Today I was heading south on 95 in Philadelphia. I cannot remember exactly where, but it appeared like I drove over an abandoned yard on the right. On the left was more of the yard and the remains of a kickback track for hopper cars. This had to be Reading. Can comeone please confirm?
Railroad Forums
Yard under 95 in Philadelphia
- Discussion of the historical operations related to the Central Railroad of New Jersey; Lehigh & Hudson River; Lehigh & New England; Lehigh Valley; and the Reading Company. Visit the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society for more information.
Moderators: David, scottychaos, CAR_FLOATER, metman499, Franklin Gowen, Marty Feldner
If you were between Allegheny and Girard Aves. you were probably passing over the Reading's Port Richmond Yard which prior to Conrail was a major port facility for the Reading and was the location of the old Cramps Shipyard. Up until Conrail it was an important facility for exporting coal from the fields of Northeastern Pa. Conrail decided to use the also acquired Greenwich Yard for this purpose and the Port Richmond yard was downgraded to almost nothing. There is some activity there still but the yard is mostly weed choked though under the weeds there is a surprising amount of semi-buried rail still there. Some of the Reading Diesels Books and Reading Power books have some interesting color pix of what it used to look like up until the mid 1970's.
The pier next to the one with the "kick back" track, near Cumberland St., had a transfer table at its end, for flat switching of gondola cars. The recently demolished grain or coal elevator near Allegheny Ave. also had a "kick back" track, but it may not have been steep enough for roller bearing cars. At least one truck went over the end and landed on the sidewalk! In the 1980s, when someone tried to use it for unloading coal, they used brakemen on the cars.
If anyone wants to railfan today's activities there, Monday evenings seem to be a consistent time when CSAO does their switching moves along Somerset Street. You might also get lucky and get a shot of a PCC along with a NS/CSX engine on the track closest to the street.
The concrete recycling trains seem to be biweekly, in the morning on their way in. You can catch them on Richmond Street, or on Allegheny past I-95 moving through Riverside Materials.
Switching activity on Delaware & Allegheny seems to be more sporatic, maybe once or twice a week. Will probablly get busy as we move into fall.
The concrete recycling trains seem to be biweekly, in the morning on their way in. You can catch them on Richmond Street, or on Allegheny past I-95 moving through Riverside Materials.
Switching activity on Delaware & Allegheny seems to be more sporatic, maybe once or twice a week. Will probablly get busy as we move into fall.