Service to Bethlehem

There is also a break in the tracks at the grade crossing in Cooperstown, on the Quakertown-Hellertown segment.

A long time ago, this corridor used to be part of the major route between Boston and Washington DC, for roads like the B&O. (http://lhr.railfan.net/BO92TT.htm) Sorry for repeating myself, but it is hard realizing that one could go from Bethlehem Union Station to Washington DC by rail with no transfers, at one time...

Matthew Mitchell wrote:Is that connection from North Philadelphia to 16th Street Junction officially called the Swampoodle Connecting Track?

And is it interlocked on either end or just hand-operated?

I'd not heard the Swampoodle name applied to that track--previously it has been used to refer to a proposed track that would connect the Chestnut Hill West branch to the Norristown branch, just up from 16th Street. The original operating plan for SEPTA's commuter tunnel presumed construction of the connection, which is why to this day Chestnut Hill West is R8 and there is no R4.

I have walked around that area recently waiting for an R8 train at North Philly. The switch is manually operated on both ends. Yes, it is a very tight curve, and the track itself is not in good shape.

Jsut a reminder for anyone who may be interested:

There are excursions from Perkasie to Quakertown and back this weekend.

Info can be found here on the Perkasie website.

Here's a (poor) picture of the train as it sat in Quakertown on Wednesday evening:



The EPRY 3153 is pulling a boxcar with a generator, and three borrowed NH&I coaches.

Butlershops wrote:I'm sure this has been discussed extensively on the old board but I missed it:

If Septa were to ever run trains on the Bethlehem Branch, how would they do it? I assume they would run diesels, but they cannot run them into Market East or Suburban Station, can they? Now that Reading Terminal is out of the picture where would these trains go? Would they have passengers change trains at Lansdale?

As was said elsewhere- the idea seems to be that trains could run from Shelly (big open area suitable for a park and ride that's north of Quakertown) and then down to Lansdale out the Stoney Creek to Norristown-

Then, I've got a "side track question"

Would it make sense for a Quakertown train to do a short run west from Norristown to King of Prussia Business Park before heading to Philly?
Perhaps an express/local setup with trains stopping at KOP before heading into Philly? It's not that far from the bridges across Barbadoes Island over to King of Prussia, and you should have a bunch of people from the Quakertown Line who work in KOP.

Second question-
While I'm thinking out of the box on railroad connections, if you could re-route the R6 Norristown over Cynwyd, does that have any easy connections to the "West Philadelphia Elevated" aka "The Highline"

I ask because that freight line is perfectly situated to dump huge amounts of commuters directly onto to western edge of the 30th Street Station platforms



and it runs right near the transit 30th Street Station MFL and Subway Surface-


and then goes right over University City Station



You wouldn't need it all day to be effective, just during rush hour.



On a final tangent of a tangent, what would happen if SEPTA contracted with NJT to run their AC line north from 30th Street along Cynwyd, to Norristown, perhaps King of Prussia, and out to Quakertown?

Wouldn't that avoid all the problems of SEPTA having to maintain a diesel fleet? Wouldn't somebody make money running "shoppers Expresses" between Cherry Hill, Manayunk and pehaps King of Prussia?

Hal

On a final tangent of a tangent, what would happen if SEPTA contracted with NJT to run their AC line north from 30th Street along Cynwyd, to Norristown, perhaps King of Prussia, and out to Quakertown?

Wouldn't that avoid all the problems of SEPTA having to maintain a diesel fleet? Wouldn't somebody make money running "shoppers Expresses" between Cherry Hill, Manayunk and pehaps King of Prussia?

Very wishful thinking. Would take hashing out operating agreements, granting trackage rights to NJT on SEPTA tracks and the tracks of privately-owned railroads within PA, plus there would be the question of whom would operate the trains where, and qualifying NJT crews on new lines in PA and all that.

Can trains get to/from Quakertown that way anyway? That would be quite a long out-of-the-way routing anyway, yes? Also begs the question as to why SEPTA did not retain the diesel service to the ABE area using that route since closing Reading Terminal.

And nobody makes money running passenger trains anywhere. Passenger rail is a public service, bottom line.

Someone might make money by running shoppers' expresses. It might be the businesses in the mall.

Passenger rail is a public service, but that only means <b>everybody</b> doesn't make money. Individuals certainly can provided others lose big. Though I agree that the railroads wouldn't profit in this case.

-asg