Also interesting to note that nearly all the switches between Parksburg and Harrisburg are modern moveable point, concrete tie, high speed switches. Yet between Lancaster and Harrisburg the rest of the line is still on outdated wooden ties.. hopefully that changes and maybe even some realignment and higher speed limits come through as well. One can always hope
yeah they've been upgrading the line to support SEPTA service in the future but hopefully they upgrade the line west of Lancaster. speed limit from Middletown to Harrisburg is still 110 mph despite the older infrastructure though.
Awesome Video Nathan! I truly love the Keystone Corridor, such an awesome amount of scenery. One moment your in Philly with a population of over 1 Million, a couple interlocking later your pass through old PRR style stations, Maybe a couple Amshacks hence "Ardmore". Then an hour or so later ur running past Amish land and into PA's State capital.
Last time I was on an Amtrak train was before I had a driver's license, so before 2007. It was from Newport News, VA to 30th St. Station in Philadelphia. Hopefully one of these days I can take one several states away instead of driving. I find train rides to be much less stressful than driving
Who designed the new Paoli station? They could just have gone with an full 4 track station for amtrak to pass thru but ofcourse they build an island platform. They should also make the Keystone corridor an High speed freight corridor when it is fully Quad tracked on the electrified portion. Freight trains would easily travel at 70-80 mph. Freight RR could also use Dual modes on the sections.
no idea who designed it but all trains stop there and freights rarely use this line since it’s owned by Amtrak. that said, I have no idea why they removed the inner tracks between Paoli and Park and they could be really useful for expresses and allow for more trains. track speed is 80 mph until Downs.
@@nathanjiang100 but in this case, this corridor would allow for better and faster freight trains. The limited use by Amtrak would allow for lower charges on Freight RR's.
@@StefanWithTrains there’s another freight line that NS uses that runs via Reading to get to Harrisburg. and it’s also worth nothing that freight trains are limited to 65 mph where passenger trains can go 80 mph, that’s an FRA track standard thing
You went past us in thorndale, we were running the harsco off road TLM we had just cut in and we’re working at night to get through Caln interlocking. Was wondering if you’d get to see us work. But alas we were working that night. We were installing the new number 2 track from caln to W and N junction. Great video!
If you go through now, you’ll see the new #2 track just about done, (caln to W and N) we just need to connect it to the switch we put in at W and N junction. we will be up there this weekend, and starting next weekend we are in Trenton for a few, then back to do downs and paoli.
You rock, Nathan! So does this vid! Sorry about the engine failure at HBG. FYI I've railfanned AMTK along the Keystone Corridor at Leaman Place, Lancaster, and Middletown (and iirc years ago at Villanova while attending grad school at VU). Thanks for the ride.
nice! well you’re in luck, I went out to Harrisburg last week and filmed the return on 42 which will be available on sunday. as for the engine failures, guess I’ll have to make it out to Pittsburgh some other time to actually see horseshoe curve
9:20-9:44. You’re passing my way. 10:20-10:40. SEPTA cars in graffiti are storage units, the further tracks are trains or locomotives that are set for scrap
Most of these stations - especially between Harrisburg and Paoli - or between Paoli and Philadelphia - have never seen AMTRAK service - Exton is an ideal example - when did Exton gain AMTRAK service? (Paoli was connected to New York as far back as the Age of Steam via the 20th Century Limited - I myself took AMTRAK to Paoli a grand total of once - it is repeatable today - not just to Paoli, but to Exton or any Keystone Service train via a feeder train that meets Keystone Service trains at 30th Street Station. But how much demand is there for AMTRAK service - at even longer term stations such as Paoli or Lancaster for that matter, let alone Exton?
