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(rshsdepot) Shawmont, PA (RDG)

The Shawmont Reading Co station is said to be the oldest surviving U.S. RR
station.

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?board=Reading;action=display;num=1042239426;start=160#176

Henry

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The following was just posted in "The Reading Co." on the Railfan.net Forum

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Help surviving RDG stations survive a little longer
Post by hal_ 02/22/04 at 17:56:09 in "The Reading Co."
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I've got an interesting opportunity for those interested in Historic Reading Railroad Stations-

Here's a chance to help fix up the 
OLDEST Reading Railroad Station- Shawmont.

Philadephia Cares needs volunteers to help clear
weeds, repaint and spruce up Shawmont Station.
Here's 3 chances to help THE oldest surviving Reading Station survive for a while longer.

Come out on 
Saturday April 24 2004, 
Saturday May 1 2004 or 
Saturday May 8 2004

and help fix up the oldest station in the US.

Contact Dolores Volker of the Roxborough GreenSpace Project at 
tdvolker_@_msn.com
for more details.

Hal


(snip)
- ----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 2:36 PM
Subject: Fw: Re:station article

Dear Roxborough Green Space Members - we have commitment from a non-profit org. 'Philadelphia Cares' to clean up and paint the Shawmont Train Station. They have scheduled it for 4/24, 5/1 and 5/8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. They will recruit volunteers (college students) to supplement our own volunteers. Materials and light refreshments will be provided. Please mark your calendars and let me know your availability. I will be sending out reminders periodically. Below is an article written by one of our Board members.                Dolores Volker
 
Shawmont Station - An Icon of Philadelphia's First Railroad, by John Johnstone.

The first railroad to have passenger service from Philadelphia was the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad, which in 1832, started service between 9th and Green Streets in Philadelphia and Germantown. The first wood-burning steam engine manufactured in the US by Baldwin Locomotive Works called "Old Ironsides" was used on that line. The first steel rails were 30 pounds per yard, imported from England and mounted onto stones. When the stones proved too brittle, railroad ties eventually replaced them. On the West Side of the Schuylkill, the Belmont Inclined Plane Railroad was built along with the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. Both were eventually taken over and rerouted by the Pennsylvania Railroad. 

The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad by the fall of 1834 had branched into Manayunk. Horses pulled the first trains into Manayunk, from the lack of the Railroad having additional steam engines. The first passenger coaches were like stagecoaches on train wheels with the luggage compartment on the roof. There were usually five strung together to make the train. The fare to Manayunk was 25 cents, but preferred over traditional stagecoach since it followed a direct, unobstructed route. The railroad by the following Spring of 1835 had made its way to Norristown, cut from the banks of the Schuylkill River. More steam engines were put into service. The train rode at street level in Manayunk, but continued along the banks of the Schuylkill as it does today, passing Shawmont, to Norristown.

The oldest original train station in the United States, dating to 1834 is Shawmont Station, in the Shawmont section of Roxborough and is along the line used to Norristown. It represents a time when the train station was the home of the person responsible for tending it (Stationmaster). It had a waiting room, baggage room, post office and living quarters. One could get something to eat there as well. Many of the early stations functioned that way. With little parking and a short platform, the station was closed by SEPTA around 1990; however, the train still goes by as it did in 1835, and stops at nearby adjacent stations (Ivy Ridge and Miquon). Just imagine-over 1,500,000 trains have passed by Shawmont station. The station first opened as "Nixon Street Station" and was changed to Shawmont in 1850 because of the prominent Shaw family residing in the area. It is a Federal-style building with an exterior that has not been altered since it was built. There is only one older railr!
 oad depot in the United States, in Ellicott City, Maryland. It is now a museum and dates to 1831, but has been altered and restored to its "Civil War Era" appearance. No tracks remain at that building. Therefore, Shawmont Station is the oldest, original railroad station in the United States.


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railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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