Lansdale Warehouse and AmeriCold Logistics LLC in Hatfield and storage of railcars.[3]

History

In December 2010, it was announced that a newly formed shortline, the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad, would be taking over freight operations in the Lansdale area from CSX. Under the new arrangement, CSX would still move freight north from Philadelphia while the PN would serve customers in Lansdale, Hatfield, Souderton, Telford and Warminster. In addition, PN serves as a bridge route for rail traffic bound for the East Penn Railroad's Quakertown line, and the New Hope Railroad.[4] The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad took over operations from CSX in August 2011.[1]

Roster

Number Classification Builder Built Heritage Notes
5315 SD40-2W General Motors Diesel 1979 Canadian National Purchased 2011. Painted in PN's executive scheme. Equipped with cab signals.
5342 SD40-2W General Motors Diesel 1980 Canadian National Purchased 2011. Painted in PN's executive scheme. Equipped with cab signals.
5577 SD40-2 General Motors Diesel 1972 Canadian Pacific Purchased 2007 for NHRR. Painted in PN's executive scheme in 2023. Equipped with cab signals.
7010 GP9rm General Motors Diesel 1959 Canadian National Originally built as CN GP9 4327, rebuilt in 1985 as 7010. Purchased 2011. Wears PN "simplified" livery. Used on occasional revenue freight and special excursion runs on the New Hope Railroad.
7210 GP9rm General Motors Diesel 1959 Canadian National Originally built as CN GP9 4312, rebuilt 1989 as 7210. Purchased 2011. Wears patched CN livery. Currently in storage at New Hope, out of Service.
8212 C39-8 GE Transportation 1986 Norfolk Southern, Ex-Conrail Originally CR 6021. Purchased 2010. Wears patched out Conrail livery. Equipped with cab signals. Currently the last remaining operational C39-8 in North America.
8701 SD60 Electro-Motive Diesel 1989 CSX Built 1989 for CSX by EMD, retired 2017. Purchased by PN in 2019. Wears patched CSX livery with Pennsylvania Northeastern lettering.
8711 SD60 Electro-Motive Diesel 1984 CSX, Ex-Conrail, Exx-EMDX Used by Electro-Motive Diesel as a demonstrator locomotive (EMDX No. 2) for the SD60s. Purchased by Conrail in 1986 and became CR No. 6842. Became CSX 8711 in 2000. Purchased by PN in 2019. Wears patched CSX livery with Pennsylvania Northeastern lettering.

Former units

Number Classification Builder Built Heritage Notes
8211 C39-8 GE Transportation 1986 Norfolk Southern, Ex-Conrail Originally CR 6017. Purchased 2010. Wears patched out NS livery. Withdrawn from service between 2018 and 2019 and was used as parts source for 8212.
5834, 5843 B36-7 GE Transportation 1985 CSX, ex-SBD Originally SBD 5834 & 5843. Purchased 2016. Wears CSX YN2 livery. Never operated in revenue service, both scrapped in 2021.
8218 GP9u (DRS-17) General Motors Diesel 1957 (original), 1980s (Rebuild) CP Originally CP GP9 #8678. Purchased 2016. Wore patched CP Livery. Transferred to New Hope & Ivyland Railroad in 2017.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Views & News - New (and Changing) Railroads". American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  2. ^ "Federal Register Volume 76, Number 142". Federal Register. July 25, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  3. ^ "Freight/Logistics". Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  4. ^ Di Domizio, Tony (December 7, 2010). " "Changes coming down the track". The Reporter. Lansdale, PA. Retrieved January 20, 2011.