New Hope Railroad

Overview
Headquarters	New Hope, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Reporting mark	NHRR
Locale	Bucks County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Dates of operation	1966 (1966)–present
Technical
Length	18 miles (29 km)
Other
Website	www.newhoperailroad.com
Route map Legend New Hope PA 179 West Bridge Street Ferry Street Ingham Run Ingham Run West Mechanic Street Hood South Sugan Road Ingham Run Driveway Ingham Run Pennsylvania Shale Brick Company Reeder Road Reeder Deer Park Aquetong Road Lower Mountain Road Driveway Street Road Lahaska Holicong Road Bycot Driveway Abandoned quarry spur Upper Mountain Road PA 413 Durham Road Farm Lane Upper Mountain Road Buckingham Valley Lower Mountain Road Creek Road New Hope Road Montessori School Smith Road Mill Creek Wycombe Township Line Road Driveway Mill Creek Mill Creek Rushland Swamp Road Neshaminy Creek Sackettsford Road Little Neshaminy Creek Grenoble Little Neshaminy Creek Almshouse Road Traymore West Bristol Road Ivyland Ivyland Road Johnsville PA 132 Street Road Warminster Warminster Line PN to Glenside

The New Hope Railroad (reporting mark NHRR),^[1] formerly and colloquially known as the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, is a shortline and heritage railroad located in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Today, the railroad operates both steam and diesel powered locomotives and is an associate member of NORAC.

The heritage operations use both steam and diesel powered locomotives for excursion trips out of New Hope. Regular NHRR excursions typically operate between New Hope and Lahaska, with some occasionally going to Buckingham Valley. The railroad mostly uses former Reading Company passenger cars, which date between 1914 and 1932, for excursions.

NHRR is involved in the import and export of raw materials and manufactured products. Freight customers range from national chemical companies to consumer product manufacturers. NHRR interchanges with Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad in Johnsville, which in turn interchanges with CSX Transportation in Lansdale. NHRR's primary customers are based in Warminster; CRC Industries, Castrol and Double H Plastics are served on a weekly basis.

The line currently operated by the New Hope Railroad was originally known as the New Hope Branch of the Reading Company (RDG), which leased it to the North Pennsylvania Railroad, of which it was a part. The railroad ran as far as Hartsville Station (near Bristol Road, which eventually became Ivyland) until March 29, 1891, when the line was extended to the long-desired terminal of New Hope, Pennsylvania.^[2]

In 1932, steam powered trains above Hatboro were replaced with a Doodlebug after electric service was introduced between Hatboro and Philadelphia. In June 1952, Hatboro-New Hope passenger service terminated. In the early 1960s, the RDG's financial situation was precarious. Looking to rid themselves of unprofitable branch lines via abandonment, a group of train aficionados and businessmen led by Philadelphia attorney Kenneth Souser established Steam Trains, Inc. with the goal of operating steam trains on a for-profit basis.^[3] Steam Trains, Inc. became organized as the 'New Hope & Ivyland Railroad (NHIR), and on June 20, 1966, the 16.7-mile line was sold for $200,000.^[2]

Steam Trains, Inc. started their operations on August 6, 1966 on a high note, often in an extravagant fashion, with the purchase of four steam locomotives and seven passenger cars. The company leased freight locomotives from RDG, and used only hired labor to operate their excursions. The "air rights" over the Southern portion of the line from Ivyland to just north of Almshouse Road, were sold to the former Philadelphia Electric Company (now Exelon) in order to stay solvent. Due to extremely low ticket prices to generate sales that led to no additional income of riders, Steam Trains, Inc. declared bankruptcy on June 5, 1970.^[2] Operations continued under a court-appointed trustee.

