How does the Broad Street Line turn around at NRG?

Submitted by starboardbaby t3_yelinz in philadelphia

SEPTA experts, please chime in here. I've wondered this for years, and got in a heated debate about it while down there a few weeks ago. So, when the subway reaches its southern terminus at NRG, and now both of the tracks are signed as Northbound tracks (even when a southbound train just arrived on said track), how does the train turn around? There isn't a loop or anything, is there? Or is there a fork in the track and coordinated signals right before the train enters NRG station?

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sailbag36 t1_itz7v97 wrote

It’s stops and just goes the other way. The conductor gets out and goes from what was the front and is now the back, to the back which is now the front.

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Sir-Jawn t1_itzqscb wrote

That doesn’t explain how the northbound and southbound tracks stay the same up broad street at other stops. The answer is that there is a “switch” or crossover somewhere north of NRG stop.

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buzz8588 t1_itzf05v wrote

And also each train car has its own power

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CatchMeWritinQWERTY t1_itzudfd wrote

Follow up question: If the back is now the front, then right is now left. How do they know which way to turn?

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buzz8588 t1_iu0c3hn wrote

Trains don’t have steering wheels for turning. There are people at a central hub changing track switches to move trains from one track to another. They don’t call it left or right, they probably use more meaningful terms like northbound/southbound track.

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Simon_the_Cannibal t1_iu10u78 wrote

Ah, so its the central hub people that tell the Frankford-bound El drivers to take a left go northbound instead of going straight to New Jersey. Never knew!

edit: I'm catching on!

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Haruomi_Sportsman t1_itz78xw wrote

A crane picks the train up and turns it around

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CatchMeWritinQWERTY t1_itzds38 wrote

Wow, interesting. Are you really a SEPTA expert?

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Haruomi_Sportsman t1_itzqq1p wrote

Yeah, I was a BUGCO (Big Underground Crane Operator) with SEPTA for 25 years. I was there when they finally stopped letting kids operate the crane and closed it to the public

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ntr89 t1_itzsv8d wrote

I remember that! I remember listening to a Y100 interview of a BUGCO I had no idea our city had such a large crane and we hid it

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Mysterious_Bobcat483 t1_iu0vvaf wrote

They had a working model one at the Franklin Institute but removed it after The Incident.

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urbantravelsPHL t1_itzdrui wrote

No, it's a turntable. If you've ever seen the turntables they use in San Francisco to turn the cable cars, it's like that, only really, really, really big

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randym99 t1_itzmwkv wrote

No, actually the train stands up on one end and then lays down the other way.

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Proper-Code7794 t1_itzfbpy wrote

Did you know that NRG station is actually a double decker four track station

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electric_ranger t1_itzjod6 wrote

Shhhhh, we don’t talk about the secret subway

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dochim t1_iu17y3t wrote

I had friends for YEARS who didn't believe me that there were stations underneath the stations and that it was a "double decker" subway.

I remembered a train 45 years ago taking us down there to go to a game at the Spectrum.

For years I was told that I just imagined it or made it up.

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Sea-Nique t1_itzlu49 wrote

You can see down the stairs in some spots to the lower platform.

Do they ever use the lower station for revenue service? I've only ever seen it used for material and train storage.

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ntr89 t1_itzt11l wrote

That's where they keep the crane

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Acrobatic_Advance_71 t1_itzzu04 wrote

I have used it several times after I believe Phillies game maybe a sixers game once. Not sure what determines when they are used.

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ell0bo t1_itzyt2c wrote

I've only ever used it once. I was after a Flyers playoff game, so while I can't remember, I assume Phillies game might have been at the same time and they had incoming while we were loading.

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brk1 t1_iu11ld1 wrote

They used it for the world series parade in ‘08. Let’s hope we do that again!

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mortgagepants t1_iu0ck6q wrote

which is even more frustrating because they should just make it surface run to the navy yard from there. instead everyone talks about how difficult it will be to tunnel to the navy yard.

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AbsentEmpire t1_iu1mz4b wrote

A surface run has its own complications, but I believe the proposed plan, if it ever gets funding, is a surface loop in the navy yard.

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Proper-Code7794 t1_iu3mtai wrote

Where you going to come up through the surface through the rail yard through the highway through the water?

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oliver_babish t1_iu01jxn wrote

Per u/howwhywuz, I actually remember it being in service for a few years after Eagles games.

What I want to know is how long ago you'd have to go to find the platform-level news/snack stands open, if ever.

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zpepsin t1_iu3zu5k wrote

It gets so crowded down there after sporting events. I really do not understand why they don't put Express trains down low and local trains up top for crowd control and organization

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Proper-Code7794 t1_itzf9d2 wrote

The man who drives the train walks to the other end of the train

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FordMaverickFan t1_itza59n wrote

There’s a crossover portion of the track between Pattison and Oregon.

So the trains all go south on the west track and use the cross over heading into or returning from Pattison depending on what’s already in the station.

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copinglemon t1_itzv2rq wrote

They disassemble the train and then reassemble it facing the right way

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uptown_gargoyle t1_itzvkq0 wrote

I don't like the new name so an act of quiet protest I pronounce it "nerg station"

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wyueprouqi t1_iu0llw6 wrote

There's an underground lazy Susan that spins the train so that it can be driven north. Don't get stuck on it, you'll get dizzy.

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SilcoEkkoViktor t1_iu016qh wrote

came here to find out the answer too, am now sorely disappointed 😅

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GTTrush t1_itz9pmi wrote

It just goes backwards, or forward, depending on which way you're facing.

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mklinger23 t1_iu0epbv wrote

I work for septa. It doesn't. It goes down, the operators switch sides, them it goes the other way. This will sometimes happen at Fern rock as well, but they usually take the loop around the shop.

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Siva-Na-Gig t1_iu2hmh9 wrote

Can we call it Pattison station? Really hate the corporate naming bullshit of public assets.

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zpepsin t1_iu3zza4 wrote

Yeah. University City and Market East stationd too

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prozute t1_iu0qnr6 wrote

Mike Mamula spins it around

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brk1 t1_iu11vtp wrote

No he is a turns style at broad and Erie.

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mortgagepants t1_iu0cmf0 wrote

there is a loop on the north end at Olny if you want to look at the map though. kind of cool

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Tyrone-Rugen t1_iu25yq3 wrote

It doesn’t. They only use older trains, and leave them at the end

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VideoBrew t1_iu0f19a wrote

This entire comment section reads like a bit from r/WTYP

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blodreina_kumWonkru t1_iu1bnht wrote

Are you asking how trains work? Lol.

The train can drive both ways and there are switches so that it can go down different tracks to coordinate movement between trains.

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dSlice94 t1_iu0miq3 wrote

There’s a booth on the other side. The operator either walks up or they swap out for a different shift/break

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brk1 t1_iu113fg wrote

They just go backwards

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