24-12-30 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXIV

Due to the way Christmas fell, 2024 SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip was one of the latest we've had taking place on December 30th. The flagship feature of the trip was and end-to-end ride of the newly re-opened Route 15 Trolley from 63rd St to the Westmorland loop. This was followed by a mix of Market Frankford and Broad Street Lines, some NEC fanning at North Philadelphia and then a Regional Rail loop through Chestnut Hill. The trip suffered from late running on the Routes 15 and 75, resulting in some last second re-routes. You can view the entire set of photos here ( mirror ).

After my ride downtown via PATCO the trip participants assembled at the east end of the Market East Station and proceeded to the 13th St Subway-Surface trolley terminal. We began to wonder if the trip was a Friends of Philadelphia Streetcars event when heritage car #9000 pulled in displaying LRV's Forever. Even though we were waiting for a Route 10, we naturally got on #9000 with a planned transfer at 30th St.

Our outbound Route 10 K-car to Girard Jct was #9101. The Route 15 was still only partially running PCC III's so while waiting for our westbound, #2324 passed by eastbound along with #9014 on the Route 10.

When our PCC finally arrived it was delayed slightly by the operator first having to manually line the switch for the Route 15 and then by Route 10 K-Car #9088.

At 63rd St we took the first of several group photos. Since the following run was bustituted we continued our trek to Richmond on #2337.

If you have an hour you can watch this rear-facing video of the entire trip. If you think that's painfully slow for a trip across the city consider that I cut out about 20 minutes of long stops to handle ADA riders.

23-12-27 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXIII

The 23rd installment of my annual SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip was constructed around the new R3 Wawa service and taking the Route 13 streetcar to the Yeadon Loop, two specific activities that had as of yet not been attempted on this transit riding series. After lunch at Reading Terminal Market, the afternoon consisted of a round trip on the R5 to Lansdale, with a transfer to the Broad Street Line at Fern Rock for the customary express ride back to Centre City. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ) and stay tuned for an additional video post.


For my the trip started at the Woodcrest PATCO park n ride. However unlike years past there would be no express runs on offer so I just headed downtown on the first available train, which turned out to have rebuilt car #1032 leading.

After getting everyone together at Market East, we proceeded to the PRR-bound platform to catch an R3 to the new Wawa station. At some point SEPTA Silverliner V #703 made an appearance, however our train to Wawa would consist of Silverliners IV.

Although the station had opened in 2022, the SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXI had already visited the old Elwyn terminal and I didn't want to have back-to-back years riding the full length of the R3 so I deferred this particular destination to 2023. Here we see the morning crew posing with SEPTA Silverliner IV #351 at the new Wawa station platform.

After a 20 minute layover we got back on the same set of Silverliners IV and proceeded to the Clinton-Alden stop to a Route 102 transfer. Here Silverliner IV #138 departs towards Centre City.

After a block walk to the vintage Route 102 Clifton-Alden suburban trolley shelter, we boarded K-Car #121 for the ride to 69th St.

Passing Route 102 K-car #115 near Drexel Hill Jct.

SEPTA Suburban K-car #121 after arrival at 69th St.

Down on the Market-Frankford Line platforms an inbound train led by M-4 car #1131, rounds the loop to platform on track #3 for the return run.

22-12-27 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXII

The SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip is an annual curated transit experience covering the entirety of the SEPTA rail transit network. Part of the curation is to provide variety both within the same type and between different types and although SEPTA had just opened its long delayed R3 Wawa extension in 2022 MWT XXII would have to defer on visiting the new station since MWT XXI had already covered most of the route when visiting the old Elwyn terminal for the first (and last) time. Therefore MWT XXII focused on completing the Route 66 trackless trolley line all the way to the City Line loop before a walking transfer to the R7 Torresdale stop. The morning consisted of an R1 Airport run, returning via Eastwick and the Rt 36 trolley.

Unfortunately my phone bricked two days after the event, taking about half the trip photos with it including most of the underground material. Fortunately I had enough regular camera content to put together a reasonable post.

Starting off at Market East, the outbound R1 Airport took me on what turned out to be my last run through SEPTA's ARSENAL interlocking in its post-NECIP configuration before passing northbound Amtrak Silver Meteor Train 98 led by ACS-68 #650 at PHIL.

