The history of the Catasauqua Branch begins with the
Lehigh Crane Iron Company, whose first furnace began operating in
Catasauqua in 1840. The company owned railroad trackage surrounding its facilities, including a bridge across the
Lehigh River to
West Catasauqua, where it interchanged with the
Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad (later part of the
Reading Company system) and the
Lehigh Valley Railroad. The company also interchanged with the
Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (later part of the
Central Railroad of New Jersey) on the east bank of the Lehigh after the L&S's completion in 1867. The
Empire Steel and Iron Company acquired Crane in 1899, and in 1905 created the
Crane Railroad to operate the industrial trackage in Catasauqua. Between 1911 and 1912, the Crane Railroad constructed a spur east from Catasauqua a
slag dump in Kurtz' Valley; this line included a tunnel. The
Lehigh and New England Railroad (L&NE), whose Bethlehem Branch ran north–south approximately east of Catasauqua, constructed a connection from that branch to the eastern end of the Crane Railroad's tracks. This extension was completed on April 1, 1914, and the L&NE acquired the Crane Railroad on September 23, 1914. The line was thereafter known as the Catasauqua Branch. The post-
World War II decline in coal traffic and the shift of cement haulage from trains to trucks led to the L&NE abandoning operations on October 31, 1961. The Central Railroad of New Jersey established the
Lehigh and New England Railway to acquire some of the L&NE's lines, including of the Catasauqua Branch. The remainder, from Catasauqua to
Schoenersville, was abandoned. This remaining section of the line served a new industrial park in Schoenersville. The Lehigh and New England Railway suffered from cash-flow problems in the 1970s and was one of many Northeastern railroads included in
Conrail in 1976. The Catasauqua Branch was one of the lines transferred to Conrail. Conrail called the line the
Schoenersville Industrial Track. The remaining line was out of service by 1991 and has since been abandoned. == Notes ==