DELAWARE VALLEY TRIP REPORT – JULY 25, 2014 By Jack May with Photos by Bob Vogel

The weather forecast for Friday, July 25 called for a sunny day, and having a certain amount of cabin fever, I decided it might be a good day for catching up on rail photography in the Philadelphia area. I contacted Bob Vogel, a railfan from Collingswood, NJ, and he agreed to accompany me. We decided to meet at the Pennsauken Transit Center at9:17, the arrival time of a southbound River Line train from Trenton. The photographs in this report were all taken by Bob Vogel. I still take slides, so I have to wait for them to be processed (a couple of weeks) before I see my efforts

I planned to drive down to the Bordentown Park and Ride facility, in time to catch the 8:38 DMU. Thus I would leave home at 7:15 and use the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike to exit 7. As it was I actually got on the road at 7:00. Traffic was heavy, but the highways were not congested, and due to only a few slowdowns to speeds under the mostly 65 mph limit, I arrived in Bordentown at 8:08, just in time to miss the 8:08 trip, but with plenty of room to catch the 8:23.

[For the radio “circuit”: I was entertained by an MP3 devoted to the broadcasting career of Orson Welles, with dozens of hours of programs that he had a major part in producing. This disk includes almost all of the available “Mercury Theater On The Air” shows, most of which I hadn’t heard until the past few weeks. The Mercury Theater On The Air was a summer replacement dramatic series on CBS dating from 1938, which was extended into the fall because of its prestige, but not its popularity. After hearing all of them, I can understand why the Crossley rating of the series was so low, as many episodes were mediocre. But when they were good they were very, very good. My two favorites are Dracula (Bram Stoker) and the infamous War of the Worlds (H. G. Wells). Other entertaining dramas from the series include Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Eyre. But in listening to them what was most gratifying to me was to hear the voices of the ensemble of this repertory company, which included Ray Collins and Agnes Moorehead (mostly remembered by me for their roles on TV: Lt. Tragg on “Perry Mason” and Endora on “Bewitched”). Other great acting voices included Martin Gabel and Arlene Francis (who eventually became husband and wife), Alice Frost, Joseph Cotton and George Coulouris. The great Dan Seymour (We the People) was the announcer and H. V. Kaltenborn (who became a major World War II correspondent and commentator) did some narration. Some of those heard on these broadcasts were regular attendees at the Old Time Radio Convention in Newark, including Arthur Anderson, who was a child actor then, and later became the voice of the Lucky Charms Leprechaun. He is now in his 90s and often tells of the time he was playing with matches during a station break and set the sprinklers off, flooding the studio.]

Anyway, It was easy to find a parking place, although it had to be at the far end of the large free lot, which already had plenty of vehicles. Both the southbound 8:08 and northbound 8:09 consisted of two cars, the latter having one unit with an ugly red-and-black Rutgers University wrap. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to get photos on this single-track section of the line. While waiting on the platform I noticed that the only sign referring to the validity of tickets was in Spanish, and indicated a two- hour time limit. As reported in the press, the fare rules were changed (without a hearing) and now tickets are good for a single ride in a continuous direction (which is posted at other stops). The validation stamp has been changed to display a time of about one-hour after being “boinked” (memories of the late Bob Underwood), instead of the two heretofore. Since it takes approximately 67 minutes to ride the line from end to end, it seems that with the base headway of every 30 minutes, a passenger can validate his ticket as much as 29 minutes before he boards. If such a ticket is examined at the end of the line, it could be a legitimate ride, that shows a time limit as much as 36 minutes before the legitimate ride is completed. I wonder if fines are levied when that situation occurs. (David Peter Alan of the Lackawanna Coalition has brought this up in front of the New Jersey Transit Board after a newspaper article was printed about the subject.)

At 8:23 a southbound single car rolled in and I boarded with about 5 more passengers as a couple got off. There were plenty of seats, and I was able to obtain a good view out the front of the car. The River Line provides a very enjoyable ride, reminiscent of electric interurban railways of old, but without the singing overhead wires. The upper portion of the line, a combination of single and double-track, traverse an attractive area of woods and swamps with occasional views of the Delaware River. In addition, the right-of-way runs in both urban and suburban settings at the sides or center of arterial roads. There are also a couple of substantial bridges, at Bordentown and between Delanco and Riverside. A few older stations, built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which used to run passenger service along the route, are still extant, but used for different purposes. In addition, freight service (Conrail, CSX, Norfolk Southern) is still operated on the tracks during the midnight hours (temporal separation), with parallel freight-only trackage and yards alongside in areas of high activity.

