20 Years Ago -- A Trip For A Hot Dog

New York City Transit Authority; West 8 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

It seemed like a good choice -- the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society was looking for a spring trip using regular service trains. The trip would originate somewhere in northern Delaware or southeastern Pennsylvania. I suggested we go to Coney Island to get a hot dog from the original Nathan's Hot Dog stand. So on April 1, 1995, a group of us set out to travel through Manhattan to Brooklyn in search of a hot dog.

Our trip began at the SEPTA station in Marcus Hook, Pa. -- at the time, SEPTA service into Delaware was quite limited. We boarded a Silverliner IV and headed to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, where we would change trains and take another SEPTA train to Trenton, N.J.

SEPTA; Marcus Hook, Pa.; April 1, 1995

At Trenton we changed to a New Jersey Transit train to continue into Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan. We were riding in the lead car of a set of Jersey Arrow self-propelled multiple unit cars, and as the conductor was taking tickets he soon realized he had a group of railfans on board. He checked with the engineer and soon he was cycling members of our group through the cab for photos from the head end.

Amtrak; Elizabeth, N.J.; April 1, 1995

Once in Manhattan we worked our way into the subway system. We knew we wanted the F-Line out to Coney Island. As it works out, the F-Line also serves the oxymoronically highest point on the subway system at Smith-9th in Brooklyn, just after leaving Manhattan. The elevated line provides great views of the Manhattan skyline, so we paused for photos here.

New York City Transit Authority; Smith-9th, Brooklyn, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

We continued on the F-Line to the West 8 Street station near Coney Island. This is a multi-level station that also has some good photo angles. We paused here for a few shots before finally heading to lunch.

New York City Transit Authority; West 8 Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

Two more stops and we had arrived at Coney Island. The Stillwell Avenue subway station marked the end of our outbound journey.

New York City Transit Authority; Stillwell Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

Finally, it was time for our hot dog! We did take time to shoot subway trains approaching Stillwell Avenue across the street.

Nathan's Hot Dogs; Coney Island, Brooklyn, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

After lunch we spent some time looking at the Stillwell Avenue terminal. A lot has changed in the intervening 20 years -- the terminal has been expanded and modernized. The BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit) signage on the outside that we saw is still in place in 2015.

New York City Transit Authority; Stillwell Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

NYCTA; Stillwell Avenue

Now it was time to head home. Lunch was late, and it was already mid-afternoon. As I recall, we opted to take the B-Line back, but long shadows precluded photography. At New York Penn, a few of our group opted to hop on Amtrak to Philadelphia to expedite the ride home. Most of us, however, opted for the NJ Transit/SEPTA combination back to Marcus Hook. Arrival back at the hook was after dark, but it certainly was a memorable trip to get a hot dog!

Nathan's Hot Dogs; Coney Island, N.Y.; April 1, 1995

A New Year On the Streetcar

SEPTA; 40th Street Portal, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

On New Year's Eve I had the pleasure of once again riding the annual trip sponsored by the Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys on a SEPTA streetcar in the City of Brotherly Love. Getting to the Callowhill Depot, the base for SEPTA's Route 10 and Route 15 streetcars, there were both PCC-II and Kawasaki cars parked out front.

SEPTA; Callowhill Depot, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

A quick peek inside showed both types of cars undergoing some quick maintenance.

SEPTA; Callowhill Depot, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

Our streetcar for the night would be PCC-II No. 2325, decorated for the holidays by SEPTA operator Gary "G-Man" Mason. The main passenger pickup point was Malvern Loop at the end of Route 10.

SEPTA; Malvern Loop, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

Unfortunately, when it came time to leave Malvern Loop, No. 2325 didn't want to start. Gary Mason (who was operating this night) returned to Callowhill in a SEPTA truck and brought No. 2323 out to Malvern Loop where all the passengers switched streetcars. Once the transfer was complete, we were underway. Our first photo stop was on the diversion trackage at 40th Street to get the city skyline.

SEPTA; 40th & Pennsgrove, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

Here's another view of No. 2323 during the photo stop on 40th Street.

