Shawmont station

Shawmont is a former train station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located on Nixon Lane in the Roxborough section of Lower Northwest Philadelphia. Built by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad, it later became part of the Reading Railroad and ultimately SEPTA Regional Rail's R6 Norristown Line. SEPTA closed the station in 1996. In 2018, $1 million was set aside for repairs and rehabilitation.

Shawmont
Former train station
The former Shawmont Reading station in 2010
Location	7800 Nixon Lane Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Owned by	SEPTA
Line(s)	Norristown Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Platform levels	1
History
Opened	1834 (PG&N)
Closed	1991
Electrified	1931
Former services Preceding station SEPTA Following station Ivy Ridge toward Penn Medicine Manayunk/​Norristown Line Miquon toward Norristown-Elm Street Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station Glen Willow toward North Broad Norristown Branch Miquon toward Elm Street
Shawmont Train Station, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Coordinates	40°2′38″N 75°15′0″W
Part of	Upper Roxborough Historic District (ID01000463[1])
Added to NRHP	July 21, 1995

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 have been built 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.

Station platform signage

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 1991.[2]

In 2009, the building was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, preserving it from potential destruction.[3]

In 2018, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission gave $1 million to rehabilitate the former station.[3]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Dougherty, Frank (October 25, 1996). "Septa Board Cuts Service But Opposition Is Spirited". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
3. "Historic Shawmont Train Station to be restored with $1M boost". Curbed Philly. Retrieved 2018-01-30.

External links

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