Closed ramps and Lower platform at pattison

There is a silver shed at olney station blocking an ramp. Last week while I was on the local going to fern rock there was a silver shed blocking what it appears to be a ramp going up somewhere. I thought this could not be the extension to chesnut hill since the ridge spur trains use that ramp to switch tracks going the opposite direction. This is the ramp on the northbound local side of fern rock
Does anyone know what that ramp leads to?

Is the lower platform ever used at pattison station? It looks like it hasn't been used in years.




I asked about this on another forum and many were not sure about this. But I saw what i saw and I want to see someone else comments and what they think this ramp at olney is.

I remember hearing about a ramp at Olney to turn trains much teh same way as Erie. I could be wrong. Unfortunately I dont know much about the BSS

I'm assuming the ramps were intended for plain vanilla north on Broad St expansion. They've been there since God was a little boy. In the early days of Kawasaki express trains some of the ones that terminated at Olney used some sort of pocket track north of the station, I assumed it was the ramps you're talking about.

I had heard that Pattison lower level had been used at least once or twice for revenue service, I can't swear to when, but it was in the distant past. Maybe as late as the first Live Aid concert, but probably longer ago than that. I also had heard of a fan trip charter that was supposed to use it.

The lower level is used regularly for over flow crowds at events at the sports complex. You'll prolly see it in use the week for the Phillies games.

Pattison Lower opens up for Eagles games only as far as I can tell. The only two times I've seen it open were a few years ago when there was the Eagles, Flyers, and some flavor of the month concert happening at the same time, and last year for an Eagles game. My brother, who goes to more Eagles games than me, sees it open for them as well

KAWASAKI-FAN100 wrote: Does anyone know what that ramp leads to?

Is the lower platform ever used at pattison station? It looks like it hasn't been used in years.

The ramp leads to a never built grade separated interlocking for a line extension. The silver bungalow is the new interlocking for olney.

The lower levels at Pattison are used during very heavy traffic periods (like playoff games)

[quote="gardendance"]I'm assuming the ramps were intended for plain vanilla north on Broad St expansion. They've been there since God was a little boy. In the early days of Kawasaki express trains some of the ones that terminated at Olney used some sort of pocket track north of the station, I assumed it was the ramps you're talking about.

I had heard that Pattison lower level had been used at least once or twice for revenue service, I can't swear to when, but it was in the distant past. Maybe as late as the first Live Aid concert, but probably longer ago than that. I also had heard of a fan trip charter that was supposed to use it.[/quote


I know from personal experience that Patt/Lower was used as late as 1995, when i was regularly going to GD concerts at the rectum. I am not sure if they use those platforms for current sporting events. Back in the concert days, the SB blue light expresses would discharge at the upper level before the show... Than for about an hour after the concert(deadheads tended to linger more than other concertgoers) the NB blue expresses would load downstairs.

Trackseventeen wrote:

gardendance wrote:I'm assuming the ramps were intended for plain vanilla north on Broad St expansion. They've been there since God was a little boy. In the early days of Kawasaki express trains some of the ones that terminated at Olney used some sort of pocket track north of the station, I assumed it was the ramps you're talking about.

The only ramp actually in use is the one to switch the Ridge trains from the northbound track to the southbound track for a new run south.

BTW, there an another grade separated interlocking on the north end of Erie with 4 long storage tracks as part of another extension never built.

I am a season ticket holder for the Eagles and ride the BSS to every game. Before 2003, I had only seen the lower level used maybe 3-4 times in the 15 years or so I had been taking the train to the sports complex (it was so much better to walk up the steps to the Vet instead of the 2 new stadiums, but that's a whole other rant...)

Since then, the lower level is open for just about every game, but only after the game. Which I can understand as everyone arrives at different times but leaves mostly at the same time. It seemed like it stopped being used for a while perhaps 2005-06, but it now seems to be used all the time since last year.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-109186749.html

Expresses depart from the main platform
Locals from the lower

I never use it, since I always want an express departing, but it does help restore some "order" to the typical mob scene down there after the games.

I take the BSS to Phillies and Flyers games as well as concerts, and it has not been used for any other events that I have been to other than Eagles games.

Most events, other than Eagles games, actually have some of the main platform closed with gates down, so using the lower level would not be required. However, there is a noticeable bump in ridership in the past year or so. I cannot fathom why anyone would want to drive down there for anything, but to each their own. I know not everyone's final destination is a city neighborhood like mine is.

I am attending today's Phillies playoff game, I'll post if the lower level is being used...

nittany4 wrote:I am a season ticket holder for the Eagles and ride the BSS to every game. Before 2003, I had only seen the lower level used maybe 3-4 times in the 15 years or so I had been taking the train to the sports complex (it was so much better to walk up the steps to the Vet instead of the 2 new stadiums, but that's a whole other rant...)

Since then, the lower level is open for just about every game, but only after the game. Which I can understand as everyone arrives at different times but leaves mostly at the same time. It seemed like it stopped being used for a while perhaps 2005-06, but it now seems to be used all the time since last year.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-109186749.html

Expresses depart from the main platform
Locals from the lower

I never use it, since I always want an express departing, but it does help restore some "order" to the typical mob scene down there after the games.

I take the BSS to Phillies and Flyers games as well as concerts, and it has not been used for any other events that I have been to other than Eagles games.

Most events, other than Eagles games, actually have some of the main platform closed with gates down, so using the lower level would not be required. However, there is a noticeable bump in ridership in the past year or so. I cannot fathom why anyone would want to drive down there for anything, but to each their own. I know not everyone's final destination is a city neighborhood like mine is.

I am attending today's Phillies playoff game, I'll post if the lower level is being used...

Nittany4,

If you and other fellow Phila sports fans think the walk from the Pattison entrance to the 2 new stadiums is bad, try walking from the el station to Soldier Field in Chicago.

I was in Chicago last weekend fror the Bears Eagles game, so I took the red line and got off at Roosevelt Rd, had to walk east on Roosevelt, cross Michigan Ave and then had to walk into the Park make a few turns, through a few tunnels and then straight towards Soldier Field. A Bears fan told that its a 2 mile hike. I'll never complain about walking to The Linc or The Bank from the Broad St Subway ever again.

never been to soldier field, but I have been to wrigley and comiskey and both are literally steps from the subway/el

I do attend a trade show every year at mccormick place next to soldier field and it appears that there is a metra station pretty close by however.

btw, lower level at pattison closed last night for the phils game

nittany4 wrote:I do attend a trade show every year at mccormick place next to soldier field and it appears that there is a metra station pretty close by however.

Yep. Metra Electric has a platform in the bowels of McCormick. Limited service last I checked though.

Matt Mitchell
[RSNA veteran--largest medical trade show in the world]

I did happen to take the local from Fern Rock yesterday morning and found a trail with tracks that leads to a substation. This is clearly visible on the southbound local train.

To answer the original question, the subway structure under the intersection of Broad and Grange Streets was designed to allow all four main tracks to be extended farther north, eventually to City Line and Ogontz Avenue.
The underground structure also contains the beginning of a wye connection so that cars could be run between the ultimate outer end of the line and Fern Rock Shops.

You can see all of this if you look carefully at the right time from the head end of a train and from the north ends of the Olney Avenue platforms. They're also shown on one of the track maps in my book, Delaware Valley Rails, which is out of print but can be found in many local libraries.

Lower level at Pattison closed last night after another hideous outing by the Eagles (I heard they are 1-9 in their last 10 decided by 7 points or less), although they were queueing up trains down there.

It was quite crowded and unorganized down there at 1145-midnight
and everyone was in a foul mood...

I miss baseball season already.