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Re: (rshsdepot) Philadelphia Area Railroad Stations

Dick:

    You've asked about one of my favorite subjects, so please pardon me 
if I get a bit long winded.  As a native of the area I'm of course 
biased, but I think that Philadelphia and its environs has one of the 
best collections of historic stations in the country.

    First, I would imagine that you have been to the PRR/Amtrak 30th 
Street Station (at 30th and Market Streets), but its always worth a 
visit especially if you havn't been back since it was refurbushed and 
the ceiling was repainted.  It's spectacular.  I always feel instantly 
more civilised upon emerging from the subterranean platform into the 
soaring Greek Temple concourse.  Society certainly took several steps 
backward when we forsook most of our great railroad terminals like 30th 
Street for being herded like cattle in airports.

    With regard to Reading Terminal (at 12th and Market Streets), the 
exterior has been restored to original condition, though the former 
waiting areas inside the head house have been chopped up into a variety 
of uses including retail/restaurant space and an entrance to the 
subterranean Market East SEPTA station which took the Terminal's 
place.   As the other gentleman indicated, the real treat is the huge 
single span arched train shed.  Of course we'd all like for it to still 
house trains, but it's creative reuse as the Pennsylvania Convention 
Center's main ballroom is great considering that every other shed of its 
kind in the US has been destroyed.  If you are in luck, it may be open 
to the public if there is no event going on there at the time.  You 
might have more luck earlier in the day.  Also be sure to stop for lunch 
at the equally historic Reading Terminal Market beneath the station.  
You can get anything from the typical Philly cheesesteaks and hoagies to 
various exotic foreign foods, all at great prices.

    Both the PRR and Reading North Philadelphia stations survive near 
the intersection of Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue, though they are both 
occupied by businesses.  Note that this location is not in the best part 
of the city.

    Unfortunately, PRR's Broad Street Station and the B&O Station, 
designed by the great Victorian Philadelphia architect Frank Furness, 
are long gone.  (He also designed the demolished Pittsburgh B&O station 
among others.)  However, there is an interesting rememberance of the B&O 
station in the form of a mural showing a reflection of the station on an 
adjacent building at its former site at 24th & Chestnut Streets.  It's 
just across the river and a block south from 30th Street Station.

    As far as the smaller suburban stations go, there are a few lines 
that are of particular interest.  The parallel SEPTA former Reading and 
PRR lines to Chestnut Hill in the northwestern portion of the city are 
two of the best.  On the Reading line, there are two ornate Frank 
Furness-designed stations at Mount Airy (at Gowen Avenue - named for 
Reading President Franlin Gowen, by the way.  There are also several 
houses designed by Furness for Gowen on this and surrounding streets) 
and Gravers Lane.  There are also several nice early 20th Century stone 
stations on the Reading line, including Wyndmoor at Willow Grove Avenue 
and Chestnut Hill East at Bethlehem Pike and Summit Avenue.  On the PRR 
side, the Chestnut Hill West station at Germantown & Evergreen Avenues 
is a Victorian design, now housing a bank, from another major 
Philadelphia arhchitectural firm, the Hewitt Brothers, which consisted 
of Furness' former partner George Hewitt and his brother William.  The 
remaining  PRR stations heading back toward the city are Victorian and 
of a few standard designs with agent's quarters on the second floor.   
Of particular interest are the stations at Allens Lane and Queen Lane 
for the ornate Victorian Stick Style trackside shelters, stairs, and 
pedestrian bridges.  These are the only existing structures of their 
type that I know of and given their poor condition and the attitude of 
SEPTA, they may not lat much longer, so I would recommend seeing them 
while you are here.  As far as directions go, Gemantown Avenue is the 
main road that runs between the two lines, with the PRR to the southwest 
and the Reading to the northeast.  The streets referenced all intesect 
with Germantown Avenue.  This part of Philadelphia is fairly safe.

    The former PRR Main Line through the western suburbs also has 
several interesting stations, including several Victorian and early 20th 
Century examples of various designs at (traveling west from 
Philadelphia) Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Haverford,  Bryn 
Mawr (freight only - the ornate stone station was replaced with a 
mid-century colonial job by PRR), Rosemont, Villanova, Radnor, St. 
Davids, Wayne, Strafford, and Devon.  Their condition ranges from newly 
restored (Wayne and Strafford) to deplorable (Devon and Haverford).  
They're all worth seeing, but the most interesting from a historical 
standpoint is Strafford, an ornate Victorian Stick style structure which 
started life as the Catalogue Building at the Centennial Exposition of 
1876 at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.  It is one of a very few 
surviving buildings from the fair and luckily survived a nearly 
disasterous fire a few years ago prior to being restored.

    The last suburban line I will mention is the SEPTA former PRR West 
Chester Branch on which I live.  I am the head of the Morton Station 
Preservation Committee, which is working on the preservation of our 
station complex, which is the only one in the area which still includes 
passenger and freight stations as well as an ornate Victorian outbound 
shelter which was threatened with demolition and is the subject of our 
current efforts.  The passenger station is also very ornate with High 
Victorian Gothic and Stick Style elements.  Our sister station, 
archtecturally speaking, is located about 10 miles west in Glen Mills 
along the same line.  It has been restored and is the terminus of a 
tourist train on the part of the line that SEPTA does not use.  There 
are several other Victorian and early 20th Century stations of various 
designs along the line including (traveling west from Philadelphia) a 
Frank Furness designed example at Lansdowne and several others at 
Clifton-Aldan, Secane, Morton, Swarthmore, Wallingford, Moylan, 
Williamson School, Glen Mills, Locksley (wooden shelter), Cheyney, and 
Westtown (now an art gallery).  The stations are in varying conditions, 
again ranging from restored (Lansdowne, Swarthmore, Wallingford, Glen 
Mills) to deplorable (Clifton-Aldan, Williamson School).

    There are also several other former Reading and PRR commuter lines 
in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia which have many surviving 
historic stations, but I am not as familiar with that area.

Some general notes:

    The waiting rooms of SEPTA suburban stations are generally open only 
from 6:00 AM to Noon on weekdays and are closed on weekends.

    For more detailed directions, and avoidance of alot of headaches of 
you are driving, I would recommend buying an ADC or Franklin Metro 
Philadelphia street map book.  They are about $10-15 at any bookstore 
and some gas station/convenience stores in the area.  I don't go 
exploring without mine!

    I know that's alot I'm throwing out there, but hopefully it helps 
you have a rewarding visit to the Philadelphia area.

Mario Cimino
President
Morton Station Preservation Committee
Website: www.mortonstation.org
E-mail: info_@_mortonstation.org
 
 >From Archives_@_Railfan.net

>Message-ID: <000001c5f559$8833fc90$c857ab43_@_home>
>Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:55:28 -0500
>From: "Richard Ullery" <poppy47861_@_comcast.net>
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Philadelphia Area Railroad Stations
>
>I am going to be in Philadelphia next week and would like some suggestions
>about which railroad stations would be the most interesting to visit.
>
>I am from the Pittsburgh area and haven't been to Philadelphia for a number
>of years.
>
>Many thanks in advance
>
>            Dick Ullery
>
>  
>
>================================
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>
>------------------------------
>
>End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1254
>********************************
>
>================================
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>
>  
>


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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