Railroad Forums 

  • Names of the various yards and locations

  • Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.
Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.

Moderator: AlexC

 #1470767  by train2
 
Thanks for all the replies. The point I was trying to make is of most of the yards mentioned and the ones I have seen, are small, just a few tracks. SEPTA really lacks a large yard, Aurora Ill. comes to mind with a large yard, where Metra stores a large number of trains. I think most of the Metra Lines have large yard at the end of the line. Just an observation on my part. You would think Trondale would have been a great place with all that flat empty space. But I realize the bulk of the trains only go to Malvern and the yard empty land is Amtk.
 #1470776  by andrewjw
 
train2 wrote:Thanks for all the replies. The point I was trying to make is of most of the yards mentioned and the ones I have seen, are small, just a few tracks. SEPTA really lacks a large yard, Aurora Ill. comes to mind with a large yard, where Metra stores a large number of trains. I think most of the Metra Lines have large yard at the end of the line. Just an observation on my part. You would think Trondale would have been a great place with all that flat empty space. But I realize the bulk of the trains only go to Malvern and the yard empty land is Amtk.
A key difference between SEPTA and other railroads is SEPTA's through-running, which means they have a much more symmetric inbound/outbound flow even at peak times. They also run more regular off-peak service. These two facts combined mean only a limited number of trains stored at the extremeties / deadheads are necessary to provide peak services.
 #1470808  by mcgrath618
 
train2 wrote:Thanks for all the replies. The point I was trying to make is of most of the yards mentioned and the ones I have seen, are small, just a few tracks. SEPTA really lacks a large yard, Aurora Ill. comes to mind with a large yard, where Metra stores a large number of trains. I think most of the Metra Lines have large yard at the end of the line. Just an observation on my part. You would think Trondale would have been a great place with all that flat empty space. But I realize the bulk of the trains only go to Malvern and the yard empty land is Amtk.
Yea like Andrew said most trains on the PRR side end up continuing to the RDG side and then just go back around again
Speaking of, is there a CHW train that continues to CHE, or the other way around? That would be really funny
 #1470814  by ekt8750
 
mcgrath618 wrote:
train2 wrote:Thanks for all the replies. The point I was trying to make is of most of the yards mentioned and the ones I have seen, are small, just a few tracks. SEPTA really lacks a large yard, Aurora Ill. comes to mind with a large yard, where Metra stores a large number of trains. I think most of the Metra Lines have large yard at the end of the line. Just an observation on my part. You would think Trondale would have been a great place with all that flat empty space. But I realize the bulk of the trains only go to Malvern and the yard empty land is Amtk.
Yea like Andrew said most trains on the PRR side end up continuing to the RDG side and then just go back around again
Speaking of, is there a CHW train that continues to CHE, or the other way around? That would be really funny
Yeah there is an afternoon peak train that starts at West and ends at East.
 #1470852  by BuddCar711
 
mcgrath618 wrote:Yea like Andrew said most trains on the PRR side end up continuing to the RDG side and then just go back around again
Speaking of, is there a CHW train that continues to CHE, or the other way around? That would be really funny
They're known as "loop trains" because the origins/destinations are close to each other. The loop trains are 7841, 7843, 7845 (Chestnut Hill East to West), 8764 (Chestnut Hill West to East), 7376 (Trenton to West Trenton), and 3755 (West Trenton to Trenton). So yes, funny but true.
 #1470881  by ExCon90
 
In the original scheme from 1984, the R6 (Ivy Ridge-Norristown) crossed over itself in Manayunk and North Philadelphia, stopping at Ivy Ridge twice, on different levels. Another peculiarity is that since on SEPTA the direction from 30th St. to Wayne Jct. is north, a train from Center City to Trenton is southbound, with the standard southbound odd numbers, so SEPTA trains from Philadelphia to Trenton have odd numbers while Amtrak trains headed to Trenton on the same tracks have even numbers (but different hundred digits), and vice versa in the opposite direction. Also, in the territory immediately (compass) northwest of 30th St., an Amtrak train for Trenton is northbound as far as ZOO, a SEPTA train for Paoli is southbound, and CSX on the High Line is eastbound, although all three are facing in the same compass direction (I suppose an NS train would be westbound, but if CSX does the dispatching it would have to be considered eastbound on the High Line).
 #1471024  by MACTRAXX
 
ekt8750 wrote:
ExCon90 wrote:Wilmington has no yard in use by SEPTA, no doubt because one can easily imagine the uproar at any proposal for Pennsylvania to pay for a yard in Delaware -- all trains deadhead back to Phila. at night and from Phila. in the morning. I think that at one time there was a similar issue between NJ and PA about providing a yard for NJT in Morrisville, but it was resolved somehow.
Delaware pays SEPTA to operate train service down there and also funds any infrastructure that is used to provide that service (which is why they paid for a few of the SLVs). If they saw fit to build a layup yard somewhere in Delaware or rent some space in Amtrak's Wilmington Shop or Norfolk Southern's Newark Yard, they'd be ones footing the bill.
EC90, EKT and Everyone - Getting back to topic:

Back in the early 1980s when Conrail was still running SEPTA commuter trains under contract
they used West Yard which is SW of Wilmington to store equipment. When SEPTA took direct
control beginning in 1983 Delaware service had ended and all trains terminated at Marcus Hook.
SEPTA never used itself or had a yard facility on the Wilmington-Newark Line in Delaware.

If Amtrak was receptive along with a DTC subsidy - they could have used West Yard to store
some trains as a Delaware-based facility. Amtrak uses West Yard today for MOW equipment.
The advantage here is that West Yard is constructed and has catenary for MU cars in place.

MACTRAXX
 #1471172  by ExCon90
 
Another thought just struck me: If trains originated and terminated at West Yard, is there a sufficient number of Regional Rail employees who would want to bid on a run starting and ending in Wilmington? I know that when PRR ran the service many employees lived in Delaware, but I'm not sure how things stand today.