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.