History of George School & the Newtown Rail Line

History of George School and the Newtown Rail Line. . , 1862-1878 , Construction underway of a railway from Philadelphia to New York City by the newly chartered Philadelphia, Newtown, and New York Railroad (PN&NY). The railway never got farther than Lincoln Avenue in Newtown, a mile or so north of George School., 1879 , The PN&NY became part of the Reading Railroad., 1890 , The committee that was responsible for selecting a site for a new Quaker boarding school choose Newtown because of convenience to the rail line, and the offer by the Reading Railroad to build and staff a station and haul the material for Main Building as its own expense., 1893 , George School opened in November 1893 with 155 students. Many families arrived by rail., 1905 , First station structure destroyed by fire. To replace it, the railroad moved an underused Huntingdon Valley Station to this site., LATE 1920'S , Early graduating classes (1923-25) gave the brick stairway to the school to replace the original wooden stairs. The stairs outlasted the train station that it served, 1925-1951 , Station Agent Joe Schmitt handled freight shipments, the US Mail and ticket sales. A daily afternoon Market Car came from the Reading Terminal Market. The school had á weekly order of meats and vegetables on this car. Mail service was switched to trucks in 1950 and the freight agency function ended in 1951., 1964 , One of the last major documented freight deliveries by the railroad was boxcars full of bricks for the construction of Walton Center. Some boxcars were added to passengers trains to expedite delivery., 1970 , Aging railroad station demolished., 1976-1983 , Reading Railroad went bankrupt in 1976 and the line became part of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) until 1981 when the Southeastern PA Transportation Authority (SEPTA) took over the line. SEPTA suspended service on the Newtown line in January 1983 because the rail diesel cars had become too costly to maintain and operate., [Photo captions, clockwise from top right, read] , . The "Hamler Special" returning from Philadelphia in 1946. This was the first special train from GS since 1913., . The afternoon Milk Train passing GS in 1911 on its way to Newtown., . A southbound train of two Rail Diesel Cars passes the signal mast near the private road crossing just south of the station., . A boxcar load of bricks for Walton Auditorium being delivered by a passenger train in May 1964., . Headmaster Dick McFeely in the cab of Reading # 468 during the loading of the 1958 football special., . The station, with windows boarded up, waits for a decision on its future. The Classes of 1923-25 brick stairs are hidden behind the trees in the background., . A 'Buff and Brown Special' being loaded for a trip to Bryn Athyn in November 1958 to face archrival ANC in the annual football contest., In honor of George Michener Hart '37, who helped document George School history for the fiftieth anniversary in 1943. He later became the first director of the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg and owner of the Stewartstown Railroad in York County.