05-11-25 CLASSIC PHOTOS: R5 Lansdale

Back in 2005 SEPTA had just started what would be their major Reading division re-signaling project that would replace the largely Rule 251 ABS north of Wayne Junction with bi-directional cab signals without fixed wayside signals. Although due to the limitations of camera memory card capacity I had not yet ramped up my signal documentation to their later levels, I did want to preserve something of the old system and therefore I set out with local railfan Chuchubob over the Thanksgiving holiday week on a ride to Lansdale and back via SEPTA's flagship R5 Regional Rail Line.

Also included in the full set are some photos of the Broad Street Subway and Amtrak's 30th St station complex. I think to save on money, we took the Broad Street Subway to Fern Rock using a PATCO transfer where I shot a few photos of equipment in the ready storage yard and the rolling repair shoppe.

The SEPTA historic fleet was still parked in the upper storage yard, which was slightly easier to photograph.

Clear signal indication on the 4R signal at Tabor Junction as SEPTA SL-IV #305 coasts to a stop on the southbound platform. The interlocking is still in it's ABS configuration with a reverse direction dwarf signal, although the pneumatic point machines have already been replaced.

Example of an ABS signal on the Main Line just south of the recently high-leveled Melrose Park Station.

Medium Clear on the 24L signal at JENKIN interlocking. Trains heading to New York were given the "straight" route to the right. Today all trains are hobbled by an enforced 30mph cab signal indication regardless of the route set.

The flat junction at JENKIN featured a movable point diamond that was replaced in the re-signaling project with a pair of turnouts.

Just past the rusty Reading vintage 315 automatic signal our northbound R5 met a southbound counterpart with SEPTA SL-IV #140 in the lead.
 

05-11-21 PHOTOS: Lancaster and Cork Interlocking

Even as far back as 2005 Amtrak was making waves on the Harrisburg Line with planned improvements that would eliminate the 1940's vintage automatic block and tower system. One of the areas where this would have a large impact was the Lancaster, PA station area which was controlled by the 1927 vintage CORK interlocking tower and featured all sorts of holdovers from the days of the GG1 and electrified freight operations. Therefore during the thanksgiving period in 2005 I took some time to take a round trip on Amtrak's Keystone service to get what photos I could of the vintage hardware before it was replaced.

You can find the full set of these photos here (or here) along with some additional ones from the same time frame.

On my way up from grad school I stopped off at the Conowingo Dam, located on the lower Susquehanna River. Built in 1928 it is the largest privately owned hydro-electric facility in the United States with an installed capacity of 548MW. In the fall it is also a Mecca for bird watchers as over 100 bald eagles may show up on any given day to swoop up fish disoriented by getting run through the turbines.

At 30th St station a run-through Canadian Pacific train was traversing the Philadelphia High Line en route to the yards in South Philly. This train would have come down from Montreal via the old D&H route to Scranton and then the former Conrail Lehigh Line. Leading power was AC4400 #9814 and SD40-2 #5398. #5398 was an old Ontario Hydro unit that bounced back and forth between CN and CP ownership before being scrapped in 2009. In the foreground is an Amtrak P32-8WH locomotive. 

My Keystone train out to Lancaster was being haulted by Amtrak P42DC #11. As you can see the two station tracks have already been lifted with track bridges being used to reach the center main tracks. Later the two center tracks would be physically moved over to serve the platforms. The reason for the used of station tracks at Lancaster was to prevent the high level platforms from causing clearance issue for the through freights that plied the PRR Main Line up through the early 1980's. Note it appears that #11 has picked up a hitchhiker. 

CORK interlocking tower and that adjacent compressor house to power the pneumatic switch machines.

The Lancaster Station complex was constructed in 1927 along with the interlocking tower as part of a major improvement programme by the PRR. Although service levels fluctuated throughout the 1970's and 1980's, the state kept much of the Harrisburg Line infrastructure like the major stations, intact.

05-07-21 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Syracuse Trip

Back in 2005 I was waiting on a job to start, but since I was still technically unemployed I was invited to a job fair event for my scholarship programme in Syracuse, NY.  I requested to travel via Amtrak and I was pleasantly surprised when they agreed to foot the bill.  These photos were taken from Empire Service train on the trip between NYC and Syracuse. You can find the complete set of photos here.