SEPTA; 40th & Pennsgrove, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

From here it was out Route 34 on Baltimore Avenue, with a photo stop at the Angora Loop at the end of the line.

SEPTA; Angora Loop, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

We pulled into the station at the 40th Street Portal to the Center City tunnel just before midnight (below and at the top of this post). PCC-II cars are not allowed in the tunnel, so from here we turned back onto the southwest Philly routes in the wee minutes of January 1, 2015.

SEPTA; 40th Street Portal, Philadelphia, Pa.; December 31, 2014

Heading out Route 13, we briefly left the Philadelphia city limits and entered Yeadon, with a photo stop at Yeadon Loop.

SEPTA; Yeadon Loop, Yeadon, Pa.; January 1, 2015

We then departed Yeadon Loop to continue into Darby before returning to within the limits of Philadelphia. The shot below is departing Yeadon.

SEPTA; Yeadon Loop, Yeadon, Pa.; January 1, 2015

Next we headed into the Elmwood Depot, the base of operations for the southwest Philadelphia routes. Both of the Kawasaki cars decorated for the Elmwood district were laying over in the yard.

SEPTA; Elmwood Depot, Philadelphia, Pa.; January 1, 2015

The final photo stop was made at the end of Route 36 at the Eastwick Loop.

SEPTA; Eastwick Loop, Philadelphia, Pa.; January 1, 2015

From here we headed back to Malvern Loop and then back to Callowhill Depot. Our last shot shows operator Gary Mason as he guides the streetcar off 63rd Street and onto Girard Avenue on the last portion of the trip. More photos from this trip can be found here. The story of last year's trip with a Kawasaki car can be found here. And you can go back to New Year's Eve 2013 by clicking here.

SEPTA; 63rd & Girard, Philadelphia, Pa.; January 1, 2015

Red Arrow All-Nighter

SEPTA; Upper Darby, Penn.; March 2, 2014

This year will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which unified most bus, streetcar and light rail service in and around Philadelphia in 1964 (heavy rail operations were later added in 1981). While no formal large scale celebration has been yet planned, there have been some rumblings and rumors about smaller scale acknowledgements of the anniversary, some coming from employees and management within the organization. One of those smaller scale acknowledgements came on the night of March 1 (into the early morning of March 2) when a group of employees from SEPTA's Red Arrow Division (the operator of suburban service based out of 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby) and members of the railroad media took Kawasaki car No. 101 out for a set of night photos to be used by SEPTA and for magazine publicity. Car No. 101 is wrapped in the colors of the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company, a Red Arrow predecessor that would have celebrated its centennial in 2013.

The trip was designed to use both the Sharon Hill and Media lines of the hybrid streetcar/light rail route out of 69th Street, operating overnight when there are no regular service cars out on the line. Beginning just before midnight, the first stop was made just outside the terminal where car 101 posed with the wire car used on the routes. This stop allowed the last of the regular service cars to get back into 69th Street for the night.

SEPTA; Upper Darby, Penn.; March 1, 2014

By this time the clock had ticked past midnight into the morning of March 2. The first stop was made in Drexel Hill next to a church. Lady Camille, who models professionally, was along to add some life to many of the scenes.

SEPTA; Drexel Hill, Penn.; March 2, 2014

On the Sharon Hill Line, the next stop was made in the residential area of Aldan where the tracks are in the street; much of the Red Arrow Division trackage is actually on private right-of-way like the interurbans of old.

SEPTA; Aldan, Penn.; March 2, 2014

And once again Lady Camille posed for a shot with car No. 101.

SEPTA; Aldan, Penn.; March 14, 2014

The Red Arrow Division has several small stone stations along the way, and a couple of these were used for stops during the night. The next-to-last station on the Sharon Hill line is at McDade Boulevard in Collingdale.

SEPTA; Collingdale, Penn.; March 2, 2014

Heading back towards the city, another shelter -- this one at Aldan that is now a small museum -- was used. Unlike McDade Boulevard and most of the other stations, this one is located on street running and thus sits back from the track.

