Old and closed down Regional Rail stations

Thorndale is 35 miles from Suburban, Coatesville at 38 is short hop from Thorndale, Parkesburg is 44, and Atglen is 47. Both Coatesville and Parkesburg are in Amtrak service.

Why SEPTA would go so far out to serve small, distant commuting populations already served by Amtrak's commuter trains when there are tens of thousands of unserved suburbanites only some 15 to 30 miles out in other directions is something only SEPTA would envision.

I didnt know Amtrak had commuter trains.

delvyrails wrote:Why SEPTA would go so far out to serve small, distant commuting populations already served by Amtrak's commuter trains when there are tens of thousands of unserved suburbanites only some 15 to 30 miles out in other directions is something only SEPTA would envision.

Is it safe to assume that you are talking about the Newtown Line or the Warminster Line or a similar right-of-way? If so, I think it is a false comparison.

As you know, the Keystone Corridor is an existing, currently in-use, electrified railroad corridor. This of course means it will cost SEPTA (relatively speaking) next to nothing to extend the runs on this corridor. SEPTA already has the electric trains. The closer-to-Center-City lines to which you presumably refer would need hundreds on millions of dollars in financing in order to run electric trains. And if you are proposing diesel operations, it would still cost millions of dollars to procure equipment. Both options would require extensive reconstruction of the right-of-way.

But I suspect you are well aware of all of this.

LNE655 wrote:I didnt know Amtrak had commuter trains.

Of course Amtrak does...Philly-to-Harrisburg "Keystone Service".

delvyrails wrote: Why SEPTA would go so far out to serve small, distant commuting populations already served by Amtrak's commuter trains when there are tens of thousands of unserved suburbanites only some 15 to 30 miles out in other directions is something only SEPTA would envision.

I'll take on your rhetorical query. Answer: because the former is, say, a thousand times easier than the latter, even if the former serves a minute fraction of the number of suburbanites than the latter would. I suppose it's dead simple to run more trains where good infrastructure already exists, even if the additional trains aren't needed much or at all. Upgrading decades-underused infrastructure, or completely replacing decades-UNused infrastructure? SEPTA will not be rushing to accommodate that pent-up demand.

I'd trade any Parkesburg Limited for a Newtown Limited or a Quakertown Limited.

I've also read that Amtrak wants to cut down on the number of stops the Keystones and would love to hand off Parkesburg and Coatesville off for SEPTA to handle.

Interesting questions.

Amtrak's Harrisburg line has been recognized by the Federal Transit Administration and previously by UMTA as that company's only commuter service. Those trains which carry commuters predominantly are included in FTA's statistics, the Federal Transit Databank.

The fact that Amtrak, perhaps Harrisburg, and Berks County are pressing SEPTA to turn to the fringes of our region and beyond for service extension raises the question of why we here in Southeast Pennsylvania are not in sole control of RRD's future.

Compared with Chicago RTA, SEPTA has state representation on its Board while neither Metra nor the suburban bus service PACE has any state control exercised through their Boards. All Board members are locally named. They have dedicated funding through a local sales tax increment.

They do not need to go hat in hand to Springfield every so often to give control of their future for more money.

If the same were true here, SEPTA would be impervious to outside pressures. They could be moved to restore service on a few-stations-at-a-time basis as a major RRD goal. That would NOT cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

It honestly shouldn't take all that much effort to get trains running to Lenni. I think it's class 1 track officially, but it's really in much better condition than that. Probably just so they don't have to worry about it as much. I recall there being a good amount of space around that area, possibly for parking? Start with 3 trains in each direction, 40mph max, rush hour only. How hard could it be? Maybe take the construction/production gangs away from their current projects for 6 weeks and get it done. The hardest part is probably the accounting and financing.

...and it would cost lots less than a SEPTA parking garage.

when i was on google maps i was breezin the trenton line. i found barricaded street stairs at church street in philly. also visible was a lopsided septa lollipop sign i cudnt tell the name of the station. any help wud be appreciated

iamapokemonlegend wrote:when i was on google maps i was breezin the trenton line. i found barricaded street stairs at church street in philly. also visible was a lopsided septa lollipop sign i cudnt tell the name of the station. any help wud be appreciated

That would be the old Frankford Station

Not to be confused with the nearby Frankford Junction station.

Patrick Boylan wrote:Not to be confused with the nearby Frankford Junction station.

..which was a great location for activity and photography. Unfortunately, it too is now closed, barricaded and posted.

Blackstreet wrote:
R2:
Bethlehem-Allentown
Naamans Road
Baldwin

Where was the old Baldwin station, and when did it close? Somewhere I think I still have an "R2 Baldwin" route sign that we found along the right-of-way between Lawndale and Cheltenham stations, probably circa 1990-1992. (No I don't condone this, but I was 12 years old). Now, for the life of me I don't remember the station on the back of the marker. I thought Baldwin was more interesting, so that's what was showing when I hung it up in my room.

MelroseMatt wrote:

Blackstreet wrote:
R2:
Bethlehem-Allentown
Naamans Road
Baldwin

Where was the old Baldwin station, and when did it close?

It was directly behind the office tower at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, between Crum Lynne and Eddystone in Delaware County. That office building is still there; much of that once-vast industrial site has been re-purposed. When I checked the site out in 1994 there were a few obscure remnants of an asphalt passenger platform and none at all of any shelter or station-house.

As for the closure date, it was eliminated as a station stop during SEPTA's 1981 funding crisis.

Blackstreet wrote: R2:
Bethlehem-Allentown

What? The ex-Reading Bethlehem Branch has nothing to do with SEPTA's former "R2" operation. On the ex-RDG side of SEPTA, the R2 went to Warminster; the R5 went to Lansdale and Doylestown.

Baldwin was closed summer 1981. I don't know how much funding had to do with it. Ridership the last coupla years was 5 daily boards or fewer (all employees?).

The reason it was on the train signs was that there was a proposal to reopen it as a park/ride in conjunction with the redevelopment of the office tower and other nearby real estate. The development never really did go through though, so the station was never rebuilt.