History Spotlight
Once There Was a Railroad by Doug Humes Once you could ride a railroad from Philadelphia to Marple and Newtown. The line was laid in 1893, connecting the Pennsylvania Railroad at Fernwood (Yeadon) to Newtown, with 10 stops along the way. The Marple stop was “Foxcroft,” located just east of where Sproul Road crosses Darby Creek. The line then bridged the road, following the creek into Radnor, then made a left turn at The Hunt station (south side of Hunt Road — the Radnor Hunt!). It continued parallel to Bryn Mawr Avenue, which it crossed on a high bridge near Malin Road, and then through farm properties to its end, a lumber yard along Rte 252 in Newtown Square, across the street from TD Bank. A freight station and a passenger station were erected at the terminus. By 1895, four daily trains ran each way, with limited weekend service. But clouds were on the horizon: In 1896, the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company built a trolley
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Railroad bridge over Bryn Mawr Ave. near Malin Road Photo courtesy of NSHS/Carol Schaeffer Collection
line from 69th Street out West Chester Pike, through Marple, Newtown and on to West Chester. The trolley offered more frequent service, delivering passengers directly to the center of each community, unlike the railroad. The railroad’s passenger business suffered, with reduced service over the next few years, ceasing altogether in 1908. The freight line continued to run, taking milk and farm products from the Pennsylvania Hospital farm in Newtown through Marple, past the Swell bubble gum factory in Haverford, crossing West Chester Pike near Burger King, and making its way through Upper Darby to the connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad, where its contents were off-loaded and delivered to the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane (now Kirkbride Center) in West Philadelphia. But by 1951, the farm had been sold, the train ran just once a day; and in 1963 service from Grassland to Newtown Square ceased. Remnants remain: concrete bridge abutments along Bryn Mawr Avenue, stone bridge pillars in Ithan Creek near the Blue Route, and the freight station that was moved to Drexel Lodge, where it is the centerpiece of a railroad museum. Haverford has reclaimed part of the right-of-way for a walking trail. And
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3545 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square 610-356-9918 www.WeinrichGermanBakery.com
