Flashing yellow strobe lights and max speed

Last week as I was waiting to board a train at 30th street I noticed yellow strobe lights at both ends of the platform at 30th street that were flashing. A light was present at both ends of each track, near the ends of the platforms. They all were constantly flashing and none seemed to cycle on and off timed to train arrivals. What do they indicate?

Second question, I rode a Paoli express and as we hustled west one of the inside tracks I was wondering what max speed SEPTA operates? Phone battery had died at that point so I could not GPS it.

If the max speeds are different on Amtk vs the Reading side please comment on any differences.

Here's a map showing maximum speeds. it's a little out of date.
I think the Paoli line speed limit was raised considerably since this was made, for instance

train2 wrote:Last week as I was waiting to board a train at 30th street I noticed yellow strobe lights at both ends of the platform at 30th street that were flashing. A light was present at both ends of each track, near the ends of the platforms. They all were constantly flashing and none seemed to cycle on and off timed to train arrivals. What do they indicate?

Second question, I rode a Paoli express and as we hustled west one of the inside tracks I was wondering what max speed SEPTA operates? Phone battery had died at that point so I could not GPS it.

If the max speeds are different on Amtk vs the Reading side please comment on any differences.

First, yellow lights at 30th Street mean there are Form Ds and crews need to check the numbered boards at the end of the platform to see the numbers lit.

The speed on the PH Line (Paoli line) is mostly 80 on the inside tracks now.

CNJGeep wrote:

train2 wrote:Last week as I was waiting to board a train at 30th street I noticed yellow strobe lights at both ends of the platform at 30th street that were flashing. A light was present at both ends of each track, near the ends of the platforms. They all were constantly flashing and none seemed to cycle on and off timed to train arrivals. What do they indicate?

Second question, I rode a Paoli express and as we hustled west one of the inside tracks I was wondering what max speed SEPTA operates? Phone battery had died at that point so I could not GPS it.

If the max speeds are different on Amtk vs the Reading side please comment on any differences.

First, yellow lights at 30th Street mean there are Form Ds and crews need to check the numbered boards at the end of the platform to see the numbers lit.

The speed on the PH Line (Paoli line) is mostly 80 on the inside tracks now.

What DO those numbers mean? Do they signal the track of an oncoming train?

mcgrath618 wrote:

CNJGeep wrote:

train2 wrote:Last week as I was waiting to board a train at 30th street I noticed yellow strobe lights at both ends of the platform at 30th street that were flashing. A light was present at both ends of each track, near the ends of the platforms. They all were constantly flashing and none seemed to cycle on and off timed to train arrivals. What do they indicate?

Second question, I rode a Paoli express and as we hustled west one of the inside tracks I was wondering what max speed SEPTA operates? Phone battery had died at that point so I could not GPS it.

If the max speeds are different on Amtk vs the Reading side please comment on any differences.

First, yellow lights at 30th Street mean there are Form Ds and crews need to check the numbered boards at the end of the platform to see the numbers lit.

The speed on the PH Line (Paoli line) is mostly 80 on the inside tracks now.

What DO those numbers mean? Do they signal the track of an oncoming train?

The numbers correspond to an individual branch based off the former R route numbers.

At the (compass) west end: 2 = Wilmington-Newark; 3 = Media-Elwyn; 4 = Airport; 5 = Paoli-Thorndale; 6 (Cynwyd?); 7 = Trenton; 8 = Chestnut Hill W.
East end: 2 = Norristown; 3 = West Trenton; 4 = Warminster (incl. Glenside); 5 = Lansdale-Doylestown; 7 = Chestnut Hill E.; 8 = Fox Chase.
Just to show how tradition never dies, the employees who deliver the Form D's to the engineers during rush hours are still called "Order Runners."
At some point in the (distant?) future, the printers mounted above the front window in the cab of the Silverliner V's for the purpose of printing out Form D's will be activated, and the yellow lights may not be needed, although it would be a useful fail-safe precaution to continue using them. No hurry in getting your shots.

andrewjw wrote:Here's a map showing maximum speeds. it's a little out of date.

This is one of the best things posted in this forum ever.

But I have to ask, where's the R7/Trenton line?

andrewjw very helpful thanks, my I ask is this an official SEPTA chart?

train2 wrote:andrewjw very helpful thanks, my I ask is this an official SEPTA chart?

No I do not think it is official, I found it on one forum or another years ago.

The NEC is missing since it is not owned by SEPTA. I'm not quite sure why the Keystone Corridor is shown, but it is helpful that it is.

That's what puzzles me -- Wilmington-Newark is shown also, and while interlockings from Stiles to Paoli are shown, Baldwin and Hook are not. Still, it's the best diagram I've seen of the whole system.

ExCon90 wrote:That's what puzzles me -- Wilmington-Newark is shown also, and while interlockings from Stiles to Paoli are shown, Baldwin and Hook are not. Still, it's the best diagram I've seen of the whole system.

If you can get your hands on Richard E. Green's maps (no longer publicly available), they're much better.