The car never got totally filled, although there were plenty of ons and offs, and arrived on time at the Pennsauken Transit Center at 9:02. Even though it was 15 minutes before our scheduled meeting, as I got off I saw Bob Vogel approaching the station from the parking lot. We decided to ride the 10:02 NJ Transit train to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. In the meantime, we drove a short distances to the riverfront along Derousee Avenue, to photograph the 9:20 Philadelphia-Atlantic City train crossing the Delair Bridge, and found a good location along a small, sad, littered beach. Fortunately the tide was out so we didn’t sink into the sand. The train was on time, with the P40DC locomotive at the rear pushing. This is usually the case, probably to reduce walking at the line’s Atlantic City terminal. The spot was a good one, the view highlighted by the Philadelphia skyline shimmering in the sun.

With still plenty of time before our departure, we drove over to the Cove Road grade crossing, where we saw a northbound freight being put to bed. A van picked up the Conrail employee, while the train presumably waited for a Norfolk Southern crew to move it further. Its motive power consisted of three units, the last being from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Unfortunately the Conrail man was extremely unfriendly, absolutely refusing to wye the power so we could get a photo with the BNSF unit at the point. He had a hell of a nerve! Actually he was quite friendly and stopped to schmooze for a short while. We took some photos of the train and then waited for the expected meets of the next northbound River Line unit at 9:45 and the southbound one three minutes later. The single-car trains zipped by on time and were duly photographed passing the C40-led freight. The second train was the red and black Rutgers unit,

We arrived back at the station a few minutes later, purchased our tickets at one of the two ground level ticket machines and then went up to the inbound (westbound) platform of the elevated structure. We did not take any photos of River Line trains from overhead, as we both had accomplished that on previous visits. Three additional passengers were waiting on the platform along with a railfan friend of Bob’s, who indicated he would be riding to Philly later in the day. Our A.C. Line train was a consist made up of Comet-II, Comet-IV, Comet-II, Comet-V, and a Comet-V car pulled by a GP40PH #4209. It arrived right on the advertised at 10:02, and a few passengers alighted before we entered. The conductor (or trainman) operating the doors at the high-level platform saw us board. We placed our tickets into the clips when we sat down, but he never bothered to come back to collect them! Lost income for cash-starved NJT. This off-peak train had a decent load, maybe just a little bit less than what is found on my line, the Montclair-Boonton, in off hours.

The ride was enjoyable and we kept to time pretty well, passing through North Philadelphia station at speed, but then were held up just before the entrance to the lower level of 30th Street. It was a short wait, but it prevented us from getting in early; we arrived on time at 10:27. We had decided to go to Fern Rock next, in order to photograph the only location where the Broad Street Subway operates out in the open. But Bob had mentioned that the Amtrak Exhibit train (not the Bob & Ray Trophy train) was being stored in the Amtrak yard between journeys, so we first went up to one of Bob’s favorite photo locations, the garage north of the station. We were very fortunate that the equipment, with F40PH locomotive 406 on the south end, was positioned in perfect sunlight right below and alongside our viewing point.

As we returned to the upper level of the station after a few pictures, we saw that a Lansdale-Link Belt train was scheduled for departure at 10:45, which indicated we had time for a pit stop. The train of Silverliner IV cars came in from Paoli about two minutes late, and when boarding, we encountered another of Bob’s friends, Shawn, an NRHS member who was the conductor. He wanted to sell us cash fares, but Bob handed him two coupons of a 10-trip Senior ticket he had purchased for $8.50.