I’m not sure why Exton only gets eastbound Pennsylvanian and not the westbound. I know that all stops between Paoli and Lancaster are generally pretty brief with only a handful on/offs per train since SEPTA serves most of the stations. Lancaster always gets a ton of ridership from the Amish, especially on the Pennsylvanian where they can connect to the now Floridian to head to the Midwest. I’d say the Keystone is essentially a commuter train from Philly to Harris which explains all the stops.
there’s is a lot of extra electrification you will see on this line as a whole. when they removed a lot of the trackage they did not remove the electrification in many cases
I’d like to do a video like this. I guess the best thing to do is to stick the camera with a suction cup on the window so the conductor is less likely to make a fuss. This is obviously the Pennsylvania as you have the rearview a keystone you would not.
I normally stand back there to watch it and the conductor doesn't care. I've done 3 rear-view rides on the Pennsylvanian already and have never had a problem, this one, a return trip Harris-Philly on 42 last fall, and Harrisburg-Lancaster on 42 from 2022. My Harris-Philly ride is the most detailed of the 3 in terms of graphics but I've mostly updated the timestamps on this video because it's still getting viewed a lot. if you leave a camera unattended they might ask whose camera it is. yeah the pennsylvanian provides the best rear views in the northeast because you don't need business class to have access to it as coach is the rearmost car. I plan to ride one of the new express Northeast Regionals that will take effect in march (181 and a new 196) in business class to get rear view rides between NY and DC.
@@nathanjiang100 so Northeast regionals are always business class in the rear? I saw those 181 and 196 trains listed and they are fast. When are they starting?
@@3985uprr first full week of march, yeah for the most part business class is always in the rear unless they quickly turn trains around due to cancellations. 290 the southbound Ethan Allen usually runs coach at the back south of Albany but the one time I rode it they wyed the train at Albany so business was at the front and I couldn't get a rear view without paying a lot more.
@3985uprr they also have business at the back but 290 is an exception because of the reverse move out of Rutland. he runs coach last after Rutland and then they detach the rear P32 at Albany. when I rode the train they had a P42 lead from Rutland to Albany with a P32 on the rear end so they had to wye the train at Albany so a P32 could lead into Penn Station. 291 runs normally and has an engine added to the rear end in Albany, but they don’t wye the train in burlington because it has 2 engines north of Albany already so 290 runs reversed on the Hudson line unless a P42 is used on one end.
good to know. yeah both times I've done rear-view rides on the Pennsylvanian, I've been ok but they do pool from the same crews between Philly and Harris so I'm still make note.
@Nathan Jiang I personally think it's more along the lines of they don't like anyone near the cab in the cabcars I tried to get a video on a Keystone ACS64 leading but they ended up closing and locking the door.
Enjoyed the trip immensely Imagining being seated in the lounge/observation car sipping on something . Do the Keystone trains ever use the center tracks between Philly and Paoli ? will the speeds ever be increased ?
Amtrak does 80 on all 4 tracks. When they don't have to overtake a SEPTA train they use 1 and 4 because it's easier to keep the switches set for local if they don't have to move
the conductor came in, scanned my ticket, and left pretty much. coachclass is at the back of the Pennsylvanian west of Philadelphia so I didn't need a business class ticket or anything
if European trains rattled this much they complain and stop riding them lol. But for Amtrak its just another day at the office. The again they don't use 60 year old cars, etiher.
To be fair, it's not normally this noisy/rattly in the actual sitting area. This is just the vestibule, which for all intents and purposes is not soundproofed.
Some of the Captions in the video are incorrect. A more detailed and corrected version of the captions is out on the Eastbound Ride.
Also interesting to note that nearly all the switches between Parksburg and Harrisburg are modern moveable point, concrete tie, high speed switches. Yet between Lancaster and Harrisburg the rest of the line is still on outdated wooden ties.. hopefully that changes and maybe even some realignment and higher speed limits come through as well. One can always hope
yeah they've been upgrading the line to support SEPTA service in the future but hopefully they upgrade the line west of Lancaster. speed limit from Middletown to Harrisburg is still 110 mph despite the older infrastructure though.
@@nathanjiang100 i know they eliminated all grade crossings to potentially upgrade to 125mph speeds in the future
@@JoeyLovesTrains I think parts near Parkesburg and Leaman have been recently cleared for 110 mph (up from 90 mph), so that is my hope for the future.
