Shawmont station

Shawmont
Former train station
The former Shawmont Reading station in 2010
General information
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	1996
Electrified	February 5, 1933
Former services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station Miquon toward Norristown–Elm Street Manayunk/​Norristown Line Ivy Ridge toward Penn Medicine Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station Miquon toward Elm Street Norristown Branch Glen Willow toward Philadelphia
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)
Added to NRHP	July 21, 1995

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 made the station a whistle stop and closed its waiting room in 1991. SEPTA later closed the station in 1996. In 2018, $1 million was set aside for repairs and rehabilitation.

History

The first railroad in Philadelphia opened on June 7, 1832: the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad, running from downtown to Germantown (now on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill East Line). Two years later, the PG&N built a line to Norristown, including the Shawmont station, which is believed to have been designed by renowned architect William Strickland. On December 1, 1870, the PG&N was leased by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway (later the Reading Company).

By 1884, the Pennsylvania Railroad had joined the competition with the Schuylkill Branch, a line that ran parallel to the Norristown line with a Shawmont station of its own.

In 1909, the Brendel family took up residence in Shawmont station to become permanent stationmasters.

Station platform signage

The Pennsylvania Railroad electrified its line in 1930, and the Reading Company followed suit a year later.

Railroad service declined after World War II, and the Pennsylvania Railroad closed its Shawmont station on October 30, 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. In 1968, the Pennsylvania merged with their much larger rival, the New York Central Railroad to form the Penn Central Railroad. Penn Central filed for bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. In 1971, the Reading filed for bankruptcy as well. In 1976, the Reading and Penn Central were both acquired by Conrail, which provided commuter rail services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA assumed operations. SEPTA had already ended diesel service to Reading and Pottsville in 1981.

Shawmont station became a contributing property of the Upper Roxborough Historic District in 1995, but was closed by SEPTA in 1996. The last of the Brendel's descendants moved out of the station in 2013 after occupying the property for 104 years.

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

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

External links

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