Later I was treated to a Silverliner V railfan window ride on the return trip to Center City that I followed up with a session on the 30th St parking garage. As usual you can find the full set of photos here.
To start things off I was treated to a bit of wrong railing on PATCO to get around some MoW work between Ferry Ave and Broadway.
While walking towards Suburban Station I came upon the rebuilt Dillworth Plaza and its SEPTA City Hall/15Th St Station entrance. The difference was quite striking with grass replacing bare concrete and homeless replaced by suburban families. Way to go!
Progress was also apparent on the new Cynwyd Connection that will allow retirement of the increasingly derelict Valley Flyover. The connection is an oddly simple affair, utilizing the former Schuylkill Valley branch freight alignment. Why it took 22 years to implement I don't know.
SEPTA SL-IV #412 waiting to complete its station work at Narberth while staring at a Clear signal on the #69 Track 4 automatic signal that it would soon take.
Sometimes its hard to remember how wealthy the PRR was back in the day. This underpass was built back in the 19th century over some dikly local road, but due to the state of material science at the time, the only option was the granite arch bridge. Just look at the craftsmanship that was involved and think how many centuries it will probably last.
Between Narberth and Ardmore is Wynwood. The station is now mostly used by a cafe.
At the Church Rd overpass I caught an outbound R5 local with SL-IV #405 on the rear.
An original PRR milestone was on display in front of the Ardmore City Hall.
The Ardmore station was re-built in the 1950's along with Paoli. Whatever came before, I'm sure this isn't as nice.
SL-V #873 eventually arrived to pick me up for the ride back to Center City.
On the way we passed SL-IV #450 stopped at Narberth.
The Comet I's stored in Overbrook Yard were picking up their fair share of graffiti.
Moving on to 30th St station, a variety of diesel power was hanging out at the Race Street engine facility. This included P42DC #94, GP38-2 #722, MP15D #575 and #579 and GP38H-3 #527.
GP38H-3 #527 is a former Toronto GP40TC, downrated to 2000hp, but retaining the HEP capability. It can be used as a work engine or to rescue broken down passenger trains.
Over in the coach yard there were a couple of Metroliner cab cars including #9645.
The only electrics on hand were ACS-86's #605 and #615.
Over on the High Line I was treated to some rare BC Rail power (C44-9W #4653) on a Canadian oil train along with CN C44-9W #2612.
Also caught an AX Trainset with #2009 and #2020.
SEPTA SL-IV #300 at the platform at 30th St station.
While searching for a lunch option that never panned out I wound up using the PATCO 9th/10th and Locust station.
I'll leave you with PATCO Vickers car #271 leading an eastbound train out of Haddonfield towards Lindenwold. While the Budd cars were built in 1968, the Vickers cars are relatively young, having been delivered in 1980.
I wonder if the bridge and mile marker you found were actually built by predecessors of the PRR? The alignment between 52nd Street and Ardmore was built by the West Philadelphia RR, then taken over by the State (Philadelphia & Columbia), before being purchased by the PRR. This map shows those early lines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1948_original_railroads_in_Philadelphia.jpg
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