Shawmont station

Shawmont
Former train station

The former Shawmont Reading Station site in 2010
Location 7800 Nixon Lane
Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Owned by SEPTA
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Platform levels 1
History
Opened 1834 (PG&N)
Closed 1996
Electrified 1931
Services
  Former services  
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
Manayunk/Norristown Line
toward Elm Street
Preceding station   Reading Railroad   Following station
Glen Willow
toward North Broad
Norristown Branch
toward Elm Street
Shawmont Train Station, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
Coordinates 40°2′38″N 75°15′0″W / 40.04389°N 75.25000°W / 40.04389; -75.25000Coordinates: 40°2′38″N 75°15′0″W / 40.04389°N 75.25000°W / 40.04389; -75.25000
Part of Upper Roxborough Historic District (#01000463[1])
Added to NRHP July 21, 1995

Shawmont is a former train station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located on Nixon Lane in the Roxborough section of Lower Northwest Philadelphia. Built by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad, it later became part of the Reading Railroad and ultimately SEPTA Regional Rail's R6 Norristown Line line. SEPTA closed the station in 1996 and it now serves as a private building.

History

The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad (PG&N) was opened on June 7, 1832, from downtown to Germantown (now on the Chestnut Hill East Line), and was the first railroad in Philadelphia. Later, they built another line to Norristown, including the Shawmont Station, which is believed to have been built by renowned architect William Strickland.

On December 1, 1870, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway (later the Reading Company) leased the PG&N. By 1884, the Pennsylvania Railroad built the Schuylkill Branch in an effort to compete with Reading, and ran it parallel to the line near the station with a station of their own. Both the Reading and Pennsylvania Railroad lines were electrified in the early-1930s. Pennsylvania electrified their line in 1930, and Reading electrified theirs in 1931.

As railroad service began to decline in the post-World War II period, Pennsylvania Railroad closed their own Shawmont Station in 1960, terminating all passenger service north of Manayunk. The Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority began arranging new contracts with the PRR and RDG to continue commuter rail services in the Philadelphia region in 1966. Two years later, Pennsylvania merged with their much larger rival New York Central Railroad to form Penn Central Railroad. The Reading filed for bankruptcy in 1971, a year after their competitors Penn Central, went bankrupt on June 21, 1970. In 1976, Reading and Penn Central were both acquired by Conrail, who provided commuter rail services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA assumed operations. Two years before this took place, SEPTA ended diesel service to Reading and Pottsville.

Shawmont station became a contributing property of the Upper Roxborough Historic District in 1995, but was closed by SEPTA in 1996.[2] The station is a private residence that is accessible by way of the Schuylkill River Trail, which was once part of the Schuylkill Branch.

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Dougherty, Frank (October 25, 1996). "Septa Board Cuts Service But Oppostion Is Spirited". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
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