LVT, P&W, WB&A, and others

When the Blue Route (I-476) interchange at Lancaster Ave (US-30) was built, it took up the land where the Strafford line connects to what is now the Route 100. Other than that, the rest of the ROW is intact, including all 8 double-track bridges. You would need to build a tunnel under the interchange, and rebuild the track, third rail, and stations.

In 1950, the Strafford area was mostly farmland. Today it suburban with apartments, detached homes, and strip-malls with offices and retail. Not exactly transit-oriented development, but there may be hope as Radnor township is becoming more transit-friendly.

Photos of Strafford

Here is a panorama I made with two photos of the remains of the West Wayne station:



If you didn't look closely, you'd think they're building a new rail line. As you can see, the bridge and embankment are in great shape and the platform foundation is still intact.

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Edited to update URL. The Radnor P&W Trail was opened in 2005 and today (2006) it is used by many people in the area -- bicycles, joggers, walkers.

That West Wayne photo is interesting considering that there hasn't been rail service thorough there since 1956.

[split from http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=536 - omv]

brinbrin wrote:The best place to actually get out and hike part of the old West Chester-Downingtown trolley line is at a small nature area (West Valley Nature Area?) which has a small parking area on the north side of Route 322 about a mile or two east of the newly restored covered bridge over the Brandywine. You can make out the old ROW going along 322 for about 100 yards then it turns abruptly and follows the Brandywine. You can follow it another half mile or so. Do it now...I wouldn't try it in the summer.

On the north side of the newly restored covered bridge you can also see the old ROW going west into the woods. There's also a private road called "Old Trolley Rd" in Downingtown where the old ROW was. It comes off of Route 322 just south of the new WAWA at Boot Rd. It's more or less a long driveway, so no trespassing.

I believe the line crossed Route 322 near where the PECO sub-station is now. My next adventure will be to trace it from there to West Chester.

I live about 2 miles from said covered bridge.

The ROW crossed 322 just east of the PECO substation. A resident's lawn abuts the north side of the road, and a section of the lawn is an obvious raised roadbed (now grass-covered). From there to the bridge over the Brandywine, you can make out several small culverts on the north side of the road, that serve no purpose, had there never been a rail roadbed there at one time.

The section continuing east from the former 322 crossing to West Chester is back in the woods. I haven't explored this yet.