I love the Norristown High Speed Line... and some of the stops on it. For one thing, the trolley is very fast and the station is high above ground level. I bring that up because the high-rise stations remind me of one of those special trains like the ones at Hartsville-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta or something like this: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BFAAF4/overlo ... BFAAF4.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Anywho, those trolleys are very spacious and comfortable to ride on, and the windows are BIG! The Norristown High Speed Line trolleys are almost as fun to ride as the Regional Rail trains, the Silverliner IV cars anyway. Avid readers of my past posts are well aware of my aversions for the Silverliner V cars. But in the case of the Norristown High Speed Line cars (the N5s they're called?) those things are FAST! Especially the Hughes Park Express. I used to work at Villanova University back from 2010 - 2012 and sometimes I used to ride the Norristown High Speed Line's Norristown Limited just to experience the racecar-like speed of it. It would speed past both Stadium and Villanova and I would have to get off at Radnor. I remember the times I did this, the operator was aware I was going to Villanova and they would give me a transfer so i could get on the other side so i could get on the local or the Hughes Park Express for that one stop to Villanova. How nice. But does the Norristown Limited still do this? Between 69th Street and Radnor, the only stops the Norristown Limited would make that i remember are Ardmore Junction or Avenue and then Radnor.
Interestingly, I would always joke with people and make fun of how the Norristown Limited would be more of an express than the Hughes Park Express, which did make more stops than Norristown Limited, including a stop at Villanova or Stadium... or both. A little more recently though I remember hearing on the news that one of those cars crashed at the dead-end at 69th Street so now they're not allowed to travel as fast, but then again that was a few years or so ago. But being on the Norristown High Speed Line almost feels like a bullet train from what I remember! It's been a while since I rode them. My most recent trips on the Norristown High Speed Line was one to a college visit at Bryn Mawr College and to King of Prussia Mall but i think the mall one was most recent.
Assuming the Norristown High Speed Line is still doing the Norristown Limited, it would be really fun to ride that starting at 69th Street and have it race like a bullet train at max speed, zooming past some stops, the operator calling out the names of the following stations listed below, and that's another thing, I also really like that loud, long, medium-pitched "ding" noise that would sound before the operator calls out the names of stations over the intercom.
My favorite station names on the Norristown High Speed Line are the following:
West Overbrook (when it used to be called that)
Beechwood-Brookline
Rosemont (when it used to be called that)
Staduim (at Villanova University)
County Line
Matsonford
Gulph Mills
King Manor (when it used to be called that)
Bridgeport (mainly for that beautiful water fall between this station and the first/last stop at the Norristown Transit Terminal!)
I especially miss Dekalb Street being called King Manor. I like that name a lot better! But what I really like about the Matsonford Station is the scenery... the lush green landscape, some of the beautiful houses in the distance, and that it's high above street level... well, most of the stations are. Beechwood-Brookline sounds like it's stopping at an actual beach! Also, i remember i used to miscall Stadium's other name, Ithan Avenue, as Ethan Avenue but it's actually pronounced EYE-than Avenue.
As the Norristown High Speed Line being fun to ride, it's a bit scary to ride too, scary in the sense that i recall a time i was on it and the female passenger i was sitting next to noticed i was breathing heavy as it was speeding, almost like i was on the verge of having a panic attack... the reason being is that the car was going really fast and was tilting a bit sideways to the side toward the roadway below us (so i guess to the left as i can't remember which way the car was going) but i was afraid that if the trolley was going to tilt off the tracks and fall down to the road below us and we'd all be killed... AND i remember it being a long distance from the tracks and the street below. But thankfully that didn't happen that day and she and i joked about it for a good minute.
I remember a couple of Decembers or so ago when I took a trip to the King of Prussia Mall. I live in such an area in Delaware County where it would've been easier and i would've gotten there quicker if i had just used the 102 Trolley or 115 Bus and the 123 Bus, but I opted to make my trip by doing this: walk to Darby, past the transportation center, for the 13 Trolley at 9th Street & Summit Avenue, ride that to 13th Street, transfer to the MFL to 69th Street, the Norristown High Speed Line from there to Bridgeport, and then the 99 Bus the rest of the way to the KOP mall. HOWEVER! I like when the 123 and the 124 cruises down the highway en route to the KOP mall... or from there. I like those highways because their obviously nonstop, you ride faster, and sometimes i'm fascinated by those large green overhead signs. But when leaving KOP, i used the 99 bus to Norristown so i could ride the Regional Rail home.
