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Pottsville Line
The Pottsville line was a commuter rail service in the Delaware Valley, connecting Pottsville, Reading, and Pottstown with Philadelphia. It was the last vestige of passenger service on the former Reading main line. The service lasted into the SEPTA era and was discontinued in 1981. SEPTA continues to operate Manayunk/Norristown Line commuter trains between Philadelphia and Norristown. Route Trains originated at , at the northern end of the Reading main line and from the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. Major intermediate stops included Reading, Pottstown, and Phoenixville. At Norristown, trains left the main line and crossed the Schuylkill River, joining the electrified Norristown Branch. Pottsville trains skipped most intermediate stops, stopping only at Norristown-De Kalb and North Broad Street before reaching Reading Terminal. History The Reading's electrified territory ended at Norristown; the Great Depression curtailed plans to extend electrification up the main l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reading Company
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called the Reading Railroad, and logotyped as Reading Lines, the Reading Company was a railroad holding company for the majority of its existence and was a single railroad during its later years. It operated service as Reading Railway System and was a successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, founded in 1833. Until the decline in anthracite loadings in the Coal Region after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States. Competition with the modern trucking industry that used the interstate highway system for short-distance transportation of goods, also known as short hauls, compounded the company's problems, forcing it into bankruptcy in 1971. Its railroad operations were merged into Conrail i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 from Pottsville to Philadelphia, where it joins the Delaware River as one of its largest tributaries. In 1682, William Penn chose the left bank of the confluence upon which he founded the planned city of Philadelphia on lands purchased from the native Delaware nation. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River, and its whole length was once part of the Delaware people's southern territories. The river's watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania, the upper portions in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachian Mountains where the folding of the mountain ridges metamorphically modified bit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EMD FP7
The EMD FP7 is a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for Canada, in which case final assembly was at GMD's plant in London, Ontario. The FP7 was essentially EMD's F7A locomotive extended by four feet to give greater water capacity for the steam generator for heating passenger trains. Design While EMD's E-units were successful passenger engines, their A1A-A1A wheel arrangement made them less useful in mountainous terrain. Several railroads had tried EMD's F3 in passenger service, but there was insufficient water capacity in an A-unit fitted with dynamic brakes. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's solution was to replace the steam generators in A-units with a water tank, and so only fitted steam generators into the B-units. The Norther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newtown Branch
The Fox Chase Branch, formerly the Newtown Branch, is a railway line in the state of Pennsylvania. It runs from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line near to . At its fullest extent, it continued another fifteen miles north to . The oldest part of it was built in 1876 by the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad. It was part of the Reading Company system from 1879 until 1976. Today it is owned by SEPTA and hosts the Fox Chase Line commuter rail service. History The Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad's initial line branched off the Connecting Railway (now the Northeast Corridor) near Erie Avenue, and ran almost due north to Olney, Philadelphia, Olney and across the Tacony Creek to Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Cheltenham and Fox Chase, Philadelphia, Fox Chase. The new line was long. The Pennsylvania Railroad controlled the line at the beginning, and contemplated extending it across the Delaware River to create a new through route between Phi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusader (train)
The ''Crusader'' was a 5 car stainless steel streamlined express train that ran on a route from Philadelphia's Reading Terminal to Jersey City's Communipaw Terminal, with a ferry connection to Lower Manhattan at Liberty Street. The Reading Railroad provided this service in partnership with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), in which it was the majority owner of capital stock. Trains including the Crusader ran on Reading Railroad tracks from Reading Terminal in Philadelphia to Bound Brook, NJ, where they continued on CNJ tracks to Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City. Passengers then left the train and walked aboard the ferry or boarded busses that loaded onto the ferry. Introduced in 1937, the Crusader service declined during the 1960s. The southern part of the route was cut in 1981, followed by the northern part in 1982. History Creating the Crusader By the 1930s, the Reading Company offered hourly expresses from Reading Terminal to the Central Railroad of New Jersey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bethlehem Line
The Bethlehem Line was a SEPTA Regional Rail service on the former Reading Company Bethlehem Branch between Lansdale and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Some trains continued over the electrified Lansdale/Doylestown Line to the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. Between 1978–1979 SEPTA extended service to Allentown. Service ended altogether in 1981 as SEPTA eliminated its former Reading diesel services. The Bethlehem Line remains owned by SEPTA and is used for freight service by the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad between Lansdale and Telford and the East Penn Railroad between Telford and Quakertown. The Quakertown-Bethlehem section is out of service, with several portions serving as the interim Upper Bucks Rail Trail and Saucon Rail Trail. It is not officially abandoned. History The route between Philadelphia and Bethlehem was constructed in the 19th century by the North Pennsylvania Railroad, a forerunner of the Reading Company. The Reading continued to operate passenger serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do business as an asset management and network services provider in three Shared Assets Areas that were excluded from the division of its operations during its acquisition by CSX Corporation and the Norfolk Southern Railway. The federal government created Conrail to take over the potentially-profitable lines of multiple bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and Erie Lackawanna Railway. After railroad regulations were lifted by the 4R Act and the Staggers Act, Conrail began to turn a profit in the 1980s and was privatized in 1987. The two remaining Class I railroads in the East, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to acquire the system and split it into two roughly-equal parts (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including interstate bus lines and telephone companies. Congress expanded ICC authority to regulate other modes of commerce beginning in 1906. Throughout the 20th century, several of ICC's authorities were transferred to other federal agencies. The ICC was abolished in 1995, and its remaining functions were transferred to the Surface Transportation Board. The Commission's five members were appointed by the President with the consent of the United States Senate. This was the first independent agency (or so-called ''Fourth Branch''). Creation The ICC was established by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. The cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commuter Train
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are considered heavy rail, using electrified or diesel trains. Distance charges or zone pricing may be used. The term can refer to systems with a wide variety of different features and service frequencies, but is often used in contrast to rapid transit or light rail. Similar non-English terms include ''Treno suburbano'' in Italian, ''Cercanías'' in Spanish, Aldiriak in Basque, Rodalia in Catalan/Valencian, Proximidades in Galician, ''Proastiakos'' in Greek, ''Train de banlieue'' in French, '' Banliyö treni '' in Turkish, ''Příměstský vlak'' or ''Esko'' in Czech, ''Elektrichka'' in Russian, ''Pociąg podmiejski '' in Polish and ''Pendeltåg'' in Swedish. Some services share similarities with both commuter rail and high-frequency rapid tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United States, contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ''Amtrak'' is a portmanteau of the words ''America'' and ''trak'', the latter itself a sensational spelling of ''track''. Founded in 1971 as a quasi-public corporation to operate many U.S. passenger rail routes, Amtrak receives a combination of state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit corporation, for-profit organization. The United States federal government, through the United States Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Transportation, owns all the company's Issued shares, issued and Shares outstanding, outstanding preferred stock. Amtrak's headquarters is located one block west of Washington Union Station, Union Station in Washington, D.C. Amtrak serves more th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Headway
Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise definition varies depending on the application, but it is most commonly measured as the distance from the tip (front end) of one vehicle to the tip of the next one behind it. It can be expressed as the distance between vehicles, or as time it will take for the trailing vehicle to cover that distance. A "shorter" headway signifies closer spacing between the vehicles. Airplanes operate with headways measured in hours or days, freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...s and commuter rail systems might have headways measured in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reading Electric Multiple Units
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 max ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
