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Blueliner
The Reading electric multiple units were a fleet of electric multiple units operated by the Reading Company on its Philadelphia commuter rail lines. The majority were constructed by Bethlehem Steel in 1931–1933; American Car and Foundry delivered additional cars in 1949. Some cars, rebuilt in 1964–1965 and christened "Blueliners", remained in service with Conrail and later the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) until 1990. Several have been preserved. Design Bethlehem Steel Bethlehem Steel produced a total of 100 cars composed of three types: coaches, baggage-coaches, and baggage-coach- RPO. Each car carried the same dimensions: long, wide, and high. The coaches weighed between ; the various baggage-coach combines between . Power was supplied via overhead lines to two traction motors built by either Westinghouse or General Electric (GE). Maximum power output (over one hour) ranged from . In normal operation speed was limited to , although a maximum ...
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Reading Terminal
The Reading Terminal ( ) is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main station located in the Market East section of Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the Reading Terminal Headhouse, Trainshed, and Market. History Construction In 1889, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway decided to build a train depot, passenger station, and company headquarters on the corner of 12th and Market Streets. The move came eight years after the Pennsylvania Railroad opened its Broad Street Station several blocks away at 15th and Market Streets, and one year after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened its 24th Street Station at 24th and Chestnut Streets. The chosen location was occupied by an open-air market that had been in continuous operation since 1853. After loud complaints and much negotiation, the railroad agreed to purchase the markets for $1 million and move them to a new structure: the Reading Terminal Market, located ...
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Doylestown Branch
The Lansdale/Doylestown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to Doylestown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Until 1981, diesel-powered trains continued on the Bethlehem Branch from Lansdale to Quakertown, Bethlehem, and Allentown. Restored service has been proposed, but is not planned by SEPTA. The line is currently used by the East Penn Railroad, serving Quakertown's industrial complexes and distribution centers. With around 17,000 daily riders every weekday in 2019, it is the second busiest line in SEPTA's Regional Rail network. History The Lansdale/Doylestown Line utilizes what is known as the SEPTA Main Line, a four-track line that has been owned by SEPTA since 1983. Prior to that, it was owned by Conrail between 1976 and 1983 and by the Reading Railroad before 1976. The main part of the line, from Philadelphia north to Lansdale, was part of the Reading Railroad's northbound route from Philadelphia to Bethlehem, and then to Wilkes-Barre ...
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American Car And Foundry
ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches under the brand names of (first) ACF and (later) ACF-Brill. Today, the company is known as ACF Industries LLC and is based in St. Charles, Missouri. It is owned by investor Carl Icahn. History The American Car and Foundry Company was originally formed and incorporated in New Jersey in 1899 as a result of the merger of thirteen smaller railroad car manufacturers. The company was made up of: Later in 1899, ACF acquired the Bloomsburg Car Manufacturing Company of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Orders for new freight cars were made very quickly, with several hundred cars ordered in the first year alone. Two years later, ACF acquired the Jackson and Sharp Company (founded 1863 in Wilmington, Delaware) and the Common Sense Bolster Company (of Chic ...
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Ninth Street Branch
The Ninth Street Branch was an elevated railway line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was operated by the Reading Company; ownership was split between the Reading and its subsidiary the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad. It was a four-tracked main line beginning at the Reading Terminal, the Reading's terminus in Philadelphia, and extending north into the city to a junction with the Bethlehem Branch. After the final bankruptcy of the Reading the line passed to Conrail and later SEPTA. The portion south of the Temple University station was abandoned in 1984 with the opening of the Center City Commuter Connection and is now known as the Reading Viaduct; the portion north is now part of the SEPTA Main Line. Route The line originated at the Reading Terminal, an elevated railway station which opened in 1893. The City Branch, a freight-only route, diverged almost immediately. Four tracks continued north to the North 16th Street Junction with the Norristown Branch. At ...
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West Chester Station (West Chester Railroad)
West Chester station, formerly Market Street Station, is a train station in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Located at Market Street, it currently serves as a stop on the West Chester Railroad heritage railroad. The location was previously used as a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) West Chester Branch, and later became a part of SEPTA's R3 West Chester Line. SEPTA discontinued regular passenger service in September 1986, due to deteriorating track conditions, Chester County's desire to expand facilities at Exton station on SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line, and the existence of faster and more frequent bus service on SEPTA Route 104 along West Chester Pike to 69th Street Terminal. Heritage service was restored by the West Chester Railroad in 1997, a privately owned and operated tourist railroad that operates between Glen Mills and West Chester. Station history The West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad opened Market Street station in 1875.U.S. National Park Service. Histor ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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Chestnut Hill Branch (Reading Company)
The Chestnut Hill East Branch is a railway line in Pennsylvania. It runs from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line in Nicetown–Tioga, a neighborhood in Philadelphia, to Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. The oldest part of it was built in 1832 by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad. It was part of the Reading Company system from 1870 until 1976. Today it is owned by SEPTA and hosts the Chestnut Hill East Line commuter rail service. The line runs roughly parallel to the Chestnut Hill West Branch, formerly of the Pennsylvania Railroad. History The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad's initial line ran from Ninth and Green in Philadelphia to Germantown. This line opened on June 6, 1832. Plans to build north from Germantown to Norristown were abandoned in favor a different route that branched off the existing line at what is now 16th Street Junction. Germantown remained the northernmost station on the branch until 1854 when the Chestnut Hill Railroad, ...