As we passed Temple University Bob mentioned that the last two times he visited that station (which were with Tony Fitzherbert) they were greeted by monsoon winds and pouring rain. A visit to that point for photos in the evening rush hour was not on my schedule this time, but had it been, blue skies would have been encountered. As always, I looked for the remains of the former Nicetown and Tioga stations, between North Broad and Wayne Junction, which is very much under reconstruction. Demographic changes had done those stations in, much like what happened to the Ampere, Roseville Avenue and Grove Street stations on the old Morris & Essex. Bob pointed out the connecting track between the electrified ex- Reading and ex-Pennsylvania systems just beyond North Broad Street. The Norristown and Chestnut Hill West lines run parallel briefly, and in the past there was some talk of rerouting the former through a full-fledged connection. Cannot imagine what the benefits of that would be, except for the construction industry and for some passengers who might want to reach 30th Street and the universities slightly faster. I mentioned to Bob that Wayne Junction held lots of memories for me, specifically one of my first rides behind steam, when Julien Wolfe, John Garcia and I rode the first of many Reading Iron Horse Rambles from there in October, 1958. Earlier, I had ridden the Royal Blue through that station on the last day of B&O service from New York to Philadelphia, in April, 1958.

Two of SEPTA’s locomotive-hauled trains, used only in the rush hours, were parked on the track to the east of the center platform at Fern Rock, one stretching beyond to the south. The closest was duly photographed before we climbed (Bob on foot, me on the elevator) to the spacious mezzanine, where good views are available of the loop track, used by many Broad Street Subway trains. We just missed one train heading for the terminal, and so waited for another to take the loop. The first arrival, however, came in from the other direction (changing ends before departure), but we were not disappointed when the next train rounded the loop. The Kawasaki cars are being overhauled after 32 years in service, and cosmetically, the orange bands at window level are being removed, leaving shiny aluminum. These cars have an orange stripe at roof level, a subtle reminder that there was once an attempt to rename the subway as the Orange line (Market-Frankford being the Blue line). We did not see a solid train of either type, with all trains observed being a combination of refurbished units and those that have not yet been renovated.

We did see, however, posed on a track easily in view, the line’s “museum” fleet, although the sun was wrong for good photos. Three different types of cars preceded the 1982-built Kawasaki B-IVs: the original Brill units from 1926, the Pressed Steel “South Broad” cars that came in 1938, and finally the Brill Bridge units from 1936, built for service across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to Camden, and formerly owned by the toll bridge commission. I’d love to ride in them again; perhaps a fantrip will be operated in the future.

We boarded the first train to leave, which turned out to be a local. Three services are operated on the Broad Street Subway during base and peak hours: locals between Fern Rock and Pattison Avenue (now renamed AT&T), expresses between Fern Rock and Walnut-Locust, and Broad- Ridge expresses between Olney and 8th & Market Streets. When I attended college in Philadelphia in the mid-1950s, the express trackbed was empty, and all trains were local. My recollection is that Ridge Avenue service either started at Olney or Girard at different times, and ran through to either 15th-16th and Locust, or Camden, depending on the time of day and day of the week; the other spur would be served by shuttle trains from 8th & Market. The Fern Rock terminal opened during this period and I believe tracks were laid between Erie and Girard in 1959, a year after I graduated, and on the center trackway to Olney in the early 1990s.

Anyway, it’s always a treat to ride at high speed through a subway, and Broad Street is no exception. We got off our train and waited for an express at Olney. Finally one came in and we enjoyed our trip to City Hall, passing the local from which we detrained at Girard. The ride reminded me of so many fast express runs I had experienced as a child growing up in The Bronx, on Low-Vs between Grand Central and 125th Street (one intermediate stop at 86th on the Lexington Avenue IRT) and 125th Street to 59th, non-stop in R1-9s on the IND Eighth Avenue subway. One of the stations we zipped through was North Philadelphia, an express stop served nowadays only by Ridge expresses and Broad Street locals. In earlier days this was a very important station, serving both the Reading North Broad and Pennsy North Philadelphia rail stations. In that period almost all of the PRR “Blue Ribbon” fleet of long distance trains from New York to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago made their only Philadelphia stop at this station. And Reading long-distance trains to Bethlehem, Buffalo, Toronto, Williamsport, Tamaqua, Shamokin, etc. stopped at North Broad. Things have gone downhill since; the neighborhood has gotten tougher, but at least the North Philly railroad station, which had become an eyesore, has been beautifully renovated.

Our third encounter with a friend occurred as we were walking from the City Hall station to Suburban Station to grab a bite at McDonalds (it was now noontime), when we stopped and talked with Ed Springer, who was walking in the other direction. A long-time SEPTA employee, he has represented the agency on most of the fantrips I’ve ridden through the years. I believe that like me, he is still forgoing digital and taking slides! After our repast and a stop to freshen up, we walked to 15th & Market and rode an 11 streetcar to 47th Street and Woodland Avenue (one block beyond May Street). The underground platform was quite crowded, as perhaps there had been some delay to inbound cars, but soon enough a 10 and 34 stopped, with the 11 right behind.

