This page is for people who want me to express my feelings, inner thoughts and emotions. I figure these photos of trains and train stations pretty much meet that request.

This is now my previous commute. Since it is an expression of personal feelings, it would seem disingenuous to take it down. But for those superficial folks ("fishally-challenged") out there, my present commute is described at the end.

I figure that if people are going to go through the trouble of posting images on the web of other people's commutes, I may as well link it to my own.

This is a two leg commute, in which I walk to the "P&W" light rail line, which connects to a subway to take me into town.

Here's the "light rail" train. It runs at speed of 80-130 Km. After kissing my dog goodby (well, figuratively), I walk to the "P&W" Norristown line. The first leg, the "P&W", is a passenger only railroad which was founded by financier Jay Gould as the Philadelphia and Western railroad. He was going to run the line out west, or perhaps as far as Chicago to compete with the Pennsy. He got as far as Strafford, PA. The last few miles to Strafford are now abandoned; the connection to Norristown, apparently from Villanova, was made by Lehigh Transit. The P&W was eventually acquired by the Red Arrow suburban commuter railroad, which was acquired by Septa.

I am told this is the longest third rail railroad line which is entirely aboveground. That doesn't say much because the total length is 13 miles. All of the Philadelphia commuter lines are electrified, but most run under catenary. As I understand it, the P&W was electrified when it was built in 1907. The P&W is famous for the "Bullet Trains" and the "Liberty Liners" which ran on the line prior to the current ABB cars.

I get off here at the 69th St. terminal.

Here's the platform at 69th Street station. 69th Street is really a terminal for three separate lines, but not a station.

At this point the average person would consider this to be "more information than needed" as far as expressions of feelings is concerned. As a "here's my open soul" type of person, I won't stop here. There's more..

Here's where I get onto the Frankford El.

Notice (trashcans) we don't have problems with the Arabs yet (although I don't like walking near the trashcans. I think the ones downtown are covered.)

Just past 69th Street, the subway uses a "loop" to turn around without changing direction. The Frankford El, as its name implies, is an elevated railroad at its two ends. It continues on elevated tracks for about 20 blocks until it drops down to the subway tunnel just past the 46th St. station, so downtown, it is known as the Market Street subway. The train passes 30th Street Station, after which it tunnels under the Schulykill River. The first downtown stop is 15th St.

It's a short ride, but I get a few minutes to think (or write stupid webpages). The last time I used to take the Frankford El on a more or less regular basis was when I was 14. Hey, there's my mom's '60 Caddy, the black one in the photo parked under the tracks. Running alongside the subway starting at about 40th St. are the subway surface trolley lines, which make the intermediate stops to 15th St.

Here's a mural showing me getting off at 15th St. station. (Apparently I'm lost because the photograph is of the southbound side.)

15th St. station is connected via a concourse to the Pennsy's Suburban Station, which is where the office was located when I started. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture. As I am writing this, we are scheduled to move to a newer building. Part of the reason is for office space, and there wasn't a proper office for me here. Regardless, I'll miss working in Suburban Station and will be a little sad when we move.

After much introspection, and reflection on the meanings of time and calculations, I decided to change my commute.

The Paoli Local (the historic name; it actually begins in Malvern, with several runs from Downingtown) takes 23 minutes to get into Suburban Station and slightly longer on the way home. I'm still trying to figure what a Paoli Local express is called.

The Paoli Local was the world's first electrified main line railroad section. The electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad, using alternating current, began in 1915 when an 11,000 volt A.C. catenary was run over twenty miles of the main line from the Philadelphia Broad Street Station to Paoli, PA. (That's about 7 years after the Manhattan Transfer electrification, so I'm not sure how the Paoli Local is the first.) The Pennsy ran these MP54 "Owl Cars", which remained in service for something like 65 years. Some of the later ones were proposed for early high speed service, but "high speed" could have been anywhere from 70 to 100 MPH (110-160 Km). I used to ride these from Wilmington to Phila.

Now they're running something they call Silverliner IVs. (This looks like Merion Station, and looking at the pans, westbound.)

You will be disappointed to hear that the Paoli Local lacks the amenities of The Broadway, Twentieth Century Limited, or even the Afternoon Keystone. Not even an observation-dome car. We do get to see Zoo Junction, and the less famous Septa trash dump more-or-less across from the Overbrook Shops.

I have since moved to Narberth, which is still on the Main Line, but closer to Phila. It's a short bike ride or walk to the train, but far enough from the P&W that it would not make sense for me to take the P&W. So after the move, the P&W will be a past acquaintance, like the Pascack Valley Line, Morris & Essex and Caltrain.

I have since moved to Narberth, which is still on the Main Line, but closer to Phila. It's a short bike ride or walk to the train, but far enough from the P&W that it would not make sense for me to take it.

While it looks like the commute has faded to black and white, it has not; however after the move, the P&W will be a past acquaintance, like the Pascack Valley Line, Morris & Essex and Caltrain.

I of course end up at Suburban Station. This photo is unusual because there are usually there are several trains waylaid on the stub tracks at either side, and the platforms have quite a few people.

Here's a typical mid-day in the concourse, which is below my office.

The train commute means I need to drive to the station, and costs slightly more for the option ($18/month with parking).

Some people consider an expression of personal feelings to be limited to a description of their car. You can see I'm much less superficial than that.

More seriously, there could be some part of my personality which is attracted to such heavy machinery. So in that small sense, this page is self-reflexion of sorts.

Anyhow, I'm living in Pennsylvania, where the most popular "designer" license plate, other than those related to animals, is "Preserve our Heritage". "Our Heritage" is neither the Liberty Bell nor cheesesteaks. The license plate displays The Broadway under steam.

Listen.. I told you there are people all over who have nothing better to do with their lives except to take pictures of subway cars and train stations. (and to whom I am grateful for the virtual tourism.) So if you're not totally bored with my commute and personal soul searching, here are some more details:

Commuter Trains

Philadelphia: SEPTA Norristown (Route 100) Line

Philadelphia: SEPTA Market-Frankford Line

Suburban Station

JPEG image 684x422 pixels

The PENNSYLVANIA Pages... Suburban Station

More Commuters

www.nycsubway.org/us/