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Norristown Branch
The Norristown Branch is a railway line in Pennsylvania. It runs from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line in North Philadelphia to Norristown, Pennsylvania. It was originally built by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad (PG&N) in 1834, and was a part of the Reading Company system from 1870 until 1976. Today it is owned by SEPTA and hosts the Manayunk/Norristown Line commuter rail service. History The Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad completed its initial line between Philadelphia and Germantown in 1832. The geography of the Wissahickon Creek frustrated plans to build directly from Germantown to Norristown, so the company built west from what is now 16th Street Junction in North Philadelphia. This line reached Manayunk on October 18, 1834, and Norristown on August 15, 1835. The line followed the east bank of the Schuylkill River and made no crossing of it. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad extended its main line down the west bank of the Sc ...
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West Trenton Station
West Trenton station is the northern terminus of the SEPTA West Trenton Line. It is located at Grand & Railroad Avenues in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey, United States, however this address only applies to the southbound station house on the west side of the tracks. The northbound station house is on the east side of the tracks and is located on Sullivan Way, which changes into Grand Avenue once it crosses under the tracks. SEPTA's official website gives the address as being in Trenton. The station has off-street parking, and is located in Fare Zone NJ. In FY 2013, West Trenton station had a weekday average of 292 boardings and 361 alightings. History Originally built in 1929 by the Reading Railroad, it was acquired by Conrail and SEPTA in 1976 and used for diesel service to Newark, New Jersey until 1981. New Jersey Transit took over passenger service between here and Newark until November 1982, thus transforming the station into a terminus. It has ...
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New York Branch
The New York Branch or the Bound Brook Route was a railway line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was operated by the Reading Company and owned by two of its subsidiaries, the North Pennsylvania Railroad and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. It formed part of the Reading's route from Philadelphia to New York City, used by the famed '' Crusader''. The line was transferred to Conrail in 1976 and was split into the Neshaminy Line and Trenton Line. SEPTA continues to operate commuter trains to West Trenton as part of its West Trenton Line. Route The North Pennsylvania Railroad portion began at Jenkintown, where it split from the Bethlehem Branch. The line ran east-northeast through Montgomery County and Bucks County, eventually crossing the Delaware River at West Trenton, New Jersey. At the middle of the bridge, Delaware and Bound Brook ownership began. The line continued northeast into New Jersey to Bound Brook Junction, where it joined the Central of New Jersey Railroad's m ...
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Lansdale Station
Lansdale station, also known as the Lansdale Transportation Center, is a SEPTA Regional Rail station in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Located at Main Street ( PA 63) and Green Street, it serves the Lansdale/Doylestown Line. It was originally built in 1902 by the Reading Company, opening on February 7, 1903; a freight house was added in 1909. Historically, the station hosted the '' Interstate Express'' (north to Syracuse) and the ''Scranton Flyer'' (north to Scranton). Additionally, the station served commuter trains on the Reading's branch to Bethlehem until service was ended in 1981. The historic station building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. In FY 2013, Lansdale station had a weekday average of 1396 boardings and 1272 alightings. The station features a 178-space parking lot and a 660-space parking garage. The parking garage at Lansdale station opened on April 17, 2017, offering hundreds of additional parking spaces at the station. Lansdale station ...
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Bethlehem Branch
The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, predecessor to the Reading Company, leased the North Pennsylvania in 1879. Its tracks were transferred to Conrail and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 1976. History The company incorporated on April 8, 1852, as the Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap. Construction began on June 16, 1853; the company changed its name to the North Pennsylvania Railroad on October 3 that year. The new name reflected the grand (and unrealized) ambitions of the company to extend all the way across Pennsylvania to Waverly, New York and a junction with the Erie Railroad. The railway opened between Front and Willow Streets, Philadelphia and Gwynedd on July 2, 1855, a distance of . On October 7 the Doylestown Branch opened to D ...
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