P&W Strafford Branch archaeology - not much left.

This morning I took my bike out on the Radnor Trail that runs along the old P&W Strafford ROW. There's only a small amount of evidence that it was once a rail line - some concrete pillars that once underpinned a station, a few trip-rail supports, and incredibly, the rusting frame from a station sign. Other than that, the only thing I could do was imagine what it must have been like when 160 and its brothers kept the rails polished.

As both a cyclist and a transit advocate I'm in conflict. Looking at the amount of development that has occurred since operations ended ~50 years ago, it naively seems the route could support restored rail service someday. Of course the trail users would be up in arms about losing their facilities, and there'd be a whole new debate that would take another 20 years to resolve.

Oh we can dream...but the Main Line nimby's are never gonna allow restoration of the Strafford portion to an interurban again.

As for evidence of the old line...There is still an iron bridge in place that takes the trail over Sugartown Rd. that was once part of the P&W.

I've been on that trail a few times since it was paved, including one time in the snow. I think we're lucky that the bridges are still intact and maintained after 50 years of abandonment of the track, especially with trucks running into the bridges.

I do not think the current density of development would support rail service here, except for Strafford, which already has an R5 station. I think that what's done is done, and maybe it was a mistake to abandon the line and construct suburban single-family homes along its route instead of higher density transit-oriented development. But the houses have been built, the trail has been built, and it would be a waste to demolish everything at this point just to have higher density and a functioning rail line.

The township's plan is to build TOD along the current R5 and Route 100 lines.

I took some pictures on August 8, 2004 before the trail was finished.
http://www.svmetro.com/photos/strafford/strafford.html