Wilmington and Western Railroad

Wilmington and Western Railroad

No. 98 preparing to haul an excursion train in May 2006
Overview
Headquarters	Marshallton, Delaware
Wilmington and Western Railroad
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
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Location	2201 Newport Gap Pike, Wilmington, Delaware
Coordinates	39°44′17″N 75°37′58″W / 39.73806°N 75.63278°W / 39.73806; -75.63278
Area	73 acres (30 ha)
Built	1867 (1867)
Architect	Wilmington & Western Railroad Co.
NRHP reference No.	80000932[1]
Added to NRHP	September 8, 1980
Reporting mark	WWRC
Locale	New Castle County, Delaware, USA
Dates of operation	1872–1877 1966–present
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	10.2 miles (16.4 km)
Other
Website	wwrr.com

v t e Wilmington and Western Railroad
Legend
DE 41 Hockessin Red Clay Creek DE 82, Yorklyn DE 82 Red Clay Creek, Ashland Red Clay Creek Mt. Cuba Picnic Grove Red Clay Creek Mount Cuba Wooddale Red Clay Creek Red Clay Creek DE 48 Red Clay Creek Faulkland Faulkland Road Red Clay Creek Red Clay Creek Greenbank DE 41 DE 2 Greenbank Marshallton Yard DE 62 Landenberg Junction Philadelphia Subdivision

The Wilmington and Western Railroad (reporting mark WWRC) is a freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch line between Wilmington and Hockessin. The 10.2-mile (16.4 km) railroad operates both steam and diesel locomotives. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district in 1980.^[1] Wilmington & Western serves one customer for revenue service, and interchanges with CSX Transportation at Landenberg Junction, Delaware

Wilmington & Western's General Motors Diesel-Electric SW1 locomotive no. 114 is the oldest diesel locomotive in routine scheduled service, having been built in February 1940.^[2]

The Delaware and Chester County Railroad was incorporated in February 1867 to build from Wilmington in the direction of Parkesburg or Atglen, Pennsylvania,^[3] and was renamed the Wilmington and Western Railroad in March 1869,^[4] opening the line to Landenberg on October 19, 1872.^[5] A foreclosure sale in April 1877 produced the Delaware Western Railroad, which was incorporated in June 1877 and merged into the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad, a B&O subsidiary, in February 1883.^[4]

The B&O cut back the line to Southwood in the early 1940s and to Hockessin in the late 1950s. Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc. began operating steam tourist trains on weekends in 1966,^[6] reusing the old W&W name, and in August 1982 the W&W bought the branch from the Chessie System for $25,000, which included Ex-B&O SW1 #8408 as a part of the purchase.^[5][7] Under the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc. the operations are managed by a Board of Directors, paid staff and a large number of volunteers.^[8]

In 1999, the rains of Hurricane Floyd caused considerable damage to the railroad. Two trestles were entirely destroyed by the flooding of Red Clay Creek, which also caused track washouts and damaged several other trestles. The two destroyed bridges were replaced by steel trestles, but the other timber trestles were simply repaired.

In 2003, Tropical Storm Henri struck the valley and produced an even more catastrophic flood. While the two steel bridges (and an iron trestle at Ashland) survived the flood, the remaining bridges were swept away or irreparably damaged. Despite the damage caused by these storms, the Wilmington and Western continued to operate on the remaining track, and replaced all of the destroyed bridges with steel trestles. The line officially reopened into Hockessin on June 30, 2007.

The railroad celebrated its 50th anniversary operating as a tourist railroad in 2016.^[9]

Several different excursions are offered by the Wilmington and Western Railroad, running through the Red Clay Creek valley. Trains operate out of the Greenbank station near the southern end of the railroad. The railroad offers two regular excursions which run on weekends during the operating season. The Hockessin Flyer runs round-trip from Greenbank to the northern end of the line in Hockessin for a 2.5-hour trip with a 30-minute layover in Hockessin. The Mt. Cuba Meteor runs round-trip from Greenbank to the Mount Cuba Picnic Grove for a 1.5-hour trip with a 30-minute layover for a picnic at the Mount Cuba Picnic Grove.

The Wilmington and Western Railroad also offers several special themed excursions. Some of the themed excursions include the Easter Bunny Express, the Fireworks Express on Independence Day, a dinner train called the Royal Blue Dinner Train, the Brews on Board train serving craft brews, the Civil War Skirmish Weekend, the Princess Express, the Superhero Express, the Autumn Leaf Special offering views of fall foliage, the Halloween Express, the Holiday Lights Express offering views of Christmas lights, and the Santa Claus Express around Christmas.^[10] Groups may also charter a caboose, car, or entire train for an event.^[11] A caboose attached to the end of a regularly scheduled train may be rented for birthday parties.^[12]

Locomotive details^[13][14][15]

Number	Image	Wheel arrangement	Builder	Type	Build date	Serial Number	Status
58		0-6-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	Steam	1907	31899	Operational
92		2-6-0	Canadian Locomotive Company	Steam	1910	930	Stored, awaiting restoration
98		4-4-0	American Locomotive Company	Steam	1909	45921	Undergoing FRA inspection and overhaul
114		SW-1 (B-B)	Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) of General Motors	Diesel	1940	1021	Operational
4662		Doodlebug (B-B)	Pullman Standard	Railcar	1929	6202-22697	Operational
8408		SW-1 (B-B)	EMC	Diesel	1940	1106	Operational

Locomotive details^[16][17][18]

Number	Image	Wheel arrangement	Builder	Type	Build date	Current owner
1		0-4-0	H.K. Porter	Steam	1950	Marshallton
37		2-8-2T	ALCO	Steam	1925	Age of Steam Roundhouse
60		0-6-0	Pennsylvania Railroad	Steam	1913	Lewes Junction Railroad & Bridge Association[19]
14		2-8-0	ALCO	Steam	1918	Gaithersburg, Maryland
425		4-6-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	Steam	1928	Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad
915		SW900 (B-B)	EMD	Diesel	1956	Black River Western Railroad
S-3		0-6-0T	Vulcan	Steam	1943	Honey's Farm Fresh Gourmet Kitchen
D-3		S2 (B-B)	ALCO	Diesel	1949	West Chester Railroad

• 
  W&W No. 98 double-heading with W&W No. 58 in October 2006.
• 
  Easter Bunny
• 
  W&W No. 4662 operating during the holidays.

• List of heritage railways
• List of Delaware railroads

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilmington and Western Railroad.

• Wilmington & Western Railroad
• Wilmington & Western Railroad Photos