The ride beyond 30th Street reminded me of my disappointment when the Subway-Surface West Philadelphia extension opened in 1955, while I was attending the U of P. While I enjoyed the streetcars zooming along Locust Street in sight of my fraternity house, my first thought was that the underground extension was a degradation of service. With sharp curves and an interlocking, the cars crawled through the tunnel, and the stations were grim and dirty right from the get go. No bright lights and shiny tiles like in New York (and on the Broad Street Subway) for this line, just ugly dark green paint which seemed to have started peeling off minutes after the line opened. I eventually became happier when the stations were tiled and refurbished in the past decade or two, but the slow operation continues; in fact it might be worse nowadays with the “modern” communications-based signal system that was installed in 2010. Here is a recent comment from the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers:

SEPTA also needs to address growing ridership both on the Subway- Surface Lines and on the RRD, but both systems have their own capacity constraints that limit SEPTA’s options. In the case of the Subway-Surface Lines, it’s the tunnel, or more precisely the communications-based train control system in the tunnel. It forces trolleys to stay farther apart from each other, limiting capacity and contributing to delays whenever things get the least bit out of sorts.

Speaking of that, the subway-surface lines will use the tunnel detour routes to the Market-Frankford el at 40th & Market Streets for 18 days from August 1 to August 18. Called the “Trolley Tunnel Blitz” on SEPTA’s website, the closure is to allow the “Track, Power, Communications and Signals and Bridges and Buildings Maintenance Departments to efficiently complete important construction and maintenance projects.” Although it will disrupt the lives of many riders, the project should give me (and other traction aficionados) an opportunity to photograph frequent service with the Kawasaki cars along Spruce, 38th and 40th Streets through my old stomping grounds. Of course the neighborhood has changed in the over 50 years since I graduated, with my abode at 224 South 39th Street meeting the wrecking ball, along with all the other row houses, and having been replaced by high-rise dorms (where my daughter lived 30 years later). In my day 39th was a through-traffic street and 38th was a narrow one-way cobblestoned affair; now 38th is a wide thoroughfare and 39th no longer exists.

The ride to 47th was speedy and after a photo of a route 36 car that was right behind ours, we walked the three blocks or so to Grays Ferry Avenue, where we positioned ourselves to photograph some Amtrak and SEPTA rail action from the bridge that also crosses the Schuylkill. Upon our arrival the 1:04 (ex-30th Street) train to the Airport passed and we got some hurried photos of the Silverliner Vs that were assigned to that run. We were waiting for the 1:10 southbound Acela Express, but as we sweltered on the shadowless sidewalk, nothing came by. Rechecking the Amtrak corridor schedule I found that I was looking at weekend service, but that shouldn’t have mattered much, as the weekday Acela is due to leave 30th at 1:12. It finally came by at about 1:35, followed shortly by a Northeast Regional powered by an AEM-7, the train that had been due to leave 30th at 1:13. In any case, we saw a few SEPTA Airport and Wilmington line trains of Silverliner IVs and Vs, and a northbound Acela had came through roughly on time at about 1:25. All of these trains, of course, can be shot from either end and so we were kept busy. Bob pointed out that at this point the four-track electric railway operates as two double-tracked lines, with SEPTA using the westernmost rails (leading to and from the upper level at 30th), with Amtrak on the east side. The next southbound Amtrak Acela and Regional trains weren’t due until about 2:10, and since we had no idea whether they’d be on time, we headed back, happy with the photos we had taken.

In addition to staying alert for trains while standing on the narrow sidewalk, we also had to be vigilant about getting out of the way of bicyclists. They were a friendly bunch, thanking us whenever we pressed ourselves against the fence so there would be no collisions. This African-American neighborhood is very poor and much of the housing we encountered is dilapidated. We passed by a number of residents sitting on their shaded porches in both directions, and we were greeted by hellos. Bob pointed out that Philadelphia is a much friendlier place than New York City, although it may be much more racist.

