The Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company was chartered in 1837, to build a rail line connecting towns between Sunbury and Erie, Pennsylvania. The company did not begin construction until the state passed enabling legislation, which including reducing tax assessments, in 1852.
Vast stands of timber and nearby coal deposits brought three early railroads to the Williamsport area. In December, 1854, the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, a Pennsylvania Railroad predecessor, built northward through Williamsport. The Catawissa, Williamsport & Erie Railroad, a Reading Railroad predecessor, ran its trains to Williamsport over Sunbury & Erie from 1854 until its own line was constructed 1871. https://www.nshr.com/railroads
By December 1854, 28.5 miles (45.9 km) of track were completed between Milton (a junction with the Catawissa Railroad) and Williamsport.
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| Watsontown Station |
In 1854, 13 years before the borough of Watsontown was incorporated, the Sunbury & Erie Railroad had extended it's line through Milton and Watsontown. The railroad proposed building a depot and watering station "some distance north of the mouth of the Warrior Run". (Near Fort Freeland)
David Watson & E.L Piper, son & son in law of Watsontown's founder John Watson, promptly gifted the railroad land for the depot, including a spring nearby, and they even threw in $600 in cash.
The railroad quickly abandoned their plan to build further north, and instead seized the deal, building in what would soon become the borough of Watsontown.
See more about the Watsontown Train Station here:
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/04/watsontown-train-station.html
1854 Map of the Sunbury & Erie Railroad & its connections
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| Sunbury Station was mile 0 on the Sunbury & Erie Railroad |
The line reached Sunbury in 1855, a total of 40 miles (64 km).
The tracks reached Lock Haven in 1859
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| Sunbury & Erie RR Bridge at Erie |
. To speed completion of the line, the Sunbury & Erie also started building towards the southeast from Erie. That portion of the line reached Warren, a distance of 66 miles, by 1859. Little construction occurred in 1860 amid the politics leading to the American Civil War.
In 1861 the name was changed to the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad (P&E).
P&E Railroad eventually became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
See the 1854 map in better detail here: https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gmd:gmd371:g3711:g3711p:rr005730/full/pct:25/0/default.jpg
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From Early Railroads by Heber G. Gearhart:
The Sunbury and Erie Railroad was incorporated in 1837 to build a railroad from Sunbury to Erie, but it was not until January 7, 1856, that it was opened from Sunbury to Lock Haven, the bridge over the North Branch from Sunbury to Northumberland being completed in December, 1855.
At first the road did not come within the Sunbury borough limits, but made a connection with the old Danville and Pottsville road by the Upper Horn which was constructed then, and had a station on the Horn at present Market street.
In 1858 the Borough of Sunbury authorized the company to build on Deer (now Third) street from Market street to the northern limits of the borough.
When the Northern Central Railway was extended across Market street and connected with the Sunbury and Erie, a division post was located at the present curb line near the Central Hotel. A depot was first located in the Central Hotel, but the present depot was built in 1872 at Arch and Third streets.
The Sunbury and Erie Company built shops and a roundhouse in the upper end of Sunbury from 1864 to 1866, and built a large yard nearby which was known as the "Upper" or "DY Yard." These were used for many years until the Northumberland Classification Yard and shops were built in 1911, when "DY Yard" was abandoned. This road became the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, and later was the Williamsport Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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Find an index of "Railroad Incidents" in the Susquehanna Valley here:
In the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company vs. Lewis
Cooper, published 1859
"The Philadelphia and Erie (P&E) Railroad began life as the Sunbury and Erie Railroad in 1837, but it was not until 1854 that its initial tracks were built from Milton passing through Watsontown to Williamsport. In 1861, the name was changed to Philadelphia and Erie, and, in 1862, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) entered into a 999-year lease with the Philadelphia & Erie. That same year the PRR assumed control of the P&E. The Wilkes-Barre and Western (WB&W) Railroad (nicknamed the “Weak and Weary”) (1902) - originally the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick RR (“The Sweet Bye and Bye”) (1887) and, after 1893, the Central Pennsylvania and Western RR - was built from Watsontown to Millville and began service in 1887. Service to Berwick from Watsontown began in 1903 - history of the First Street railroad bridge written by David Smith
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