History Of The Newtown Line

The Newtown Line has had several eras across its 100+ year history, changing ownership and responsibility several times along the way:
 * The Philadelphia, Newtown & New York Railroad Era begins with the lines beginning in the late 1800s until the 1920s, when it was fully merged into the Reading Railroad.
 * The Reading Railroad Era begins in the 1920s and ends in 1976 with the ConRail takeover of the Reading Railroad.
 * The ConRail Era starts at the 1976 takeover from the Reading Railroad and ends with the first day of the Fox Chase-Newtown Rapid Transit Line, an experiment by SEPTA that went on for a little more than a year.
 * The SEPTA Era begins on the first day of the Fox Chase-Newtown Rapid Transit Line, and ends on January 14, 1983, when the last working train broke down and was subsequently taken out of service, ending 100+ year passenger service on the line.
 * The Post SEPTA Era begins the day the last train was taken out of service, and still continues to this day.  This era has seen many changes and proposals to the now "out of service" Newtown Line, including private ownership, full restoration, restoration into a heritage railroad, and conversion into a trail.