The Bucks County Industrial Development Corporation (BCIDC) purchased the trackage from the Steam Trains, Inc. in early 1974 to "preserve rail service through the center of Bucks County."^[4] The county selected McHugh Brothers Heavy Hauling, Inc. to operate freight service over the line via a lease agreement.^[2] McHugh Brothers continued hauling freight with Edward L. McHugh as president until his departure in 1989.^[4]

By the summer of 1976, the railroad received state funding to rehabilitate crumbling infrastructure that sorely needed fixing. By August 1977, volunteers from the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association [BVTA] (now the Electric City Trolley Museum Association) were operating state-sponsored passenger service connecting the touristy town of New Hope with SEPTA/Conrail commuter trains at Warminster.^[2] Bucks County had made a wise investment, as both passenger and freight service flourished during the 1970s once track upgrades were made. Finally, on June 30, 1979, NHRR finally emerged from its decade-long bankruptcy.^[4]

Beginning July 3, 1980, volunteers of the New Hope Steam Railway (NHOP) resumed weekend excursion service after the BVTA decided to end it. The NHOP ran trains under a lease agreement with the BCIDC until 1990, when the line and its equipment were once again in a state of decay and disrepair.^[4] The McHugh Bros. operated NHIR until 1989 when their lease ended and the Morristown & Erie was contracted to operate the railroad.^[3] The BCIDC sold the line outright to the for-profit Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Corporation (BCRP&RC) in 1990, who slowly began to rebuild the railroad to its current state of good repair.^[3] In 1993, the reporting mark was changed to NHRR. BCRP&RC is the official corporate structure, doing business as the New Hope Railroad.

Locomotive details^[5][6][7]

Number	Type	Images	Wheel arrangement	Builder	Built	Former Owner	Status
40	Steam		2-8-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1925	Lancaster and Chester Railroad	Operational
1533	Steam		4-6-0	Montreal Locomotive Works	1911	Canadian National Railway	Stored, awaiting possible restoration
8218	Diesel		(B-B)	Plymouth Locomotive Works	1957	Canadian Pacific Railway	Operational
2198	Diesel		(B-B)	Electro-Motive Diesel	1963	Pennsylvania Railroad	Operational
5577	Diesel		(C-C)	Electro-Motive Diesel	1972	Canadian Pacific Railway	Operational
7010	Diesel		(B-B)	Electro-Motive Diesel	1959	Canadian National Railway	Operational

Locomotive details^[8][9][10]

Number	Type	Images	Wheel arrangement	Builder	Built	Former Owner	Current Owner
9	Steam		0-6-0	American Locomotive Company	1942	United States Army	SMS Rail Lines

Rolling stock details^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

Number	Images	Type	Builder	Built
870		Coach	Bethlehem Steel Company	1932
983		Coach	Central Railroad of New Jersey	1923
1096		Tool Car	Pullman-Standard Corporation	1960
1127		Coach	Harlan & Hollingsworth	1924
1220		Coach	Harlan & Hollingsworth	1922
1424		Coach	Harlan & Hollingsworth	1914
1430		Dining Car	Harlan & Hollingsworth	1914
1505		Coach	Harlan & Hollingsworth	1916
1525		Open Air Car	Harlan & Hollingsworth	1927
2817		Event Car	Long Island Rail Road	1955
4907		Dining Car	Canadian Car & Foundry	1919
9123		Coach	Bethlehem Steel Company	1932
800301		Dining Car	American Car & Foundry	1949
303		Hopper Car	Pullman Standard	1955
1606		Tank Car	Fleischmann Transportation Company	1948
1753		Tank Car	Pennsylvania Tank Car Co.	1927
3752		Tank Car	Union Tank Car Company	1936
6622		Tank Car	ACF	1940
8435		Boxcar	Magor Car Corp.	1931
8570		Boxcar	Magor Car Corp.	1934
9005		Boxcar	Despatch Shops Inc.	1942
9811		Boxcar	Pullman Standard	1952
12153		Hopper	Bethlehem Steel	1944
38009		Flatcar	Magor Car Corp.	1951
53033		Dump Car	Eastern Car Ltd.	1957
480047		Flatcar	Pennsylvania Railroad Samuel Rea Shops	1959
C127		Caboose	Laconia Car Company	1921

• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad
• New Hope Railroad 40

• Media related to New Hope and Ivyland Railroad at Wikimedia Commons
• New Hope Railroad – Official site
• New Hope Railroad Photos
• New Hope Railroad at rrpicturearchives.net