The Delaware Coast Line Railroad (reporting mark DCLR) is a short-line railroad located in Sussex County, Delaware. The company operates two lines on track owned by the State of Delaware: one running from Ellendale east to Milton and another running from Georgetown east to Cool Spring. The railroad interchanges with the Delmarva Central Railroad in Ellendale and Georgetown.
Video Delaware Coast Line Railroad
History
The rail lines operated by Delaware Coast Line Railroad were part of the former Queen Anne's Railroad, which began providing rail service between Queenstown, Maryland and Lewes, Delaware in 1894, and extended its track to Love Point, Maryland in 1902.
Through a complex chain of acquisitions in 1905, the track previously owned by the Queen Anne's Railroad became part of the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railway Company (MD&V), a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. MD&V was consolidated with another subsidiary in 1923 to form the Baltimore and Eastern Railroad (B&E), which incorporated in Maryland on June 13, 1923. Passenger service on the B&E was discontinued in October 1931.
The lines passed from the Pennsylvania Railroad to the Penn Central Transportation Company in 1968 and Conrail in 1976. In 1981, Conrail announced plans to abandon the railroad lines between Ellendale and Milton and between Georgetown and Lewes. The same year, a group of private investors led by Mike Herholdt of Milford purchased the two lines, saving them from abandonment. The Delaware Coast Line Railroad incorporated in Delaware on June 23, 1982 and began operating the Ellendale-Milton and Georgetown-Lewes segments of the former Queen Anne's Railroad under contract with the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), current owner of these segments.
The Maryland and Delaware Railroad took over operation of the two rail lines in 1994 when it was awarded a five-year contract by Delaware. MDDE did not seek renewal of the Delaware contract and operation of the two lines was returned to the Delaware Coast Line Railroad in 1999.
As of 2015, the Delaware Coast Line Railroad was led by Dan Herholdt, the son of founder Mike Herholdt. The railroad hauls about 550 cars per year. The sole customer along the Ellendale to Milton line is a propane distributor. Customers along the Georgetown to Lewes line include two propane distributors along with Mountaire Farms, for whom the railroad hauls dry distiller's grain that is used in chicken feed. The railroad also served SPI Pharma, a manufacturer of chemical components for antacids, at the end of the line near Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes. The Delaware Coast Line Railroad operates out of a shop at the Sussex County industrial park in Georgetown and has eight employees who perform multiple duties for the railroad. The railroad maintains tracks, signals, and sidings for private companies throughout the Delmarva Peninsula and also offers railcar storage.
The railroad crossed over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal in Lewes on a swing bridge that must be hand-cranked in order to reach SPI Pharma. The swing bridge was originally built in 1869 and modernized by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1916. In 1997, the swing bridge was reconstructed.
A rail with trail known as the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail was planned to be built along the Delaware Coast Line Railroad between Georgetown and Lewes. On October 19, 2016, the first phase of the trail opened between Savannah Road and Gills Neck Road in Lewes.
In September 2016, the swing bridge over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal was found to be structurally unsound, having dropped 7 to 8 inches due to settlement in the canal and seeing some pieces of timber split. As a result, the bridge was closed to rail traffic by DelDOT. The only customer beyond the bridge was SPI Pharma, who had averaged two to three railroad transports a month. As a result of the bridge closure, SPI Pharma began shipping by truck. Three tank cars remained stranded at SPI Pharma. In 2017, DelDOT determined that repairs to the swing bridge would be too costly and the line will be abandoned from Lewes to Cool Spring. Before the section of line is abandoned, the three tank cars needed to be removed from SPI Pharma. Originally the tank cars were to be transported across the swing bridge, but due to the instability of the bridge it was later to decided to transport the tank cars by truck across the canal and reassemble them onto the tracks on the other side for them to be hauled by rail to Georgetown. The three tank cars were trucked out of SPI Pharma in November 2017. A train pulled the tank cars out of Lewes on December 15, 2017, ending train service to Lewes.
After the tank cars are removed, DelDOT will dismantle the tracks between Fisher Road in Cool Spring and Savannah Road in Lewes, with removal of the tracks expected to begin in April 2018. On December 11, 2017, the Lewes city council voted in favor of preserving a section of the railroad line between Kings Highway and Adams Avenue. The swing bridge over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal will also be removed. DelDOT will retain ownership and railroad rights along the right-of-way. In fall 2018, construction will begin to convert the former railroad line from Savannah Road in Lewes west to Minos Conaway Road into an extension of the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail.
Maps Delaware Coast Line Railroad
Engine roster
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Note: As of the end of 2017, No. 2 is being put up for sale, No. 23 was scrapped years ago,, No. 44 was sold to a new owner in West Virginia, and a new addition to the roster is No. 1982, a GE 65-ton centercab.
Major clients
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References
External links
- Peninsula Railfan - Delaware Coast Line Railroad
- Hand operated railroad bridge over Lewes-Rehoboth Canal
Source of article : Wikipedia
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