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Station Review #62: Ivy Ridge (SEPTA)

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Ivy Ridge is a station along the Manayunk-Norristown line, located along Umbria street in the Ivy Ridge neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA.  History Ivy Ridge station has had a very storied history, albeit one that has not been very long. It all starts with the Pennsylvania Railroad, who created the Schuylkill Branch. The Schuylkill Branch was a railway that went from Philadelphia to Pottsville via Reading. This is not to be confused with the Reading Railroad's Main Line, which did the exact same thing. In fact, both lines were so close to eachother that when much of the PRR Schuylkill Branch was abandoned and later turned into a rail trail, it was lauded as one of the least destructive rail trails in the area.  By the 1970s, the Schuylkill Branch lost any revenue service north of Manayunk West station, and began being referred to as the Ivy Ridge Branch, named after a nearby hill within walking distance of the end of the non abandoned portion of the line...

Station Review #61: Manayunk (SEPTA)

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Manayunk is a station on SEPTA's Manayunk-Norristown line, located at Cresson and Carson streets in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia. History One of the older variants of Manayunk station Manayunk has a very storied history as a train station. The first Manayunk station was built in 1834 by the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Railroad. A few decades later, the Pennsylvania Railroad built a branch to Ivy Ridge, and a new station in Manayunk, called "East Manayunk". That station was open as late as May 1986, but with the Ivy Ridge branch being sent back to Cynwyd, this was closed. The remaining Manayunk station is the one that was owned by the Reading Railroad, which proceeded the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Railroad.  Over the years, there were multiple incarnations of Manayunk station, four to be exact. This current station is the one that has stuck since 1930, when the station pictured above was demolished to grade s...

Station Review #60: Allegheny (SEPTA)

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Allegheny is a station on SEPTA's Market Frankford Line/L, located at Kensington Avenue and Allegheny Avenue in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. This station is not to be confused with Allegheny station on the Broad Street Line/B or Allegheny station on the Manayunk-Norristown line.  History Allegheny Station was originally part of the Frankford Elevated line, a line created by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT). This opened for service on November 5th, 1922, and it ran from Bridge-Pratt Station to 2nd Street station, completely elevated. At some point, these two lines were merged together in the early 1940s.  In between 1988 and 2003, Allegheny Station was rebuilt as part of the rebuilding of the entire Frankford Elevated. Due to this, Allegheny station is now accessible.  Over the past few years, Kensington Avenue as a whole has gotten a reputation for being a hub for the Delaware Valley drug market, with people coming ...