Which abandoned Septa line would you want back?

Clearfield wrote:What do you think Wikipedia is?

Aside from mutable crowdsourced anarchy in text??? I'll have to ponder that.

Clearfield wrote:I could post a Wiki about anything fraudulent I want and people think its real cause its on Wikipedia..

I'm not one of them. For novices of a given subject, it has utility as a springboard to launch themselves towards research of their own. Outside of that, I generally consider it to be entertainment.

Franklin Gowen wrote:

Pacobell73 wrote:There is a new article on wikipedia covering SEPTA's former diesel services. It is well sourced, so it may less of a wikipedia article and more of a good write-up

Based on 27 (!) distinct citations of John Pawson's 1979 book, that Wikipedia page strikes me as more of a lazy high-school book report than anything else. Such overwhelming reliance on one source among several (albeit a superb one) adds little if any new data for those who are already serious students of this subject. Alas.

Some of the phrasing is somewhat too close at times to Mr. Pawson's original literary voice for my comfort, too. I won't call it plagiarism but I will say that I find such instances regrettable.

It's unfortunate that the decline and fall of such once-useful passenger services appears to have so little in print that enthusiastic followers of the subject are confined to a relatively small body of data. I certainly wish that I knew more about it, but from informed sources other than the tried-and-true classics. Through no fault of their own, the latter are somewhat mined-out after three decades.

I think you hit the nail on the head towards the end. There are few quality sources or new data that actually cover these services since Pawson's book. All the services ended within years of the book's publication. However, since his book is hard to find these days, having most of it in the wiki articles brings it to the masses who cannot find the book. Almost like finding an old sea scroll and now putting it our there, letting the world see it after it had been hidden for so long.

that was quite an impressive article. its a shame though to see so much history now reduced to next to nothing

What, wait a minute ! You mean to tell me people post untrue stuff on the internet ? How apalling .

so can anyone tell me what is going on with septa's plan to restore service to wawa? from what i've seen it does not look like it is coming back anytime soon

Like all other discretionary capital projects, the Wawa extension is going nowhere until Pennsylvania has a new transportation funding plan.

since septa's fiscal meetings are open to the public, I am attending one of them to see what their plans for the future are.

iamapokemonlegend wrote:since septa's fiscal meetings are open to the public, I am attending one of them to see what their plans for the future are.

The board meetings won't tell you much (most of the business is transacted through a consent calendar), but the public meetings on the SEPTA capital budget and capital plan January 15 include such issues.
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Or you could join DVARP now and get the next issue of our newsletter, which will feature a rundown on the status of all the various system expansion projects, not just for SEPTA, but in South Jersey and Delaware too.
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Many of the more considered projects can be found in the SEPTA FY 2013 Capitol Budget PDF on page 57 under the heading of

This includes projects like Elwyn to Wawa Restoration (underfunded by 91,200,000), Paoli TC (underfunded 14,500,000), Rail Bridge Improvement (underfunded 104,964,000), Regional Rail Car and Locomotive Acquisition (underfunded 1,414,000,000), Regional Rail Substation Improvements (underfunded 55,563,000), and many more projects.

The main problem with these projects being completed is this;



Unless you can come up with $4,274,295,000, these projects will continue to be delayed as more emergency spending needs arise.

Then if you look at the Transit Planning Efforts, p.27 (The SEPTA has no money for at all and does not plan to have any for section) you have Northeast Corridor 2030-SEPTA's part, NHSL to King of Prussia, Norristown Line extensions, BSL Navy Yard exetension, Quakertown restoration, and Atglen/Parkesburg restoration. If its not on the first list, its not happening soon. If its not on the second, it's not happening for a while- unless a grant for that specific extension is awarded, or Harrisburg has a change of heart.

why don't they just start with something small like maybe extending service back to parkesburg? from what i've heard from people that has the most potential and in my opinion is probably the cheapest option for septa right now

iamapokemonlegend wrote:why don't they just start with something small like maybe extending service back to parkesburg? from what i've heard from people that has the most potential and in my opinion is probably the cheapest option for septa right now

What people? Were they people who read the study of the Atglen restoration, or railfans looking at maps?
The study concluded that restoring service to Coatesville, Parkesburg, and Atglen would add only 500 new daily riders.

they were railfans i spoke to.

iamapokemonlegend wrote:they were railfans i spoke to.

Well, hold the phone...

Well like I said they were just opinions.

Matthew Mitchell wrote:Like all other discretionary capital projects, the Wawa extension is going nowhere until Pennsylvania has a new transportation funding plan.

I'm not going to hold my breath but it looks like the Corbett administration will be announcing its transportation funding plan next week. Apparently they are going to remove the cap that's currently on the wholesale price of gasoline. After a few years it's expected to generate up to $2B annually. We'll see. Anyway, I'm a supporter of transit and highways, so I hope that all modes of transportation, and all counties, get their fair share.

Also, on another thread you posted a comment about joining the DVARP. I did.