Train Cars on tracks in Oaks Pa. Montgomery County

I was on Longford Road at night going back to Phoenixville last weekend traveling along Longford Road in Oaks Pa. when I came upon a railroad crossing with what appeared to be in the dark numerous hopper cars on both sides of the road.
My questions are: 1-What are these cars doing here? 2-How far down does this line extend? 3-Is this line very active and to what industries? $- Is this a future part of the Greenline that will go from Oaks to Paoli Pa. and Great Valley Corporate Center?

Schuylkill branch of the PRR. Ran from Main Line 52nd St -Manayunk/IvyRidge on up to Pottsville.[with a branch from Phoenixville down to Frazer (Devault)] Those cars seem to have been in storage for years. Smurfit-Stone (Container Corporation) used to get quite a few carloadings of paper for the folding carton plant on Longford Rd.

Last active customer received tank cars down at the end of the line near Devault.
Closed several years ago.

Line is now being used for car storage with the economic slowdown.

Ex-Reading Perkiomen Branch from Perkiomen Jct (east side of river) to oaks, then LH curve built to
connect to ex-PRR Schuykill br.

Would be great if it gets rebuilt to light rail....Oaks to Great Valley Corp center. It's a VERY scenic
line.

Is there any activity on that line recently going down to into Oaks in Montgomery County ?

railfanmikeinchesco wrote:Is there any activity on that line recently going down to into Oaks in Montgomery County ?

Nothing at all. I don't think trains have used that bridge and the line to Devault in at least 5 years.

speaking of cars in oaks, i was recently to the expo center for the first time, and imagine my surprise when i see a saddle tank 0 4 0, a speeder, and several industrial cars and diesels right along the side of the road. what the hell are they doing there and where did the tracks they're on go to? there's a disused station just up the way from them.

jtaeffner wrote:speaking of cars in oaks, i was recently to the expo center for the first time, and imagine my surprise when i see a saddle tank 0 4 0, a speeder, and several industrial cars and diesels right along the side of the road. what the hell are they doing there and where did the tracks they're on go to? there's a disused station just up the way from them.

Read above. It's the ex-reading Perkiomen Branch to Reading. The north end of the branch is still in and active as part of the East Penn RR system.

There used top be a long OOS reading signal standing just north of the egypt road crossing. Might still be there.

That signal at Egypt Road was still there as of a few weeks ago. You can also see an old trestle up against the nursery at the corner made by Egypt Road and the old right of way.