Railroad Forums 

  • Port Richmond line in Philly

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Pennsylvania
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Pennsylvania

Moderator: bwparker1

 #1422725  by pumpers
 
I don't know what Conrail calls it, but driving on 95 through Philly early this morning I crossed over the ex-Reading line that goes to Port Richmond, a few miles north of center city. Looking to the right (driving southbound), I used to see one old track. Now it looked like a crowded yard with about 5(?) tracks, mostly full of tanks. Didn't get a good look - it was 6:30 and I was going fast.
What's going on? I know Tioga terminal traffic is up, but I didnt' think that was tanks. I know oil traffic is way down - are they just storing cars? But the yard seemed fairly new. I doubt Conrail would build a yard just to store cars! JS
 #1422863  by liftedjeep
 
Sounds like you are referring to the area of the former Reading Railroad's Richmond branch. All of their anthracite coal from upstate PA went to the Reading's Port Richmond Terminal, just east of the present day I-95.

Anyway, I believe the tank cars you are seeing are not oil tanks, but rather loaded/empty ethanol loads that come from Chicago on NS 64T to the Kinder-Morgan storage and transload facility in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia.

I hope this info helps.
Ben
 #1427682  by GooStats
 
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/penns ... camp-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

after reading all of these recent articles about what a dangerous, lawless hellhole that the Port Richmond Branch has become, I had several questions that perhaps some of you could answer.

1. How many trains travel through there on a single day?
2. How do the current conditions around the tracks affect railroad operations?
i.e. do train crews always stay in the cab with the windows and doors locked, and/or do they only move trains there during broad daylight?
3. I can't seem to find any pictures of videos of trains operating on these tracks. Is that because railfans are too scared to even attempt it?

any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated.

thank you.
 #1445907  by ExCon90
 
It was announced the other day that Port Richmond is being considered as one (of several) sites to be offered to Amazon for their new HQ2. If it happens--and if Philadelphia is chosen to begin with--I don't know what that might mean for other traffic on the Richmond branch, at least not as far as the end. It's also being offered as a possible manufacturing site, but without result so far.