Tracks being relocated as part of railroad project

Work to relocate a set of railroad tracks between the Lewes Public Library and the Rollins Community Center/Lewes History Museum in Stango Park is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

The tracks are being moved 18 feet to the west away from the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail and to give the Lewes Junction Railroad and Bridge Association more room for its planned railroad car display. Moving the tracks is the first phase of a project to provide a display of Lewes’ railroad history. 

The association also helped to coordinate the move of the Lewes railroad swing bridge over the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal to its new permanent location at the end of American Legion Road next to the Cape Henlopen State Park trail.

The connectors, rail ties and rail spikes will all be reused to re-stage the tracks.

During construction of the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail, the railroad tracks from Lewes to Coolspring Road were removed to make way for the trail. A section was left in place behind the Lewes library at the request of City of Lewes officials. The line was decommissioned in 2017 when it was determined that repairs to the railroad swing bridge would be too costly. The only user at the end of the line over the bridge was SPI Pharma Inc.