Bridging the Railroad: the Wheatsheaf Lane Pedestrian Bridge and the Grade Crossing Separation Movement

Bridging the Railroad The Wheatsheaf Lane Pedestrian Bridge and the Grade Crossing Separation Movement Bridging the Railroad The Wheatsheaf Lane Pedestrian Bridge and the Grade Crossing Separation Movement Lynn M. Alpert Booklet Design by Lynn Alpert / RGA, Inc. Published by Amtrak, 2018 On the cover: Several men gathered on the Wheatsheaf Lane Pedestrian Bridge just after its completion in September of 1899. Image courtesy of PhillyHistory.org, a project of the Philadelphia Department of Records. About the Booklet This booklet is an outgrowth Amtrak’s plans to remove a portion of the Wheatsheaf Lane Pedestrian Bridge where the bridge crosses the Northeast Corridor in Philadelphia. The bridge removal is part of Amtrak’s larger program of proactive passenger rail security. Although RIÀFLDOO\FORVHGWRSHGHVWULDQWUDIÀFLWLVSRVVLEOHIRUSHRSOHWRDFFHVV WKHEULGJHZKLFKZLWKRXWUHJXODUEULGJHWUDIÀFRURWKHUPRQLWRULQJ poses a threat to the security of Amtrak trains, passengers, and employees. The bridge removal project was reviewed in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which was enacted to help protect historic properties in the United States. The Wheatsheaf Lane Bridge contributes to the historical VLJQLÀFDQFHRIWKH3HQQV\OYDQLD5DLOURDG0DLQ/LQH 3KLODGHOSKLDWR New York) Historic District, which is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The partial removal of the bridge has an adverse effect on the historic district. In 2016, the Federal Railroad $GPLQLVWUDWLRQWKH3HQQV\OYDQLD6WDWH+LVWRULF3UHVHUYDWLRQ2IÀFH the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and Amtrak executed a Memorandum of Agreement that includes several stipulations that will mitigate the effects of the project on the railroad historic district. This publication meets the requirements of one of those stipulations. Introduction The Wheatsheaf Lane Pedestrian Bridge was constructed in 1899 by the City of Philadelphia as part of an agreement with the Pennsylvania Railroad to eliminate a complicated and dangerous at-grade crossing over multiple tracks. Located at the intersection RI WKH 3KLODGHOSKLD 7UHQWRQ 5DLOURDG 3 7 DQG WKH &RQQHFWLQJ Railway, the rail yard at Frankford Junction expanded rapidly in the last decades of the nineteenth century, serving the needs of both UDLOURDGVDQGVXSSRUWLQJWKURXJKWUDIÀFRQWKH3 7DQG&RQQHFWLQJ Railway, extending in multiple directions out of New Jersey and through Philadelphia. After the closing of Wheatsheaf Lane, where it crossed the yard for public safety reasons, the bridge served the local FRPPXQLW\E\NHHSLQJWKHULJKWRIZD\RSHQWRSHGHVWULDQWUDIÀF retaining a connection for neighbors on either side of the yard. As of 2017, the bridge was one of only a handful of early twentieth-century pedestrian bridges remaining over Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor in Philadelphia. 6 A 1928 photograph of children playing marbles on railroad tracks, published in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. The Reading Railroad’s Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Line was located in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, about seven miles northwest of Frankford Junction in the northwest section of the city. As early as 1907, the Reading Railroad was working to eliminate grade crossings along this entire line. These grade crossings in Manayunk were eliminated just a few years after this photograph was taken by elevating the tracks through the QHLJKERUKRRG 5DLOZD\$JH Image courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 7 The Problem of the At-grade Crossing ,QWKHVHFRQGTXDUWHURIWKHQLQHWHHQWKFHQWXU\ZKHQWKHÀUVWUDLOURDGV were being envisioned and constructed in the United States, there ZDVQRWPXFKYHKLFXODUWUDIÀFKRUVHGUDZQRURWKHUZLVHHVSHFLDOO\ when compared to conditions in the early twentieth century. While there was an established network of roads by that time, travel was somewhat cumbersome. Therefore, the number of vehicles traveling on roads was limited, and their speed was slow compared to that RIPRGHUQDXWRPRELOHWUDIÀF)RUWKLVUHDVRQOD\LQJWUDFNVGLUHFWO\ across existing roadways did not present much of a safety concern. $IWHUDOOWKHUHZHUHSRWHQWLDOEHQHÀWVWRHPSOR\LQJWKLVFRQVWUXFWLRQ technique, such as completing rail lines faster and improving RSHUDWLQJHIÀFLHQF\E\DYRLGLQJFXUYHVDQGKLOOVZKHUHYHUSRVVLEOH 2YHUWLPHDVWUDIÀFLQFUHDVHGRQURDGVDQGUDLOURDGVEHFDPHPRUH important, safety concerns were exacerbated as road networks extended and grade crossings became more numerous. At-grade crossings of roads and railways caused safety issues for pedestrians and horse-drawn vehicles. A terrible accident occurred at a grade crossing near Burlington, New Jersey, in 1855. A train made its usual crossing of the road, where Dr. John Heineken, along