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jsc wrote:Pretty neat, but I have a couple questions.If you're going to include the above transit lines, then , particularly with abandoned lines, you are talking about a whole additional network---- ie
1) why did the P&W and ACL make the list, but not the BSS, MFL or PATCO?
2) How about the Media-Sharon Hill Lines?
3) Subway-Surface lines?
4) Rt 15?
Please take my questions as constructive criticism, as that is the spirit in which they are meant. Neat map!
walt wrote:Great map!jsc wrote:Pretty neat, but I have a couple questions.It probably makes sense, in light of the above, to have confined the map to railroad lines
1) . . . BSS, MFL or PATCO?
2) How about the Media-Sharon Hill Lines?
3) Subway-Surface lines?
4) Rt 15?
1) why did the P&W and ACL make the list, but not the BSS, MFL or PATCO?I primarily wanted to include railroad lines and not transit, and the P&W is the only exception, first, since the P&W was originally chartered as a railroad, and second because wanted to show the King of Prussia extension of the Route 100 that SEPTA has been studying for a long time.
2) How about the Media-Sharon Hill Lines?
3) Subway-Surface lines?
4) Rt 15?
jfrey40535 wrote:Nicely done! And printer friendly too! Thanks!And he saved it as a GIF instead of a JPG, to prevent the text from getting frazzled by the compression. That's one of my tricks too.
Hal wrote:As far as I know, EPRY did the excursion in Perkasie; they borrowed the coaches from NHIR. NHIR is still connected to the Warminster line at Street Road (not Lahaska) where they interchange freight with CSX.walt wrote:Great map!jsc wrote:Pretty neat, but I have a couple questions.It probably makes sense, in light of the above, to have confined the map to railroad lines
1) . . . BSS, MFL or PATCO?
2) How about the Media-Sharon Hill Lines?
3) Subway-Surface lines?
4) Rt 15?
but, I've got a question
5) How does the New Hope and Ivyland RR fit into that?
I was on one of their trains when then did their Bethelehem Branch excursion, so I guess they're still connected to the Warminster Line?
I guess that's not SEPTA rail though?
Hal
Lucius Kwok wrote:According to the PennDOT rail map, the Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Company owns the New Hope & Ivyland RR tracks between Warminster and New Hope.As far as I'm aware, the NH&I bought the railroad back from them. From what I understand, the nutshell history goes something like this: McHugh Bros. purchase the line from the Reading Company for scrap value sometime in the 60's after they filed for abandonment. They eventually went broke, the line fell into disrepair, and the county took it over. The current ownership operated the line and eventually purhased it back from the county.
limejuice wrote:I think that the BCRP&R still owns the trackage. This document from July 2004 states:Lucius Kwok wrote:According to the PennDOT rail map, the Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Company owns the New Hope & Ivyland RR tracks between Warminster and New Hope.As far as I'm aware, the NH&I bought the railroad back from them. From what I understand, the nutshell history goes something like this: McHugh Bros. purchase the line from the Reading Company for scrap value sometime in the 60's after they filed for abandonment. They eventually went broke, the line fell into disrepair, and the county took it over. The current ownership operated the line and eventually purhased it back from the county.
-- Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Corporation, of New Hope, $211,365, to rehabilitate the mainline between New Hope and Warminster to increase safety and operating efficiency.I take that to mean that they still own the tracks, but I suppose there could be some other sort of arrangement.
SCB2525 wrote:Looking at that map, If The Bethlehem Branch is ever reactivated along with the Stony Creek Branch, wouldn't it be logical to make Doylestown an extension of the R6 Cynwyd and Bethlehem/Quakertown the R5?I think that the Stony Creek and Quakertown branches are not electrified, but they could put up catenary if they had the money. On the other hand, if SEPTA were to run diesels in revenue service, they could run from Quakertown to Norristown in addition to Reading to Norristown, and use Norristown as a transfer point to existing R6 service.
Lucius Kwok wrote:Have there been any studies done on service to Quakertown and the Stony Creek branch?Yes, it is being looked at by various agencies. Check past threads for discussions.
Lucius Kwok wrote:I think that the Stony Creek and Quakertown branches are not electrified, but they could put up catenary if they had the money.Correct on both counts.
On the other hand, if SEPTA were to run diesels in revenue service,Very big "IF"
they could run from Quakertown to Norristown in addition to Reading to Norristown, and use Norristown as a transfer point to existing R6 service.Actually, the feasibility study envisioned operating all the way to Philadelphia, using one of three options: 1--straight diesel to 30th Street via restored Ivy Ridge-Cynwyd segment, 2--dual-mode diesel/AC (more technically challenging now: see previous threads), 3--dual-mode diesel/DC laying third rail on tracks 2 and 3 in the tunnel (which has its own challenges).
Have there been any studies done on service to Quakertown and the Stony Creek branch?See above. The feasibility study was done by Parsons Brinkerhoff for the Bucks and Montgomery (*) Planning Commissions around 1999.
I think the R6 Cynwyd branch could be turned into a light-rail line for the 480 weekday passengers who use it. Part of the SVM plan included various alternatives for this 3-station stub line. It could run on tracks separate from Amtrak's, and there were some options for getting into Center City. I could only find the executive summary of the SVM MIS, so I can only speculate on the details for these options.The MIS did include both a light rail alternative up to Cynwyd/Ivy Ridge and restoring it as part of the main line route to Reading. The routing around Zoo for a light rail system (requiring segregated tracks) is rather convoluted, and none of the Center City alternatives (#) for getting from the City Branch to Market St. were terribly good--each had drawbacks or fatal flaws, and Broad Street was the least bad choice.
SCB2525 wrote:I believe that more South Jersey lines (Penns Grove, Salem, Port Norris, etc.) should be reactivated and run out of and into Philly. However, I don't know what remains of these mentioned lines or others. I know the conditions of Ocean City, Cape May, and Wildwood. Can someone shed some light on this?
