Ranya's Ramblings

Norristown - Main Street is a station on SEPTA's Manayunk-Norristown line. The station is located on Main and Markley Streets in downtown Norristown.  History Norristown-Main Street was originally built by the North Penn Railroad in 1872 as part of their Stony Creek Railroad branch. This was a railway line that linked the North Penn Railroad main line to Norristown at Lansdale. This station was their Norristown station. Seven years after completion, the NPRR was bought out by the Reading Railroad. Immediately afterwards, a link was created between Norristown Main Street station and the new Reading main line at Norristown, completed in 1882. The station depot shown above most likely was built sometime around the turn of the 20th century, since it looks similar to other Reading Railroad stations of this era.  In 1912 when the Lehigh Valley Transit Company's Liberty Bell Line also started stopping at the station. This was an interurban that went between 69...

Norristown - Elm Street is a station on SEPTA's Manayunk-Norristown line. The station is located on Markley and Elm Streets in Norristown's West End neighborhood. Elm Street is one of three stations in Norristown, along with Main Street and Norristown Transportation Center.  History The history of Norristown-Elm Street is very unclear. Originally, there was a station at Elm Street that was possibly built in 1872 by the North Penn Railroad. This station was torn down in 1899. Later on, electrification of the western end of the Stony Creek branch in Norristown occured in 1933, and this station was made on what was originally a siding as the terminus for most electric service on the Reading Railroad's services between Philadelphia and Norristown.  Even after further diesel passenger service on the Stony Creek Branch stopped, trains still go to Elm Street.  At some point in the 2000s, Norristown-Elm Street was rebuilt. There are no surviving pictures o...

Ridgewood is a station on NJT's Main Line. The station is located in Ridgewood, New Jersey.  History The station, sometime before 1915 Ridgewood station first started life along what was formerly the Paterson and Ramapo railroad, as "Godwinville" station, in 1848. This station was rebuilt in 1856 and 1859. In 1866, the station was renamed to Ridgewood due to the popularity of the new name for the town. The station was rebuilt again in 1915, to grade separate the whole line. In 2011, the station was remodeled to make it accessible.  At its peak, Ridgewood station was a regional transfer point between many different services heading to far flung locations such as Chicago. But of course, those days couldn't last forever, and no more intercity service stops at Ridgewood station. Despite this, the station is still important in a regional context.   Services That Run Here Three services run here: Main Line : Hoboken to Suffern via Passaic County Ber...

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...