Railroads of West Chester
by Jim Jones
photos from the West Chester Railroad
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cover of After more than five years of research and a year of writing, Jim Jones' latest book is now available in local stores. Railroads of West Chester is the story of the lines and people that changed the Borough from a quiet country crossroads into a farm market town, an industrial center and suburb of Philadelphia. It is a sequel to Jones' previous book, Made in West Chester (which described how Chester County's rich agriculture heritage provided the basis for West Chester's first industries, and how those industries grew to serve the world).

Using land records, court cases, newspapers, annual reports, interviews and photos, West Chester University history professor Jim Jones reconstructs the 175-year tradition of railroading in West Chester, Pennsylvania from the earliest days of horse-drawn railcars to the Pennsylvania Railroad -- its glory days and decline -- and the resurrection of rail service by the new West Chester Railroad.

drawing of the Matlack Street station
The station at Matlack and Gay Streets.     Source: the Daily Republican (April 21, 1880)

Railroads of West Chester explains how railroads -- the invention which made the Industrial Revolution possible -- connected West Chester to the rest of the country and the world. The story began in 1830 when a group of local businessmen agreed to construct a horse-drawn railroad using wooden rails topped by iron straps. That made the "West Chester Railroad" one of the first and oldest in the country after it operated its first train in September 1832.

Jones' book also describes the construction of West Chester's second railroad, the "Direct Line" from Philadelphia via Media in the 1850s, and the process by which the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control over both lines after the Civil War. The Direct Line shaved a few miles off of the trip to Philadelphia, but more importantly, it provided competition that lowered the cost of transportation. Chapters about passengers, freight and workers show that the railroad was a major employer at the turn of the last century and that everybody in West Chester depended on it in some way.

Another chapter examines the effect of the railroad on physical layout of the Borough. More than a quarter century separated the construction of the two railroads, and during that time the streets of the Borough were extended to the east side of a town. As a consequence, streets along the route of the earlier railroad were laid out at angles to avoid crossing the line. In contrast, more streets crossed the second railroad at grade, leading to accidents, complaints and street closings.

Excerpts:

If a railroad worker survived the experience as a brakeman or yard switcher, he might by lucky enough to obtain a promotion to engineer or even conductor. Engineers and conductors were treated as celebrities by the local community, which followed their personal lives as closely as those of politicians and bankers. For instance, the Daily Local News printed an announcement when J. Clemson Sharpless, the chief engineer of the "Chester County Railroad" rented the house at the corner of Union and Walnut Streets. Charlton Lack, the "well-known passenger train conductor," also merited an announcement when he moved into a house near Miner and Walnut. Other railroad employees became known throughout the borough and some even became public figures. -- from Chapter 9

The increasing size of locomotives created problems in West Chester, especially at the Gay Street bridge over the Frazer line. When No. 268, "one of the immense new heaps of iron and steel" arrived in 1900, it barely fit under the bridge. The following summer, the PRR installed heavier rails at the Market Street station to accommodate the increased loads. The new equipment did improve service, however, establishing a new speed record for the run between West Chester and Frazer in 1901 by covering seven miles and making two stops in just eight minutes. -- from Chapter 11

 

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations
Foreword

Introduction

Part I: A local affair
1. Building the West Chester Railroad, 1830-1833
2. Expansion and collapse, 1834-1843
3. Recovery and technological improvement, 1844-1850
4. A second railroad comes to town, 1850-1858

Part II: Connecting to the national railroads
5. The age of consolidation, 1850-1878
6. The Pennsylvania Railroad takeover, 1879-1882

Part III: Under one management
7. Passengers
8. Freight
9. Workers
10. Shaping the borough
11. Decline in the 20th Century

Epilogue: The New West Chester Railroad
Reference Notes
Bibliography

Passengers board a train from the new West Chester Railroad at Philadelphia's 30th Street station
Passengers board the new West Chester Railroad at Philadelphia's 30th Street station.     Photo by Jim Jones

Format:
6" x 9" softcover, perfect bound (glued), black/white cover and illustrations. 153 pages include 6 maps, 10 tables, 42 photos, foreword, reference notes and bibliography.

Available at:
Chester County Books & Music Company in the West Goshen Shopping Center

The Chester County Historical Society, 225 N. High Street, West Chester.

The SEPTA Transit Store, 1234 Market Street, Philadelphia.

RAILROADBOOKS of Bloomington, Indiana

 

Other books by Jim Jones:
Industrial Labor in the Colonial World: The African Workers of the Chemin de Fer Dakar-Niger (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002)

Made in West Chester: The History of Industry in West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1867 to 1945 (West Chester, 2003)

Price: $20 retail
(Bookseller inquiries welcome)

Printed in the Borough of West Chester, Pennsylvania by Taggart Printing, 2006.