[PRCo] Re: Liberty Avenue

[James B. Holland]

matt wrote:

>Hi Bob!
>
>Liberty Avenue is still a two-way street.  I believe at one time there were
>two tracks on both Penn and Liberty which carried two-way trolley traffic,
>long, long ago.  Then, Penn was made one way from 32nd street into town.
>

Liberty was one way outbound in 1950s between 11th and (32nd?); Penn was 
one way inbound during same period and was one-way through downtown as well.

>I think that second outbound track was sometimes used for opposite direction
>trolley traffic if there was disruption of service on Penn, or perhaps it
>was never used for this, but it was there just in case.    I say this,
>because there was a direct connection of inbound 87 Ardmore track at 32nd
>street that led into the outbound Liberty track.   I'm fairly certain that
>some of you can clarify this better.
>
>Matt
>

The PTM map clarifies some of this.       The Inset of  
*Downtown__1917*  shows double track on both Penn and Liberty  --  and 
this includes Penn in downtown itself  --  while the Inset for  
*Downtown__1959*  reveals only single track on each street.       Donut 
know when Liberty became one way  --  have video which shows 1100s when 
new and it  *appears*  as though Liberty is one-way so this is latter 1930s.

A further study of the map reveals that once converted to one way, 
double track existed on Liberty between approx. 20th and 24th and as 
Matt indicates, the inbound 87-Ardmore line continues straight past 32nd 
for a short distance and then joins the outbound line on Liberty to give 
the appearance of bi-directional operation on single track on a one way 
street!!!!!!!       This double track near 22nd is possibly left over 
from when Liberty was double  --  But the rails, points, and mates 
matched that in regular use in the 1950s so it would seem that this 
section was rebuilt for a purpose when Liberty was converted to one way.

Don't know of Liberty being used for reverse running once converted to 
one way but this is certainly a possibility  --  at least as far as 23rd 
where a trolleycar could turn toward Penn  --  a car could not continue 
wrong way on Liberty to town because it could never get back on the 
correct track!!!!!!!      An inbound car on Penn and an outbound car on 
Liberty could turn at 22nd and 23rd respectively and head back in the 
other direction.       But it would have to be a Real Emergency to run 
against traffic this way!       Wonder if this special configuration  
--  at 32nd and between 20th and 24th on Liberty  --  had anything to do 
with the 1936 flood experience.       First blush would say no as if 
Penn is under water, Liberty is probably swimming as well.


Jim__Holland