Southampton (SEPTA station)

Southampton
SEPTA regional rail

Southampton station
April 28, 2012
Location Second Street Pike and Knowles Avenue
Upper Southampton, Pennsylvania.
Coordinates 40°10′19″N 75°02′38″W / 40.1720°N 75.0438°WCoordinates: 40°10′19″N 75°02′38″W / 40.1720°N 75.0438°W
Owned by SEPTA
Line(s)
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Platform levels 1
Parking 15 spaces
History
Opened 1892 (RDG)
Closed January 14, 1983
Electrified No
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
County Line
(closed 1983)
Fox Chase Line
(closed 1983)
toward Newtown

Southampton is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on Second Street Pike (PA-232) near Knowles Avenue in Upper Southampton, Pennsylvania.

History

Built in 1892, Southampton Station was a stop on the Reading Railroad's Newtown Line. It later became a part of SEPTA's Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line. The station, and all of those north of Fox Chase, was closed on January 14, 1983,[1] due to failing diesel train equipment (RDCs).

In addition, a labor dispute began within the SEPTA organization when the transit operator inherited 1,700 displaced employees from Conrail. SEPTA insisted on utilizing transit operators from the Broad Street Subway to operate Fox Chase-Newtown diesel trains, while Conrail requested that railroad motormen run the service. When a federal court ruled that SEPTA had to use Conrail employees in order to offer job assurance, SEPTA cancelled Fox Chase-Newtown trains.[2] Service in the diesel-only territory north of Fox Chase was cancelled at that time, and Southampton Station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.[3]

Although rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light, and the Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus service ended in 1999.

Fire

SEPTA RDC train stopping at Southampton Station, December 16, 1981, during the 16-month period when SEPTA operated the experimental Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line.
Crossing signal equipment continued to operate properly, with warning lights blinking through the fire on January 2, 1982.

Three months after SEPTA assumed operations, on January 2, 1982, the crossing at Second Street Pike south of Southampton Station was the site of a fiery crash between a train, an ARCO gasoline truck, and a car. Motorman Donald Williams died from multiple burns. Five people were also injured; the accident caused flames to rise fifty feet in the air and created a plume of black smoke visible for miles.[4] Photographs findicate the crossing signal equipment was working properly, with warning lights continuing to warn motorists after the collision occurred.[5] SEPTA general manager David L. Gunn ordered additional safety precautions, but service ceased just over a year after the accident.[6]

References

  1. ↑ newtownline.pa-tec.org/history
  2. ↑ Tulsky, Fredric N. (January 29, 1982). "Conrail Staff Must Run Trains: court ruling bars SEPTA takeover". Philadelphia Inquirer.SEPTA must use Conrail workers rather than its own personnel to run trains over the region's 13 commuter lines, a special federal court has ruled in a decision that offers some job assurance for 1,700 Conrail employees next year. The special court, in an opinion issued Wednesday, ruled that SEPTA had acted legally in October when it replaced Conrail workers with its former subway operators on the line.
  3. ↑ SEPTA Tariff No. 154; effective July 1, 2009
  4. ↑ Halsey, III, Ashley (January 3, 1982). "5 Hurt in Fiery Rail Collision". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  5. ↑ Stecklow, Steve (January 4, 1982). "Clues Sought in Crash of Train, Truck". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  6. ↑ Tulsky, Frederic N. (January 7, 1982). "SEPTA Stiffens Rail Safety Rules". Philadelphia Inquirer.

External links