West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad Co. - 1850's dated Railway Stock Certificate
Inv# RS4895
Stock
Water damage. The West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad (WC&P) was active in the greater Philadelphia region from 1848 until 1881, after which it became part of the West Chester Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Since 1983, it has been operated as the Media/Elwyn Line within the SEPTA system. The railroad was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1848, with the company being formally organized in 1851. Construction commenced in Philadelphia in 1852, and by November 1853, the line had reached Kellyville (now known as Gladstone), followed by Media in November 1854. A construction accident in July 1855 resulted in at least one fatality, and escalating costs due to the building of multiple bridges led to financial challenges. Consequently, construction was halted until 1856, when the line was finally opened to Grubb's Bridge (now Wawa).
The completion of the remaining segment to West Chester occurred by November 1858. Notably, the WC&P was the second railroad to serve West Chester, following the West Chester Railroad, which was established in 1832 and connected to the PRR at Malvern. A junction was built at Wawa for the Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Railroad, which began its construction in 1855 and opened its initial section to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, in 1859. In May 1880, the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad acquired the WC&P, subsequently integrating it into the Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Railroad Company the following year. Ultimately, the PRR gained control over all associated lines. In 1968, the PRR merged with the New York Central Railroad to create the Penn Central (PC). Following its bankruptcy in 1970, the West Chester line was sold to SEPTA in 1978, with Conrail managing operations until 1983. SEPTA then took over passenger services until September 1986, when operations were suspended. In 1997, the West Chester Railroad, a tourist operator, resumed services between West Chester and Glen Mills.
A stock certificate is issued by businesses, usually companies. A stock is part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his/her money only by selling to another investor. Most stocks, or also called shares, earn dividends, at the business's discretion, depending on how well it has traded. A stockholder or shareholder is a part-owner of the business that issued the stock certificates.
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