Posts

Station Review #141: Penllyn (SEPTA)

Image
Penllyn is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale-Doylestown Line. The station is located at 908 Pershing Road in Lower Gwynnedd Township, PA. Despite this, the station attracts traffic from nearby Whitpain township (particularly Blue Bell) as well. Penllyn as a village is located in both townships, and grew mainly in part due to this station. Penllyn is a zone 3 station.  History   This station's history is to an extent unclear. Penllyn was built by the NPRR when they made their main line to Bethlehem in the 1860s or so. If Penllyn was built for the opening of the line, or if it was an infill station built after is unknown. What  is  known however is that this station was demolished by the Reading Railroad and replaced by a newer station in 1903.    In the 1990s, SEPTA rented part of the depot to CDNow, a popular online CD sales service, for its headquarters. This lasted for a few years until they then moved to Jenkintown and finally Fort Washington. Th...

Station Reivew #140: Pennsauken/Route 73 (NJT)

Image
Pennsauken/Route 73 is a station on NJT's River Line. The station is located at 9435 County Route 523 in the Delair neighborhood of Pennsauken, NJ.  Tour River line train At least at the platforms, Pennsauken-Route 73 is an average River Line station Average River Line station amenities Southbound platform Both platforms look about the same.  Bike rack Parking Much of this station is a large parking lot, which is unsurprisingly empty.  Unprotected crossing There is no crossing light or any audible warning for any trains that may be approaching. This is the only way to or from the southbound platform.  Bus Connections There are two bus connections at Pennsauken/Route 73 station: NJT 419 - Camden-Pennsauken Transit Center-Riverside: This bus essentially paralells the River Line, going along River Road/River Avenue. It connects to every River Line station south of Delanco. It...

Station Review #139: West Trenton (SEPTA)

Image
West Trenton is the terminus station on SEPTA's West Trenton Line. The station is located at 3 Railroad Avenue in Ewing Township, NJ. This station is located in the small village of West Trenton.  History West Trenton Station was built at least as far back as 1929 as an infill station. For a long time, West Trenton was a normal station along the Reading line from Philadelphia to Jersey City. Services such as the Wall Street and the Crusader ran that route, all terminating at the now nonexistent Communipaw Terminal, where passengers would then take a ferry at the nearby Weehawken Terminal into New York City.  In the 1960s, a new track connection was built for the Reading line that allowed trains to go onto the PRR main line, which meant that a new service pattern arose, with trains taking the Reading line between Reading Terminal and Newark Penn station. It got passed onto SEPTA, and then was broken into two lines at West Trenton in 1981, with NJT runnin...

Station Review #138: Indianapolis Union (Amtrak/Greyhound)

Image
Indianapolis Union Station is a station served by Amtrak's Cardinal train and numerous intercity buses, most notably from Greyhound.  History Indianapolis Union Station was the second ever Union station in the United States, built in 1853 by the Madison and Indianapolis railroad. The original station building eventually became too small for the demand faced, and a newer large station building was built in 1888 with the leadership of the civil engineer Thomas Rodd. A large train shed built in a similar style to the likes of Newark Penn was built for the station in 1900.    There once was a time where one could get to fifteen different states with one train from Indianapolis station, with trains going to Chicago, Saint Louis, New York City, and Miami, as well as many destinations in between. Those days are no more. The fall of American passenger rail hit Indianapolis Union station  hard , and it never truly recovered. The most recent example of this is with...