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Historic railroad in Delaware, United States
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.[citation needed]
No. 98 double-heading with No. 58 in October 2006In 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.[citation needed]
The railroad celebrated its 50th anniversary operating as a tourist railroad in 2016.[9]
In February 2025, the board of directors announced that operations were suspended indefinitely due to needed equipment repairs.[10][11] In April 2025, some of the volunteers with the organization protested near the boarding location of the line, citing lack of communication by the board to volunteers, lack of transparency, and the firing of the General Manager, Volunteer Program Manager, and Accounting Manager.[12][13] Shortly after the protest, an announcement was posted to the organizations website stating that the board would have control of the railroad and the Roadmaster serving as the only employee. Via a post to Facebook, the organization stated that there were track, bridge and equipment repairs needed with a tentative return to service of later in the year. After multiple critical comments were posted to social media, the post and the organizations entire Facebook page were deleted.[14]
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.[15] Groups may also charter a caboose, car, or entire train for an event.[16] A caboose attached to the end of a regularly scheduled train may be rented for birthday parties.[17]
Rolling stock details[25][26][21] Number Type Builder Built Status 410 Combine Pullman Company 1914 Operational 571 Coach Pullman Company 1914 Operational 581 Coach Pullman Company 1914 Operational 603 Coach Pullman Company 1915 Operational 6795 Parlor car Pullman Company 1930 Operational 442 Open-air car Altoona Works 1912 Stored, operational 450 Coach Altoona Works 1912 Stored, inoperable C149 Caboose Erie Railroad 1941 Operational C2013 Caboose Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 1926 Operational C2042 Caboose Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 1926 OperationalKML is from Wikidata
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