Trolleys At Night

D.C. Transit 1304, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, boasts one of the largest (if not the largest) vintage streetcar collections in the country. Originally concentrating on New England, the collection has expanded to cover most of the U.S., and there are even some international cars in the collection. Each year the museum hosts a night photo event, coordinated by Joey Kelly, and because of the scope of the collection, seldom are the same cars used two years in a row. This year's event was on November 7, and a whole new set of cars from last year was used for the set-ups.

The scenes began with D.C. Transit No. 1304, the most modern of the cars we would photograph on the evening. The car was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1941 for operation in Washington, D.C. We started with a scene of passengers boarding the car (above), then moved inside for interior shots (below).

D.C. Transit No. 1304, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

From Washington, we next moved on to Philadelphia with Lehigh Valley Transit car No. 1030. This car was built by American Car & Foundry for the Indiana Railroad. Converted to a parlor car with plush seating, it eventually found its way to LVT, where it was dubbed the Liberty Bell Limited for express service between Allentown and Norristown, Pa. The illuminated drumhead on the back is a nice touch.

Lehigh Valley Transit No. 1030, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

We also photographed the front of the car as it posed by the museum's section house. Arundel is the name of the township where the museum resides.

Lehigh Valley Transit No. 1030, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

Next up for the night was a stop at the museum's Tower C. This tower, built in 1901, served the Boston Elevated until 1938. When it was slated for demolition in 1975, the museum purchased the tower and moved it by barge from Boston to Kennebunkport. For a scene of the tower, a car that passed it many times in regular service was recruited for the shot -- Boston Elevated 01000, built by Wason Manufacturing in 1928.

Boston Elevated 01000, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

From here we hopped on one of the vintage streetcars and rode to about the midpoint of the museum's trackage to Meserve's Crossing. We paused here to photograph car No. 639 of the Wheeling (W.Va.) Traction Co. No. 639 is a curve-side car built by the Cincinnati Car Co. in 1924.

Wheeling Traction Co. No. 639, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

Moving further west (equipment-wise), our next subject was Twin Cities Rapid Transit Co. No. 1267 from Minnesota. This car was home-built by TCRT in 1907. The Twin Cities streetcar lines met a rapid demise in the early 1950s -- 400 miles of streetcar trackage was abandoned in only 22 months.

Twin Cities Rapid Transit Co. No 1267, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

The next target of our cameras hailed from Chicagoland. Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee No. 755 was built by Standard Steel Car Co. in 1930 and was capable of speeds up to 80 miles per hour.

Twin Cities Rapid Transit Co. No 1267, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

It was back to New England for the next piece of equipment, an electric locomotive used in freight service. Atlantic Shore Line steeple cab No. 100 was built by Laconia Car Company in 1906. Interestingly, the museum's railroad is located on the old Atlantic Shore Line right-of-way, so this car is actually operating where it historically did in service.

Atlantic Shore Line Railway No. 100, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

We didn't get a chance to show off Wheeling Traction Co. No. 639 as well as we would have liked at Meserve's Crossing, so we posed it on a grade crossing for a proper portrait.

Wheeling Traction Co. No. 639, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

Finally, we were back at the museum's visitor's center. For the finale on the evening, we posed two cars together at the trolley loop. Car No. 4387 is a semi-convertible built for the Bay State Street Railway by Laconia Car Co. in 1918; it eventually went to the Boston Elevated. Car No. 5821 is also a semi-convertible (Boston "Type 5"), built by Brill in 1924 for the Boston Elevated. The two Boston Elevated veterans capped off our evening at the museum.

Boston Elevated Nos. 4387 and 5821, Seashore Trolley Museum; Kennebunkport, Maine; November 7, 2015

Thanks to all the museum volunteers who moved equipment and posed for photos. Thanks to Joey Kelly for all his coordinating efforts. And thanks to Michael T. Burkhart for his assistance with the lighting.

You can purchase prints of the photos in this post here.

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

An Evening On The Embarcadero

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

Probably my favorite street in the United States -- at least for photography -- is The Embarcadero in San Francisco. MUNI's historic F-Line operates over much of The Embarcadero from the Ferry Building at Market Street down to Fisherman's Wharf. On March 9, 2014, inspired by the MUNI photography of Christian Goepel, I spent an evening watching the changing light as darkness settled in along the bay. First up was MUNI PCC No. 1052, painted in the colors of the Los Angeles Railway (all the MUNI historic streetcars are painted in various schemes of streetcar routes from across the North America). It's headlight reflected off the roadway as darkness moved in (above).

Up next was car No. 1062 representing Louisville, Kentucky, making its stop at Pier 39.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

Car No. 1052 made its two left turns at Fisherman's Wharf and headed back east one block over from The Embarcadero.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

It was just about fully dark by the time car No. 1078 (painted for San Diego) appeared. The lights of the Bay Bridge appear in the background.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

Finishing off the dusk-to-dark parade was car No. 1075, wearing colors from Cleveland.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

As I went to change locations I encountered the San Diego car (1078) returning from Fisherman's Wharf so I decided to try a pan shot as it went by.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

From here I went up to the Ferry Building near the intersection of The Embarcadero and Market Street. This is one of the best intersections for shooting transit in the country, as you also have the famous cable cars just a block away. The first car I caught at the Ferry Building was No. 1072, painted for Mexico City!

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

Turning around, car No. 1053 was making its return from Fisherman's Wharf. It is painted for the street railways of Brooklyn, New York.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

We finish the night with car No. 1010, painted for the hometown San Francisco Municipal Railway. It is also the only native San Francisco car photographed on this evening -- all the rest came to San Francisco from Philadelphia or Newark. No. 1010 made a fitting end to an interesting evening.

MUNI; The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California; March 9, 2014

All the historic MUNI streetcars are equipped with GPS, so you can see which cars are where at any given time by looking at the map here.

And you can find more photos from this evening (as well as stuff from Niles Canyon that I shot earlier in the day) in the gallery here.

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.