We boarded an inbound route 36 car, nicely air conditioned, and rode to 19th Street, and then walked to the railroad portal along Kennedy Boulevard for some more photos. It was now approaching 2:15, and for the next 40 minutes we were able to photograph a host of Silverliners from our vantage point between 20th and 21st Streets. There is a sloping grassy area leading to the right-of-way, which starts in a cut and then rises to a bridge crossing the Schuylkill. Our presence was ignored by several couples resting in the shade of some of the trees in the area, and by the SEPTA train operators.

We then walked west through 30th Street Station and then south to Walnut, where we entered Penn Park, a relatively new complex of sports fields and ball courts that lies to the north and east of Franklin Field and the Palestra, and adjacent to the Amtrak corridor tracks. It is getting more difficult to photograph from there as the plantings of trees and bushes are maturing, blocking a continuous view of the tracks. Fortunately, a glassed-in (plexiglassed-in) pedestrian crossing provides a decent vantage point of the rail service, and the afternoon sun shines on a great backdrop of the Philadelphia skyline.

[This location also brought back some undergraduate memories. When working at the university’s radio station, WXPN, I did play-by-play broadcasts of sporting events, mainly Franklin Field football and Palestra basketball. It was the glory years of Philadelphia basketball and the Big Five, Temple, St. Joseph’s, La Salle, Villanova and Penn, were at their peak. One day our Sports Director, Eddie Einhorn (now part owner of the Chicago White Sox) asked me to do a Penn-Princeton baseball game. I quickly acceded, not realizing that I had virtually no information about the teams, especially the visitors. It was deadly, having to fill dead air between pitches. The ballfield was a bit south of where we were standing now, but still had a great view of the Pennsy. In between pitches, I remember telling whatever radio audience there was, items that I’m sure interested them, like “there goes northbound No. 175, the Colonial to Boston. It looks likes there are some P-70s behind the GG-1, followed by New Haven streamlined coaches and parlor cars, including a diner.” What else could I say? By mutual agreement, I never broadcasted another baseball game. No Red Barber me.]

Anyway, we arrived just before the 3:08 southbound Acela was due, but it didn’t show up until about 3:30. Clearly the problem we encountered at Grays Ferry was still affecting corridor service. At 30th Street Bob had seen the annunciator board indicating that the New Orleans-bound Crescent was on time for its 3:55 departure, and so it was, coming into view about 3:57. Right after that train two southbound Northeast Regionals passed, apparently scheduled for 2:29 and 3:37. This implied that the timekeeping problem may have been caused by some disruption between Boston and New York. We waited for the 4:08 Acela, but that didn’t show until about 4:25. All in all, we got our photos, but not necessarily at the times we expected to. Interestingly, all the locomotives we saw were AEM-7s. No HHP-8s or new ACS-64s.

We walked back to 30th Street, and Bob indicated he would head home. The weather was still bright and I decided to go out to Bryn Mawr for the evening rush, hoping to get photos of at least two of the three locomotive- hauled trains operating on the ex-Pennsy mainline. We said our goodbyes and I headed for the 5:09 to Paoli (express to Bryn Mawr) on the upper level. As it turned out I should have gone to Temple University, because things started to fall apart for me at that point. I knew the 5:13 Great Valley Flyer to Thorndale would be a push-pull train and saw that it was posted as 2 minutes late. I thought that was a good omen, as it would give me a little more time to scurry across to the inbound platform at Bryn Mawr for the photo. I rode the 5:09 Silverliner IV train, which moved rapidly on its non-stop journey, but then inexplicably crawled the rest of the way from Ardmore to my stop. I raced through the underpass to the other side, and saw the AEM-7 locomotive coming on the express track. I was happy for only a moment, until an inbound local pulled in, blocking my photo!

OK, there would be another one at 5:55. Meanwhile I succeeded in photographing an Amtrak Keystone (locomotive pushing) and a train of Silverliner Vs on a Bryn Mawr local. Just as I saw the push-pull train approaching, déjà vu, the exact same thing happened again! I missed photos of both. The shadows were now getting long so I decided to ride the MU back to 30th Street. Passing the third locomotive-hauled train en route, it arrived on the advertised at 6:17, and after buying a ticket, I transferred to the 6:23 Trenton line express. I could have waited for an Atlantic City train (at 7:12) or stay aboard my train to Market East at 6:27, and then walk over to 8t h Street and ride PATCO. But I’ve been seeing messages on the internet about how PATCO service being excessively unreliable, and didn’t want to have to wait a long time for a train or be delayed. As it happens I made the right choice.

