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SEPTA, for a 4th year, decided to close down the Subway Surface lines in the tunnel for maintenance, and in turn, the scene upstairs on the street is great for Trolley Fans - although for some reason, the great majority of them, including those who consider themselves diehard trolley nuts like the guys at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, scoff at coming to Philadelphia to take it all in. Dunno why, but they couldn't care less.
This years work session covered July 7th - July 17th, 2017.
And if you think about it, where else in the United States can you see this kind of action in 2017????
For the most part, the day was pretty good weather wise, other than reaching 97 degrees. Almost every "clock" we passed on our way from Sharon Hill to Darby reminded us of this fact. There was about a 30% chance of rain, and at times, the sky got clouded up, but we never saw a drop, which was good when we got back to Media for dinner! I stopped at the Darby Fire Department on our walk, and there was a bunch of guys enjoying the weather on the shaded side of the station house!
Where We Went
Media in the Morning
Getting to G
at the 69th Street Transportation Center
Getting to G
at 13th Street on the Market-Frankford Line
Getting to G
at the SEPTA Headquarters
We stopped here for two reasons: 1) to get a SEPTA issued senior pass, and 2) to stop at the souvenir store.
PATCO From 13th Street to Lindenwold
We hopped back on an eastbound M-F train and went two stops to 13th St for the PATCO trains going into New Jersey. We had taken the trains before to get over to Camden to ride the light rail, but we had not ridden the whole line down to Lindenwold. The trains are fast, we clocked it at 68MPH using the GPS on the phone. The trip only took 22 minutes to cover the 13 miles run to Lindenwold.
NJT from Lindenwold to 30th Street Station
As luck would have it, John heard a train horn blaring in the distance. He said "let's go and see if it's a NJT train" Sure nuff, about 30 seconds after getting down the NJT Platform, a Philly bound Atlantic City train appeared around the curve. So we hopped on it for our trip back into Philadelphia. The trip was $5.25 for each of us, not too bad. The conductor on the train reminded us of the old time fellows that knew everybody that was a regular, as he was even tickling the cheeks of a toddler who he was obviously familiar with! :-) He smiled and chatted with quite a few of the regular passengers - it's nice to see this in today's age!
at 30th Street Station
After snapping off a few at the platform, we headed downstairs to grab lunch, and I asked one of the Amtrak girls at the information counter how much she wanted for the "flippy" signs (we had a good laugh over it). It is one of the few sign boards left that uses the flip type display modules, made in Italy. We got rid of ours in Baltimore maybe back in 2012 or so.....
Elwyn Commuter Rail Line -- 30th St to Clifton-Alden
Train 2333, Depart 30th Street at 1:45, Arrive Clifton-Alden 2:10, car #384
Train 2333 leaving C-A
The Clifton-Alden Commuter Rail Station
The Clifton-Alden Trolley Station
The Springfield Rd Trolley Station
the 102 Trolley line from Clifton-Alden to Drexel Hill Junction
Lv Springfield Rd, arrive Drexel Hill 2:41, car #105
A few pictures at Drexel Hill Junction
the 102 Trolley line from Drexel Hill Junction to Sharon Hill
Getting to G
Sharon Hill to Darby
When we got to Sharon Hill, we had just missed the bus headed to Darby, I mean, JUST missed it, we could see it pulling away. So, not knowing when the next one was coming along, we decided to walk it, in 97 degree weather. It wasn't that bad, as it was only a mile or so. :-)
Darby Fire Company, Station 4
In Darby
After taking a few pictures at the Darby Loop, we hopped on a trolley and headed to 40th and Market, where the main reason for today's trip was located.
Caught 8151 on the way to 40th Street
at 40th and Market
As I said above, if you have NEVER seen this, you have truly missed a spectacle. We heard that earlier in the morning, the power went out, and all of the trolleys had to lower their poles until power was restored. It is already a mess, for in the rush hours, there are as many as 10 or so streetcars lines up on Filbert Street, waiting to turn the corner onto 40th St and pick up outbound riders. Phew!!! There are 9 streetcars in the first picture!
In quieter times......
the M-F line back to the 69th St Transportation Center
Getting to G
the 102 Trolley from 69th St to Media
The trolley was packed, standing room only, as it was the middle of rush hour.... but it quickly emptied out after the first few stops. Because of dining under the stars, the trolley stops in front of the Theater.
the Dinner Experience
Media started doing the "Dining Under The Stars" dinner event about 13 years ago, according to one of it's organizers (who we kept running into all over the place!). after seeing how well it is attended, I would have to say it is an unqualified success! There had to be thousands of people cramming the streets, the shops, and the restaurants.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page. This is something I have fun with while trying to help others. Please Note: Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them. For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct. Once in a while, an error may creep in :-) :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a
thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only
get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented. Take
along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still
better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get
local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts
out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their
state maps do not have the railroads on them. If you can find em,
I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and
concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where
tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads.
Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.
By the way, floobydust is
a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data
book, and means miscellaneous and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels
inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have
something to add or correct.... credit is always given! BE NICE!!! Contact info
is here
Aerial shots were taken from either Google Maps or www.bing.com/maps as noted. Screen captures are made with Snagit, a
Techsmith product... a great tool if you have never used it!
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as
being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.
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