with his wife and two children, were waiting in a horse-drawn carriage to cross the tracks. Once the train had safely passed, Dr. Heineken proceeded across the tracks. The train, though, suddenly needed to reverse and quickly moved back into the crossing. The rear car struck the horses, and the train derailed, killing a number RI SDVVHQJHUV 3KLODGHOSKLD 'DLO\ 1HZV ,Q UHSRUWLQJ RQ D grade crossing accident in Glassboro, New Jersey, in 1888, the Philadelphia Inquirer noted how common fatal grade crossing accidents had become by that time. While crossing the tracks of the West Jersey Railroad, a carriage was struck by an express train from Atlantic City, killing one of the two passengers, as well as the horse SXOOLQJ WKH YHKLFOH 3KLODGHOSKLD ,QTXLUHU E ,Q FLWLHV WUROOH\ lines also frequently needed to cross roads and railroads, further complicating grade crossings and introducing more danger and risk for accidents. 8 The dangers of at-grade railroad crossings became abundantly clear with the widespread use of the automobile on the American roadway. The relatively sudden presence of a large number of fast-moving vehicles jetting across the tracks caused a number of issues. While signs at crossings prompted people to “STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN,” the warning did not seem to inspire caution or deter people from crossing the tracks when a train was visibly approaching. The public often did not understand that, even though a train looked to be very far away, it would advance extremely quickly. Furthermore, cars were controlled by individual drivers, many of whom were new to driving and whose actions and decisions were not easily regulated. New drivers were excited to see how fast their cars could go and were even encouraged by advertisers who dared them to race the trains. Often people would race the trains right up to a crossing and get into a collision. Even the more responsible drivers, who would wait for a train to pass in one direction, might cross the tracks without thinking to check for a second train coming in the opposite direction. All of these issues, coupled with the frequency of new vehicles stalling, often in the middle of the grade crossing, made for an extremely GDQJHURXVVLWXDWLRQ 6WLOJRH In urban areas, all of these issues were compounded. Any given grade crossing could include large groups of cars and pedestrians DORQJZLWKDGGLWLRQDOWUDFNVVHUYLQJORFDOVWUHHWFDUV VHHWKH SKRWRJUDSKRQWKHRSSRVLWHSDJH 7KHVHZHUHKLJKHUWUDIÀFDUHDV and people grew frustrated when waiting on passing trains. Trains, especially those carrying freight, could take a long time to pass through a crossing, leading some people to race in front of the trains to avoid the wait, often failing in their efforts. Warning signals at grade crossings evolved to better alert the public to oncoming WUDLQV$WEXV\LQWHUVHFWLRQVÁDJPHQZHUHLQWURGXFHGWROHWPRWRULVWV and pedestrians know when a train was approaching. When it was GLVFRYHUHGWKDWWKHÁDJPHQZHUHQRWDOZD\VHDVLO\VHHQ RUZHUH LJQRUHGGHVSLWHKDYLQJEHHQVHHQ JDWHVZHUHLQVWDOOHGDQGÁDJPHQ became gate operators. Even still, many drivers would simply drive around the gates out of impatience. In 1920, the New York Central System conducted a study of 7,779 people at a particular railroad FURVVLQJ2IWKRVHREVHUYHGWKH\IRXQGWKDWRQO\ORRNHGERWK ways before crossing, and not one single individual stopped, looked, DQGOLVWHQHG 6WLOJRH 9 SKRWRJUDSKRIDFRPSOH[JUDGHFURVVLQJLQ3KLODGHOSKLDSXEOLVKHGLQWKH Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Image courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 10 1922 American Railway Association poster, the hallmark of its national Careful Crossing Campaign. 11 Solving a Complex Problem The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw regular public education campaigns on the part of the railroads and the government in an effort to make people more aware of the dangers RIJUDGHFURVVLQJVEXWQRQHSURYHGHIIHFWLYH 6WLOJRH One example is the American Railway Association’s 1922 “Careful Crossing Campaign.” A poster depicting a car about to collide with a train at a grade crossing was mass produced along with the “Cross &URVVLQJV&DXWLRXVO\%XOOHWLQµ VHHWKHSRVWHURQWKHRSSRVLWHSDJH The poster was reproduced as a sticker to be placed on outgoing mail by the Postal Service, who ordered over six million to be sent throughout the country. More than half of U.S. movie theaters also projected the poster as a slide in the reels preceding the show, and over 1.25 million copies of the bulletin were distributed throughout the country, as well as in Canada. President Warren G. Harding stated that campaigns like these were essential “to arouse in the minds of drivers a sense of their personal responsibility. When thoughtlessness is allowed to usurp the place of vigilance, as

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