Railroad Forums
Moderator: Franklin Gowen
AlexC wrote:what?That's the one.
this bridge?
That picture was about 100 yards north. I shot both from the same spot.
The clearance is 8'9", but I can't believe it. I've got a Mini Cooper, and I swear I could touch it with the sunroof open!
AlexC wrote:Finally! Finally I caught a train on this branch!What is the track speed on this line?
Pacobell73 wrote:It's not very high. 10 to 15, I would imagine. I was able to track it from East Greenville to Emmaus and back, and most of the time I would beat it to the next photo spot.AlexC wrote:Finally! Finally I caught a train on this branch!What is the track speed on this line?
County to review Red Hill open space plan
Borough can receive funding after proposal is approved.
By Jane Thompson-Smith
Special to The Morning Call
Red Hill's plans to develop more parks and recreational land are coming closer to fruition now that the borough has pinned down a date to present its open space plan to Montgomery County.
Once the plan is approved, Red Hill will be eligible to receive funding from the $59 million county open space program passed in a 1996 voter referendum.
The borough will present to the county on Jan. 24 its plan, which it has been working on since August 2004.
The county will pay 80 percent of the purchase price for the Hope Valley property, which is a portion of land owned by the Community Bible Church. The 3-acre parcel abuts the Red Hill Park across the street from Borough Hall and would be used to build new baseball and softball fields. The Valley Soccer Club practices in Red Hill Park.
Mayor Vic Attardo said he has been fighting for the acquisition because the borough has no recreational facilities east of Main Street. The land purchase also will prevent any future development at the site, he said.
In addition to the purchase of the church property, a key feature of the plan is the creation of walking trails that will connect with regional trails, said Van Rieker, a North Wales land planner who helped create Red Hill's open space plan.
The plan calls for trails running from Sixth Street and/or 11th Street in the borough to the Macoby Run trail in Upper Hanover Township.
Trails also could run by sidewalk down Sixth Street to the Green Lane Reservoir on the west side of the borough, Rieker said.
Red Hill has undertaken a Rails to Trails project to develop a trail along the old Perkiomen Railroad bed. The trail would run south to north through the borough.
The borough adopted an ordinance requiring land owners that are subdividing their properties near the railroad to consider the trail when doing so, Rieker said. The ordinance added easement requirements to its subdivision and land development ordinance specifically for the project.
The borough is asking land owners to dedicate recreational trail easements before building along the railroad, while developers are expected to construct a portion of the trail according to borough specifications.
Harlesysville-based TH Properties, which is building a large townhouse development on the outskirts of the borough near Pennsburg, has started building its portion of a 6-foot wide paved trail from Eighth to 11th Street for the Rails to Trails project.
AlexC wrote:Via Google Maps, I created a map of the Reading's Perkiomen Branch with the stations and some points of interest plotted.Great Job, Alex! Neat to see the points of interest on the map.
Click Here
If you're a Google Earth user, it also allows you to download the KML file for use in Google Earth.
Here's a view of the "horseshoe" curve at Vera Cruz.
AlexC wrote:or the Phoenixville & West Chester (now the sort-of-abandoned, Devault line). That line comes off the lower end of the Perk, over to Montclair, across the viaduct, through Phoenixville down to Devault. It used to go to Fraser... but that was cut back lonnnnng ago.Alec, I would be more than happy to assist you with photos and research of the Devault line (now officially named the Phoenixville Industrial Track. I live in Phoenixville right off of Pothouse Road, which was recently resurfaced over the tracks. Thanx!
jrevans wrote:In case anyone hasn't heard, the Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce is running train excursions from Pennsburg to Emmaus (or at least through the tunnel) and back.ANY SCANNER FREQUENCY INFORMATION FOR THIS RUN??? Thanks.
Trips are on October 6, 7, 13, 14 2007.
Here is the PDF with the info:
http://www.upvchamber.org/pdf/train_flyer.pdf
They've also added a fancy/expensive preview train on the Friday (October 5, 2007) before the excursions:
http://www.upvchamber.org/pdf/TrainBrochure.pdf
I'm riding the first excursion at 8am on the 6th if anyone is interested in meeting up.
An elderly neighbor told me that she remembered the original owner of my house (built in 1925 - the owner moved out in 1962). His name was Schaeffer, and she said that he was the telegrapher at the Oaks train station. Where do you think I could find out who worked at the train station on any date from, say, 1925 to 1940? I'd appreciate any help you could give.Stuff like that would be in the Hagley Library right?
