LOWER MERIONÂ â Most people know the basic story of how the Main Line got its name. The quickest version is that it comes from the old Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the rail line that now takes SEPTA commuters on a parallel course with Lancaster Avenue.
But, the term main line can apply to any primary route of a railroad.
So what might not be as well-known is there was once another main line that ran through Lower Merion, which,180 years after the first trains ran on this second line, it is still in use.
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The Lower Merion Historical Society and Bryn Mawrâs Ludington Library recently teamed up for a talk on Lower Merionâs two main lines â the one most people know along Lancaster Avenue and the forgotten one â the Reading Railroad. The talk was given by township resident and secretary of the Lower Merion Historical Society, Perry Hamilton.