I went HAR-PHL last week and between Elizabethtown and LNC they're replacing a whole track including ballast and ground work
Awesome Video Nathan! I truly love the Keystone Corridor, such an awesome amount of scenery. One moment your in Philly with a population of over 1 Million, a couple interlocking later your pass through old PRR style stations, Maybe a couple Amshacks hence "Ardmore". Then an hour or so later ur running past Amish land and into PA's State capital.
Last time I was on an Amtrak train was before I had a driver's license, so before 2007. It was from Newport News, VA to 30th St. Station in Philadelphia. Hopefully one of these days I can take one several states away instead of driving. I find train rides to be much less stressful than driving
Nathan, great job. i love your camera work. Thank you so much for doing this. I feel I am going on a mini vacation.
Who designed the new Paoli station? They could just have gone with an full 4 track station for amtrak to pass thru but ofcourse they build an island platform. They should also make the Keystone corridor an High speed freight corridor when it is fully Quad tracked on the electrified portion. Freight trains would easily travel at 70-80 mph. Freight RR could also use Dual modes on the sections.
no idea who designed it but all trains stop there and freights rarely use this line since it’s owned by Amtrak. that said, I have no idea why they removed the inner tracks between Paoli and Park and they could be really useful for expresses and allow for more trains. track speed is 80 mph until Downs.
@@nathanjiang100 but in this case, this corridor would allow for better and faster freight trains. The limited use by Amtrak would allow for lower charges on Freight RR's.
@@StefanWithTrains there’s another freight line that NS uses that runs via Reading to get to Harrisburg. and it’s also worth nothing that freight trains are limited to 65 mph where passenger trains can go 80 mph, that’s an FRA track standard thing
They are. Once the new sets are order in 2027
You went past us in thorndale, we were running the harsco off road TLM we had just cut in and we’re working at night to get through Caln interlocking. Was wondering if you’d get to see us work. But alas we were working that night.
We were installing the new number 2 track from caln to W and N junction.
Great video!
oh nice! hoping your project gets completed as soon and as safely as possible!
If you go through now, you’ll see the new #2 track just about done, (caln to W and N) we just need to connect it to the switch we put in at W and N junction. we will be up there this weekend, and starting next weekend we are in Trenton for a few, then back to do downs and paoli.
Amazing Video with a great intro
I like videos like these it is nice to see other trains and great scenery keep them coming
At Whitford that's Not the abandoned Trenton Cutoff. That's the abandoned P&T Branch Trestle. The branch ran from DALE interlocking to THORN Tower.
yeah I've improved the captions in the eastbound video after I've obtained more resources.
You rock, Nathan! So does this vid! Sorry about the engine failure at HBG. FYI I've railfanned AMTK along the Keystone Corridor at Leaman Place, Lancaster, and Middletown (and iirc years ago at Villanova while attending grad school at VU). Thanks for the ride.
nice! well you’re in luck, I went out to Harrisburg last week and filmed the return on 42 which will be available on sunday. as for the engine failures, guess I’ll have to make it out to Pittsburgh some other time to actually see horseshoe curve
I am enjoying this video
9:20-9:44. You’re passing my way. 10:20-10:40. SEPTA cars in graffiti are storage units, the further tracks are trains or locomotives that are set for scrap
Most of these stations - especially between Harrisburg and Paoli - or between Paoli and Philadelphia - have never seen AMTRAK service - Exton is an ideal example - when did Exton gain AMTRAK service? (Paoli was connected to New York as far back as the Age of Steam via the 20th Century Limited - I myself took AMTRAK to Paoli a grand total of once - it is repeatable today - not just to Paoli, but to Exton or any Keystone Service train via a feeder train that meets Keystone Service trains at 30th Street Station. But how much demand is there for AMTRAK service - at even longer term stations such as Paoli or Lancaster for that matter, let alone Exton?
