Lehigh Valley Transit, Part 2, Liberty Bell Route

The Liberty Bell Route was a 55 mile long, mostly overhead wire, single track operation, with frequent passing sidings to provide opposing car operation. The line obtained its name from the route it followed when the Liberty Bell was moved from Philadelphia to Allentown to be hidden from the British in 1777.

In Volume 2 of the Lehigh Valley Transit, we’ll tour the scenic Liberty Bell Route from Allentown to Norristown and then over the Philadelphia and Western Railway’s double tracked, third rail, high speed line to 69th Street terminal in Philadelphia.

We’ll cover the brief history, operations and finally, the abandonment of the line in 1951. Arranged geographically from north to south, we’ll travel through historic towns along the way, observing the line from both trackside and while riding in car with Doug Peters as our guide.