Here’s an old shot of my father’s, looking almost straight into the sun, of a SEPTA PCC car crossing the B&O tracks in Darby just minutes after the Chessie Steam Special tore through.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=257011
Does anyone know what line this PCC would have been operating on?
Thanks,
Charles
I might be able to get an answer to your question. I am not from Philly, but have a good friend that is from Upper Darby that rode what they called “the trolley” quite a bit. I went on leave with him there, and rode the street car myself. It was a great ride!! I wished we would have had something like that in San Antonio.
Enjoyed seeing that shot of the PCC car as it just cleared the B&O tracks.
Can’t add anything to thoughts of that photo except I enjoyed seeing it. Can add, I rode on the Johnstown Traction Co’s. streetcar at a crossing of the S&C of the B&O entering Johnstown, Pa. A grade crossing of streetcar tracks across the B&O tracks just at the Johnstown end of Ferndale. That would have been in the 40’s. The streetcar line was abandoned in 1960. I’ve actually seen a photo of said crossing on the internet associated with many photos of the Johnstown Traction Co.
Edit: We did witness the Chessie Steam Special coming thru Muncie back in the same era as one of your father’s photos show in Darby area. It was headed south, on the line that is our Cardinal Greenway Trail now.
I don’t know this area real well, but the unusual configurations of the intersection of the streets and the rail and trolley crossing - at about a 45 degree angle - visible in the photo together with the locale ID and the unique nature of the B&O line narrow the possibilities quite a bit. So here’s my educated guess:
Intersection of Main Street, between Darby to the northwest and Colwyn to the east, with North/ South 6th St., at the grade corssing with the B&O.
SEPTA Route 11 Subway-Surface Line - here’s a link to the route map:
http://www.septa.org/service/sched/maps/011.pdf
I believe the trolley is heading geographic west = outbound on Main Street. If the Steam Special was heading geographically south - from Philly towards Baltimore - then the people are facing in that direction. It follows that the camera is facing north, and the direction of the shadow indicate that the photo was taken in the early morning. From the Google Maps/ Satellite view, it appears that the row houses in the background have been demolished - or, I’ve got the wrong location. But with these clues you could follow the B&O line yourself on Google Maps (or another similar service) and find the real location - there can’t be that many others along this line where SEPTA crosses the B&O at grade.
Let me know if you concur, or if you reach another conclusion. Thanks for sharing the photo, too. I didn’t see that Special, but it sure looks like the time and place.
Edit: After looking again, I believe the directions in the caption and hence in my post above are off by 180 degrees - the Special was NB towards Philly, and the trolley is EB to same. &n
Good detective work - I believe you have the location 100% correct.
– but I’ll add to it with some stuff that I know for sure. It is late afternoon, so it was probably a misstatement that he was looking at the sun. The sun is behind the trolley, but to the right of the image, which is why the row houses are also in shadow. The Chessie Steam Special has just passed on its way from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and the people are looking towards where the train had come from, not where it went (my mistake).
The trolley is headed west.
Thanks for the confirmation and additional details, as well as sharing the photo in the 1st place. A couple of further thoughts :
Is it possible that the photo - looking south, we’ve now established, I think - was taken before the Steam Special came - that the people are looking east - where the Steam Special would be coming from Philly - in anticipation of it coming ? Otherwise, it doesn’t seem to comport with human nature that people would still be looking where a steam train had come from, when they could instead be looking at where it is now, going away. Unless, that is, something unusual happened back up the line, or another train was following it closely and is now blowing its horn* for this same crossing, for example.
Alternatively, could this photo have been taken when the special went EB from Baltimore to Philly ? Then it would also make sense for the people to still be watching it after it went by.
Finally, if this photo was taken in late afternoon as you state, and the sun is behind the trolley, then the trolley is headed east (not west) - no ?
Of course, you are right… the trolley is heading east. I have no idea why I thought/typed west.
The Chessie Special has definetely already come through, as the slide before had the Special in it (to be scanned soon) and about a hundred people, as compared to the less than a dozen here.
This is defintely taken of the westbound train, as the slides of the eastbond train earlier in the day are also in the same box.
Here is a black and white of my dad’s of the Special that day (how he took pictures with two cameras, I’m not 100% sure… must have had them both ready… because he also has a slide of almost this same shot with the train only a little bit futher away). Mind you… this is not all a complete mystery… I was with him that day… I just don’t remember that well.
Love both shots…
But the first one. for me at least, has all the texture and interest…the details remind me of my younger days…low cut big bell jeans…huge land yatchs, and the hair cuts bring it all back.