Talk:Octoraro Railway

Confusion

There seems to be considerable confusion here. The original shortline operator, which took over from Conrail, was Octoraro Railway, Inc., which leased the line from SEPTA (who owned the right-of-way). It went bankrupt and was liquidated in 1994, and the line was then operated by the Delaware Valley Railway, a subsidiary of RailAmerica, Inc. created specifically to operate it. In 1999, the Brandywine Valley Railway, an existing shortline at the Lukens plant in Coatesville, took over the lease. Brandywine Valley ceased operating this line and the former W&N in 2003, and the Morristown & Erie served as interim operator until 2004, when East Penn Railways took over and bought the line outright from SEPTA. Since it sold off its assets in 1994, the Octoraro Ry. has had no part in the corporate affairs of this branch, even though it may still be referred to in local parlance as the "Octoraro Railroad" or simply the "Octoraro". Choess 19:42, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Addendum: the line was operated as the "Octoraro Railroad" during the year of Morristown and Erie control. The STB filings regarding the East Penn purchase of the line refer to it as the "Octoraro Branch". Choess 19:49, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

This article should be renamed "Octoraro Railway". As Choess says, that is the correct name of the corporate entity. Any objections? Atomsmith (talk) 04:04, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

I would recommend merging the article into the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad article... they overlap... any thoughts?... Risk Engineer (talk) 13:36, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

There is certainly some overlap. What about the Wilmington and Northern Railroad, which was ex-Reading yet still part of the this corporate entity? I think Octoraro has a unique heritage that can't really be merged into their predecessors (P&BC, Reading) or successor (East Penn Railroad). Atomsmith (talk) 02:34, 29 June 2016 (UTC)