King of Prussia area railfanning

Please excuse a "foreigner" in your midst. I usually peruse the New York forum, but will be travelling to King of Prussia this weekend. I was wondering if there are any nearby locales to spend an hour or so watching trains.

I noticed on mapquest that there is a Yard just north of the "Mall" along the river. Can anyone relate a brief history of this yard on a newby? Is there a vantage point to watch the activity there? Radio frequency(s)?

I will be with family (daughter at a sport tournament) but may have time to take my son out to get some fresh(or diesel) air.

Any advice for an out-of-towner would be appreciated.

Thanks,
T-croz

I'm not an expert, but I've been out there quite a bit. There is a yard but not many good places to sit and watch. But, if you follow N Gulf Road towards Valley Forge, there is an intersection with W Valley Forge Rd. Keep on N Gulf where it bears left, make a right which is almost straight. There is an old bridge that goes over the tracks, and the old Valley Forge station. This is a good safe place to sit and wait for trains. Go to http://local.live.com/ and find King of Prussia, zoom in, follow N Gulf (rt 363) until you find County Line Road. Then click on Aerial view and you'll better see what it looks like.

I second that location. I've been there several times and there are a number of good vantage points, the best being the intact waiting bench that faces the tracks. If you let me know which way you're coming from, I can give more detailed directions.

The yard you saw I believe is Abrams Yard, ex Reading Railroad. The aforementioned location at the old Valley Forge Station leads into it. It's now Norfolk Southern and fairly busy. Often you'll see trains parked in front of the Valley Forge Station waiting to enter it.

I found it on local.live and can see that it looks like Cinder Lane which has the bridge.

I should be able to find it... I'll be at the Best Western or at the sports venue. It looks like it will be a quick drive either way.

In the aerial photos, it looks like Cinder Road dumps you in the river once you cross over the tracks... where is the Station? It doesn't appear to be visible in the view from above, unless it is the building with the circular drive, just west of the bridge.

Thanks.
t-croz

Yes, the station is between the loop and the tracks. The loop has a parking area. The bridge used to go across the river but only goes over the tracks now. There are steps from where the station is to the bridge.

When I was last there, there was a signal to the west that when it was lit, let you know something was on it's way.

These guys pretty much nailed it as far as the Valley Forge Park station location being the best place to railfan. The original Reading Railroad Valley Forge station also still stands and is located about a mile west of the newer station off of PA Rt 23. It is a beautiful stone structure and you can safely watch from the platforms. One word of caution if you do decide to check out Abrams Yard...it is very railfan UNfriendly. NS went to great lengths to restrict parking and access and it is regularly patrolled by NS PD who take trespassing quite seriously. Good luck and have fun.

If you walk down the highway that is the only way they can't touch you . Because of it being a state owned road. But don't stand on the side of the road with the tracks. The RR owns 5 feet into the road.

If you go down RT. 23 east cross over Dekolb Street, go to the next road to your left. There is a bank parking lot there which you can see the tracks and the local PD don't care if you sit there. I know I do railfanning there. Also you can go over to Norristown Dekolb Street Station which was the Reading Co's. passenger station , here you will see SEPTA and NS, CSX Q-190 and 191 come through.

Good Luck.
Len.

The NTC is a great place for photography. Traffic might not be a lot but across the river in Bridgeport is NS's Harrisburg Line. There seems to be a lot of action there. Yes, NS can be railfan unfriendly. The yard is the last place you want to tresspass. I have never been to Abrams

Since you never railfanned Abrams Yard, here is a link to my video webpage. I uploaded a clip of my up coming failfan video production.
This is part of " Railfanning the Ex Reading Lines Volume 3 "

http://www.dailymotion.com/Conrail6370/ ... brams-yard

Len.