Sunbury Line

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For the line in Australia, see Sunbury railway line, Melbourne.

Sunbury Line
Extent	Wilkes-Barre - Sunbury
Dates of operation	independent: 1869-1872 Pennsy: 1872-1968 Penn Central: 1968-1976 Conrail: 1976-1980s CP: 1980s-present
Other names	Wilkes Barre Branch

The Sunbury Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Wilkes-Barre southwest to Sunbury^[1] along a former Pennsylvania Railroad line on the east (left) shore of the North Branch Susquehanna River. From Wilkes-Barre, the CP's line continues north, and CP has trackage rights south along the Reading and Northern Railroad towards Allentown. At Sunbury, the line meets the Norfolk Southern Railway's Buffalo Line, along which CP has trackage rights south to Harrisburg.

[edit] History

The Danville, Hazelton and Wilkes-Barre Railroad opened from Sunbury to South Danville in 1869^[2] and past Catawissa to Tomhicken in 1871.^[3] The North and West Branch Railway opened the line from Catawissa to Wilkes-Barre in the early 1880s, completing the current Sunbury Line.^[4] The line became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad through leases and mergers. In 1976, the line was taken over by Conrail, with trackage rights assigned to the Delaware and Hudson Railway. The D&H acquired the line in the early 1980s, and is now part of CP.^[1]