Meeting an emergency : the Broad Street station fire, 11 June 1923, Philadelphia : booklet issued by the Pennsylvania Railroad
On Mon 11 June 1923 at around 0100hrs a fore broke out beneath the platforms at the Pennsylania Railroad's Broad Street station in central Philadelphia and it soon spread to consume the entire station as seen on the cover photograph. The structure destroyed dated from the reconstruction of 1892/3 and was designed by Frank Furness. The station, and its approach tracks, created a massive 'divide' across the city centre that was the subject of many planning complaints even when electrically operated trains started in 1915 to gradually replace some of the steam hauled services into and out of this congested dead end terminus.
If the fire was spectacular the response by the Pennsylvania was no less impressive. On the Monday most peak hour services ran 'as nornal' to other Philapdelphia city stations and even as the fire was still burning the railroad started to build temporary platforms and staircases to the streets below one block back from the devastated station. One the day of the fire 38 electric trains used these new platforms - on the Tuesday this rose to 142 trains. As girders and steelwork cooled under the wrecked train shed roof the construction of new timber platforms commenced from the outer end of the shed to the concourse - this was in use by 151 suburban trains to run into the station on the Wednesday as work continued to restore the other platforms. This involved track laying to gain access to salvage wrecked rolling stock that had been consumed in the fire. By Thursday 14th two tracks and platforms were complete and access to all sixteen rebuilt tracks and platforms was complete within 7 working days.
The roof was dismantled and replaced by 'umbrella' canopies along the platforms. Oddly the terminus's days were in a way already numbered as the Pennsylvania embarked on a massive investment programme involving new tunnels, tracks and stations in the central area of the city during the 1920s and '30s. This substantially reduced the use of the station that was, again, consumed by fire in 1943. It closed completely in 1952 and was wholly demolished by 1953.
Meeting an emergency : the Broad Street station fire, 11 June 1923, Philadelphia : booklet issued by the Pennsylvania Railroad
On Mon 11 June 1923 at around 0100hrs a fore broke out beneath the platforms at the Pennsylania Railroad's Broad Street station in central Philadelphia and it soon spread to consume the entire station as seen on the cover photograph. The structure destroyed dated from the reconstruction of 1892/3 and was designed by Frank Furness. The station, and its approach tracks, created a massive 'divide' across the city centre that was the subject of many planning complaints even when electrically operated trains started in 1915 to gradually replace some of the steam hauled services into and out of this congested dead end terminus.
If the fire was spectacular the response by the Pennsylvania was no less impressive. On the Monday most peak hour services ran 'as nornal' to other Philapdelphia city stations and even as the fire was still burning the railroad started to build temporary platforms and staircases to the streets below one block back from the devastated station. One the day of the fire 38 electric trains used these new platforms - on the Tuesday this rose to 142 trains. As girders and steelwork cooled under the wrecked train shed roof the construction of new timber platforms commenced from the outer end of the shed to the concourse - this was in use by 151 suburban trains to run into the station on the Wednesday as work continued to restore the other platforms. This involved track laying to gain access to salvage wrecked rolling stock that had been consumed in the fire. By Thursday 14th two tracks and platforms were complete and access to all sixteen rebuilt tracks and platforms was complete within 7 working days.
The roof was dismantled and replaced by 'umbrella' canopies along the platforms. Oddly the terminus's days were in a way already numbered as the Pennsylvania embarked on a massive investment programme involving new tunnels, tracks and stations in the central area of the city during the 1920s and '30s. This substantially reduced the use of the station that was, again, consumed by fire in 1943. It closed completely in 1952 and was wholly demolished by 1953.