Abandoned stations of the NEC

This thread is for Amtrak, NJT, SEPTA, and MARC. (Should it be moved to commuter rail?) Some of the old Amtrak timetables list stations I've never heard of, like Iselin, NJ and Capitol Beltway, MD. Are these just Metropark and New Carrolton, or did Metropark and New Carrolton replace older stations?

Are there are any other stops on the NEC (I'm really only interested in the NYP-WAS segment) where Amtrak once stopped, but doesn't stop anymore. Or, inversely, has Amtrak always stopped at CWH, or did that only start when they built the Park'n'ride around 1997?

As for commuter stations, I know of a few. Colonia, NJ used to be a stop for Pennsy commuter rail, but that may predate NJT. I think SEPTA used to also stop at "Andalusia," which is only a mile or so south of CWH.

Sorry for the long and rambling post, but the history of the NEC from the period (roughly) 1950-2000 really interests me but I can never find much on these old stations.

Metropark is Iselin. I can tell you that much. Amtrak has stopped at Cornwells Heights since the First Clocker ran AFAIK. One that's dropped off the radar that is always been a great place to Railfan. Frankford Junction shown in this photo http://acela150kid.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1855158 it was a PRR stop a little North of North Philadelphia. It is at Shore tower.

Although technically not on the NEC, Amtrak used to stop at North Philadelphia.

the_traveler said:

Although technically not on the NEC, Amtrak used to stop at North Philadelphia.

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Dave North Philadelphia is on the NEC. As old North Philadelphia tower overlooks the station. A few Keystone trains stop along with Regional trains. Not many I think total ridership one year was 200+

I didn't realize it was on the NEC and still used by Amtrak.

Capitol Beltway is just an old name for New Carrollton.

For those with shorter memories, North Philadelphia used to be the stop in Philadelphia for all through trains from New York City west to Pittsburgh and Chicago or St. Louis in Pennsylvania Railroad days. That's because it's the last station north (railroad north, at least) of Zoo interlocking, where the Northeast Corridor and the "Broad Way" main to the west diverge. So North Philadelphia used to have ticketing, baggage check, and everything else associated with a through station. When Amtrak consolidated its Philadelphia operations at 30th St. Station (which it still uses today), it meant that a backup move was required for through trains. The Broadway Limited under Amtrak used to run "backwards" (coach seats facing the rear) from NYP through to PHL; then the locomotive was taken off the end and reattached to the far end of the train which then pulled out "forwards" to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

ehbowen said:

For those with shorter memories, North Philadelphia used to be the stop in Philadelphia for all through trains from New York City west to Pittsburgh and Chicago or St. Louis in Pennsylvania Railroad days. That's because it's the last station north (railroad north, at least) of Zoo interlocking, where the Northeast Corridor and the "Broad Way" main to the west diverge. So North Philadelphia used to have ticketing, baggage check, and everything else associated with a through station. When Amtrak consolidated its Philadelphia operations at 30th St. Station (which it still uses today), it meant that a backup move was required for through trains. The Broadway Limited under Amtrak used to run "backwards" (coach seats facing the rear) from NYP through to PHL; then the locomotive was taken off the end and reattached to the far end of the train which then pulled out "forwards" to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

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Just like the Pennsy today!

Oh yeah, I forgot about Frankford Junction. Old SEPTA rail system maps show a separate "Frankford" too. And of course there's Wissinoming, whose shelters you can see from I-95.

Anybody got some more pictures of the abandoned stations? Looking at that map, there used to be service West Trenton-Newark and also Spring Garden on the BRS. Now it's only on the BSL main. Which year was that map from, it has the old SEPTA logo and lots of commuter rail lines that got cancelled.

Technically, Capitol Beltway was an old station that was supplanted by New Carrollton, but IIRC the stations are only a few hundred feet apart and may share platforms.

When is that SEPTA map from?

ehbowen said:

For those with shorter memories, North Philadelphia used to be the stop in Philadelphia for all through trains from New York City west to Pittsburgh and Chicago or St. Louis in Pennsylvania Railroad days. That's because it's the last station north (railroad north, at least) of Zoo interlocking, where the Northeast Corridor and the "Broad Way" main to the west diverge. So North Philadelphia used to have ticketing, baggage check, and everything else associated with a through station. When Amtrak consolidated its Philadelphia operations at 30th St. Station (which it still uses today), it meant that a backup move was required for through trains. The Broadway Limited under Amtrak used to run "backwards" (coach seats facing the rear) from NYP through to PHL; then the locomotive was taken off the end and reattached to the far end of the train which then pulled out "forwards" to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

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ehbowen said:

For those with shorter memories, North Philadelphia used to be the stop in Philadelphia for all through trains from New York City west to Pittsburgh and Chicago or St. Louis in Pennsylvania Railroad days. That's because it's the last station north (railroad north, at least) of Zoo interlocking, where the Northeast Corridor and the "Broad Way" main to the west diverge. So North Philadelphia used to have ticketing, baggage check, and everything else associated with a through station. When Amtrak consolidated its Philadelphia operations at 30th St. Station (which it still uses today), it meant that a backup move was required for through trains. The Broadway Limited under Amtrak used to run "backwards" (coach seats facing the rear) from NYP through to PHL; then the locomotive was taken off the end and reattached to the far end of the train which then pulled out "forwards" to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

