Perkasie Tunnel
Encyclopedia
The Perkasie Tunnel is a train tunnel
located behind the Post Office
in Perkasie, Pennsylvania
on 7th Street, on a line now operated by the East Penn Railroad
. The tunnel itself is located near 8th Street and Ridge Road. Northbound passenger trains going through the tunnel traveled to Union Station in Bethlehem
and points beyond. Many southbound passenger trains were destined for Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. The Perkasie station on 8th Street was formerly equipped with a water tower
, of which not a trace remains.
and the occasional "No Trespassing" sign. Whispers inside the tunnel are said to carry to each end slowly and eerily. Cell phone service is unavailable inside the tunnel.
. The trains passing through the Perkasie tunnel currently stop in the town of Perkasie only when necessary to switch freight cars to the (otherwise unused) Southbound track for storage.
SEPTA discussed abandoning the tracks between Telford and Quakertown when financial incentives for continued CSX freight service declined below the break-even point for a Class-1 railroad. This portion of the Bethlehem Branch was saved from abandonment when short line railroad company East Penn Railway (EPRY) leased the portion between Telford and Quakertown in 1997 to continue operations under the name East Penn Railroad
(ESPN). Depending on the workload, East Penn Railroad, operating out of Quakertown, runs trains on the Bethlehem Branch two to three times a week as well as the occasional weekend. SEPTA remains owner of the Bethlehem Branch from Lansdale to Hellertown. Norfolk Southern owns the section from Hellertown through Bethlehem. Operational track presently ends at California Road just above Quakertown.
Pennsylvania°N date=December 2010°W
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
located behind the Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
in Perkasie, Pennsylvania
Perkasie, Pennsylvania
Perkasie is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. Establishments in the borough early in the twentieth century included silk mills, baseballs, brickyards, lumber mills, tile works, a stone crusher, and manufacturies of cigars, tags and labels, wire novelties, etc. The...
on 7th Street, on a line now operated by the East Penn Railroad
East Penn Railroad
The East Penn Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates a number of mostly-unconnected lines in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Delaware...
. The tunnel itself is located near 8th Street and Ridge Road. Northbound passenger trains going through the tunnel traveled to Union Station in Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
and points beyond. Many southbound passenger trains were destined for Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. The Perkasie station on 8th Street was formerly equipped with a water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
, of which not a trace remains.
Physical features
The tunnel is curved and the entrances are constructed in such a way that light entering the tunnel at the 8th Street entrance is visible from the opposite end of the tunnel near Ridge Road; this is apparently not the case in the opposite direction. The edges of the tunnel are jagged, allowing beautiful ice structures to form when water dripping from the top and sides freezes in winter. The tunnel is completely lined with stone masonry. The tunnel bore remains cool enough in summer that track workers or tresspassers require a light jacket or sweatshirt. Signage on the Perkasie Tunnel consists of graffitiGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
and the occasional "No Trespassing" sign. Whispers inside the tunnel are said to carry to each end slowly and eerily. Cell phone service is unavailable inside the tunnel.
Trains
The last scheduled passenger train traveled though Perkasie in July, 1981, after which passenger service terminated as part of a broader SEPTA strategy of discontinuing all non-electrified passenger service. Conrail continued freight operations to Quakertown until Conrail's demise in the mid-1990’s, at which point CSX took over operations and leased the line between Lansdale and TelfordTelford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
. The trains passing through the Perkasie tunnel currently stop in the town of Perkasie only when necessary to switch freight cars to the (otherwise unused) Southbound track for storage.
SEPTA discussed abandoning the tracks between Telford and Quakertown when financial incentives for continued CSX freight service declined below the break-even point for a Class-1 railroad. This portion of the Bethlehem Branch was saved from abandonment when short line railroad company East Penn Railway (EPRY) leased the portion between Telford and Quakertown in 1997 to continue operations under the name East Penn Railroad
East Penn Railroad
The East Penn Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates a number of mostly-unconnected lines in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Delaware...
(ESPN). Depending on the workload, East Penn Railroad, operating out of Quakertown, runs trains on the Bethlehem Branch two to three times a week as well as the occasional weekend. SEPTA remains owner of the Bethlehem Branch from Lansdale to Hellertown. Norfolk Southern owns the section from Hellertown through Bethlehem. Operational track presently ends at California Road just above Quakertown.
External links
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-514, "North Pennsylvania Railroad, Landis Ridge Tunnel"
Pennsylvania°N date=December 2010°W