Ranya's Ramblings

Highland is a station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West line. The station is located at 8412 Seminole Avenue in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. If one doesn't count the Chestnut Hill West Line platforms at North Philadelphia station as a separate station, Highland station has the lowest ridership of any station on the Chestnut Hill West Line, as well as the 9th least used overall.  History The Philadelphia, Germantown, and Chestnut Hill branch of the Connecting Railway (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad made to connect) was established in 1884, and a line from North Philadelphia to Chestnut Hill to connect with the PRR main line was finished in 1887, and with it Highland station opened. A large depot was built for the station, but it didn't seem to be used a lot.  In 1916, this section of the PRR Chestnut Hill branch was grade separated, and with that the old depot was demolished. In its place went a small wooden shelter. At some ...

Tulpehocken is a station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West line. The station is located at Tulpehocken Avenue near Wayne Avenue in the Blue Bell Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Tour Tulpehocken feels like a lot of the other stations on the Chestnut Hill West Branch. As is the norm here, nothing is accessible.  The depot has since fallen into disrepair and disuse.  The outbound platform That's most of the outbound platform right there. Outbound shelter   Some of the Chestnut Hill West stations have a shelter that only has a map and schedules inside.  No bench though, everyone can just sit in the rain instead! Rest of the outbound platform Stairs to the tunnel between the platforms The tunnel Dingy, as per usual with these tunnels The old depot Parking lot The entire station from one of the parking lots This place seems a lot more sad...

Chelten Avenue is a station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West line, located on Chelten avenue in West Germantown.  History Chelten station in 1916 Chelten station was created by the Pennsylvania Railroad for their rail line to Fort Washington/Whitemarsh in 1884 or so as "Germantown station" but was renamed to "Chelten station" to distinguish it from the Philadelphia and Germantown railroad's Germantown station. Not long after this, A branch to Chestnut Hill was made, which had three new stations, this branch quickly becoming more popular than the branch to Fort Washington itself. Chelten station quickly became a very popular station, as Germantown itself was a popular destination where many lived, (and still do live). Sometime around 1916, the Pennsylvania Railroad started a project for grade separating the line at Chelten Avenue itself, as this area had high traffic. The current station was finished in 1918.  The 1950s brought great chan...

Ah yes, part two of my ongoing series on the North Philadelphia Station Complex  North Philadelphia CHW is a station on the Chestnut Hill West line, located in North Philadelphia (hence the name), near 16th and Indiana. Much like most of the other North Philadelphia stations, this station is absolutely awful, and it's not hard to see why.  History  I can't find any old photos of this area directly, but it was always an extra area just off of the main station, as seen from the only aerial photo I found of the station. The station used to at least have a station house and shelters. Those are all gone, and replaced by... Nothing. Concrete Platform Tour Chestnut Hill West Train There isn't much of anything here. There are two bus stop type shelters, and nothing else.  Everything To add insult to injury, the shelters are in very bad condition. The Center City shelter has all of its glass broken, and papers are taped to the pillars of th...