Media – Sharon Hill Line

Media – Sharon Hill Line
A tram on the Media – Sharon Hill Line
Basic information
Country	United States
city	Upper Darby Township
opening	March 15, 1906
operator	SEPTA
Infrastructure
Route length	19.2 km
Gauge	1581 mm
Power system	Overhead line
Operating mode	Bidirectional operation
Stops	51
Depots	1
business
Lines	2
vehicles	Kawasaki Heavy Industries LRVs
Media-Sharon Hill Line route network

The Media – Sharon Hill Line is a tram system in Delaware County . Radial lines 101 and 102, which have operated since 1913, are an important local mode of transport and connect the cities of Media and Sharon Hill to the Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line to Philadelphia . It is a network with a trunk line that branches out into the two cities. A large part of the route runs on an independent track as a regional tram . However, the lines used today are only relics of the originally extensive Red Arrow tram network in western Philadelphia.

history

Heavy steel wagons were used on the lines until the 1970s

The tram lines of the Media-Sharon Hill Line originated under the direction of the businessman A. Merritt Taylor operated. In 1903 he established the 69th Street Transportation Center as the end point for his new tram lines, where the trams connect to the Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line as well as the high-speed line of the Philadelphia & Western Railway to Strafford, which is now called Norristown High- Speed ​​Line is known, received. Both rapid transit systems were still under construction at the time. The project to extend the tram lines over the subway line to the center of Philadelphia, however, could not be realized. As the first section of the Media-Sharon Hill Line began the establishment of the Collingdon Line, the route between the 69th Street Transportation Center and the Baltimore Pike in Clifton Heights in the summer of 1905. The opening of the section took place on March 15, 1906. In operation was initially only a single tram was used, which shuttled between the end stations every 30 minutes. The operating company was the Philadelphia & Garrettford Street Railway Company, which was taken over in 1905 by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company . In June 1906 three new trams were delivered to the company. On August 6 of the same year, the station building at the Lansdowne Avenue stop was completed.

The initially single-track line was expanded to double-track in individual stages over the following years. In addition, there were some extensions, so that the line was not completed in full length until July 25, 1907. Shortly before, on April 30, 1907, the trams ran to the new terminus at the 69th Street Transportation Center. A tram car was used as a shuttle to replace the missing connection to the previous terminus at 63rd Street . After this important transfer point had been realized, A. Merritt Taylor decided to build the tram route to Media. Work began in the summer of 1912. Because of the high standards of infrastructure, the route became the most expensive on the Red Arrow , the Delaware County's tram network. On April 1, 1913, the 8.5-mile tram to Media was opened. As the last section of the Media – Sharon Hill Line, the Collingdale Line was extended in 1917 from Parker Avenue, now MacDade Boulevard, to Chester Pike in Sharon Hill. In 1954 the tram lines became the property of the Philadelphia Suburban Transit Company . The remaining lines of the, which were part of the Red Arrow tram network, were shut down in the 1950s and replaced by bus routes.

outlook

The Delaware County and the SEPTA have drawn up extensive plans for the renewal and refurbishment of the stops and rail systems for the lines. This includes a new painting of the overhead line masts, the replacement of the old rails and an improvement of the signaling at level crossings.

Lines and routes

A 102 tram car at the Sharon Hill terminus

A tram line 101 in Media

line	length	Line route	Cycle (HVZ / NVZ / SVZ)
101	13.8 km	Media (Orange Street) - Springfield - Drexel Hill - 69th Street Transportation Center	10/20/30
102	8.5 km	Sharon Hill - Aldan - Clifton Heights - Drexel Hill - 69th Street Transportation Center	20/20/30

Trunk line

The main route of both lines begins at the 69th Street Transportation Center, an important transfer point in western Philadelphia, where the tram goes through a turning loop with three adjacent platform edges. A short branch route leads to the depot and the parking facility. The Bywood district is traversed on an independent railway track on the edge of Garrett Road. Noticeable features of this route are the marking as a railway line and the St. Andrew's cross at the crossings. In Drexel Hill the route is led on its own route and branches off at Drexel Hill Junction.

Route to Sharon

The line 102 passes the Clifton Heights district on an independent route to cross Aldan on a street-level or special railway body , from the North Street stop the route becomes single-track. Just a short section before the Sharon Hill terminus is signposted as a railway line.

Route to Media

Line 101 runs along the town of Springfield as a railroad into Nether Providence Township. When you reach Media, the route is led to State Street, where it is a single-track rail track flush with the street to the terminus at Orange Street .

Rolling stock

Vehicles from the LRV series from the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki Heavy Industries are used.

Web links

• Information page about the Media-Sharon Hill Line at www.nycsubway.org

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Media and Sharon Hill Trolley Lines. delawarecountyhistory, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
2. ^ The Media and Sharon Hill Trolley Lines. delawarecountyhistory, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Renewal of the infrastructure ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Former and current rolling stock