Ranya's Ramblings

Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center, also known as Pottstown Transportation Center, is a bus center located in downtown Pottstown, PA. The station is served by Amtrak and PART buses. History Pottstown was originally a train station on the Reading Railroad's main line, with service between Pottsville and Philadelphia. The original station was built by the Pennsylvania and Reading in 1867, and was only torn down and rebuilt in 1928.   Pottstown station saw service up until 1981, when SEPTA cut back service to Norristown due to a lack of funding for more diesel trains to run with their electric trains in more far flung areas. In 1984, the station building was added to the national register of historic places.  At some point, the bus berths near the former train station started getting called Pottstown Transportation Center. Years later, the station was renamed to Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center, after Charles W. Dickinson, the founde...

Main Building Plaza Transportation Center is a transit center located in King of Prussia, PA, as part of King of Prussia mall. The station is used as the King of Prussia mall stop for many SEPTA bus routes, as well as the Upper Merion Rambler.  Services These bus routes go to Plaza Transportation Center: • 92 - To Paoli and West Chester Transportation Center • 99 - To Norristown Transportation Center • 99 - To Oaks and Phoenixville • 123 - To 69th Street Transportation Center • 124 - To Gulph Mills and Center City • 124 - To Chesterbrook • 125 - To Gulph Mills and Center City • 125 - To Moore Park and Valley Forge • 139 - To Limerick • Upper Merion Rambler - To Bridgeport • Upper Merion Rambler - To Upper Merion Community Center Seven bus routes in total Tour A couple of bus stops Some TVMs The inside of the waiting room The waiting room at Plaza Transportation Center has been closed since 2020.  The other...

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...

Arrott Transportation Center is a station on SEPTA's L line, located at Frankford Avenue and Arrott street in the center of Frankford, a neighborhood in Lower Northeast Philadelphia. The station is a regional bus hub as well.  History 75 bus at the busway Arrott Transportation Center is a very old station, its existence going back to 1922. Originally, the station was named Margaret-Orthodox-Arrott, but the Arrott was dropped after SEPTA took over in favor of what is simply "Margaret-Orthodox". Meanwhile, the bus terminal was called "Arrott Bus Terminal". It was around the time of this renaming that the last trolleys in the area, the 59 and 75, were replaced by trolleybuses.  For decades, this change stuck, confusing people who were not familiar with the area all the while. This finally changed in 2014, when Margaret-Orthodox station was renamed to Arrott Transportation Center. This was a hallmark for a major change to come for the station...