21-04-24 PHOTOS: Devon and Wayne

The next point of focus on my PRR Main Line tour are the stations of Devon and Wayne, 16 and 14 miles from Suburban Station respectively. Each location plays host to a classic PRR signal bridge still in a 1940's vintage configuration along with all of the other Main Line accoutrements such as victorian station buildings, a 4 track main line with 1915 overhead catenary and a mix of SEPTA and Amtrak services. You can find the full gallery of photos here ( mirror ).

The Devon station is typical of those seen on the Main Line, an ornate Victorian building made from high quality materials like brownstone. The railroad turned the towns along it into bastions of wealth that could use the new transportation artery to escape the dirty urban hellscape and live in more natural settings.

A little ways down from the station are the Milepost 16 intermediate signals mounted on an old 19th century truss road bridge. Here an inbound SEPTA R5 local passes by the signal location with Silverliners IV #325 leading and #166 on the rear.

The Main Line is still in its 1940's configuration with three single direction (ABS Rule 2510 tracks (#'s 1, 2 and 4) and one bi-directional (Rule 261) track (#3). The line is run by manned interlocking towers with the dispatcher keeping track of movements via paper train sheets. Here Amtrak Train #43, the westbound Pennsylvanian, passes under the Milepost 16 automatic signals with P42DC #117 in the lead. The track #1 signal is still displaying Stop and Proceed after the passage of the previous SEPTA train.

A barely missed a meet between the westbound Train 43 and an eastbound Keystone train fronted by Metroliner Cab Car #9635 and propelled by ACS-86 #646. Just after the keystone passes the Milepost 16 signal on track #1 finally changes from Stop and Proceed to Approach.

21-04-17 PHOTOS: Seabrook

In the past year or two as Covid has curtailed some of the opportunities I had for travel and urban transit, I had to look closer to home to find interesting railroad content. One of the low hanging fruit has been MARC commuter rail stations in my area, specifically those on the Penn Line (Amtrak NEC) that has both all day and weekend service compared with the Camden Line (B&O) that does not. Today's station is the first one located outside the Capitol Beltway in Seabrook, Maryland. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).


Located fairly close to the New Carrollton DC Metro terminal, Seabrook is skipped by many weekday trains and has no weekend service in order to save a few minutes for other Penn Line travelers.

Seabrook was the location of one of the last 4 grade crossings on the PRR portion of the NEC. Eliminated as part of the NEC Improvement Project of the 1980's, remains of the Seabrook Road crossing are still evident including one of the masts for the crossing flashers.

The station is also situated about a quarter mile south of the milepost 124 intermediate signal location and dragging equipment detector. Both of these were installed as part of the NECIP, however the old PRR era signal bridge can be seen spanning the station platforms.

The first pair of trains to show up was a northbound Amtrak Regional hauled by ACS-86 #610 and a southbound weekend MARC local pushed by M36PH-3C #13. I managed to capture the meet in the video below.



Unlike more contemporary stations, MARC was not afraid to use ramps and an underpass for accessibility. This saves on the cost and visual footprint of overhead walkways with elevators.