I’m not sure why Exton only gets eastbound Pennsylvanian and not the westbound. I know that all stops between Paoli and Lancaster are generally pretty brief with only a handful on/offs per train since SEPTA serves most of the stations. Lancaster always gets a ton of ridership from the Amish, especially on the Pennsylvanian where they can connect to the now Floridian to head to the Midwest. I’d say the Keystone is essentially a commuter train from Philly to Harris which explains all the stops.
Interesting that the viaduct at 8:00 has been severed yet is still electrified
there’s is a lot of extra electrification you will see on this line as a whole. when they removed a lot of the trackage they did not remove the electrification in many cases
I’d like to do a video like this. I guess the best thing to do is to stick the camera with a suction cup on the window so the conductor is less likely to make a fuss. This is obviously the Pennsylvania as you have the rearview a keystone you would not.
I normally stand back there to watch it and the conductor doesn't care. I've done 3 rear-view rides on the Pennsylvanian already and have never had a problem, this one, a return trip Harris-Philly on 42 last fall, and Harrisburg-Lancaster on 42 from 2022. My Harris-Philly ride is the most detailed of the 3 in terms of graphics but I've mostly updated the timestamps on this video because it's still getting viewed a lot. if you leave a camera unattended they might ask whose camera it is. yeah the pennsylvanian provides the best rear views in the northeast because you don't need business class to have access to it as coach is the rearmost car. I plan to ride one of the new express Northeast Regionals that will take effect in march (181 and a new 196) in business class to get rear view rides between NY and DC.
@@nathanjiang100 so Northeast regionals are always business class in the rear? I saw those 181 and 196 trains listed and they are fast. When are they starting?
@@3985uprr first full week of march, yeah for the most part business class is always in the rear unless they quickly turn trains around due to cancellations. 290 the southbound Ethan Allen usually runs coach at the back south of Albany but the one time I rode it they wyed the train at Albany so business was at the front and I couldn't get a rear view without paying a lot more.
@@nathanjiang100 how do they work Empire corridor trains
@3985uprr they also have business at the back but 290 is an exception because of the reverse move out of Rutland. he runs coach last after Rutland and then they detach the rear P32 at Albany. when I rode the train they had a P42 lead from Rutland to Albany with a P32 on the rear end so they had to wye the train at Albany so a P32 could lead into Penn Station. 291 runs normally and has an engine added to the rear end in Albany, but they don’t wye the train in burlington because it has 2 engines north of Albany already so 290 runs reversed on the Hudson line unless a P42 is used on one end.
I never had any problems on the Pennsylvanian myself, but lately if you get your camera out on the keystones some crews tell you to put it away.
good to know. yeah both times I've done rear-view rides on the Pennsylvanian, I've been ok but they do pool from the same crews between Philly and Harris so I'm still make note.
@Nathan Jiang I personally think it's more along the lines of they don't like anyone near the cab in the cabcars I tried to get a video on a Keystone ACS64 leading but they ended up closing and locking the door.
Enjoyed the trip immensely Imagining being seated in the lounge/observation car sipping on something . Do the Keystone trains ever use the center tracks between Philly and Paoli ? will the speeds ever be increased ?
Amtrak does 80 on all 4 tracks. When they don't have to overtake a SEPTA train they use 1 and 4 because it's easier to keep the switches set for local if they don't have to move
I think I could bike as fast as this train for the first 10 miles or so.
I’m curious how we’re you allowed to take a video back there?
the conductor came in, scanned my ticket, and left pretty much. coachclass is at the back of the Pennsylvanian west of Philadelphia so I didn't need a business class ticket or anything
Can there be a lot more can ride shots where the. Engineer is.
you can’t go into the cab because it’s in the locomotive that we passengers don’t have access to
@@nathanjiang100 Gotcha
pourquoi en voi pas à l'endroit c'est dommage
if European trains rattled this much they complain and stop riding them lol. But for Amtrak its just another day at the office. The again they don't use 60 year old cars, etiher.
To be fair, it's not normally this noisy/rattly in the actual sitting area. This is just the vestibule, which for all intents and purposes is not soundproofed.
I’m curious how we’re you allowed to take a video back there?