19921001 Cab Ride SEPTA Fox Chase to 30th Street via Conrail Trenton Line Amtrak 30th Street Station

October 1992
Cab Ride SEPTA Fox Chase Special cab car with SEPTA RL1 diesel for Railworks 1992
Fox Chase to 30th Street via Conrail Trenton Line
Fox Chase 1:30
Cheltenham 5:50
Lawndale 8:20
Olney 12:10
Conrail SEPTA Newtown Junction 15:15
Low Grade tracks at Wayne Junction 17:45
CP Nice 19:30
Budd Hunting Park 20:20
Tastykake 21:00
Twin Bridges at Schuylkill River 23:20
CP Belmont 27:20
Zoo Interlocking 31:20
Center City skyline 34:40
Racing the express from Paoli 35:40
Conrail Headquarters 36:00
30th Street Station 36:30
Amtrak 30th Street Station
Race Street Pit
Penn Coach Yard

[@stephenrichmond917]

I was born in Olney in 1956, but we emigrated to South Jersey in 1962. That's the Olney Station I rode to from RDG Terminal to visit my grandmother (RIP) in the early 1970s. Logan and Crescentville stations are long gone, and Olney Station is very different.

[@chuckmathues9276]

This video is great. It's showing the old stations on the line. I grew up in Olney and took the train to Center City and back. This is the first time that I was able to see where the freight line goes from Lawndale to 30th Street.

[@jackcraig4268]

Thanks for posting. this.
It was good to see the
New York Short line when
both tracks were electrified from Newtown Jct. to Cheltenham.
Trains going to Fox Chase and Newtown often passed just below Cheltenham where they had these two tracks for passenger trains.

[@s.s.99]

You this video is old when the guys are talking about the “Parkesburg Line” instead of the “Thorndale Line” and there’s speculation about Ivy Ridge being reconnected

[@RaisedLetter]

As bad of a time as it was then, it's certainly a very unique and interesting point in time for SEPTA.

[@stevebullock6084]

Iconic septa video.

[@viktordubowskii695]

This video is one of the best ones I've seen on utube. Thank you for posting it. Seeing the Logan Station, brings back wonderful memories, I used to take the train from Logan Station to Reading terminal regularly. I used to take the the Newton train to Holland to visit my cousins. Does anyone know who the line used to belong to the Reading, or penn central, at the location where the train diverge to the right to continue on to the zoo, because the Reading tracks go to the left and over the Schuylkill river.

[@PhillyRailfan]

The Junction Railroad between Belmont and Zoo was originally built in the 1860's and split between the Reading, Pennsylvania, and PW&B, with the PRR gaining full control in 1899.

[@jhardman4534]

Don't think I would take that train into town if I was in a hurry.

[@reidrothstein8027]

I wonder if Septa still requires T&E to be qualified on this route? This is AWESOME footage!

[@moeboggie]

No (on the Conrail section), because that routing doesn’t exist today. The connection at Newtown and Zoo between Septa and CSX has been severed.

[@elirosen1391]

I see the tracks to the old Frankford Branch are still in place at 11:13. How long had it been abandoned for at that point?

[@nanismeelasla]

if I took a guess, I'd say 30-35 years?

[@stevegorman6841]

Was the Fox Chase Special a test run for SEPTA to consider running diesels back to Newtown?

[@PhillyRailfan]

During Railworks in 1992, the SEPTA Main was shut down for rebuilding from Wayne Junction to Market East from April to October. While most lines still operated to Fern Rock, the Fox Chase Line was shut down. For the last two months of the shutdown, SEPTA ran the Fox Chase Special twice in the morning and evening. For the 1993 shutdown, they ran diesels from Doylestown and West Trenton, but not Fox Chase. These were the last regularly scheduled diesel passenger trains SEPTA ran.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

The banter even mentioned bringing back the Newtown line. Here we are, 30 years later, and half of the Newtown line is a rail trail. The other half is abandoned and overgrown.

[@enginedave]

What is that island platform just south of Newtown Jct?

[@PhillyRailfan]

That was Logan Station.

[@kevinhoward9593]

28:36 Conrail built that section to connect the ex-RDG to the high line, right?

[@PhillyRailfan]

The track from Zoo to Belmont was the PRR Belmont Branch which was part of the original Junction Railroad built in 1864.