The Trenton express also had a Silverliner V consist and I had positioned myself toward the west end of the platform. Very serendipitously the row at the front was empty and I availed myself one of the three railfan seats. The seat pair in front of me was roped off as usual, but I had a perfect view of the corridor, as we raced along. I wasn’t sure how fast we were going, but the conductor came up to where I was sitting after Croydon and began to speak to the operator, who opened her cab door enough for me to observe the speedometer. We accelerated all the way to 95 mph before slowing down for the stop at Bristol.

I don’t recall the last time I rode at that speed in an MU train, but it was exhilarating. I thought about New Jersey Transit’s local operation along the corridor with locomotives and push-pull trains, where the acceleration is pitiful. I noted that such trains could probably reach that speed (or maybe even more), they always seem to just amble along when I’m riding. NJT is supposed to release its fleet plan for the future on September 10, and I’m optimistic that new electric MU cars will be included--but you never know. Until we reached the Pennsylvania end of the Delaware River bridge I had thoroughly enjoyed the high-speed ride, including seeing Amtrak and SEPTA trains passing by. If we had continued at normal speed we would have arrived in Trenton at about 7:05, some 10 minutes ahead of schedule, but we came to a full stop on the normally southbound express track for 10 minutes, while a number of southbound moves came down the northbound local and southbound express tracks, including two NJ Transit trains of locomotive hauled multilevels and one of Arrow III MUs, all presumably heading for Morrisville to be tied up until the next day’s rush hour. A northbound Acela also passed. I guess I could have photographed them through the front window if I had stood up and leaned forward.

We arrived on the advertised at 7:14, which was in ample time to make the 7:27 River Line departure, the previous one having been at 6:57. It was a two-car train, and the first car, in which I was riding, ended up with standees. I would think the peak 15-minute headway could be extended for another half-hour, at least, to relieve crowding of this nature. In addition, I observed a steady line at the two fare machines, and as we left there were at least two people still trying to buy tickets. They now had to wait an additional half hour.

I’ve often wondered why the terminal was not built with a center platform, which could have doubled the available machines. This is similar to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line’s Liberty State Park station, where passengers wanting to transfer between the Bayonne and West Side Avenue branches are constantly missing their connection because two side platforms were built instead of one in the center. I’m under the impression that the original plan also called had a stub track between the inbound and outbound rails to allow shuttle trains to operate at times of low ridership. NJ Transit has admitted to its HBLR riders complaining of the poor frequencies during the evenings and nights. If at those times the West Side Avenue branch could be operated as a shuttle, then with the same costs service could have been beefed up. But the infrastructure to have accomplished that was rejected as a cost cutting maneuver when the line was built. Penny wise and pound foolish, a better slogan than NJT s “The Way to Go” (which reminds me of their toilet facilities anyway). Also, it is too bad that passengers transferring from NJT trains at Trenton cannot buy light rail tickets at the same time they buy their railroad tickets.

The heavy use of the light rail line at Trenton also made me wonder (again) if more River Line passengers use the service as a feeder to and from the Northeast Corridor at Trenton compared to those using the line as a feeder for buses and PATCO at Camden. I don’t know if NJT has ever done a survey, but from the boarding statistics it supplies each quarter it looks like it might be pretty close, with Camden having a slight edge. The latest numbers I have show 1,564 boardings at Trenton and 1,863 at Walter Rand in Camden. There are another 400 at other Camden stations, but that would not be feeder traffic. Perhaps they can provide statistics as to the percentage breakdown of Northeast Corridor, PATCO, Philadelphia bus and local riders. All in all though, I do like the River Line and think it is operated quite well; it just needs a little more care and feeding.

Arrival at Bordentown was on time at 7:37. Except for missing the two push-pull photos, I had a most successful day traveling on SEPTA rails with Bob Vogel. Traffic heading back north was similar to the ride southbound, and I got home at 8:50, with just short of 130 miles added to my odometer. I hope to do it again, but probably with a slightly different itinerary that includes coverage of the subway-surface lines.

Thanks again to Bob Vogel for allowing me to display his photos.

Jack