We begin at Croton-Harmon with the recently restored HM tower.

The MNRR M7A's in the yard were still pretty new back then.

Amtrak's Rhinecliff station as seen from the north.  Rear facing railfan windows on Empire trains were present to Albany, but past there the rear cars were closed.

We had to wait at CP-114 for Amtrak P32AC-DM #705 and its train south of Hudson.

This was due to a CSX track patrol hi-rail getting itself situated on track 1.

The New York Central cantilever covering track 2 and the Schodak Branch at CP-125.

Old school track configuration at Albany. The Post Road branch for the Lake Shore Boston section heads off to the left.

Amtrak P32AC-DM #709 at Albany-Rensselaer.

Pool P32AC-DM #707 and #702 hanging out at the Albany diesel shoppe.

Unknown P32AC-DM with P42DC #109 at the Albany Diesel shoppes.

Former NY Central Tower 30 at Utica.

After the conference I got a ride back to the new Syracuse transportation center.  Standing on the high level platform I caught a Clear signal on the westbound cantilever at CP-291.  For a time this may have been the westernmost high level platform on the Amtrak system.

FURX SD40-2 #3044 and Conrail SD40-2 #8840 passing by with a train of autoracks.  CSX always liked using economical motive power on it's autorack trains.  I have frequently seen them with a single C40-8.

05-07-04 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Winslow Jct

Winslow Junction could be considered the nexus of railroading in South Jersey. Although of lesser importance today when compared to Pavonia or the Delair Bridge complex, at one time in the early 20th century it featured some of the highest traffic densities in the world as high speed steam train shuttled the middle and working classes between Philadelphia and the shore points. Created in it's final form with the PRSL merger in 1934, Winslow joined the PRR Camden and Atlantic main line with the Reading line to Ocean City and other points south with the CNJ Southern Division also making an appearance on the lower level.

Today, as in 2005, Winslow is the home base of the Southern Railroad of New Jersey short line, although 13 years ago it was home to a distinctly more eclectic mix of locomotives and rolling stock as the former owner was still alive enough to indulge his various personal railroading interests. In this photo set we'll take a quick tour of what was hanging out at Winslow Jct in the summer of 2005 along with some other random photos from a trip to Washington, DC via MARC and the Metro Orange Line.

The former owner of the SRNJ had a thing for Alcos and the New York, Ontario and Western and while the latter interest eventually manifested in some special paint schemes, the former was exercised via the purchase of a small fleet of Montreal Locomotive Works M-420 locomotives. These were a wide cab copy of the Alco century series C420 built in the 1970's after Alco had shut its doors in 1969. Here we see SRNJ #3579 and #3519 still in their Canadian National livery.

Here we see a non-CN painted #3517 coupled to CN #3578 on the ready service track. Much of this collection would eventually be scrapped after the indictment and death of the long time SRNJ owner in the early 2010's.

The SRNJ cast its net far and wide, harvesting this M-420 (#802) from the Iowa Interstate railroad.

The SRNJ had a pair of GE 44-ton locomotives and in 2005 this example was getting rebuilt to operating condition. I forget the exact details, but after the death of the old owner I believe both the 44-tones were either scrapped or sold. GE 44-ton switchers featured two 8 cylinder diesels in the 150hp range. The model was popular as at the time any locomotive weighing under 90,000 lbs did not have to run with a fireman in the cab.

Lehigh Valley painted Alco C420 #414 was a mainstay at Winslow Jct until it was moved to Scranton and used in Delaware Lackawana service that may have also involved a change of paint scheme.

Of course the EMDs were the most economical units to run and GP10 #102 was sitting on the main line awaiting the next call to duty. This unit had an oil fired burner installed in place of a plug-in block heater.

Up on the NJT Atlantic City line Comet IV cab car #5014 passes Winslow Tower.

WINSLOW tower was built after the 1934 merger to control the new wide ranging interlocking plant. You can learn more about it in another of my posts. The tower was closed with the end of NJ DoT RDC operations in 1983 and now serves as an NJT radio base.

