How far was the Cynwyd line double tracked?

[add2718]

I walked the Cynywyd Heritage Trail the other day and I was wondering whether the line used to be double-tracked beyond Cynwyd?

It looked as if there may have been enough room for double track but it looked like a tight fit.

[Patrick Boylan]

I'm pretty sure it was double tracked to Pottsville, perhaps further. Certainly it was double tracked to Norristown in my lifetime.

And let me be the first to vote for an end to vague 'question' thread titles. Would it have been so hard to have have made the title "How far was the Cynwyd line double tracked"?

[westernfalls]

The double track ended at Haws Avenue, Norristown.

[Franklin Gowen]

I'm pretty sure it was double tracked to Pottsville, perhaps further. Certainly it was double tracked to Norristown in my lifetime.

Within the Philadelphia commuter electrified zone, the branch was completely double-tracked. That would take you from Philly to Haws Avenue station, Norristown.

Beyond Norristown, the branch was overwhelmingly single-tracked, albeit with many passing sidings, all the way to Pottsville and thence to Wilkes-Barre.

Remember that this anomalous chunk of railroad was originally conceived of as a way of the Pennsy elbowing in and forcefully dipping a second straw into the Philadelphia & Reading RR's giant-sized anthracite milkshake. Unfortunately for PRR, they arrived at the P&R's fun Pottsville party in 1887, which was 45 years later than the P&R did. That turned out to work rather poorly, and the branch never lived up to its full economic potential. It was briefly a strong (though unspectacular) profit center during World War One, but at no other time was it much more than merely "decent" as a cash earner. As a result, complete double-tracking was far too expensive to ever justify.

And let me be the first to vote for an end to vague 'question' thread titles. Would it have been so hard to have have made the title "How far was the Cynwyd line double tracked"?

Agreed in full. That's a lazy, uninformative and annoying practice and it's got to stop. Persistent offenders should be receiving some form of moderation discipline to encourage them to mend their ways.

[Matthew Mitchell]

Remember that this anomalous chunk of railroad was originally conceived of as a way of the Pennsy elbowing in and forcefully dipping a second straw into the Philadelphia & Reading RR's giant-sized anthracite milkshake. Unfortunately for PRR, they arrived at the P&R's fun Pottsville party in 1887, which was 45 years later than the P&R did.

And more importantly, 58 years after Yuengling did.
I'd argue that the P&R built up there to tap into the rich supplies of Vitamin Y...

[Franklin Gowen]

Remember that this anomalous chunk of railroad was originally conceived of as a way of the Pennsy elbowing in and forcefully dipping a second straw into the Philadelphia & Reading RR's giant-sized anthracite milkshake. Unfortunately for PRR, they arrived at the P&R's fun Pottsville party in 1887, which was 45 years later than the P&R did.

And more importantly, 58 years after Yuengling did.
I'd argue that the P&R built up there to tap into the rich supplies of Vitamin Y...

Hahaha! "Vitamin Y".....I haven't heard that superb moniker in a while. Forget the milkshake; pass me a lager.

[Matthew Mitchell]

I'm looking forward to a very large Lord Chesterfield Ale at the ballgame in Reading Sunday. They did hops before hops were cool. Tastes like the secret ingredient is cigar ashes...

[BuddCarToBethlehem]

Hahaha! "Vitamin Y".....I haven't heard that superb moniker in a while. Forget the milkshake; pass me a lager.

I can only assume that you drink lager because Sunshine Brewery in Reading closed decades ago?