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Showing posts with the label chestnut hill east line

Station Review #184: Washington Lane (SEPTA)

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Washington Lane is a SEPTA Regional Rail station located near Washington Lane and Chew Avenue in the East Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia.  History The station with older signage. In 1878, the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad built a Walnut Lane station along their Chestnut Hill Branch. The PG&N was subsequently bought out by the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1907, work was underway to remove grade crossings along a few lines. In doing so, the PRR replaced the station with a new Washington Lane station. The depot fell into disrepair and was demolished to make way for more parking. Part of a shelter was kept from it, and not much else.  Tour The station from across the road. Washington Lane is a small station, or at least it's small enough that you can't see it past the very large trees. Those have been growing since the 1930s at the very earliest.  Inaccessible walking path. Parking lot.   This station has a l...

Station Review #75: Wayne Junction (SEPTA)

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Sign Wayne Junction is a train station located in the Wayne Junction neighborhood of Philadelphia. It has service from SEPTA's Airport, Chestnut Hill East, Fox Chase, Glenside Combined, Lansdale - Doylestown, and Warminister lines.  History  Old Wayne Junction station Wayne Junction was first built in 1881 as a station along Germantown Pike that also served as a junction station. This junction allowed trains from Germantown, Chestnut Hill, Bethlehem, Doylestown, and Newtown to all converge along the Reading Main line, which made transfers more convenient for passengers. Both the Reading Railroad and the B&O railroad used the station, so eventually, services from all over the US that went through Philadelphia started going through Wayne Junction as well.  Alas, the era of train being the main mode of travel eventually ended in the US by the 1950s. This caused the decline of Wayne Junction station. Even after this, there still was intercity train...

Station Review #69: Wister (SEPTA)

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Wister is a station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill East line, located on East Ashmead Street in the East Germantown Neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia.  History The now demolished station house The history of Wister station is somewhat unclear, but traces back to at least the 1860s, though possibly all the way to 1832, when the Germantown railroad was built. In 1854, the Chestnut Hill Railroad was completed, giving Wister station newfound service to Germantown, Chestnut Hill, and Center City. Wister station got its name from its original location, which was at the railroad's intersection with Wister Street. Some time around the 1880s, the station was renamed to Duys station. This name didn't last all that long, and by 1925 it was back to Wister station.  In 1929, the old station was demolished, with the station grounds being moved to Ashmead street. This was done in accordance with the grade separation project that the Reading Railroad was performing o...