Locating Philadelphia's "Great North Route": The North Pennsylvania Railroad

Though generally overshadowed, the North Pennsylvania Railroad (NPRR) played an important role in Pennsylvania's railroading history.¹ It was incorporated on April 8, 1852, as the Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad, a name it held until October 3, 1853. The terser "North Pennsylvania" reflected the company's more ambitious goal to be "Philadelphia's Great North Route," a trunk railroad linking the city "through a belt of eight sterling Pennsylvania counties" to the New York and Erie Railroad.² Though it fell far short of this ambitious goal, the NPRR succeeded in creating a railway linking Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley.³

It was up to the NPRR's chief engineer, Edward Miller, and company directors to "locate" the route of the railway, a key stage in railroad development when the imagined railroad became fixed in the material world.⁴ Company engineers and directors weighed the costs and benefits of each conceivable route. Engineers were especially conscious of terrain, knowing that additional grading, infrastructure, and curvature could quickly inflate the costs of construction and operation.⁵ They also considered in their calculus the likelihood of attracting local capital, anticipated local business, and the costs associated with property damage and gaining the rights-of-way. A prudent location could benefit both the railroad and local communities, while a poorly located road produced only disappointment. The NPRR's charter gave general guidance to determine the location of the railroad. Yet company officials encountered several moments when people outside the company influenced the location of the railway. The NPRR collections at the Hagley Museum and Library shed light on some of these efforts.⁶

One major early decision was to select the location of the route's southern terminus. The charter gave few details: it granted the company "power and authority to construct a Railroad, beginning at a point North of Vine street, in the County of Philadelphia, and thence by the most expedient and practicable route, to or near the Borough of Easton."⁷ In the winter of 1853, company president Thomas Fernon eyed the Kensington and Northern Liberties districts of Philadelphia for the NPRR depot.⁸ The company secured title to lots in both districts and sought local government support. Its officials reached out to elected commissioners of both districts and proposed to build its depot at a mutually beneficial location if both districts subscribed to five thousand shares of the company's capital stock.⁹ Railroad officials likely encouraged public investment by claiming that the proximity of the depot and shops would "advance the value of property within and near the incorporated districts."¹⁰ Whether it was a cunning play to secure public financing or a sincere proposal for public-private cooperation, the district of Northern Liberties agreed to make the investment and subscribed to $600,000 of capital stock.¹¹

The Northern Liberties' subscription to the NPRR occurred in the aftermath of Sharpless v. Mayor of Philadelphia, in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided (by a 3–2 margin) that municipal governments could subscribe to railroad companies.¹² A few years later, the General Assembly proscribed additional municipal investments to railroad companies.¹³ The legislature sought to prevent future public indebtedness to private corporations; however, the law did not retroactively affect municipalities that were already stockholders.

While NPRR officials negotiated the southern terminus, a delegation from Doylestown proposed the construction of a branch line to connect their town with the main railway. The company reached an agreement with the delegation: the railroad company would build, equip, and operate the branch line once the borough subscribed to enough capital stock to cover the construction costs (estimated to be $160,000) and grant the company the right-of-way "free of cost."¹⁴

The Doylestown branch opened for public use on October 7, 1856.¹⁵ Chief engineer Miller believed that the ten-mile branch would satisfy a double purpose: "The town and surrounding country need a good railroad connection with Philadelphia, and also with the...