As posted in the BCCT:
Funny how Amtrak has ties and rails to donate but not SEPTA. Pretty clear message there.
Society to begin restoring rail stationOf course the press had to interview a NIMBY who wants the weeds in the ROW to keep the vermin out of her backyard. I could only imagine the reaction we'd get if she was told trains were coming back.
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
The Southampton Railroad Station Society will take out its brooms and dustpans to kick-start the restoration of the Southampton Railroad Station.
The society is working to restore the more than 100-year-old station, a project that will cost about $300,000. For six months, the society has received donations and grants to cover renovation costs.
First, though, comes the dirty work. The group plans a cleanup in April of the surrounding area from Second Street Pike to Street Road and its underpass, which is cluttered with graffiti on the walls and abandoned furniture.
“We can't wait to get rid of all of that junk,” society member Charles Liberto said Thursday.
About 20 volunteers will pick up trash, paint the underpass walls and make track repairs in front of the station.
“The cleanup won't cost much,” Liberto said.
The township will provide the group with Dumpsters and Amtrak donated railroad ties. The most costly supplies will be rails and paint, he said.
But not everyone is thrilled with the cleanup plan.
The tracks, which are covered by overgrown vegetation, lie behind Phyllis Ullo's Carlin Drive property and she doesn't want the weeds to be removed.
“You may see it as overgrown vegetation,” read a letter dated March 18 that she sent to the township. “I consider it a sanctuary that affords me privacy, tranquility and an area free from undesirable activity. It is far away enough from the train station building so as not be considered blight on [the] commendable project.”
The society isn't planning to remove vegetation beyond Street Road at this point, Liberto said. Before the cleanup can happen, Upper Southampton's supervisors must approve a letter drafted by the society to SEPTA detailing the cleanup plan.
“The board needs to discuss that at the April 1 meeting,” township Manager Joe Golden said.
“We're sure we will get the final approval from SEPTA,” Liberto said.
Besides reviving the wood-frame building, the society wants to plant a garden and install a fountain. It wants to built a museum and gift shop. Once renovations are completed, tours and community activities will be planned.
The station is one of the few left on the old Reading Railroad Newtown Line, said society member James Day.
The first floor, which remains intact, was used as a waiting room with benches and a ticket window until the 1980s. The second floor has two rooms that were occupied as living quarters by stationmasters but hasn't been in use since the '60s.
Funny how Amtrak has ties and rails to donate but not SEPTA. Pretty clear message there.