While I was in Philadelphia over the holidays a friend clued me into the fact that one of the historic streetcars (trolleys) on the Girard Avenue Line was decorated for the holidays. This line, SEPTA Route 15, is the last historic trolley line in Philadelphia and I had never ridden it before. This was the perfect opportunity!
I decided that I’d make the whole day about trains, so that morning I hopped on the SEPTA West Trenton Line regional rail, which has a stop near our place north of Philadelphia. After cheesesteak lunch near Jefferson Station, it was on to the Market-Frankfort Line subway/surface train to get up to Girard Station.
My goal for the afternoon was to see and take pictures of the holiday car, number 2336. So, with the friend I dragged along on this crazy adventure, we started waiting. The first couple trolleys weren’t decorated, so we hopped on another to get out of the chilly weather for a bit. Got off that trolley and waited for a few more, in both directions. This was repeated a couple times until we finally got a glimpse of the decorated trolley heading back to Girard Station. Now on our radar, we hopped on the next one and followed that trolley!
The non-decorated, but still lovely, 2335
We caught up with the decorated trolley after the turnaround at the end of the line and got on just after Girard Station. From there we took it all the way to the end of the line in west Philadelphia at 63rd St. There we had to disembark, and I took a few pictures of the outside.
We were able to get on again after the driver took a break, which allowed us take it all the way back.
The car was decorated inside and out, with lights, garland and signs.
At the end the driver asked if we’d just been on it to take a ride. Yep! I came just to see this specific trolley! Since it was getting dark anyway, he was kind enough to turn the outside lights on for me so I could get some pictures.
As my first time riding this line, I was able to make some observations about how they differ from the PCCs that run in San Francisco. In the historic fleet of San Francisco streetcars, the 1055 has the same livery as the trolleys that run in Philadelphia today. Most of the PCC’s in San Francisco’s fleet actually came from SEPTA in Philadelphia and this one is no exception, originally numbered 2122 while in service there. However, taking a peek inside it’s easy to see that it’s a bit different than the ones that run in Philadelphia today:
Inside the 1055 in San Francisco
The inside of this looks shiny compared to the inside of the one still running in Philadelphia. It’s all metal versus the plastic inside in Philadelphia, and the walls of the car are much thinner in San Francisco. I suspect this is all due to climate control requirements. In San Francisco we don’t really have seasons and the temperature stays pretty comfortable, so while there is a little climate control, it’s nothing compared to what the cars in Philadelphia need in the summer and winter. You can also see a difference from the outside, the entire top of the Philadelphia cars has a raised portion which seems to be climate control, but on the San Francisco cars it’s only a small bit at the center:
Outside the 1055 in San Francisco
Finally, the seats and wheelchair accessibility is different. The seats are all plastic in San Francisco, whereas they have fabric in Philadelphia. The raised platforms themselves and a portable metal platform serve as wheelchair access in San Francisco, whereas Philadelphia has an actual operative lift since there are many street level stops.
To wrap up the trolley adventure, we hopped on a final one to get us to Broad Street where we took the Broad Street Line subway down to dinner at Sazon on Spring Garden Street, where we had a meal that concluded with some of the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. Perfect to warm us up after spending all afternoon chasing trolleys in Philadelphia December weather.
Dinner finished, I took one last train, the regional rail to head back to the suburbs.
More photos from the trolleys on the Girard Avenue Line here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/albums/72157676838141261