Gurney St Cleanup

[phillyrube]

Article in the Inky about the drug city cleaned out in North Philly, Conrail tracks

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/crime ... 70901.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Statkowski]

Looks like it used to be four tracks wide. Now it's only one track. Why?

[amtrakhogger]

I think it was only two tracks in its heyday.

[ExCon90]

In its heyday there was an extensive yard serving the Reading's Port Richmond coal, ore, and grain piers, so some of the tracks would have been yard tracks. After Conrail much of what traffic remained was handled over former PRR piers in South Philadelphia. I think that back in the day, Bethlehem Steel used to get import ore via Port Richmond. The PRR's Pier 122 in South Philadelphia used to handle a lot of import ore and has since been converted to handle ro-ro import automobiles. Today, no more ore, no more Reading, no more Bethlehem Steel ... In fact, I don't know what still moves via Port Richmond.

[pumpers]

Great to see the area cleaned up - wouldn't it be great if it stays that way.
I looked on a map from 100 years ago - it was 5 or 6 tracks near Gurney St, and opened into yard of 20+ tracks wide closer to the river, just west of the current I-95.
I take a look every time I drive to Philly from the I-95 overpass - in the last few years it seems traffic is up and they built a small yard just west of 95, which is often full of tanks. On the Pa Railfan forum it was posted about a year they are ethanol loads/empties from NS going to/from a Kinder Morgan terminal on the Delaware River. There is also some seasonal asphalt or related traffic, and CSX (Conrail?) has (had?) an engine servicing terminal at the end of the line of all places, which may have closed recently.
I see an occasional article about a lot of promising new business for the Tioga Marine Terminal, but don't know if anything major ever has panned out, at least for rail traffic.