East Penn Railroad Wilmington & Northern Branch: Brandywine Valley Freight-January 12, 2023

For the first time in almost 2 years, we ventured back to the East Penn Railroad, more specifically, their Wilmington & Northern Branch. On the W&N, we captured train WN-12 heading northbound for Pocopson, PA. Leading the train was East Penn's EMD GP38-2 duo, 2173 and 2179. Both locomotives are equipped with Nathan K3L horns. 2173 and 2173 were both built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division at La Grange, Illinois in August 1972 for the Belt Railway of Chicago, numbered 495 and 491, respectively. Both engines would purchased by Locomotive Leasing Partners (LLPX) before being purchased by GATX and leased to East Penn Railroad, LLC in 2011. Both engines continue to work on both the Octoraro and Wilmington & Northern Branches today. Wilmington & Northern Branch History: The W&N was constructed between 1869 and 1870 by the Wilmington & Reading Railroad, which later became the Wilmington & Northern Railroad in 1877. The branch originally connected Wilmington, DE and Reading, PA. The line was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad (later called the Reading Company) in 1900, who operated the line all the way up to the formation of Conrail on April 1, 1976. Once Conrail took over the Reading and 5 other railroads, the W&N between Birdsboro, PA and Reading, PA was abandoned, leaving a section between Coatesville, PA and Wilmington, DE intact. This section of the W&N was operated by various companies throughout the late 20th century, including the Octoraro Railway, Delaware Valley Railway, Brandywine Valley Railway, and others until East Penn Railways, Inc. acquired the line in 2005. Today, East Penn Railroad, LLC operates the 17-mile track, interchanging with CSX in Wilmington, DE and interchanging with the Brandywine Valley Railway at Coatesville, PA. Timestamps: 0:00 Cossart 3:49 Chadds Ford Junction 6:53 Pocopson ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits: Executive Directors: thehnw1223 and trainboy105 Producers: thehnw1223 and trainboy105 Video Editing/Revisions: thehnw1223 Photo & Video Credit: thehnw1223 COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: Videos are not to be reuploaded/reposted/redistributed without permission from our team. All content reuploaded/reposted/redistributed without our permission will be taken down in accordance with international copyright laws and policies. Please contact us if you would like to use segments of our videos for projects or other video purposes. Copyright © 2023 East Penn Railfan Productions and The Flying W. Ranch Studios. All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------­----------------------------------------­-------------------------- Instagram: @eastpennrailfanproductions Twitter: @EastPennRFPro