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I traveled from Miami to Chicago through Philadelphia in March, 1973. I stopped over a day in Philadelphia and disembarked from the Vacationer at 30th Street on Saturday. On Sunday, I took a commuter train to North Philadelphia where there was an agent and I was able to check my bag to my final destination; Grand Forks, North Dakota. I had 2-3 hours to kill before the Broadway LTD came through. The agent told me to be careful in the area around the North Philadelphia Station. I made my way to the #23 Germantown Avenue Streetcar and rode to Chestnut Hill where I caught a PRR line commuter train back to North Philadelphia before boarding the Broadway LTD. In 1977, I traveled from Washington, DC to Chicago on the Washington DC section of the Broadway LTD which traveled through Philadelphia, stopped at 30th Street and proceeded on through North Philadelphia where it consolidated with the New York section of the Broadway, LTD.

As Ryan and Anderson both stated, the Capitol Beltway Station was replaced by New Carrollton. The old station was built by the Pennsy in the late '60s (IIRC), so that one did not need to go to WAS to catch trains heading north towards NYP, if one lived on the north side of DC. I use to catch Metroliners with my Dad from there. As you can imagine, based on that time in the Penny's life, the station was built as cheaply as possible, with the wooden platforms (one on each side of the tracks) resting on pilings that sure seemed like recycled telegraph poles. With everything else made of (green?) wood, it didn't take long for things to start warping, and I remember walking on it carefully and when one looked down the platform it would twist and bend. When Metro was built, the area around the Cap. Beltway Station turned from open space into vast parking lots and parking garages, as New Carrollton is the last stop on Metro's Orange Line. At that time the New Carrollton Amtrak station was built just to the south (IIRC) of the old station, and immediately next to Metro's New Carrollton Station. I've looked for traces of the old station when passing through. but any remanants are few, if any.

I found this picture of the platforms:



The signal bridge you can see looks like it is about 800 yards north of the current platform, right next to the MDoT salt dome. I think that the salt dome area is where the parking for the station was located.

Here's a picture from the north end of the platform, where you can see the Beltway overpass in the background (and a bonus E60 with ghetto bars!).

Ryan, GREAT PICS!!! Thanks for sharing!! :hi:

In the first years of operation I believe some Amtrak trains used to call at Rahway too.

Other abandoned station between Newark and Trenton that were never served by Amtrak include Adams, Deans, North Rahway, Colonia, Elmora, South Street and maybe I am forgetting one or two more. Don't quite remember if Monmouth Jct. had a real station at some point. Maybe it did.

In New Jersey, Monmouth Junction was a PRR station located between Princeton Junction and New Brunswick. It was served by the PRR locals between Trenton and New York. In Maryland, Elkton had a station, as did Havre de Grace.

I think in Baltimore, I have seen an abondonded going south probably towards the edge of the city. May predate Amtrak operations but interesting. I always wondered about it.

Amtrak used to stop at Levittown (then Levittown/Tullytown) and Bristol PA. The stations are still served by SEPTA.

Ryan said:

I found this picture of the platforms:

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Can someone please explain what's up with the four rail setup on both tracks? What are the extra two rails for?

Texan Eagle said:

Ryan said:

I found this picture of the platforms:

Click to expand...

Can someone please explain what's up with the four rail setup on both tracks? What are the extra two rails for?

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Gantlet tracks to keep the freight away from the platform edges.

New Carrollton had them on 2 track as well, they were removed within the last year or two.

benjibear said:

I think in Baltimore, I have seen an abondonded going south probably towards the edge of the city. May predate Amtrak operations but interesting. I always wondered about it.

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West Baltimore MARC station, perhaps?

The first thing I notice in that photo (in addition to the temporary look of the station) is the gauntlet track. Today there isn't any guantlet track left on the NEC itself, is there?

In New Jersey from looking through the original timetables Amtrak once stopped at Elizabeth, Rahway, and Metchen all are gone by the 1972 timetables since Metropark consolidated all these remote stops as the Jersey side of New York City Parking station. (I've linked to my website because I've discussed Amtrak operations on those station pages in detail)

I think the NJT Northeast Corridor Line page on Wikipedia is quite accurate at listing abandoned stations on the NEC in New Jersey:

And speaking of the New Carrollton Amtrak/Metro staions, WMATA has just recently approved a massive new mixed use development around the station, on 39 acres, costing a billion dollars. with up to 10 million square feet of space.

Ryan said:

benjibear said:

I think in Baltimore, I have seen an abondonded going south probably towards the edge of the city. May predate Amtrak operations but interesting. I always wondered about it.

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West Baltimore MARC station, perhaps?

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Or Halethorpe MARC station? Both stations are still active, but neither of them have looked liked much in the past. Looks like Halethorpe is getting some renovation, though.