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West Chester And Philadelphia RailroadThe West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad was incorporated April 11, 1848, and on Jan. 17, 1852, the contract for building the road, except laying the rails, entered into with Gonder, Clark & Co., who were to receive three hundred thousand dollars in cash and two hundred thousand dollars in stock of the road for the work. On Monday, July 16, 1855, the middle span of the railroad bridge, then being constructed over Ridley Creek, gave way, precipitating five men to the earth, one hundred and nine feet below, and three were instantly killed. In the autumn of that year the road had been completed, and trains were running to Media, PA; at the close of 1856 the road had extended from Rockdale to Lenni, and by Jan. 1, 1857, to Grubb's bridge, the present Wawa. The road was an expensive one to build, due to the deep valleys and many streams it crossed, so that at one time its stock had fallen to almost nominal value. In the latter half of the year 1858 the road was pushed onward with remarkable rapidity, the rails being laid from Wawa to West Chester, so that the first train of cars from Philadelphia by the direct road reached West Chester on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 1858, and on the following Thursday a celebration was held in the borough in honor of the event. In May, 1880, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company purchased the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad, and on the subsequent transfer of the former road to the Pennsylvania Central, the West Chester road was included.
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