Station Review #43: Noble (SEPTA)


Noble is a station on SEPTA's West Trenton line, located in the small village of Noble, Pennsylvania, itself located in Abington Township, Pennsylvania. 

History

Photo of Noble immediately after being built

Noble was built by the North Penn Railroad in 1889. Immediately after being built, the station was inaugurated by US President Benjamin Harrison. 

In 1901, the Reading Railroad took over the West Trenton Line and tore down many of North Penn's stations, building new ones based on the standard Reading Railroad station template. 

The main station house was used as a waiting room until 2001 or so, and now is abandoned.

Tour

Silverliner IV at the northbound platform of Noble Station

Despite the fact that Noble station seems the type of station to have a lot going on, that could not be further from the truth. 

Silverliner V at Noble Station

On the southbound end of the station is the station house, which currently sits disused. 

The door to the station house

Close up on the weathered map on the door

A much newer map that is nearby

Inside the old station house

Behind the station house

Another angle of the station house 

Bench

The station house is similar in design to other former Reading Railroad stations, like Somerton or the old Olney station. 

And much like both of those stations, there is very little on the other side of the tracks (though in Olney's case, there has been no second platform ever since the Fox Chase line became single-tracked). All that can be seen here is a single bus shelter with a bench inside of it. This northbound platform is pretty standard for a lot of SEPTA Regional Rail stations, or so one would think. 

Old freight station? 

Next to the main two platforms is this shack, used to store equipment. I have no idea what this is, or when it was built. I imagine that this was an old freight station, as it looks different than the passenger station built by North Penn or the replacement built by Reading. Whichever it is, that shack is not in good condition.
 
The weirdest part about the old freight station is that it has a high platform, but the actual station itself does not. 


And to make this station seem even more odd, it's also surrounded on all sides by a small pond's worth of parking lots. 

Transit Connections


Noble station only has one real bus connection, and that's the 55. The 55 goes between Olney Transportation Center and Doylestown via PA-611 (Old York Road and Easton Road), with many trips ending at Willow Grove instead of going all the way to Doylestown. 

Things to do in Noble

There is very little near Noble station. You do still get some stores like a Whole Foods though, and a Wawa. A few years ago, there used to be a very good Frozen Yogurt place very close to the station, but this has since closed. 

Statistics:


Name: Noble
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): West Trenton Line
Locality: Noble
City/Township: Abington Township 
County: Montgomery 
State: PA
Ridership: 197 Boardings, 229 Alightings, 426 total per average weekday 


Amenities Checklist


Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ×
Clean Station: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: × (in order to get to the other side you have to go up over to the Old York Road bridge and go down the other staircase that you did not go up)
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: × (constantly closed)
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ×
Adequate Parking: ×
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ×
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ×
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ×

Final Verdict: 3.5/10. 

It's not good but it's certainly better than a very specific station nearby 

Station Directory

--------Philadephia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
Penn Medicine
30th Street
Suburban
Jefferson (Market East)
Temple University
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
Fern Rock Transportation Center
--------Montgomery County--------
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Melrose Park
Elkins Park
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Jenkintown/Wyncote
Noble
Rydal
Meadowbrook
Bethayres
Philmont
--------Philadephia County--------
Forest Hills
Somerton
--------Bucks County--------
Trevose
Neshaminy Falls
''''''''Zone 4''''''''
Langhorne
Woodbourne
Yardley
--------New Jersey--------
--------Mercer County--------
''''''''NJ Zone''''''''
West Trenton

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Station Review #50: Baltimore Pennsylvania (Amtrak/MARC)

Image
Baltimore-Pennsylvania Station (aka Baltimore-Penn or just Penn) is the main train station of Baltimore, Maryland. This station is used both for MARC trains and Amtrak trains, most notably for the MARC PENN line and Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Acela trains, as well as other Amtrak trains. Baltimore-Penn Station is currently the 8th most used train station in the US. History Baltimore Penn Station is the third iteration of the train station in that exact location, and trains stopping here go back to 1873. The first station was a wooden station built by the North Central Railroad, a subsidiary of the PRR. This was demolished, and replaced by the Charles Street Union Station, pictured above. This was then also demolished and replaced by a new Baltimore Penn station in 1910, which is the station that is currently there.  Historically, all service was run by the PRR, which not only included service up and down the Northeast Corridor but also included service
Read more

Station Review #73: Glenside (SEPTA)

Image
Glenside is a station serving multiple SEPTA Regional Rail lines, located at Easton Road and Glenside Avenue in Glenside, PA.  History Glenside station was built in 1873 by the North Pennsylvania Railroad, one of the few original NPRR station houses to remain to this day. Just six years later, the NPRR was bought by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, the predecessor to the Reading Railroad. Glenside station was originally named Abington station, and was renamed sometime later to Glenside.  In 2000, a café opened in the station building called Elcy's Café.  Routes that Serve Glenside Station  There are four Regional Rail routes that go to Glenside station, these are:  Airport Line: These trains go to Center City via the SEPTA Main line, before then going to Philadelphia International Airport. Oftentimes, these are combined with Warminister Line trains.  Glenside Combined Line: These trains usually just go from 30th Street station to Glenside vi
Read more

Station Review #54: Gwynedd Valley (SEPTA)

Image
Gwynedd Valley is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale - Doylestown line at its intersection with Plymouth Avenue in the small village of Gwynedd Valley, PA.  History Information about the history of Gwynedd Valley station is scarce. This station dates back to the 1850s. It's unknown if the station building is that old, or if it's actually a newer station built by the Reading Railroad after the acquisition of the North Penn Railroad main line. Not long after Gwynedd Valley station was built, wealthy people started moving to that area in droves. Today, many very wealthy people still live in the area.  Gwynedd Valley station is well known for an illustration of it being on the October 7th, 1961 cover of the Saturday Evening Post . This is illustrated by well-known illustrator John Falter, at the time a resident of Whitpain Township, PA.   Tour Much as you'd expect, this station really has not changed all that much in the last centu
Read more