West Chester University (West Chester Railroad station)

WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY
Abandoned West Chester Railroad train station
The former West Chester University station shelter in 2010.
Location	Nields Street West Chester, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°57′24″N 75°35′36″W / 39.9567°N 75.5934°WCoordinates: 39°57′24″N 75°35′36″W / 39.9567°N 75.5934°W
Owned by	West Chester Railroad
Line(s)	Pennsylvania Railroad, SEPTA R3 West Chester Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Structure type	metal shelter
Platform levels	1
History
Opened	1968
Closed	1986
Electrified	1928
Previous names	Nields Street
Services
No services   Former services   Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station West Chester (closed 1986) Terminus West Chester Line R3 West Chester Oakbourne (closed 1961) toward Suburban Station

West Chester University is a former West Chester Railroad train station located on Nields Street in West Chester. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) West Chester Line. It later became a part of SEPTA's R3 West Chester line.

SEPTA discontinued regular passenger service in September 1986, due to deteriorating track conditions and Chester County's desire to expand facilities at Exton Station on SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line. Service was restored by the West Chester Railroad (WCRR) in 1997, a privately owned and operated heritage railway that operates between Glen Mills and West Chester on weekends.

History

Students and professors at the State Normal School as well as local residents had pleaded with the PRR to construct a station at East Nields Street to avoid walking six blocks north to the Market Street Station. The PRR refused to do so, though trains stopped at Nields Street occasionally after World War I. As late as 1962, residents were still urging the financially ailing PRR to build a station at Nields Street, and by 1965, the PRR offered to do so in exchange for permission to demolish the Market Street Station.^[1] However, West Chester Borough Council opposed that plan in the hope that Market Street Station would become a downtown transportation center. The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission allowed the PRR to vacate the dilapidated Market Street station. It was only after the station was demolished in 1968 that PRR's successor, Penn Central, constructed a small metal passenger shelter at the location, initially named Nields Street and later West Chester University station.^[1]

The shelter remains in derelict condition. Though it has not been regularly maintained since its 1986 closure, WCRR volunteers paint the station site on occasion. SEPTA signage also survives .^[1] In addition, WCRR equipment is stored at the PRR's former Adams Street depot situation near the station site.

References

1. Jones, Ph.D., Jim (2006). Railroads of West Chester: 1831 to the Present. West Chester, Pennsylvania: Taggart Printing. pp. 77–78.

External links

• West Chester Railroad's official website