Eastern Railroad Discussion > train watching philadelphia, pa? 30th street station?

I am going to Piladelphia soon. Where are the good and safe train watching spots? How about 30th st station?

30th st station is a great place to visit, as it is one of the
last great high ceiling train stations that is still very active.
Equal in stature to Grand Central, but not as famous.


It isn't a good train watching location, though.
Amtk and NJT are downstairs, with limited access.

Septa (99% MU's) is upstairs, and high line (visible from upstairs)
has only a few infrequent freights a day.

Best place to railfan for frequency and variety is Frankford Jct.
It's not a great neighborhood, but not the worst, either.

Someone else can fill u in on details of getting there (I don't know)
No train station near by.

I would not advise going to Frankford Jct. The neighborhood is shaky at best and there is no parking available where you can sit in the car and see the tracks conveniently. Nor is there any place to sit or get out of the weather. Standing outside in the cold weather is not a great option.

I would advise visiting Cornwell's Heights station in northeast Philaldelphia. It is safe and you can take a Septa commuter train there. If you have a car, take route I-95 north to the Woodhaven Road exit. After taking the Woodhaven Road exit, take the first exit ramp to your right to route 13 north. Turn left at the end of the exit ramp on to route 13 north (Frankford Ave.). Go north about 3/4 of a mile to the traffic light at Station Ave. Turn right on station Ave. and go about 0.3 mile to the NEC. For photography in the afternoon, turn into the parking lot on the northwest side of the tracks before passing under the underpass and proceed to the parking lot. There is a passenger shelter you can use to get out of the weather. For photography in the morning, proceed under the tracks on Station Ave. until you come back up to grade. Make an immediate right into what looks like an industrial area and go back toward the tracks where there is a small parking lot and a Septa passenger shelter. At Cornwell's Heights you will see Septa trains with emus and, during rush hour, AEM-7 hauled trains. You will also see Amtrak trains pulled by AEM-7 and HHP-8 motors and the Acelas. Depending upon the time of day, expect 8-15 trains per hour. You may also see a Conrail joint assets local freight train under wire in the morning. There are conveneince stores (Wawa, etc.) along route 13 nearby.

Another option, which is one of my favorite NEC hangouts, is to take the train to Trenton, NJ and transfer to NJT. Get off at Princeton Jct. where there are heated passenger shelters on both sides of the tracks. Here you will see the same Amtrak trains as Cornwell's Heights but you will also see NJT trains pulled by ALP-44 and ALP-46 motors and NJT emus. There are rest rooms in the main NJT station at Princeton Jct. and light for photography is excellent from the New York bound platform much of the day. There is also the Princton Jct. to Princeton "dinkey" - a shuttle service to and from the town of Princeton 5 miles away which is fun to ride. Service is every 20 minutes or so. If you go to Princeton Jct., I would advise taking a bottle of water and something to eat with you as there are no easily accessed places for such things nearby. Amtrak passenger trains that do not stop at Princeton Jct. (some do stop) pass through at 125 mph. Depending upon the time of day expect 10-20 trains per hour. If you drive to princeton, Jct. you will need to take I-95 north. After crossing into New jersey, it will change to I-295 (same highway, new number). Get off at Route 1 north toward New York City for approx. 4 miles. Turn right on to Alexander Rd. and go about 1.5 miles to the NJT station at princeton jct. Parking is at a premium as most spots are for people who have purchased monthly permits. You may find a spot in one of the outer lots on the north side of the dinky track.

Princton Jct is a good choice. If you are looking for something a little closer two places come to mind:

Woodbourne, PA. on the WEST Trenton Line. The last 15-20 miles of the West Trenton (not NEC) are shared with CSX. You can ride out on SEPTA to the station and see mostly EMUs and freights. At rushour a SEPTA AEM7 train or two may still run to W. Trenton. Look for limited stop trains in the public timetables. NS also has a line on an overpass about 1/4 mile north of the parking lot.

Norristown is the other option, it is served by SEPTA using a heavy rail line and also a light rail line called Rt. 100. This make it easy to do a circle ride. Some freight runs thru the station making a connection from freight lines across the river to other freight lines north of town by getting on SEPTA for a mile or so thru the station. Perhaps others can offer times or days of the week this happens. I do not know if freights run on weekdays.

Both of these options also have parking if you drive.

The majority of SEPTA is on passenger only lines, so you may only see EMUs on most lines. The carrier only has a handful of AEM7s to run.

Bryn Myar on the Keystone line is a good place as well, you get SEPTA and AMTK. About three AEM7 trains run on this line at rushour. Temple may be the best station for seeing passenger only as all trains out of Center City run thru the station, including deadhead moves into the city for rushhour. You can see the AEM7s going in and then coming back out. None of these loactions are in bad neighrborhoods.

Wayne Jct station is right at the SEPTA shops and you see a good deal of what you see at Temple. However the neighborhood is not the best.

Frankford Jct is fine during the day. But they are correct, there is no place to park there. You could go and sit in the shopping mall strip on Aramingo Ave. It is about 1/2 black off of the line and the line is elevated there so you will see everything going to and from NJ. You would also see one of the local runs to the SUN plant as well. It would cross Aramingo Ave the block before the mall and runs right behind it.

Down at 30th Street, on Market, you would be able to see the CSX main along the river and then the old High Line that see CSX, NS and a CP train. As long as you keep an eye on yourself on Market Street you should be OK in the day time.

But your best bet for freight trains would be the Septa R2 Line at either Woodburne Station (Septa, CSX and NS) or at the last stop at West Trenton. Be advised, no bathrooms and food joints that close.


Brian

birdman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> If you go to Princeton Jct., I
> would advise taking a bottle of water and
> something to eat with you as there are no easily
> accessed places for such things nearby.

But Princeton has several. You could combine your Dinky ride with a little walk around town in search of lunch. IIRC there are a few places near the station, and many up on the main drag, which is a good walk from the depot. Mapquest Princeton to get a feel for the lay of the land.

If you are in Philla @ 30th St. and don't have the time or inclination to head out as far as Doylestown, Princeton etc. there are still options...

Walk over to the parking deck across the street on the North side of the station - view of Amtrak yards, Amtrak main, suburban main, High Line and CSX across the river. If you walk over to the South side of the station, there's a a view from the Chestnut St. bridge of Amtrak's south approach to the station. If the weather's nice, walk across the Schuylkill River bridge to the CSX tracks, which follow a poular bike/walking path and park along the river. If you go north along the path for about a quarter mile (towards the Art Museum) there's the signals at the interlocking at the end of the siding. Keep going a bit and you'll see the tracks curve into a tunnel under the Art Museum.
For lunch, take SEPTA into Center City and lunch at Reading Terminal, then visit the SEPTA store and museum across Market St.
Or, ride the Paoli local to Ardmore (or anywhere) to see the Pennsy's famed Main Line.

jonjonjonjon Wrote:
> For lunch, take SEPTA into Center City and lunch
> at Reading Terminal, then visit the SEPTA store
> and museum across Market St.
>
I highly second jonjonjonjon's suggestion to visit the Reading Market (on the ground floor of the Reading Terminal). You may also want to check out the second level which is the Philadelphia Convention Center. Its a nice reuse of the trainshed (very few structures like this exist anymore in the US) and there are panels near the Market Street entrance describing the history of the Reading Terminal and the Reading RR.

Dave