Parkesburg station

Parkesburg

Parkesburg Amtrak station on the eastbound track 1.
Location West First Avenue and
South Culvert Street
Parkesburg, PA 19365
Coordinates 39°57′33″N 75°55′20″W / 39.95917°N 75.92222°W / 39.95917; -75.92222
Line(s)
  Keystone Service
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 3
Other information
Station code PAR
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 48,563[1] Decrease 2.2%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
toward Harrisburg
Keystone Service
  Former services  
Pennsylvania Railroad
toward Chicago
Main Line
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
TerminusParkesburg Line
R5 Parkesburg (closed 1996)
(closed 1996)

Parkesburg is an Amtrak train station located between Lancaster and Philadelphia at West First Avenue and South Culvert Street in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania. It is served by most Amtrak Keystone Service trains. A station building exists at the stop, but is not currently used as a ticket office. The distance between Parkesburg and the next westbound station (Lancaster) is the longest distance between stations (23 miles) anywhere along the Keystone Corridor.

From circa 1914 through 1972, Parkesburg Tower was located near the Atlantic Avenue bridge. The tower served as a communication/signalling point for westbound (to Lancaster and beyond) trains, and a routing location for eastbound trains entering the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Rail Road. A small service yard was also located nearby for both track service and to assist with sideling switching. Parkesburg Station once was the western-most stop for the SEPTA R5 commuter line (now the Paoli/Thorndale Line). It was truncated to Downingtown in November 1996[2] because of the need for trains to deadhead to Lancaster to turn around. It has since been re-extended to Thorndale, a few miles west of Downingtown.

In 1984, the station appeared in the movie Witness.[3] Filming took place over a three-day period, and devout fans of the film make annual pilgrimages to the station and other select stops each year.

References

  1. ↑ "Amtrak State Fact Sheet, FY2015, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "SEPTA Board Cuts Service; But Opposition is Spirited". The Philadelphia Daily News. October 25, 1996. p. 12. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Parkesburg Yesterday". Parkesburg Today. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2015-09-09.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.