Can anybody answer me this question: why does the trackage from Roslyn to Willow have only one track??? I know that the track was put into place like over 100 years ago but the fact that Willow Grove Mall is nearby the station, I thought that the station would have two tracks than one. Please explain. And does the New Hope and Ivyland have the same number of trackage as Warminster, one???
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Trains to Warminster & New Hope trackage
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There is one track from Roslyn to Willow Grove. When the mall was Willow Grove Park, it was very well served by trolleys. It was a trolley park owned by the PTC. The train tracks were owned by the Reading who couldn't care less about the park.
To further answer your question, there is a passing siding just north of the Willow Grove station and meets were quite frequent there until the schedule changes a year or so ago, most now occur only during rush hours. There is also a passing siding at Hatboro which is rarely used. As far as New Hope and Ivyland trackage, it is all single track with passing sidings at Ivyland, Buckingham Valley and Wycombe. The Ivyland siding is primarily used for interchange with the twice weekly CSX runs.
Glenn
There is also a huge amount of rock that had to be dug out between Willow Grove and Crestmont. I'm sure it was more feasible to keep that as single track and put in passing sidings rather than spend more on removing rock.
Thank goodness the meets in Willow Grove were eliminated. Seemed like kind of an unnecessary evil, since only the very outer end of the R2 is single track. A few years ago SEPTA had a half-hearted project to extend the passing siding south to the station proper. I guess they lost interest or money or both, because there is some rail there and some dead ties but the catenary was never extended and a switch was never cut in. I believe there may have been two tracks in the station area at least through the '30's, though, because the catenary supports are wide enough to accomodate two tracks north of the Davisville Rd crossing (unless like SEPTA, the Reading planned an expansion and never built it). Wanderer, if you ever have the chance this summer to ride the New Hope and Ivyland's long excursion from Warminster all the way to the end of track in New Hope, do it! The curves and the cuts will make you appreciate the fact that the North East Pennsylvania RR was able to build one track, let alone two!
RDGAndrew wrote:Thank goodness the meets in Willow Grove were eliminated. Seemed like kind of an unnecessary evil, since only the very outer end of the R2 is single track. A few years ago SEPTA had a half-hearted project to extend the passing siding south to the station proper. I guess they lost interest or money or both, because there is some rail there and some dead ties but the catenary was never extended and a switch was never cut in. I believe there may have been two tracks in the station area at least through the '30's, though, because the catenary supports are wide enough to accomodate two tracks north of the Davisville Rd crossing (unless like SEPTA, the Reading planned an expansion and never built it).Somebody should check with John Pawson or look up in a Reading Company employee timetable for a more definitive answer. My recollection (could well be wrong) is that SEPTA took up the second track through the station area a decade or so ago.
glennk419 wrote:
GMC
There is also a passing siding at Hatboro which is rarely used.FYI... The passing siding at Hatboro station has been clamped. I noticed that about 2 weeks ago when I took the train home from work. I don't know if its related to some work being done along the tracks near there or not.
GMC
Its been clamped for years. Who knows if the catenary is even still useable. I've never seen the track used. SEPTA probablly keeps it for when maintenance work is done every few years.
Somebody should check with John Pawson or look up in a Reading Company employee timetable for a more definitive answer. My recollection (could well be wrong) is that SEPTA took up the second track through the station area a decade or so ago.Phila. Division Time Table No. 20, effective July 1st 1963, lists Roslyn as the west end of double track and 1 main track through Willow Grove. The siding capacity at W.G. is listed as 21 cars (based on 44-foot cars) = 924'. Don't know the current length. The book "Electric Trains to Reading Terminal" by Wes Coates has a shot on p. 86 of "a trio of Blueliners outbound at Willow Grove in the mid-1960's" . The photo shows the catenary supports could span a second track - no sign of the track in the photo though. I think there was once a freight siding here that ran up parallel to Davisville Rd., and maybe the passing track was longer to accomodate switching moves - lasted long enough for the electrification to be built around it but subsequently removed?
There are remnants of a second track at the Willow Grove station, including a platform on the other side.
Those remnants were installed about 10 years ago by Septa as part of a plan to extend the siding so that sounthbound trains could wait in the station for northbound trains to pass. The construction actually got as far as the switch frogs being installed although the switch was never completed and eventually removed. The catenary was also never extended.
Glenn
As far as New Hope and Ivyland trackage, it is all single track with passing sidings at Ivyland, Buckingham Valley and WycombeLahaska too IIRC...where the steam trips turn around.
I think that this topic best belongs in the Pennsylvania Railroad Forum as it deals with their past operations more than it does with the current operations of SEPTA.
We can continue to still talk about it here, though. Keep the good comments rolling!
We can continue to still talk about it here, though. Keep the good comments rolling!
