rcthompson04 wrote:Paradise has two issues:
1. The location would likely not be ADA compliant, which is why it was rejected by Amtrak.
2. Wouldn’t Paradise be too far to go without bathrooms? I think Atglen would be as far as you could go without adding bathrooms to trains.
That could be solved by either:
1) Putting the station in at Old Leacock Road in Gordonville, where there is room for a parking lot.
2) Putting the station literally just NW of the Rte. 30 bridge at Leaman Place by relocating the east and west switches connecting the eastbound track to the freight siding + upgrading and electrifying the siding to allow eastbound trains to enter and exit the eastbound platform that would be located on the siding, not the mainline. In practice this would be exactly similar to how Shore Line East trains access the eastbound platform at the Guilford, CT station. This would also allow for the long proposed Strasburg RR connection (though it would have to be via a Budd car shuttle not the steam train).
3) Put the station in at Mcilvaine Road near the quarry (one of the businesses next to Rte. 30 would have to be relocated to make room for a parking lot).
The first option is more out of the way, but all 3 are equidistant to both Lancaster and Parkesburg; the latter two could still retain a “Paradise”/“Paradise Township” station name. I have no idea why a station would *HAVE* to go in at the curve where the Strasburg tracks meet in order for it to attract maximum ridership, but the powers at be sure thought so..
In any event, SEPTA does run an annual crew qualification train out to Lancaster and back in case it was ever necessary for SEPTA crews and equipment to run that far.