Why is Wawa expansion so slow and costly??

I assume the lack of rails there can't last long? It isolates the WCRR and the quarry where Amtrak gets some ballast.

khecht wrote:I assume the lack of rails there can't last long? It isolates the WCRR and the quarry where Amtrak gets some ballast.

That's what I'm thinking. I usually go through there at least once a day, so I'll be able to see how long it lasts and try to get some photos, too. The rails almost certainly came up in the last day or two, or else I really haven't been paying attention!

khecht wrote:I assume the lack of rails there can't last long? It isolates the WCRR and the quarry where Amtrak gets some ballast.

They may have anticipated this. It seemed, to me, that a few weeks back that there were a few extra ballast trains coming through. I hadn't given it much thought until you made that point. Now that I ponder it, it's only been the wash train that I've seen rolling past for the last few weeks, at least.

The track outage started 12/4/09 and will last until late March 2010. Bolted rail will go back in, to be replaced by CWR under a future contract.

78RangerXLT wrote:The track outage started 12/4/09 and will last until late March 2010. Bolted rail will go back in, to be replaced by CWR under a future contract.

It may be possible that since NJT gets there ballast from a quarry on the Chimney Rock branch off the Raritan Valley Line,that maybe Amtrak could contract with them to get ballast until this work on the West Chester branch is complete. Just a possibility. My thinking is that most of Amtrak's work trains are being pulled off on the 18th since the ground gets harder to work on during the winter, and that they have enough ballast to hold them over til the spring , and the curtail of ops on the WC branch wont affect them much..

Could this explain the 6+ filled ballast cars sitting on Tr11 in 30th St? I just noticed them tonight, but this is the first time in a while that I have actually been able to see Tr11 clearly, depending on where the Keystone's have been aligned.

I'm not sure what the difference between Phila and NYC regarding it's commuter rail systems. It seems like the LIRR, the Metor-North, and the NJT rail systems in the NYC area have been virtually intact ever since my entire life (I'm 29), but Philly seems to have this aversion of presenting any decent mass transit, even though it provided rail service near and far thanks to the old railroads of the PRR and the Reading. The West Chester extension would be a better idea than the Wawa location, espacially since Chester County is growing, even today. Casey's a damn fool thinking that people don't want rail service in that part of that area!!!

Yeah, Septa is the only one that cut service. The LIRR never closed stations, abondoned lines (hint, trains used to go past Port Jeff), or threatens to close lines today (West Hempstead and Oyster Bay area always on the chopping block). Sure if service sucks, nobody will ride it (hence, it was shut down), but even if it's the best in the world, it's not going to surpass the R5 in terms of ridership...

Actually, the LIRR ended service to stations on the Long Island City branch some years ago. (LIC itself is now reached by a spur off the main)

Matthew Mitchell wrote:Actually, the LIRR ended service to stations on the Long Island City branch some years ago. (LIC itself is now reached by a spur off the main)

Matt, Chris was being sarcastic. Haha.

[self] Duh... [/self]

wanderer34 wrote:I'm not sure what the difference between Phila and NYC regarding it's commuter rail systems. It seems like the LIRR, the Metor-North, and the NJT rail systems in the NYC area have been virtually intact ever since my entire life (I'm 29), but Philly seems to have this aversion of presenting any decent mass transit, even though it provided rail service near and far thanks to the old railroads of the PRR and the Reading. The West Chester extension would be a better idea than the Wawa location, espacially since Chester County is growing, even today. Casey's a damn fool thinking that people don't want rail service in that part of that area!!!

Let's see, in the last 29 years SEPTA opened the Center City commuter tunnel which combined the PRR and RDG sides of the system, extended the R5 to Thorndale, added new stations such as the Fern Rock Transportation Center, brought back the route 15 trolley. I'm sure there are some items I forgot. There haven't been any major cutbacks since the R3 was cut back to Elwyn, and the R5 extension more than compensates as it serves a more populated area of Chester County. Seems like they have held their own vs. NYC.

Jon

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:

Matthew Mitchell wrote:Actually, the LIRR ended service to stations on the Long Island City branch some years ago. (LIC itself is now reached by a spur off the main)

Matt, Chris was being sarcastic. Haha.

Yeah, the ass from Long Island is NEVER sarcastic.

The issue with extending the R3 to Wawa or all the way back to West Chester is that we've evolved as a society in the 100 or so years since the line was originally built. The area between Wawa and West Chester is still relatively rural, but there's demand to funnel people off the aterial (Route 1) to a park-and-ride at Wawa. Local station west of Wawa don't have the individual demand to require reinstatement.

jonnhrr wrote:Local station west of Wawa don't have the individual demand to require reinstatement.

But would it make sense to extend it to West Chester with few or no intermediary stops? That would funnel traffic off of another arterial -- Route 3.

Sure, if there's demand, and then if there's funding, why not?

I think local stops every mile or less on new service at the regional rail level is an outdated model. Look at the extension past Paoli and Marcus Hook...they're all a couple of miles apart. So if they were to reinstate the R3 all the way back to West Chester, past Wawa, I'd guess few, if any local stops. Let me whip out my cyrstal ball for the R3 in 2050: West Chester (terminus, not Univ.), 202 park-and-ride, and maybe if it can be justified, Cheney Univ...