Wilmington and Western Railroad

The Wilmington and Western Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad in northern Delaware, operating over a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) branch line between Wilmington and Hockessin. The railroad operates both steam and diesel locomotives. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district in 1980. Wilmington & Western serves one customer for revenue service, and interchanges with CSX Transportation at Landenberg Junction, Delaware
Wilmington & Western's two General Motors Diesel-Electric SW1 locomotives are the oldest in routine scheduled service.
History.
The Delaware and Chester County Railroad was incorporated in February 1867 to build from Wilmington in the direction of Parkesburg or Atglen, Pennsylvania, and was renamed the Wilmington and Western Railroad in March 1869, opening the line to Landenberg in 1872. A foreclosure sale in April 1877 produced the Delaware Western Railroad, which was incorporated in June 1877 and merged into the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad, a B&O subsidiary, in February 1883.
The B&O cut back the line to Southwood in the early 1940s and to Hockessin in the late 1950s. Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc. began operating steam tourist trains on weekends in 1966, reusing the old W&W name, and in August 1982 the W&W bought the branch from the Chessie System for $25,000, which included Ex-B&O SW1 #8408 as a part of the purchase. Under the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc. the operations are managed by a Board of Directors, paid staff and a large number of volunteers.
In 1999, the rains of Hurricane Floyd caused considerable damage to the railroad. Two trestles were entirely destroyed by the flooding of Red Clay Creek, which also caused track washouts and damaged several other trestles. The two destroyed bridges were replaced by steel trestles, but the other timber trestles were simply repaired.
In 2003, Tropical Storm Henri struck the valley and produced an even more catastrophic flood. While the two steel bridges (and an iron trestle at Ashland) survived the flood, the remaining bridges were swept away or irreparably damaged. Despite the damage caused by these storms, the Wilmington and Western continued to operate on the remaining track, and replaced all of the destroyed bridges with steel trestles. The line officially reopened into Hockessin on June 30, 2007.
The railroad celebrated its 50th anniversary operating as a tourist railroad in 2016.
Excursions.
Several different excursions are offered by the Wilmington and Western Railroad, running through the Red Clay Creek valley. Trains operate out of the Greenbank station near the southern end of the railroad. The railroad offers two regular excursions which run on weekends during the operating season. The Hockessin Flyer runs round-trip from Greenbank to the northern end of the line in Hockessin for a 2.5-hour trip with a 30-minute layover in Hockessin. The Mt. Cuba Meteor runs round-trip from Greenbank to the Mount Cuba Picnic Grove for a 1.5-hour trip with a 30-minute layover for a picnic at the Mount Cuba Picnic Grove.
The Wilmington and Western Railroad also offers several special themed excursions. Some of the themed excursions include the Easter Bunny Express, the Fireworks Express on Independence Day, a dinner train called the Royal Blue Dinner Train, the Brews on Board train serving craft brews, the Civil War Skirmish Weekend, the Princess Express, the Superhero Express, the Autumn Leaf Special offering views of fall foliage, the Halloween Express, the Holiday Lights Express offering views of Christmas lights, and the Santa Claus Express around Christmas. Groups may also charter a caboose, car, or entire train for an event. A caboose attached to the end of a regularly scheduled train may be rented for birthday parties.