Special thanks to Joe Sharretts for the pictures and information on this line.
"Landenburg Branch"
Just W of Hokessin, DE, the tracks swing through a soccer field.
The B & O Landenburg Branch left the B & O main in Wilmington, DE, at Landenberg Jct., then went through Green Bank, Hokessin and then W to Landenburg, PA. The line was built between 1867 and 1872. The line ended at the Pennsylvania RR line in Landenburg. The section of the branch from Landenburg to Southwood, DE, was abandoned in the late 1940s, and then back to Hokessin, DE, in the late 1950s. Therefore, the tracks seen in the pictures on this page have been out of service since the late 1950s.
Today the Wilmington & Western operates a tourist line from Hokessin to Wilmington, DE, on the remaining portion of the line.
The line was built as the Delaware & Western, then became the Baltimore & Philadelphia. It was eventually bought out by the Baltimore & Ohio in 1886. The 3 miles between Hokessin and Landenburg, PA have been abandoned, and about a mile of abandoned but intact track remains past Hokessin to near the PA state line. Past this point, the right-of-way is almost impossible to trace due to the growth and development of the area.
End of the old line at Valley Road W of Hokessin. Past this point the track has been removed and the ROW is very difficult to trace to Landenburg, PA.