05-06-04 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Lehigh Gourge

Back in 2005 I was still somewhat active with my old scout troop in South Jersey and every June the troop would take a rafting/canoe/bike trip on either the upper Lehigh or Delaware rivers. In 2005 the trip was of the bicycle variety down the Lehigh gourge from White Haven to Mach Chunk, a distance of about 15-20 miles. Using the former Central Railroad of New Jersey right of way, the trip, on a constant downgrade, would only take about 2-3 hours with a stop for lunch. After spending the night in Hope Creek State Park, the group would break early in the morning giving my dad and myself a few hours to check out the local railroad scene.

At that time the Reading and Northern was just starting to ramp up it's scenic passenger operations with a tourist train heading up the Lehigh Gourge between Mach Chunk and M&H Jct. In fact the R&N had restored a connection over the Lehigh river to connect to the former Conrail Lehigh Line. In later years the R&N would lease the Lehigh Line all the way up to Scranton and run all sorts of excursions between the tourist base on the Lehigh and the company HQ in Port Clinton. Having nothing better to do my dad and I went for a ride and I was able to get some photos from the open window coaches.

Also included in this set are photos from the last day of operation of NORTH PHILADELPHIA interlocking tower located in...North Philadelphia.

In fact that is where I am going to start. NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower was built on the Phildelphia Connecting Railroad around 1915 at the junction of the Chestnut Hill West branch and the Main Line. It was probably built in conjunction with the CHW electrification project in mind and also managed trains stopping at the new station with it's novel high level platforms. At the time North Philadelphia was the primary station for the PRR's premier east-west long distance train in the Philadelphia region as running into downtown and having to reverse or wye was unacceptable. Therefore the trains would stop at North Philadelphia instead, with passengers connecting to local PRR trains or the Broad Street Subway. The tower had a 47 lever US&S Electro-Pneumatic interlocking machine and controlled ladders on either side of the station along with the previously mentioned junction. At some point in the 90's a mural was applied as a beautification project.

 

Here we see two things that aren't around anymore, NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower and Amtrak AEM-7 #944. I can remember when passing by the tower after dark on Amtrak NEC trains I could often see the model board lit up inside.

Here we see an arriving SEPTA R8 train with Silverliner IV #163. The signal to the right is 50L, protecting a trailing point crossover on the CHW branch and controlled from a separate table style interlocking machine next to the main frame. It is notable for being mounted on an very rare "basket" style mast that provided a signal-level working platform for signal maintainers. This signal became an automatic after the tower's closure, eventually being removed by SEPTA after a re-signaling effort about 10 years later.

The same SEPTA train making a stop at the generally disused North Philadelphia R8 station platform. Access to the far track is still via an underpass. Today the underpass has been closed and replaced by a pedestrian grade crossing. The 34R signal on the signal bridge is displaying Slow Approach for the diverging movement onto the NEC. The signal has already been replaced by a new LED colourized model, but is still worked by the tower. After the cut-over this same movement would be given a Medium Clear signal indication.

Here we see NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower standing next to the famous massive signal bridge that spanned both the Main Line and Chestnut Hill West branch. About 5 years prior to this, the east end of the interlocking had been spun off into it's own remote controlled plant called CLEARFIELD. After the tower closed the remainder of the interlocking would be re-named LEHIGH. Both projects involved substantial plant rationalization as many industrial and station tracks were no longer needed.

Skipping ahead to the Lehigh gourge, we find R&N SD50 #5033 providing power on the north side of the 3 car consist. A second SD50 was on the rear to avoid shoving. The R&N was and is all about preservation, even 2nd and 3rd generation diesel power like SD50's and GP30's. In 2005 the SD50's were both enjoying a fresh coat of paint that 10+ years later is looking rather worn out.

Although not currently operating, former Reading railroad T-1 class steam location #2102 was on hand for the tourists to look at. The engine had last operated in the 90's for both excursions and to pull the occasional freight train.

CNJ painted F3A's #56 and #57 were not unknown to me because at the time they had recently lived at Winslow Junction along with a matching F3B unit. Over the years they would occasionally return to Winslow before finally being sold and repainted at Steamtown.