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  • Daytrips from Westmont PATCO

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #79670  by mgdemarco2
 
I live right near the Westmont PATCO station and I'm looking to take some day trips in the next week or so. By daytrip I mean I would like to leave in the morning and return at night. I don't want to take amtrak as it is expensive. Any suggestions for where to go? Where would you go and why? Thanks.

 #79685  by JLo
 
NJ Options:

Westco to Broadway Patco, then jump on the River LINE north to Burlington (proper, not South). Nice town to visit. Lots of shops and restaurants. Keep going north to Trenton, where the most important battle of the Revolution took place. Lots of museums and historical sites. You can also sometimes get a tour of the Statehouse. Take a cab to Chambersburg section and grab dinner at Diamonds on Kent St. (good Italian) or, if you prefer a little less pricey place, DeLorenzo's Pizza on Hamilton Ave. Or, if you like a good steak, just across from the Trenton light rail stop is Lorenzo's. Get the sliced steak sandwich. Take the train from Trenton to Newark and get some good Portuguese food in the Ironbound. If Newark is not your gig, jump on the PATH to Jersey City, and the HBLR to Liberty State Park and see the form CNJ terminal on the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty. Ferries run to the Lady and Ellis Island hourly, I believe. You can substitute Septa from Philly to Trenton in lieu of the River LINE.

Or, take the ACL from 30st, after switching from PATCO to the Market St Subway at Patco 8th St. Go to AC for the day and check out Bellagio. It is worth it just to see the sites.
 #79687  by henry6
 
....friends of mine and I do it all the time. Decide when you want to leave and where you want to go and when you want to come back. Then check your timetables and set your schedule! Its easy and its fun. Lets see, for you, you could go east to Atlantic CIty, then west to Philadelphia and beyond and return via Phila and PATCO. Or, to Camden, up the River Line to Trenton to anywhere on NJT or NY and LI on the LIRR or to Philly et al and home. How much do you want to spend, how much time do you have, what haven't you done yet? We travel from Upstate NY to Northern Jersey someplace and ride into NYP and all the way out to the end of the Island or to Waterbury, Danbury, Wassiac, Poughkipsee (?) or to Bay Head or...we leave upstate NY as early as 5am and get home as lete as 1am. We ride trains, subways, elevated trains, trolleys, ferries, and buses or walk. MU's, diesel pulled, electric pulled; if its on rail, we ride: AMTRAK, NJT, MNRR, LIRR, SEPTA, Staten Island, River Line. NY Waterways and the Staten Island Ferry. Very often wes spend less than $50 per person, including food and gas. Spend some time looking at your timetables and your wallet and where you want to go and what you want to see. This time of year is great because foliage is gone and you can see things not normally seen, but daylight is scarce and its cold out. Summer is warm and daylight is plentyful, you can get off the ride and look closer at waht you want to see. We have to add 2 to 3 hours at each end of the day, you just have to walk to the station: GO!
 #79691  by henry6
 
....dont't be afraid to change your plans, either. Often we start one way, get a whiff of a boat, and ride NY harbor for a round trip, or see on a map that there is a possible connection...like end of track of LIRR in Far Rockaway is a two block walk from the subway line that runs across Jamaica Bay on old LIRR row so we go for it rather than return to NYP via Jamaica plus we see that after the line goes into the hole in the ground there is a free transfer at the next station to the J train el over the Williamsburg Bridge into town where we can get PATH to Hoboken and then out to Summit and change to a train back to Dover. Our Philly trip was from Princton to the Jct. to 30th St. with plan to Atlantic City and back to Lindenwold to Camden. However, NJT don't know how to sell interline tickets or be brothrly in the City of Brothrly Love and hold the train one minute while the crowd falls down the stairs to get on sao plans change to trolley, subway, PATCO to Lindenwold back to Camden and up the River Line to Trenton. Left home at 5:30am, got home before midnight. Spent $50 and had a ball. Day trips for you are up to you and your imagination and your interssts

 #79848  by David
 
mgdemarco2---Mike DiMunno and I and are taking a day trip from Westmont Station to Camden and getting the River Line to Trenton on Sunday, January 2nd. We have not decided what time yet. I am leaving Ft Lauderdale, tomorrow, (Dec.23) by Amtrak to Philadelphia. I will be staying in New Jersey to January 3rd. Then must go back to Florida for school to start. You are welcomed to join us that Sunday. E-mail me if you are interested. We have several other trips scheduled while I am up: Winslow Junction, Cape May, Tuckahoe, Collings Lakes (new bridge), Grenloch Branch, and several other areas.

 #79887  by gravelyfan
 
One other thought - and I know, this is a Railroad list, but this would make a nice circle trip without a lot of backtracking:

Patco to Walter Rand in Camden
NJT 317 bus to Point Pleasant
North Jersey Coast Line to (Rahway, Newark, Secaucus, NY whatever)
NEC to Trenton
River Line to Camden
Patco back to Westmont

The 317 runs across the state, some of it still pretty rural, and to a certain extent replicates the service that the Pennsy used to run via Pemberton and Whitings, although the bus operates more to the north than the rail line did east of Pemberton.

The bus actually operates all the way to Asbury Park, but to get the longer rail ride you could make the transfer at Point Pleasant. This is a long bus ride, (about 3 hours from Camden to Point Pleasant) but it uses cruiser-style buses which are fairly new, and honestly the seats are more comfortable than on any NJT train.

Here is a link to the bus schedule on the NJT website:


http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T0317.pdf

 #79913  by chuchubob
 
A full day of railfanning can be done from Westmont PATCO very inexpensively with a SEPTA day pass. The day pass costs $5.50 (but will go up very soon) and is valid for all subway, el, and trolley lines, including Red Arrow routes 100, 101, and 102. It also includes buses, if one is so inclined, and would include trackless trolleys if SEPTA chose to bring them back. It also included one Regional Rail trip, but not the R7 to Trenton, which costs $7.

I'll use a recent trip as an example. This was limited in duration because I was with my 3.5 year old grandson. PATCO from Collingswood to 8th & Market. Bought day pass at small SEPTA office at 8th & Market; on weekends one would have to walk through the Gallery to Market East to purchase the day pass. Took Ridge Ave spur of the Broad Street Subway to Olney, where it terminated. Took the next northbound train to Fern Rock, looping around the yard.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_03

Took next train out (express) to City Hall.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_07

Used facilities in Suburban Station and used the rail portion of the day pass for an R7 to Norristown, enjoying the ride on the 40-year-old Silverliner II.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_12

Next we took the P&W (route 100) to 69th Street

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_15

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_16

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_20

and the 101/102 to Lansdown Ave and back to 69th Street,

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_25

followed by the Market Street el to 13th Street

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPT ... 4_11_26_28

where we went into Reading Terminal to see the O-scale layout. When we were finished there, the timing was right to take the Market Street Subway to 30th Street and take the NJT Atlantic City Line to Lindenwold,

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/New- ... 4_11_26_33

and PATCO back to Collingswood.