Ranya's Ramblings

Chestnut Hill East is the terminus station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill East line, located along Bethlehem Pike in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill neighborhood. History   Chestnut Hill East was built as the terminus for the Chestnut Hill Railroad,  which itself was leased by the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown railroad in 1854. The Chestnut Hill branch was extended 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Germantown Branch (which ironically enough later on was demolished). Chestnut Hill was the terminus station for this branch.  The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown became the Reading Company in 1870 and thus so did the line. Not long afterwards, the original building shown above was demolished and another building, this one made of stone instead of brick, was built in its place. This arrangement lasted six decades. In 1932, the Reading Railroad decided to finally electrify and grade-separate all of the Chestnut Hill East branch. Doing so required all of the st

34th Street is a station on SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line located at 34th Street and Market Street in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA.  Tour The station from outside 34th Street is one of the stations on the underground portion of the L, which are all known for having very old parts. You can see its roots in the Paris solution entrance, which all used the same general types of weird metal fencing also used in places like NYC. This is the entrance near the 34th Street Wawa.  Stairs The stairs lead to the station itself, nothing special here. There are no other ways in besides these stairs. 34th Street is one of three stations on the line that are still inaccessible, the other two being 11th and Spring Garden.  I go in and am immediately greeted by this sight: Already, this feels incredibly dated.  Old signboard This is an old signboard that was just left there for decades, most likely.  Bus

Avon Road is a station on SEPTA's 101 and 102 trolley lines (D lines). This station is at the intersection of the combined 101/102 section and Avon Road, in Upper Darby, PA, hence the name.  Like every other trolley station, this station is completely disabled people cannot easily get on the trolleys, as they're high-floor and designed with steps. However, even if one was using low-floor trolleys that could bridge the gap between the station and the trolley, this station would still be inaccessible due to its staggered design and traffic flow issues. Tour 102 Trolley at Avon Road There is very little at this station. It's just two shelters, two platforms, and a few signs. All of the amenities of each shelter are at the very end of the shelter, as if it wasn't inaccessible enough otherwise.  Platform Old shelter There used to be a shelter much like the other older 101/102 shelters, but it seems to have been closed up and ab

Waterfront Entertainment Center is the southern terminus station on NJT's River Line located on the Camden Waterfront. This station exists to serve FreedomMortgage Pavillion, which oftentimes has things like concerts, and formerly a baseball team.  Tour River Line train This station is pretty similar to other River line stations but not quite.  Track 1 platform Industrial spur to Yorkship Track 2 platform Instead of there being a northern or southern track here, there are two terminal tracks and a switch. That's one of the only things making Waterfront Entertainment Center different from any other River Line station at all.  The surrounding area Much of the area around Waterfront Entertainment Center is just parking. So much parking. Do you need this much parking? Does anyone need this much parking? More parking FreedomMortgage Pavilion, which the station is basically named after Bat

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