Eastern Railroad Discussion > Double stacks under the wire - Norristown, PA

Caught NS 24K under the wire crossing SEPTA trackage from Harrisburg line to the Morrisville connector.  A few glint shots highlighting the Morrisville line.

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24K crossing Ford Street, going up Morrisville line.

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Trailers, containers, and a few interesting tarped loads.

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A few more of loads

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A few more

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Bonus video of eastbound SEPTA while waiting

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Interesting photos. When did the stack trains start moving this way? Did it allow the downgrade or abandonment of the Trenton Cutoff and A&S low grade?

I'm not sure what the A&S is.  The Trenton cutoff I believe is what is now referred to as the Morrisville connector.

The Trenton Cutoff and "Atglen and Susquehanna" formed a freight bypass of the main passenger line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

They more or less crossed the main line between Thorndale and Parkesburg.It paralleled the Columbia and Port Deposit for a piece, then crossed the Susquehanna at the Shocks Mill bridge.

Not sure when Conrail took that out of service, but the Reading RR Crossline provides a good alternative, which the trains pictured are probably using. That is particularly true after Septa discontinued the diesel passenger service on the old Reading Main.

Thanks for posting the photos. Very close to home.

From Earnest to Glen the Trenton cutoff is still used by the AM steel train. It's single track . The train in the pictures uses part of the old connection between the Trenton Cutoff and the Schuykill branch both ex PRR. It connected Norris yard on the Schuykill branch to Earnest yard on the cutoff. West of Earnest the cutoff at Dale which is just east of Glen was the connection to the P&T or the Philadelphia and Thorndale branch. It was a double track electrified line frrom the cutoff at Dale to the mainline and ended at Thorndale . It effectively gave the PRR 6 tracks between Dale and Thorn. Four on the mainline and two on the P&T. The A&S came off the mainline at Parkesburg . It was a flying junction with the A&S coming off between the four mainline tracks . It was a double track electrified line that ran from Parkesburg to Columbia where it met the Port road which ran from Perryville Md to Columbia. When it was built the P&T was originally also supposed to connect with the PRR mainline between Perryville and Wilmington. It was supposed to be called the Chester Creek lowgrade . It was never built. Last train over the P&T was in 1984. Last train over the A&S was in 1987. The P&T lost one of it's tracks back in 1971. The Trenton cutoff was double track until the late 80's the A&S was double track until it was abandoned. Hard to believe what used to exist around here !!!  ---   Ken 

Thanks for the info Ken. It is amazing what a transportation generating plant the PRR had.

It never ceases to amaze me the wealth of raildoading knowledge on this site.  Being a member here has vastly increased my railroad operation understanding, railroad history, and photography.  Thanks for the comments - because of the comments this post is listed on the home page as an interesting discussion.  Nice job TOers