Lenni station
Lenni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Former SEPTA Regional Rail station | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Former Lenni station site, March 2017. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Station Lane and Lenni Road Middletown Township, Pennsylvania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 39°53′39″N 75°26′55″W / 39.8942°N 75.4486°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | SEPTA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | West Chester Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | September 19, 1986[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified | December 2, 1928[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lenni station is a defunct commuter rail station on the SEPTA Regional Rail R3 West Chester Line, located in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The station and several others were closed in September 1986, and subsequently demolished.
History
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Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Lenni station stood on the corner of Station Lane and Lenni Road. It served as a stop on the West Chester Branch. It later became a part of SEPTA's R3 West Chester line.
The PRR's former Chester Creek Branch terminated at Lenni. The line sustained heavy flash flood damage in September 1971 (not due to the later Hurricane Agnes as is sometimes claimed), and was taken out of service at that time. The railway was never officially abandoned and has since been deeded to SEPTA via PennDOT.[3]
The station, and all of those west of Elwyn station, was closed in September 1986, due to deteriorating track conditions and Chester County's desire to expand facilities at Exton station on SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line. Service was suspended at that time, with substitute bus service provided. Lenni station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.
The station shed itself was demolished in the 1990s; the asphalt platform and signage remained extant until around 2019.
Since passenger service ended in 1986, vandals began stealing the copper catenary wire. A live SEPTA substation exists nearby with transmission lines connecting to Amtrak's Lamokin converter station. The line remains electrified as far west as the former Darlington station. The wire was removed for the remainder of the line out to West Chester over the summer of 2005 to prevent further theft.
The resumption of SEPTA service to Wawa station, Which opened in August 2022, does not include an intermediate stop at Lenni, although the service restoration project provides for the construction of a new station if demand warrants.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Potential of Rail Service to West Chester Borough". Borough of West Chester. p. 24. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- ^ "Electric Trains to Start Sunday". The Chester Times. November 30, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ chestercreektrail.org Archived 2008-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
External links
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Media related to Lenni station at Wikimedia Commons