Our R1 train had a student engineer on board who was having some issues with the overly sensitive PTC system that continued to hinder performance. I was able to catch a little of the system in operation returning from the Airport, but refer to my related signaling blog post for a more in-depth analysis.



Eastwick was built as an infill station on the R1 Airport in 1997 and allows for a walking connection to the Route 36 trolley's western terminus. Currently mid-day R1 trains send to pass here as we can see with out inbound train with Silverliner V #706 and an outbound train with Silverliner V #869. Regrettably #869 is not lettered "PENNSYLVANIA".

The walk to the Eastwick Loop down Mario Lanza Blvd took us by a feral cat colony that is probably causing a lot of ecological harm.

Arriving at the Eastwick we found K-car trolleys #9074 and #9001, with #9048 soon arriving, but since one apparently can't board at the loop we messed a headway herding the entire group over to the passenger shelter.

We used the headway time to take a group photo of the morning trip attendees before #9019 showed up, passed #9001 and #9048 on the inside loop then ran light back to Elmwood depot leaving us to ultimately depart on #9001.

21-12-27 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXI

After the Covid induced SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XX walking tour of downtown Philly rail sights, SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXI would represent a return to normal, albeit one still impacted by the ongoing cuts to weekday SEPTA service levels. The headline trip of MWT XXI was taking the R3 all the way to Elwyn in its final year of it being the terminus of the Media / West Chester Line as the new Wawa station neared completion. The rest of the trip included a slow meander back to Center City via the Routes 101, 100, R5 and 10. Attendance was robust and you can view the entire gallery of photos here ( mirror ).

For me the day started at the Woodcrest PATCO station with rebuilt car #1002. With PATCO express service showing no signs of making a comeback there is no longer any need to travel out to Lindenwold to secure a frontish seat window.

Although technically the MWT starts at Market East, it doesn't have to begin with an outbound Regional Rail ride, although that's often how it works out in practice as it tends to make the itinerary a bit easier to schedule. Here is Silverliner IV #362 on the 8:50 R1 Airport run ahead of our outbound R3 Elwyn.

After wrong railing in from Media for reasons unknown, the trip reached Elwyn with SEPTA Silverliner IV #300 leading.

In 1986 SEPTA R3 service was cut back from West Chester due to declining ridership on the slow, single track line past Elwyn. Elwyn has no other importance except for being the place where the switch was that allowed trains to turn back. The Mid-Winter Trip had never bothered to visit Elwyn because of the convenient Route 101 connection in Media.

The layover in Elwyn was only about 20 minutes so we were soon back at the Media station, ready to walk the 3 or so blocks to the SEPTA Route 101 trolley terminus.

Our suburban trolley into 69th Street that day would be K-car #126.

Meeting K-car #109 on the passing siding just east of the Media street running. The spring switches have been recently interlocked as part of an ongoing re-signaling project.

20-12-28 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XX

It was going to be difficult running the 20th iteration of the SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip as the COVID 19 pandemic had only only caused massive cuts to transit schedules, but also made spending the better part of a day riding around in enclosed transit vehicles. While the two most common solutions would be to either cancel the event entirely or ignore the threat of getting sick (and passing it to others), I turned the situation into an opportunity and converted the SEPTA Mid-Winter Transit Trip into a walking tour of Philadelphia rail infrastructure. Starting at the same Market East location as usual the trip would wander around the former Reading Viaduct and City Branch before heading to 30th St Station, hiking the ARSENAL loop through University City before ending with a stroll along the Schuylkill river walk and Suburban Station approach. Although only 5 people turned out for what turned out to be a brisk 8 mile walk in surprisingly warm weather, everyone had a great time and we were able to cover a lot of interesting territory not generally available to the Mid-Winter Trip in normal years. You can view the entire set of photos here ( mirror ).

In normal years I would start at Lindenwold in order to catch one of the handful of express PATCO trains, but with the express services cancelled I just started at Woodcrest Station. My inbound train was led by PATCO #1009 with #1042 bringing up the rear.

