The route 6 remnants are well covered; and I'll add a few more comments, having ridden the line scores of times:
The half-mile of right of way behind century-old suburban houses still exists from the Glenside substation going downhill to near the present Glenside Library at the intersection of Keswick Avenue and Waverly Road where street running began. An intermediate grade crossing at Royal Avenue existed on the downgrade, where the track leveled for about 30'. Downgrade was a hard stop, and the outbound roadbed became filled with sand.
At the southeast corner of Keswick and Waverly stood a tiny shelter for the relief operator. Between City Line and there, a zone fare was collected by the roving operator.
Just around the curve from the long-gone New Street branch to the Glenside freight station was a crossover. The branch ran double track in New Street, then passed diagonally across PRT property to single track stub at the freight station which fronted on Glenside Avenue where there is now a wiggle in a side street. The PRT property was only built upon in the 1970s, and the homes' architectural differences are obvious.
The Keswick Avenue underpass at the Reading tracks in Glenside is low (sometimes flooding). The wires north of there rose so abruptly that when the PCCs started operating, there were frequent dewirements.
Roslyn Loop, just short of Easton Road on the west side of Tyson Avenue, was a weekday rush hour short turn location. A small brick apartment house is on the site.
A short distance north, the present Tyson Avenue bridge over Susquehanna Road replaced the former trolley and road arch bridge.
The wide Old Welsh Road between Rockwell and Old York Road shows the location of the track that existed there on the south side (long paved) to bring the southbound route 55 cars from the Willow Grove loop to Old York Road.
Willow Grove once had a coal-fired power house which was fed by a standard-guage coal trestle at right angle to the Reading New Hope Branch. After route 55 quit, the substation on the north side of Moreland Road between Davisville and Easton Roads was retained to power the outer few miles of route 6. Some of its foundations remain in view from the adjacent bank's parking lot. Many times, I heard the high-pitched whine of the rotary converters which at one time also powered the park's electrical system.
The half-mile of right of way behind century-old suburban houses still exists from the Glenside substation going downhill to near the present Glenside Library at the intersection of Keswick Avenue and Waverly Road where street running began. An intermediate grade crossing at Royal Avenue existed on the downgrade, where the track leveled for about 30'. Downgrade was a hard stop, and the outbound roadbed became filled with sand.
At the southeast corner of Keswick and Waverly stood a tiny shelter for the relief operator. Between City Line and there, a zone fare was collected by the roving operator.
Just around the curve from the long-gone New Street branch to the Glenside freight station was a crossover. The branch ran double track in New Street, then passed diagonally across PRT property to single track stub at the freight station which fronted on Glenside Avenue where there is now a wiggle in a side street. The PRT property was only built upon in the 1970s, and the homes' architectural differences are obvious.
The Keswick Avenue underpass at the Reading tracks in Glenside is low (sometimes flooding). The wires north of there rose so abruptly that when the PCCs started operating, there were frequent dewirements.
Roslyn Loop, just short of Easton Road on the west side of Tyson Avenue, was a weekday rush hour short turn location. A small brick apartment house is on the site.
A short distance north, the present Tyson Avenue bridge over Susquehanna Road replaced the former trolley and road arch bridge.
The wide Old Welsh Road between Rockwell and Old York Road shows the location of the track that existed there on the south side (long paved) to bring the southbound route 55 cars from the Willow Grove loop to Old York Road.
Willow Grove once had a coal-fired power house which was fed by a standard-guage coal trestle at right angle to the Reading New Hope Branch. After route 55 quit, the substation on the north side of Moreland Road between Davisville and Easton Roads was retained to power the outer few miles of route 6. Some of its foundations remain in view from the adjacent bank's parking lot. Many times, I heard the high-pitched whine of the rotary converters which at one time also powered the park's electrical system.
John Pawson