SEPTA; Aldan, Penn.; March 2, 2014

Now it was time to head out on the line to Media. The signature shot on that line is crossing the bridge at Smedley Park in Springfield.

SEPTA; Smedley Park, Springfield, Penn.; March 2, 2014

Downtown Media has some very interesting buildings along State Street, with the Red Arrow line occupying the middle of said street. One is the Media theatre.

SEPTA; Media, Penn.; March 2, 2014

Moving towards the very end of track, a nice bank building is also found along State Street. Both the theatre and the bank are located on the south side of State Street, which means they would be against the sun for photography on a nice day. Night photos proved to be the best way to capture them.

SEPTA; Media, Penn.; March 2, 2014

The clock was rapidly ticking the night away, and soon it would be time for the morning regular service cars to come out of 69th Street. One last photo stop was made at a signal at Springfield. From there, it was back to Upper Darby for a sunrise arrival, ending a very interesting night of photography.

All the photos were illuminated using Alien Bees strobe units provided by Bruce Barry, Michael Burkhart, John Gabriel and yours truly. More photos from this trip can be found here.

Cool Chromes -- Sunset On Philly's Classic Traction

Cool Chromes is a semi-regular feature that looks at slides that have recently passed through the scanner.

SEPTA; Ogontz & Fisher, Philadelphia, Pa.; July 1981

The Electric Railroaders Association held its annual convention over the July 4th weekend of 1981 in Philadelphia. I was just out of college and just beginning to explore the Philly rail scene, so I signed up for the three-day event. Looking back, that ERA convention was really the final showcase for the "classic" Philadelphia transit scene. Everything would look different in just a few years.

The City Transit Division hosted a couple of streetcar trips, highlighted by a three-car charter featuring SEPTA's Training Trolley (note the trolley painted on the trolley), a PCC in the new simplified red, white & blue SEPTA scheme, and a car in Bicentennial paint (even though the Bicentennial was only five years previous, these cars' paint jobs were already starting to show some wear. The three-car consist posed on Ogontz Avenue (above). These tracks -- and indeed, even the buildings in the background -- are no longer there.

Another trip featured old and new streetcars. SEPTA had one PCC painted in the Philadelphia Transportation Company silver paint and it teamed up with Kawasaki car No. 9000 -- the first Kawasaki car on the property -- for a trip. A car in regular service in the orange and white "Gulf Oil" scheme can be seen with the two cars on the charter below. No. 9000 was not in revenue service at this time, but was out for the trip.

SEPTA; Darby, Pa.; July 1981

One of the trips must have paused on Route 23 where Germantown Avenue (the street Route 23 used in North Philadelphia) crosses Broad Street and Erie Avenue in North Philadelphia, as I have shots of a few regular service cars here. First up is PCC 2270 in the Bicentennial scheme heading south. At the time, Route 23 was the longest streetcar route in North America, stretching from Chestnut Hill in the north almost to Veterans Stadium in South Philadelphia.

SEPTA; Germantown & Erie, Philadelphia, Pa.; July 1981

And up next we have car 2502 in the Gulf Oil scheme heading north up Germantown Avenue. As can be seen here, it rained throughout much of the convention.

SEPTA; Germantown & Erie, Philadelphia, Pa.; July 1981

The convention also featured SEPTA's Red Arrow Division, which heads out of 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby. Red Arrow consists of the light rail/streetcar hybrid lines to Media and Sharon Hill (which share tracks as far as Drexel Hill Junction) and the interurban Norristown High Speed Line. The Media-Sharon Hill lines would have new equipment in about a year, but the old stuff was still in service  during the convention. St. Louis Car Company Streamliner No. 18 (built in 1949) was at 69th Street during the convention in regular service.

SEPTA; 69th Street Terminal, Upper Darby, Pa.; July 1981

In addition to the St. Louis cars, the Media-Sharon Hill lines also used "Master Units" built by J.G. Brill in 1932. Nos. 83 and 84 were sitting just outside the terminal.

