Overlooking the Train Tracks

The track pictured here is part of the Norfolk Southern railroad system.  It’s not far from where I live in Langhorne, Pa.  During my childhood I often hiked along these tracks and through railroad property to the banks of the nearby Neshaminy Creek.  A few things have changed since then, as the rail line changed ownership a few times, and there were previously two tracks there.  The other track was torn up sometime in the eighties or nineties.  The volume and frequency of train traffic has probably dropped somewhat, although I didn’t really notice.  There has also been a lot of development in this area since then, some of it bordering these tracks.  People still brought the houses knowing full well the development bordered railroad property, and most of them probably didn’t mind that.  Some developments were built next to grade crossings, which require the train engineers to sound the horn four times at each crossing, which I heard later did cause some homeowners to protest at township meetings.  But most people either were ok with it, or found a way to live with it or soundproof their homes.

I always wanted to find out where this line went.  I saw on maps that going eastward, a spur splits off and junctions into the CSX owned tracks near the Oxford Valley Mall, and follows that line across the Delaware River into New Jersey.  From there, it cuts across the state until it reaches the terminal in Kearney, outside Newark.  The trains that don’t merge into the CSX line go a few more miles to the U.S. Steel Industrial Park in Fairless Hills.  I don’t know how much business comes from the U.S. Steel Industrial Park today, but I do know that some trains still go there.  There is still some business to be done, and some cargo to be picked up.  Going westward, the line eventually runs alongside the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Southampton, and continues along the highway past Norristown.  It runs near the turnpike for a while, and then apparently junctions in with the Amtrak line going toward Harrisburg.  From there, I don’t know how long it stays with the Amtrak line, but I do know that the trains running near my home eventually make their way across the country and terminate in Pittsburg, California, in the Bay Area.  So I think at least some of the trains running on this track are travelling from coast to coast.

There may be other uses for this line in the future.  About ten to fifteen years ago, I read that SEPTA considered using this part of the line for their proposed Cross County Metro, a commuter line running between Norristown and Trenton.  However, SEPTA has long been financially strapped, going back well before the recession hit.  Construction for this project would probably last several years as it would involve making these tracks ready to handle passenger trains, and to have the passenger and freight traffic co-exist.  For one thing, the line would likely need to be electrified, running a catenary wire overhead to power the passenger trains.  This would affect the freight traffic, since the freight cars are often double-stacked along this line, and there may not be enough clearance with the wire.  For this reason, and also to be able to handle the increased volume of train traffic, the second track may have had to be rebuilt.  Stations would need to be constructed.  It would be convenient for me personally if a station was constructed right near my home, but it’s probably not one of the proposed locations, and it doesn’t look like there is room to construct a parking lot there.  The traffic on route 413 going under the tracks is already heavy, and it doesn’t look like it would handle the incoming and outgoing cars well.  I imagine the closest station to me would probably be somewhere near the Oxford Valley Mall, or maybe in Southampton, a few miles to the west of where I live. 

One thing for sure is that I think it would be a good idea to have the Metro Line constructed.  I’m for anything that will leave fewer cars on the road.  It would also make certain places more directly accessible than if I drove a car there, although those places would be limited.  If I worked somewhere along the line, and I found it affordable to do so, I would take the train there.  However, I don’t know how many other people would take the train to these places.  Transit will help make our society less car-dependent, but of course accessibility would be limited to what could be reached by a train or a bus.  It just simply may not be practical to invest in something like this.  But one thing I’m fairly certain about is that this line will continue to be used.