Shawmont (SEPTA station)

Shawmont
Former SEPTA regional rail 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
No services   Former services   Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Ivy Ridge truncated 1981 toward Reading Terminal Pottsville Line R6 Norristown Miquon truncated 1981 toward Pottsville   After 1981   Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Ivy Ridge toward 30th Street Station Manayunk/Norristown Line R6 Norristown Miquon toward Elm Street, Norristown
Shawmont Train Station, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Coordinates	40°2′38″N 75°15′0″W / 40.04389°N 75.25000°WCoordinates: 40°2′38″N 75°15′0″W / 40.04389°N 75.25000°W
Part of	Upper Roxborough Historic District (#01000463[1])
Added to NRHP	July 21, 1995

Shawmont is an abandoned train station in the Roxborough section of Lower Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Reading Railroad's Pottsville Branch (originally called the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad). It later became a part of SEPTA's R6 Norristown line.

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 be build 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. 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. Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

External links

• Shawmont Station (Philadelphia's Story by John Johnstone)