It's also awesome how the Norristown High Speed Line shares some of its stops with the Lansdale-Doylestown Line.
Anywho, those trolleys are very spacious and comfortable to ride on, and the windows are BIG! The Norristown High Speed Line trolleys are almost as fun to ride as the Regional Rail trains, the Silverliner IV cars anyway. Avid readers of my past posts are well aware of my aversions for the Silverliner V cars. But in the case of the Norristown High Speed Line cars (the N5s they're called?) those things are FAST! Especially the Hughes Park Express. I used to work at Villanova University back from 2010 - 2012 and sometimes I used to ride the Norristown High Speed Line's Norristown Limited just to experience the racecar-like speed of it. It would speed past both Stadium and Villanova and I would have to get off at Radnor. I remember the times I did this, the operator was aware I was going to Villanova and they would give me a transfer so i could get on the other side so i could get on the local or the Hughes Park Express for that one stop to Villanova. How nice. But does the Norristown Limited still do this? Between 69th Street and Radnor, the only stops the Norristown Limited would make that i remember are Ardmore Junction or Avenue and then Radnor.
Interestingly, I would always joke with people and make fun of how the Norristown Limited would be more of an express than the Hughes Park Express, which did make more stops than Norristown Limited, including a stop at Villanova or Stadium... or both. A little more recently though I remember hearing on the news that one of those cars crashed at the dead-end at 69th Street so now they're not allowed to travel as fast, but then again that was a few years or so ago. But being on the Norristown High Speed Line almost feels like a bullet train from what I remember! It's been a while since I rode them. My most recent trips on the Norristown High Speed Line was one to a college visit at Bryn Mawr College and to King of Prussia Mall but i think the mall one was most recent.
Assuming the Norristown High Speed Line is still doing the Norristown Limited, it would be really fun to ride that starting at 69th Street and have it race like a bullet train at max speed, zooming past some stops, the operator calling out the names of the following stations listed below, and that's another thing, I also really like that loud, long, medium-pitched "ding" noise that would sound before the operator calls out the names of stations over the intercom.
My favorite station names on the Norristown High Speed Line are the following:
West Overbrook (when it used to be called that)
Beechwood-Brookline
Rosemont (when it used to be called that)
Staduim (at Villanova University)
County Line
Matsonford
Gulph Mills
King Manor (when it used to be called that)
Bridgeport (mainly for that beautiful water fall between this station and the first/last stop at the Norristown Transit Terminal!)
I especially miss Dekalb Street being called King Manor. I like that name a lot better! But what I really like about the Matsonford Station is the scenery... the lush green landscape, some of the beautiful houses in the distance, and that it's high above street level... well, most of the stations are. Beechwood-Brookline sounds like it's stopping at an actual beach! Also, i remember i used to miscall Stadium's other name, Ithan Avenue, as Ethan Avenue but it's actually pronounced EYE-than Avenue.
As the Norristown High Speed Line being fun to ride, it's a bit scary to ride too, scary in the sense that i recall a time i was on it and the female passenger i was sitting next to noticed i was breathing heavy as it was speeding, almost like i was on the verge of having a panic attack... the reason being is that the car was going really fast and was tilting a bit sideways to the side toward the roadway below us (so i guess to the left as i can't remember which way the car was going) but i was afraid that if the trolley was going to tilt off the tracks and fall down to the road below us and we'd all be killed... AND i remember it being a long distance from the tracks and the street below. But thankfully that didn't happen that day and she and i joked about it for a good minute.
I remember a couple of Decembers or so ago when I took a trip to the King of Prussia Mall. I live in such an area in Delaware County where it would've been easier and i would've gotten there quicker if i had just used the 102 Trolley or 115 Bus and the 123 Bus, but I opted to make my trip by doing this: walk to Darby, past the transportation center, for the 13 Trolley at 9th Street & Summit Avenue, ride that to 13th Street, transfer to the MFL to 69th Street, the Norristown High Speed Line from there to Bridgeport, and then the 99 Bus the rest of the way to the KOP mall. HOWEVER! I like when the 123 and the 124 cruises down the highway en route to the KOP mall... or from there. I like those highways because their obviously nonstop, you ride faster, and sometimes i'm fascinated by those large green overhead signs. But when leaving KOP, i used the 99 bus to Norristown so i could ride the Regional Rail home.
It's also awesome how the Norristown High Speed Line shares some of its stops with the Lansdale-Doylestown Line.
