Wawa and Concordville Railroad - The Wawa and Concordville Today

The Wawa and Concordville Today

Many traces of the popular tourist destination still remain. While the station was destroyed by fire, the locomotives and cars remained at the site for another 10 years. Both locomotives eventually were moved to Marshallton, Delaware where they ran on the Wilmington and Western Railroad. Some of the converted boxcars were scrapped, but two still remain near the site to this day, albeit in deplorable condition. A third one is in Marshallton, where it is now used as a flatcar. U.S. Navy, #3 was later moved to Lewes, Delaware to run on the Queen Anne's Railroad. Today, bearing no resemblance to its days on the W&C, it is a part of a railroad themed restaurant in Ocean View, Delaware. #37 was on a siding in Marshallton, but was moved to the Strasburg Railroad for major repairs in February 2009, which will lead to its eventual return to California, where it originally ran.

The line itself was never formally abandoned. Under pressure from the large part of Chester County served by the Octararo line, state politicians arranged for SEPTA to buy the entire line, including the still in-service section west of Chadds Ford into the state of Maryland. The nearby U.S. Route 1 corridor has developed with upper income housing heavily since the 1970s, and the line was expected to become a future suburban passenger route. However, no serious proposals have been put forth by the state, county or SEPTA. Rails and wooden ties remain in place, but are buried beneath soil or are rotting away.

The Wawa and Concordville Historical Society was formed in 2003. It is run by Paul Calpin, A. Marc DeCaro and Jenny Simpson. A good deal of the existing right of way and equipment have been documented by this group. There is also a G scale Model railroad layout in Delaware.