Passenger Trains > Before and after at Eddington, PA along the NEC

One of the things I love about taking "train" pictures is the story that develops afterward, though, as I get older it's sometimes the story that demands a photo.

Back in March of this year I treked over to Eddington in Bensalem, PA, between Philadelphia and Trenton, NJ, along the NEC for a few photos.  Eddington has been "in the neighborhood" for me for
decades yet I rarely "saw" the shot, or perhaps what I saw was never so nicely captured as this
shot.  A rare (for me) sighting of the Veteran's unit was an added bonus.

A similar shed resides across the 4-track main on the NEC for northbound passengers. Sadly, a quite impressive station once resided here but had burned down in 1956 due to suspected arson. The grandness of the old station seen below is interesting considering that this one time SEPTA flag stop serves few trains. This location changed dramatically in the 60's when a large fill was placed to the left (north) of the main to accommodate a new on ramp at Street Road as part of the newly announced construction of Interstate I-95 which began in 1959.  Hmm... timing makes you wonder about the arson.

Eddington station photo - and many others located on Dan West's excellent station database which can be found here:  http://www.west2k.com/pa.htm


/Mitch



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/19 17:19 by Mgoldman.

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Thanks, Mitch, for the pictures and story.  Gerry

I no longer have relatives in the South Bucks area and my last visit to Eddington was about three years ago, but I doubt that anything has changed since then.

There is no public vehicle access to Eddington station.  There is a private lot with a trail to trackside but access that way is not guaranteed (there is a lockable
gate on the trail) and vehicles can be towed on authority of the private property owner.  There is a sign at the entrance from Dunksferry Road to the
private lot:  PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING.

Legal access to Eddington is via two steep staircases from the Street Road/PA132 overcrossing of I-95.

Between the eastbound SEPTA shelter and the four-track Northeast Corridor is an active industrial lead serving industries in the Andalusia/Cornwells Heights area.  The first switch to an industrial spur is just off the top of the photo.  I have witnessed the lead being occupied by a Conrail Shared Assets train while passengers waited for a Trenton-bound SEPTA local; with no way to get to their SEPTA train except by walking from the shelter past the Conrail train, whose engine had stopped at the fouling point with Track Four, and back to the SEPTA loading point opposite the shelter.

Google image; its perspective view is responsible for the artifact that separates the tops of catenary poles from their bases.

 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/19 23:28 by GenePoon.

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Thanks Gerry, Gene -

You are correct - doubt anything has changed in decades, aside from the addition of four
ticketing kios's (did they really need four?).  Haven't quite figured out how they work yet.

As for access - correct again, and well stated.  I parked at the lot by that business a few
times over the years but upon my last visit, the gate was in fact, locked, and a trailer was
parked horizontally across what are normally empty parking spots.

Many SEPTA trains wiz past Eddington.  If I recall correctly, it was at one time during SEPTA's
ownership, a flag stop.  Imagine that - or am I imangining things?

Here's a second set of photos - a nice "after" that lines up with the above "before" angle of
the station, as well as a shot from the day prior after a short Winter storm dumped some
snow on the ground earlier that morning. 

/Mitch

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'Nother - northbound opposing side:

/Mitch

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Last time I was there, a local cop drove in to the private lot and told me from across the fence that I could not stay there and take pictures.  I could go to a "real" station, but not that one.  I had parked my car on a side street on the other side of I95, so this had nothing to do with the parking lot.  What can you say?  I just left, not worth the hassle.