For the folks who spend their Philly time in and around Market Street, Convention Center or Central Business District, they might not realize how the old Reading line to its downtown stub end terminal was just abandoned in place in 1984 after the station closed. Subsequent redevelopment pushed back the end of the old viaduct to just north of the Vine Street expressway.

The Reading viaduct was ostensibly constructed around 1890, but as it was modified over the years it developed a bit of a Ship of Theseus feel.

The Viaduct is currently owned by the Reading Entertainment Company, the corporate successor to the Reading Railroad after its 1970's Bankruptcy. Reading Entertainment gets its name from a chain of 12 motion picture theaters that it owns in addition to a hodge-podge of real estate assets. The company has been engaged in a standoff with the city over the development of the Reading Viaduct into a linear park.

One casualty in the battle was the old Spring Garden Street Station's northbound passenger headhouse and platforms. Neglected for years, a local preservation group used an anti-blight law to sue Reading Entertainment to clean up / restore the old headhouse and platforms. Reading Entertainment choose the other option available to them, complete demolition and clearance of the site. After a court battle the structure in the photo was demolished in August 2021. Of course in December 2020 there was no way to know that would happen and therefore I only have this one photo of the building.

The real Reading Spring Garden St station building is across the tracks and has already been converted into apartments.

This area is seeing significant gentrification with one building branding itself "Aspect 281" in a serious case of cultural appropriation. Developers know that the Philly Hi-Line park is inevitable and are getting in on the action.

Arguably Philly's most famous closed subway station, Spring Garden on the Broad Ridge Spur retains some of is above ground structures.

19-12-26 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XIX

As the SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip approaches its XXth year, the number of unvisited segments of Philadelphia's expansive rail network has continued to dwindle. In 2018 the MWT finally made it to both Thorndale and Newark, DE. Before that it had managed to cover the Airport, RiverLINE and West Trenton. For 2019 the choices for "virgin" MWT territory had swindled to Atlantic City, Elwyn and Norristown Elm St. For whatever reason, Elm St seemed to make the most sense so I bundled that together with a trip out to Warminster and a Route 102-R3 connection at Clifton-Alden to fill out the day. You can find the whole set of photos here ( mirror ).

With the PATCO cars fully rebuilt, I didn't have much need to go and catch "the good stuff", however express runs were always better than non-express runs so I once again headed out to Lindenwold to snag a semi-railfan window on one of the express trains that departed around 8am. The first train in happened a Philly-bound NJT Atlantic City Line train arriving on the lower level with GP40PH-2B #4209.



#4209 departed exactly at the same time as a westbound PATCO train and because the PATCO had to cross over, the NJT was able to get out to an early lead. Although the PATCO train had two station stops, the 30mph speed restriction east of Haddonfield and forced 45mph cab signal before that would make the race competitive before the lines split at Vernon.



The distance between a terminal crossover and the end of a platform is a major factor in terminal capacity so if you were ever wondering why PATCO put WEST LINDEN interlocking so far away from the platform its because it was added well after the line opened in 1969. Prior to that trains used the EAST LINDEN crossover directly to the east of the platform. If PATCO ever needed an extreme amount of TPH, both crossovers could be utilized to prevent delays. Here PATCO car #1035 clears the interlocking en route to terminal track #1.

Arriving trains typically alternate between tracks 1 and 2 at Lindenwold with #1103 headed into track #2. The left hand placement of the operator is a legacy of the line's OPTO system that uses 100% island platforms.

#1077 signed for an express run on Lindenwold track #2.

Golden Hour PATCO rebuilds #1087 on track #1 at Lindenwold.

Skipping ahead to Philly, SEPTA Silverliner V #840 at Market East.

En-route to Warminster we pass one of the last arriving Bombardier push-pull sets at the Reading Viaduct's MP 2.2 signal with SEPTA ACS-86 #907 in the lead.

Racing SEPTA #856 and a train of Silverliners V towards the 16th St Jct.

 


JENKIN tower at Jenkintown.

The morning group at Warminster. Not pictured was long time participant Phil N, who was in the hospital recovering from an infection.

SEPTA Silverliners IV #340 and #429 at the Warminster station platform. Using government assistance, the Reading extended its Hatboro line to a new Park N Ride in 1974.