SEPTA; 69th Street Terminal; Upper Darby, Pa.; July 1981

Brill car No. 78 was used on an excursion during the convention. A photo stop was held at the Drexel Line station. A couple of coeds made an appearance during the stop.

SEPTA; Drexel Line, Drexel Hill, Pa.; July 1981

Also in use on the lines were "Brilliners" built by J.G. Brill in 1941. Brilliner No. 8 posed at SMedley Park in Springfield on a charter. Smedley Park is still one of the favorite photo spots for SEPTA charters.

SEPTA; Smedley Park, Springfield, Pa.; July 1981

A trip was held with the very old and the very new, with a photo stop on the Sharon Hill line crossing Darby Creek in Drexel Hill. Car No. 100 is a brand new car from Kawasaki that was not yet in revenue service but was used on the charter. Car No. 73 is a center entrance interurban built by J.G. Brill in 1926; by this time the car was only in charter service.

SEPTA; Drexel Hill. Pa.; July 1981

Getting back to Upper Darby, 69th Street was one of the most diverse rail transit centers anywhere with multiple style cars used on the three Red Arrow lines, plus the Market-Frankford Subway Elevated has its western terminus here. The MFSE shop is also located here, and a peek over the fence revealed a multitude of "Almond Joy" (because of the bumps on the roof) rapid transit cars.

SEPTA; 69th Street Terminal, Upper Darby, Pa.; July 1981

The Norristown High Speed Line (also known as the Philadelphia & Western and a part of Red Arrow) headed towards its namesake town from Upper Darby and used two kinds of cars built by J.G. Brill. The boxy Strafford cars were built between 1927 and 1929 while the futuristic Bullet cars were built between 1931 and 1934. The P&W passed the Market-Frankford line's turning loop as it left 69th Street. An arriving Bullet is seen below as a MFSE train uses the loop.

SEPTA; 69th Street Terminal, Upper Darby, Pa.; July 1981

One of the fantrips featured two Strafford cars together (most P&W operations used single cars). At Villanova the cars were posed while a regular service Bullet car ran past.

SEPTA; Villanova, Pa.; July 1981

A photo stop was also made at Radnor. I don't recall if the Bullet car in the photo was used on the charter or if it was a regular service car that went past during a photo stop. The tracks overhead are the former Pennsylvania Railroad main line from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and points west, used by SEPTA's regional rail and Amtrak.

SEPTA; Radnor, Pa.; July 1981

One of the highlights of the convention was an after-dark non-stop run from 69th Street to Norristown using two Bullet cars painted in the then-new white, red & blue SEPTA scheme. The train rocketed to Norristown, and I remember what a rush it was with the windows open and sparks flying. The train paused at Norristown for a photo (below) and made a few photo stops on the return trip.

SEPTA; Norristown, Pa.; July 1981

So here we are almost 33 years later. Virtually every piece of equipment seen in these photos is gone now, save for Kawasaki streetcar No. 9000 on the City Transit Division and Kawasaki Light Rail Vehicle No. 100 on the Red Arrow Division. All the PCC cars, save for a few in charter service, were gone by 1992. The Brilliners, Master Units and St. Louis cars on the Media and Sharon Hill lines were gone by 1982. The Norristown High Speed Line was re-equipped with new cars by 1993 (although the Bullets vanished a few years before that). Even the Almond Joy cars on the Market-Frankford line were gone by 1997. A lot has changed. The Electric Railroaders' Association convention of 1981 was, indeed, the last grand hurrah for the classic Philly traction scene.

Super Saturday Streetcar Special XXI

SEPTA; Drexel Hill, Penn.; February 1, 2014

The Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society has traditionally operated a streetcar charter over the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority on the day before the Super Bowl. This year's trip, in keeping with the Super Bowl tradition of Roman numerals, was Super Saturday Streetcar Special XXI. This year's trip was held on SEPTA's Red Arrow Division which includes the light rail/streetcar hybrid lines from Upper Darby, Pa., to Media and Sharon Hill; the previous Super Saturday trips had been held on the City Transit Division which is comprised of the streetcar lines within Philadelphia's city limits. As usual, your writer served as the coordinator for the trip. And as usual, the trip included a number of photo stops. Special for this trip was the use of Kawasaki car No. 101, wrapped for the 100th anniversary of the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co., a predecessor of Red Arrow. The first stop was held at Anderson Avenue in Drexel Hill (above).

