New Castle and Wilmington Railroad - Wikipedia - Recent changes [en]

{{Short description|Railway company, later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad}}

#REDIRECT [[Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad]]

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|railroad_name=New Castle and Wilmington Railroad

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| length = 5 miles

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|locale= [[Delaware]]

|start_year=1852

|end_year=1877 (purchased by Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad)

|Successor_line = Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

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The New Castle and Wilmington Railroad (NC&W)) was an American railroad that operated in Delaware from 1852 to 1877. It was chartered in 1839 to to bridge the gap between the [[Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad]] (PW&B) and the PW&B-owned New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad (NC&F). The 5 mile long line opened in 1852 and was immediately leased by the [[Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad]] (PW&B).<ref name="HVPHistory">{{cite book |last1=Poor |first1=Henry Varnum |title=History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States of America, etc |date=1860 |pages=488-567 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Railroads_and_Canals_of_t/_Z8T6QFYHcIC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref>

On May 15, 1877, the PW&B was absorbed by the PW&B, and later sold to the [[Delaware Railroad]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Walter |title=A History of Delaware |date=1928 |publisher=Christopher Publishing House |page=368}}</ref>

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Castle Wilmington Railroad}}

The right-of-way laid down by the NC&W line was mostly converted into the [[Jack A. Markell Trail]] but a few hundred feet are still in use and and short sections near I-95 and I-295 have been taken for highway use.

===History===

The NC&W was chartered in 1839 to bridge the gap between the [[Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad]] (PW&B) and the PW&B-owned [[New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Railroad Company|New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad]] (NC&F). The railroad opened in 1852 and was immediately leased by the PW&B,<ref>{{cite news |title=First Train of Cars |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83032103/1853-01-01/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1852&index=0&rows=20&words=Castle+New+Railroad+Wilmington&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1854&proxtext=%22Wilmington+and+New+Castle%22+railroad&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |access-date=15 July 2025 |work=West-Jersey Pioneer |date=1 January 1853}}</ref><ref name="HVPHistory"/> thus creating a connection between the PW&B line and the lines into Delaware.

The PW&B formally absorbed the NC&W on May 15, 1877.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Walter |title=A History of Delaware |date=1928 |publisher=Christopher Publishing House |page=368}}</ref> In 1881 it, along with the rest of the PW&B, became part of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR). In 1891 the NC&W was merged with the NC&F to form the Delaware Branch of the [[Delaware Railroad]], which was all part of the PW&B system within the PRR. It remained part of the PW&B system until that merged with the Baltimore and Potomac on November 1, 1902, to form the [[Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad]] (PB&W).

After the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]], the [[United States Army Air Forces]] took control of the then under-construction [[Wilmington Airport (Delaware)|New Castle County Airport]] for military use and at this time the [[Reading Railroad]] built a {{cvt|1.5|mi}} branch off of the NC&W track, from a point just north of the current New Jersey Turnpike/I-295, to the airport that served as a trolley and freight line.<ref name="ITTsign">{{cite web |title=The Industrial Track Trail |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=168198 |access-date=30 April 2025}}</ref>

The NC&W track and the Airport Branch were part of the PB&W/PRR until 1968, when the PRR merged with the [[New York Central Railroad]] to form the [[Penn Central Transportation Company|Penn Central Railroad]]. In 1970, the Penn Central declared bankruptcy and on April 1, 1976, Penn Central transferred rail operations of its most viable railroads, including the old NC&W line, to the government-owned Consolidated Rail Corporation ([[Conrail]]).

Part of the line, by then known as the New Castle Industrial Track, from [[Farnhurst, Delaware]] (where the line crossed US-13) to the [[Shellpot Secondary]] was shut down, along with the Airport Branch, on August 30, 1972. The tracks were removed by 1975.<ref>{{cite book |title=Final System Plan for Restructuring Railroads in the Northeast and Midwest Region Pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973: Part 3. Light density lines and community impact |date=July 26, 1975 |publisher=United States Railway Association |page=495 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Final_System_Plan_for_Restructuring_Rail/-bW6EOGU_JIC?hl=en&gbpv=1 |access-date=25 April 2025}}</ref> While a part of Conrail, the tracks south of Farnhurst were taken out of service in the late 1970's and abandoned in 1984.<ref name="phase3">{{cite web |title=NEW CASTLE INDUSTRIAL TRACK TRAIL PHASE 3 FEASIBILITY STUDY |url=https://deldot.gov/information/projects/trails/newcastleindustrialtrack_phaseIII/pdf/IndustrialTrackPhas%203-feasibilityStudy.pdf |access-date=25 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Department of Transportation and related agencies appropriations for fiscal year 1986 |date=1986 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=119 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Department_of_Transportation_and_related/hbtGNfUjsz0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22new%20Castle%20Industrial%22 |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> The "A" bridge over the [[Christina River]] was removed in 1987.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Drawbridge Operations Regulations, Christina River, Wilmington, DE |journal=Federal Register |date=8 September 1987 |volume=52 |issue=173 |page=33812 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Federal_Register/ccToSEjmqpMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Christina+River+Bridge+removal&pg=PA33812 |access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref> The tracks south of Farnhurst were removed in the 1990's.<ref>{{cite web |title=The New Castle Industrial Cutoff |url=https://www.abandonedrails.com/new-castle-industrial-cutoff |access-date=30 April 2025}}</ref> The only remaining section of tracks from the old NC&W are the few hundred feet between the Shellpot Secondary and the [[Northeast Corridor]] that makes up part of the West Wilmington Industrial Track.

==References==

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==External links==

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Castle and Wilmington Railroad}}

[[Category:Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad]]

[[Category:Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad]]

[[Category:Railway companies established in 1839]]

[[Category:Railway companies established in 1839]]