tehshadowbat
Ticket office viewed from the southbound platform
Built in 1991 and closed only 10 years later. Glass block windows were smashed out over time and replaced with cinder block....
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Located on the PRR's Connecting Railway, this station replaced an earlier one known as Germantown Junction. Established in the early 1870's, Germantown served as a stop on the Connecting Railway, serving the neighborhoods and industries in the area. By the 1890's, after the completion of the Delair bridge, and the continuing growth of the area, Germantown Junction was woefully inadequate.
P.R.R. president, George P Roberts had plans put in place for a replacement facility designed by architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. Chandler designed the main building in the so-called Châteauesque style. Behind the terra-cotta clad structure containing the ticket offices and waiting rooms, a tunnel would stretch under the tracks accessing two platforms. Construction started in 1896, however the death of Roderts along with the Panic of 1896 caused work to be put on hold. Work finally resumed in 1900 under company president Alexander Cassatt, who considered this station as part of a massive capital expenditure that also involved the building of Penn Station in New York City and Union Station in Washington DC.
Upon opening in 1901, the new Germantown Junction served as the Philadelphia stop for service linking New York to Harrisburg and the west, as well as the Philadelphia Terminal for express service to New York (Broadway Limited and the American) As crowds continued to overwhelm the station, a renovation was carried out in 1912 by architect William Cookman to replace the two side platforms with island platforms that could serve two trains each. Major modifications were carried out to the main building as well with the basement opened up and expanded to form a new entrance level. Upon completion in 1915, the remodeled station was renamed North Philadelphia. With the completion of the Broad Street Subway in 1928, a passageway was constructed underground to link it's North Philadelphia station to the P.R.R. station as well as the Reading's North Broad Station nearby. Here passengers were able to travel to Center City, or the neighborhoods north, further taking pressure off Broad Street Station (eventually replaced by 30th Street/Suburban Stations)
After World War II, North Philadelphia Station and the surrounding neighborhoods suffered from the loss of industries, "white flight" to the suburbs as well as increased reliance on private cars. Despite a major renovation carried out in 1955, traffic continued to decline and the number of trains stopping there began to drop. Following a fire in 1976, now owner Amtrak undertook repairs that involved bricking off the windows among other things.
Amtrak built a new ticket office in 1991 situated at the north of the platform underpass, and a series of renovations were done throughout the decade. Platforms were rebuilt and elevators to allow disabled access were added. A developer transformed the main station house into retail space serving as the centerpiece of a new community shopping center. A new Pathmark Supermarket was added as part of the project giving people in the impoverished neighborhood access to basic groceries.
It would seem that all the efforts had gone to waste however. Amtrak closed the North Philadelphia ticket office in 2001. Although Amtrak and Septa trains still stop here, conditions deteriorated to a point where it seemed that station was flat-out abandoned. Platform windows were smashed and never fixed, while the elevators were decommissioned permanently because the vandalism had become so severe. Parking lots surrounding the station now sit virtually unused except as a dumping ground. A severe blow was dealt to the neighborhood in 2015, when the Pathmark store closed as part of parent company A&P's bankruptcy, returning the area to a "food desert".
Hope could be on the horizon however as an ambitious proposal has been unveiled calling for residential and commercial space on the former parking lots and refurbishment of a nearby abandoned factory. If pulled off, this project could easily serve as a catalyst in bringing one of the worst areas in Philadelphia back to it's former glory....
Ticket office viewed from the southbound platform
Built in 1991 and closed only 10 years later. Glass block windows were smashed out over time and replaced with cinder block....
========================
Located on the PRR's Connecting Railway, this station replaced an earlier one known as Germantown Junction. Established in the early 1870's, Germantown served as a stop on the Connecting Railway, serving the neighborhoods and industries in the area. By the 1890's, after the completion of the Delair bridge, and the continuing growth of the area, Germantown Junction was woefully inadequate.
P.R.R. president, George P Roberts had plans put in place for a replacement facility designed by architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. Chandler designed the main building in the so-called Châteauesque style. Behind the terra-cotta clad structure containing the ticket offices and waiting rooms, a tunnel would stretch under the tracks accessing two platforms. Construction started in 1896, however the death of Roderts along with the Panic of 1896 caused work to be put on hold. Work finally resumed in 1900 under company president Alexander Cassatt, who considered this station as part of a massive capital expenditure that also involved the building of Penn Station in New York City and Union Station in Washington DC.
Upon opening in 1901, the new Germantown Junction served as the Philadelphia stop for service linking New York to Harrisburg and the west, as well as the Philadelphia Terminal for express service to New York (Broadway Limited and the American) As crowds continued to overwhelm the station, a renovation was carried out in 1912 by architect William Cookman to replace the two side platforms with island platforms that could serve two trains each. Major modifications were carried out to the main building as well with the basement opened up and expanded to form a new entrance level. Upon completion in 1915, the remodeled station was renamed North Philadelphia. With the completion of the Broad Street Subway in 1928, a passageway was constructed underground to link it's North Philadelphia station to the P.R.R. station as well as the Reading's North Broad Station nearby. Here passengers were able to travel to Center City, or the neighborhoods north, further taking pressure off Broad Street Station (eventually replaced by 30th Street/Suburban Stations)
After World War II, North Philadelphia Station and the surrounding neighborhoods suffered from the loss of industries, "white flight" to the suburbs as well as increased reliance on private cars. Despite a major renovation carried out in 1955, traffic continued to decline and the number of trains stopping there began to drop. Following a fire in 1976, now owner Amtrak undertook repairs that involved bricking off the windows among other things.
Amtrak built a new ticket office in 1991 situated at the north of the platform underpass, and a series of renovations were done throughout the decade. Platforms were rebuilt and elevators to allow disabled access were added. A developer transformed the main station house into retail space serving as the centerpiece of a new community shopping center. A new Pathmark Supermarket was added as part of the project giving people in the impoverished neighborhood access to basic groceries.
It would seem that all the efforts had gone to waste however. Amtrak closed the North Philadelphia ticket office in 2001. Although Amtrak and Septa trains still stop here, conditions deteriorated to a point where it seemed that station was flat-out abandoned. Platform windows were smashed and never fixed, while the elevators were decommissioned permanently because the vandalism had become so severe. Parking lots surrounding the station now sit virtually unused except as a dumping ground. A severe blow was dealt to the neighborhood in 2015, when the Pathmark store closed as part of parent company A&P's bankruptcy, returning the area to a "food desert".
Hope could be on the horizon however as an ambitious proposal has been unveiled calling for residential and commercial space on the former parking lots and refurbishment of a nearby abandoned factory. If pulled off, this project could easily serve as a catalyst in bringing one of the worst areas in Philadelphia back to it's former glory....