Friday, January 22, 2016

The Blizzard of ’16 & the (Re-Modeled) Glassboro Train Station

The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society got a tour offer from the recently preserved Glassboro PRSL train station. Unfortunately, since the Northeast Blizzard of ’16 was about to take place (current forecast of 18”-24” and 45-65 mph wind gusts) kept the attendance down to about 6 people. Since I live less than 5 miles away and the flurries had just begun I got to briefly attend. Attached are some bad photos (I forgot I had left the camera settings for close-up model train picture taking [Av: depth of field]).

The station was originally built in the 1860s (think Abraham Lincoln) making it one of the oldest historical buildings in Glassboro, NJ. Reading some of the on-line sites listed below, it appears the project is approaching 15 years and has consumed grants of $1.3M. Much of the money went to fight off the termites and vandals (hence all new plumbing and electrical). CSA (Conrail Shared Assets) still operates the (down to a single) track and the evening would include a fast freight run by (which came 40 minutes early). The building was restored to its 1950s appearance.

Many historical items and pictures line the facility and current displays include Rich Drobil’s HO PRSL model railroad (and a generic Lionel layout). Also present was a G scale (BIG!) model of an RDC (Rail Diesel Car), 12 of which used to handle the bulk of the passenger traffic on the PRSL.

P.S. The ride home 45 minutes later was challenging!






Rich Drobil's HO PRSL


G Scale RDC