One of the challenges of any charter is staying out of the way of regular streetcars. The Red Arrow Division consists of three rail lines (and several bus routes). One rail line is the separate Norristown High Speed Line from 69th Street to Norristown; this is more of a modern interurban line, completely grade separated over its entire length. The other two lines are the Media and Sharon Hill lines, which share the track from 69th Street to Drexel Hill Junction. the Sharon Hill line is double track for almost its entire length, save for the final mile or so into Sharon Hill. The Media line is also single track as it is entirely street running in the town of Media, and it also has a stretch of single track through some forested areas in Springfield. Since one of the best photo locations is on the single track, a stop was made at the end of double track to let regular traffic clear.

SEPTA; Springfield, Penn.; February 1, 2014

With regular traffic gone, the trip proceeded to the Paper Mill Road station, where a short walk leads to a road bridge in Smedley Park, conveniently parallel to the rail line. The forecast leading up to the trip had been bad all week, but the sun was out and we got the signature shot out of the way in strong sunlight.

SEPTA; Smedley Park, Springfield, Penn.; February 1, 2014

SEPTA; Media, Penn.

From here the trip went to the end of the line in Media. Just after getting through, State Street was shut down for a Chinese New Year parade (SEPTA was not informed ahead of time that this would be happening. The regular service car behind us was cut off from reaching the end of the line (we could see it poking above the parade up the street), while we were stuck with no place to go. Taking advantage of the closed road, we proceeded towards the parade as far as we could go to get a shot that included the court house.

SEPTA; Media, Penn.; February 1, 2014

SEPTA's wire car was out checking the overhead electric lines, and they knew before heading out from Upper Darby that they might be recruited for a couple of photo opportunities. The first one occurred as our car came off the single track out of Media. The wire car was there waiting to go in, but they had time to wait for us to get a few photos.

SEPTA; Media, Penn.; February 1, 2014

From here we headed back into 69th Street for a rest stop. Once that was done, we came back out and made a left at Drexel Hill Junction to head down the Sharon Hill line. Our first stop was at a bridge over Darby Creek in Drexel Hill, and the wire car (which had run all the way to Sharon Hill and back during our rest stop) was waiting to be included in one more photo.

SEPTA; Darby Creek, Drexel Hill, Penn.; February 1, 2014

The "must get" shot on the Sharon Hill line would be an over-under with a SEPTA regional rail (heavy rail) train where the streetcar goes under the railroad at the Clifton-Aldan station. This required getting some regular service traffic cleared, so we had a meet with a regular car at Darby before reversing direction to follow it back to the railroad.

SEPTA; Darby, Penn.; February 1, 2014

It took some juggling of regular streetcars, a lot of traffic and a late train, but the over-under did come together at the Clifton-Aldan station. Both prime shots -- Smedley Park and here -- had been accomplished.

SEPTA; Clifton Heights, Penn.; February 1, 2014

From here it was on to Sharon Hill. Our car followed a regular service car in, but photographers could get off one stop short at McDade Boulevard in Darby. From here our car could be photographed with the regular service car in the distance in Sharon Hill. The railroad overhead is CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision, the former Baltimore & Ohio main line.

SEPTA; Darby, Penn.; February 1, 2014

The sun was only getting better, so at Drexel Hill Junction we headed back out on the Media line to Pine Ridge Road in Media. A nice set of shots were made here at the rural grade crossing at the station. Once we were done here we made one last photo stop in SPringfield, then headed back to Upper Darby to end the trip. A complete set of photos from the day can be found here.

SEPTA; Media, Penn.; February 1, 2014