page_title: Whitford station
section_title: Whitford Flyover
hierarchical_section_title: Whitford station / Whitford Flyover
caption_attribution_description: English: "Low grade Crossing at Whitford" photograph by William H. Rau 1904 photo of the bridge (aka "Crossing" or "Flyover") at the Whitford Station House at 405 South Whitford Road in the area known as Whitford (about 2 miles east of Downingtown) in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The small station house is just visible under the bridge and was listed on the NRHP in 1984. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 84003324 Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program. See [http://www.getty.edu/about/opencontent.html The J. Paul Getty Trust Home Open Content Program] Their meta data follows: Artist/Maker(s): William H. Rau, photographer [American, 1855 - 1920] Date: 1904 Medium: Gelatin silver print Dimensions: Image: 44 x 54.6 cm (17 5/16 x 21 1/2 in.) Object Number: 84.XO.766.3.4 Department: Photographs Group Title: Album of Pennsylvania Rail Road Scenery Culture: American Place Created: Whitford, Pennsylvania, United States, North America Inscriptions: Inscription: Titled ro. mount in ink. Classification/Object Type: Photographs / Print - See more at: http://search.getty.edu/museum/records/musobject?objectid=71477#sthash.yfiJsqDA.dpuf
context_page_description: Whitford station is a commuter rail and former intercity passenger rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at South Whitford Road and Spackman Lane, Exton, Pennsylvania. It is served by most SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line trains and until 1998 some of Amtrak's Keystone Service trains.
context_section_description: Whitford station is best known for the abandoned railway bridge that sits directly above the station site. The current station sits along the once-busy former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) four-track Main Line, which, in its prime, hosted a constant flow of commuter and long distance trains. To circumvent constant bottlenecks near Philadelphia, the PRR constructed a low-grade double-track electrified line in 1906 to host its freight traffic. This was done to bypass the steep grades and busy Philadelphia suburbs. Known as the Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch (or the "High Line"), the line ran alongside the current Paoli/Thorndale Line, crossing (or "flying") over it via a massive truss directly above the Whitford Station. After the sharp decline in rail traffic in the 1970s, the freight line was abandoned outright by Conrail in 1989. In addition, the current passenger line was reduced from four tracks to three in the 1960s.
  In its heyday, the PRR produced a series of calendars that included paintings of scenes throughout the extensive rail system. Artist Grif Teller captured a busy moment at Whitford in his "Main Lines—Freight and Passenger" painting from 1949, when the overhead trestle was still in use.
caption: The station house is just visible under the bridge in this 1904 photograph by William H. Rau.
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