Decay is the allure on Philly's abandoned railroad

by Jason Laughlin

Published Jan. 5, 2016, 5:00 a.m. ET

There's an allure to abandoned spaces. That, along with being a transportation reporter and feeling like I needed to see one of the most visible and exciting transit repurposing projects in Philadelphia, is the reason I've gone up on the Reading Viaduct twice in the past month. The attraction might be the chance it offers to be in the city but not of it, to see familiar sites from an elevated, quieter perspective. Or the appeal could be the chance to see nature take back the city. It's been just about 30 years since the route carried passenger trains and the viaduct's 3,168 feet are succumbing to weeds and underbrush. Civilization's structures turn to husks and skeletons nearly as fast as its people. Portions of the viaduct belong to SEPTA and the Reading company, so being up there is trespassing, though there's not much of an effort to enforce it. Maybe it's just fun to be do something taboo, like getting drunk in high school.

It's not so secret a place that you're alone for long up there. Access is easy enough if you walk down Noble Street away from Broad. Photographer and friend Avi Steinhardt, who took the first and last pictures on this post, and I passed several groups crunching over the uneven gravel path. One guy had turned the abandoned power substation into a flophouse.

If you try to go up there unguided, by the way, stick to the gravel path. Some areas with wooden planks are rotting away and aren't safe to walk on.

If the Friends of the Rail Park and the Center City District have their way, the days of the Loft District's viaduct as an off limits thrill are numbered. Already raised is $5.1 million of the $9.6 million needed to reopen a quarter mile stretch of the old elevated railroad that belongs to SEPTA. organizers are hopeful that whenever the state budget passes they'll get another $3.5 million. That would leave less than a million more to raise.

"We will be adding two stairways," described Michael Garden, a volunteer with the Friends of the Rail Park. "One to 13th Street going south, another to Callowhill heading east. Full sized trees. Seating and gathering areas. Porch swings. Lighting."

If the money comes through, the beginnings of the park could open in 2017, he said.

You can see detailed plans of the first phase of the project at the organization's web site. It'll be kid friendly and pedestrian friendly. Eventually, with $40 million, the entire route could be opened up, Philadelphia's version of the High Line in New York City. For $100 million, the project could extend to the City Branch, a below grade cut through the city that used to carry freight rail, including the trains that brought paper to the Inquirer's printers in its old Broad Street offices. The viaduct plus the City Branch would be a three mile park through the heart of the city, a mecca for bikes, baby strollers and sun bathers on bright summer days.

If it comes to pass, this could be a fun, unique landmark for the continually changing Center City. As reported a few years ago by Inga Saffron, there's the opportunity for an elevated park to be an economic driver for the neighborhood. I'm sure I'll check it out and enjoy it. Garden told me there will be an effort to retain hints and echoes of the area's industrial heritage.

But I’ll miss the raw grit of what’s there now, the haphazard savannah of tawny weeds, the detritus of human presence – a broken bottle, a makeshift swing, an empty pair of pants – and the abandoned substation and railroad stop, shattered wonderlands slathered with manic graffiti, a reminder of humanity’s ingenuity and impermanence. It's peaceful, ignored by most of the city. It’s impractical to leave a structure there to rot, but a part of me likes the viaduct as is, untouched by the impulse to repurpose, recycle and renew. Aging ungracefully has a sad beauty.