Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64
Guys, there's some serious Mandela Effect stuff going on here. Was there always no ads or columns between the tracks at 15th Street on the MFL when you enter the outbound platform through Dilworth Park? I could've sworn there was, and I last used the station a little under two weeks ago.
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Which way is outbound here?
There are two gaps in the columns at 15th Street on the east end of the platform. The smaller one (further west) was from the original 1906 configuration of the station. Before service began on the Market Street Elevated, the trolleys ran into the tunnel from the 24th Street Portal (current day PECO Building), crossed into the MFL trackways just east of 19th Street (the gaps in the columns are still present there too), and then turned on a VERY tight loop where the present-day 15th Street MFL Station is. The smaller gap in the columns is the last remnant of this short loop (if you're wondering how trolleys made such a tight turn: the tracks occupied the space where the
platforms were going to be. Still a tight squeeze at something like 25' but doable by the single-truck Brill trolleys of the era). Market Elevated service began in 1907, when the trolleys were rerouted into a version of the modern day loop they currently use.
The larger of the two gaps (further east) is for 15th Street Interlocking, a double crossover which was removed some time ago. It was not visible from the platform area until the somewhat recent renovation of 15th Street extended the platforms two carlengths (roughly 120') east.
The larget