Lehigh and Delaware Railroad

Lehigh and Lackawanna Railroad

Company type	Railroad
Industry	Rail transport
Predecessor	Bethlehem Railroad (founded 1862)
Founded	1864
Defunct	1904
Fate	Absorbed into Lehigh and New England Railroad
Headquarters	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , United States
Area served	Pennsylvania, United States

The Lehigh and Lackawanna Railroad was a railway enterprise in the United States, incorporated in 1864. Its first segment, running between Bethlehem and Chapman, Pennsylvania, commenced operations in 1867. At its fullest extent, the route stretched from Bethlehem to Wind Gap, Pennsylvania. In 1904, the company was absorbed into the Lehigh and New England Railroad. A portion of its track was discontinued in 1962, while the remaining section currently forms part of the Norfolk Southern Railway's Cement Secondary line.

History

Initially founded as the Bethlehem Railroad in 1862, the company aimed to construct a line heading north from the Lehigh River at Bethlehem following the course of the Monocacy Creek. The segment between Bethlehem and Chapman officially opened on November 28, 1867. At Bethlehem, this line connected with the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (L&S), which later became part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ). In 1868, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LC&NC), which owned the L&S, leased the Lehigh and Lackawanna Railroad; by 1871, both railroads were under lease to CNJ.

Under CNJ’s oversight, the railroad expanded from Chapman to Wind Gap, with this extension opening on August 14, 1878. This development linked it to the Pennsylvania and New England Railroad, another forerunner of the Lehigh and New England system. The Wind Gap and Delaware Railroad completed a further connection from Wind Gap to Bangor, Pennsylvania in 1883, providing access to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad network.

On July 7, 1904, it was reorganized as the Lehigh and Delaware Railroad, before being consolidated by LC&NC into the Lehigh and New England Railroad (L&NE) later that December. The stretch from Bethlehem to Benders Junction became known as L&NE’s Bethlehem Branch, while the section from Benders Junction to Wind Gap was integrated into its main line.

After World War II, declining coal shipments combined with a shift in cement transportation toward trucking led to L&NE halting operations on October 31, 1961. The Central Railroad of New Jersey created the Lehigh and New England Railway to purchase portions of L&NE’s tracks including the Bethlehem-to-Bath segment; other parts were abandoned in 1962. Due to financial struggles, these lines became part of Conrail in 1976. Conrail merged this section with segments of the Martins Creek Branch, forming what is now known as the Cement Secondary, running between Bethlehem and Forks Township through Nazareth, Pennsylvania. This route was eventually acquired by Norfolk Southern Railway during Conrail’s division in 1999.