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 In 1864 the Erie & Pittsburgh (E&P) Railroad reached New Castle from the north and in 1870 the railroad was leased by the powerful Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). At some point a passenger depot and freight station were built on the west bank of the Shenango River in New Castle. The two stations received periodic upgrades but I not sure when or if they were ever replaced. The passenger station was closed to daily service in March 1952, but periodic special excursion trains departed here for at least another five years. It was razed in 1962. The freight station was closed by the early 1960’s, was rented to the Murphy Flour Distributing Company for use as a warehouse, and destroyed by a fire in April 1971. (c1908) Full Size |
 The E&P, based in Erie, began operations in 1860 and soon laid eighty-three miles of track between Erie and New Castle. The E&P, which bought the defunct Beaver & Erie Canal, was leased to the PRR in April 1870. The five E&P train stops in Lawrence County included the terminus at Lawrence Junction and also New Castle-West Side (shown above), Harbor Bridge, Nashua, and Pulaksi. (c1915) Full Size |
 Local residents and school children (it was a school holiday) line the tracks at the West Side train station to hear New York Governor and Republican U.S. Presidential hopeful Thomas E. Dewey (1902-1971) speak briefly on the afternoon of Monday, October 11, 1948. Dewey was on a train tour aboard the 17-car “Dewey Special” to support his campaign. The train, which arrived from Sharon, departed New Castle bound for Rochester and then Pittsburgh. Several weeks later Dewey’s unsuccessful campaign saw him upset by Democrat Harry S. Truman. (Oct 1948) Full Size |
 The old West Side Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad was closed in the mid1950’s. You can see the building has been altered (with the tall center portion having been removed) in this photo. It was torn down in 1962. (c1959) Full Size |
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Jerry Jordak #
The west side PRR passenger station was used until the last passenger train on the E&P (a Sharon-Pittsburgh commuter train) was discontinued on March 19, 1952. It was torn down and removed in June 1961.
Jeff Bales Jr #
(EDITOR’S NOTE) Jerry, Thanks for the information. I’ll check it out. It appears there was at least some limited or special use of the station for some time after March 1952. I found various newspaper articles about future U.S. President Richard M. Nixon stopping there in October 1952, troop trains leaving the station in 1952-53, and some special excursion trains departing there for baseball games and Boy Scout outings in 1954-57. Not much found after 1957 though. Jeff
Dick Wilkison #
After the Sharon commuter was discontinued there was no scheduled train service at the west side station. However ticket agents were housed there and sold tickets foe trains that stopped at the PY&A station at New Castle Jct.. Bus service was run from the west side sta. to the PY&A sta. at no extra cost. I don’t know when that was discontinued
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