Paoli Line Express Trains

Clearfield wrote:

jfrey40535 wrote:Why don't the expresses go first? Why can't it stay on the express track?

Besides, I don't know if there is a crossover in the right place to bring it back onto the local track at Paoli. In any case, its an imperfect world..........

There is a crossover from the center to outside outbound tracks just before Paoli station. I lived in the apartments behind Paoli station back in the late 70's and remember the Keystone trains (pulled by GG1's at that time) using that crossover for their Paoli station stop. Ah, the good old days!

Even without the track work, there are problems with the existing schedule. There are actually three trains scheduled within 11 minutes. The first is an express to Bryn Mawr, the second a local, and the third a limited (express to Wayne). The limited on track 3 can pass the local running on track 4, but catches up to the express. As scheduled, the trains are only 6 minutes apart at Wayne. In reality, the limited can run from 30th St to Wayne in 15 minutes instead of the 21 scheduled, which means that the two trains arrive at Wayne at the same time if they are on different tracks.

See, that's what I don't understand. Why don't they just schedule it so the limited goes first, then the express, then the local? No trains have to wait for slower ones (SEPTA trains, anyway), and they don't have to crossover to do it. Is there a valid reason to do it the current way?

I have a 1954 PRR timetable and most peak trains skip every other stop instead of running express. There are also several "name trains" which only stop at Paoli before continuing west, but these are mostly long-distance trains. I don't think the PRR had their commuter trains on the inside tracks at all.

It seems that if the Route 100 NHSL can run expresses with two tracks, the R5 Paoli should be able to do it too.

I wonder how SEPTA made up the current R5 schedule. Didn't SEPTA eliminate all express trains at one point in its history?

There are crossovers are at Overbrook, Bryn Mawr, and Paoli. Here is a Paoli line track map that shows the crossovers:

Considering the constraints of a single outbound track due to track work, 3 Amtrak Keystone service trains during the peak period, and the schedules of other SEPTA lines, I've come up with a new R5 Thorndale schedule for just the outbound peak period.

Please take a look at:
http://svmetro.com/septawatch/proposed_r5_schedule.html

Changes:
Train 9551 was Malvern Express, now Thorndale Limited
Train 553 was Paoli Express, now Malvern Express
Train 9555 was Thorndale Limited, now Paoli Express
Train 4557 was Bryn Mawr Local, becomes Thorndale Limited
Train 9559 was Thorndale Limited, becomes Malvern Express
Train 9561 was Paoli Local, becomes Bryn Mawr Local
Minor schedule time adjustments as shown at top of table