Smoke on track level @ PHL today

[ExtonFlyer]

So I took Keystone #648 from Exton to PHL 30th Street today and upon exiting the car at track level - me and my fellow passengers were all greeted with a pretty significant amount of smoke in the air. Wasn't affecting visibility much or anything like that - but was pretty hard on the lungs. From my perspective - it seemed to be throughout the entire station.

I was in a rush and had to get to a meeting - so didn't have a chance to ask anyone what was going on. However I did notice that there was a long distance train on track 1 or 2 without an engine (perhaps the cause of the smoke?). The consist was (from a quick glance) baggage, a few coaches, cafe, diner and I think two viewliners (couldn't tell for sure). The train was pointed northbound.

I thought this might be the northbound Crescent - but Amtrak Status Maps has 20 running early into PHL, TRE and so forth.

Anybody else from the Philly area aware of what may have happened? Really wish I would have had a few minutes to stop and ask an Amtrak employee.

 

[ExtonFlyer]

So I took Keystone #648 from Exton to PHL 30th Street today and upon exiting the car at track level - me and my fellow passengers were all greeted with a pretty significant amount of smoke in the air. Wasn't affecting visibility much or anything like that - but was pretty hard on the lungs. From my perspective - it seemed to be throughout the entire station.
I was in a rush and had to get to a meeting - so didn't have a chance to ask anyone what was going on. However I did notice that there was a long distance train on track 1 or 2 without an engine (perhaps the cause of the smoke?). The consist was (from a quick glance) baggage, a few coaches, cafe, diner and I think two viewliners (couldn't tell for sure). The train was pointed northbound.

I thought this might be the northbound Crescent - but Amtrak Status Maps has 20 running early into PHL, TRE and so forth.

Anybody else from the Philly area aware of what may have happened? Really wish I would have had a few minutes to stop and ask an Amtrak employee.

I found the answer to my question (at least the part about the long distance set) - thanks to chuchubob for the answer. Thought I would share here for anyone else that might have interest.

On Sunday the Silver Star trainset was wyed at ZOO/New York-Pittsburgh Subway and stored on track 1. It presumably went to New York and was replaced by the Silver Meteor trainset.

Looks like this wasn't the cause of the smoke. I did later realize after writing my post that the Westbound Pennsylvania had only departed a few minutes before my arrival (I remember passing it around Overbrook). Perhaps the smoke was just diesel fumes that were not venting properly?

 

[wayman]

On Sunday the Silver Star trainset was wyed at ZOO/New York-Pittsburgh Subway and stored on track 1. It presumably went to New York and was replaced by the Silver Meteor trainset.

That's still possible??? I had thought one leg of the wye (NYP-PGH) was completely removed... I'm glad to hear it's apparently still possible to wye a train there.

Looks like this wasn't the cause of the smoke. I did later realize after writing my post that the Westbound Pennsylvania had only departed a few minutes before my arrival (I remember passing it around Overbrook). Perhaps the smoke was just diesel fumes that were not venting properly?

I've been down there waiting for other trains while the Pennsylvanian is doing its engine swap. It's noisy as all-get-out down there, but I haven't experienced smoke during that movement. It's certainly possible, though, and probably the best explanation. I suppose the wind could have been blowing in completely the wrong direction and bringing in fumes from NJT or the Schuylkill Expressway, as another possibility.