The road situation isn’t all that much better. PA route 309 is wider than it used to be, but it’s quite jammed going through Quakertown. Forget about route 611. What is now I-476 is out of the way and itself subject to long tailbacks.
The railroad between Quakertown and Bethlehem has been rail-trailed; those have no economic value, and some of those are becoming havens for muggers. (Yes, there is no railroad connecting Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley anymore; trains have to go the long way via Reading.) I won’t even get into the folly of closing down the steel plant.
It's the folly of dying. I was there in the 70's . I even went on an open house tour of the plant. They described the "oxygen lance", which was supported by a feed which went under the river. We watched a charge go into the bucket. It was awesome. Saw a rolling mill too. Then I recall a drop forge which was very retro. Manually manipulated via block and tackle. What the hey. That stuck in my mind.
I still visit there. It's been converted to a casino, LOL, as I suppose you know.
WOW that is so sad. I was very young, and the trains were my transportation to places I didn’t feel comfortable walking to, or later driving. In fact, I went to NYC (which meant a trip into Philly to change trains) D C, and used them locally while there, the very”’rail-trailed’ haven for muggers now.”
I only re visited SE PA twice by car, both quick trips, however America sure missed it, when it came to using the infrastructure wisely. Maybe the huge trains did not make sense financially, but ONE engine, and a passenger car or two streamlined could have succeeded...maybe?
Our prosperous years made our country forget the Great Depression and the fact we would one day repeat that terrible time....that time is now. Inflation makes a car a real luxury for those on minimum wage, or part time ....anywhere.
Your reply answered some questions for me, the high crime rate up there and some of the new ‘warrant less searches of vehicles’ shows a real far left leaning, that wasn’t there when I was. Those smaller towns used the trains to get people to and from work, my mother road the train for that purpose for a long time.
We now have a few buses going between two major towns here in my area(NC), but service is limited to major highways and getting to the bus stops complicated for the sick or elderly. I’ve always had a small economical car even in the good times. This job market really calls for better cheap transportation especially for the teens and part time jobs, but it isn’t there. There was better bus service here back in the 40s to hear some old timers tell it. Maybe it’s the mindset of this generation? Sad.