They stand patiently, underground in the 13th Street subway-surface station, waiting for their trolley. Four different surface trolley lines in West Philadelphia converge at 40th street and plunge into a subway tunnel on their way to center city. A fifth line enters the tunnel further on.
The system loops around city hall to 13th street for the return trip back to the surface in West Phila. Each route numbered car stops at their designated place along the platform. These folks all wait their turn, for their route number to come screeching around the final turn into the station while another trolley leaves, passing them in a blur.
I got on this route 34 trolley for the ride home, grabbed a good seat and one last shot of the interior before putting my camera away for the day.
Here’s a photo of a route 34 trolley in my old neighborhood, traveling along the 4500 block of Baltimore avenue. These photos were taken in the early 1970s (1970 or 1971 — I don’t remember which now). The PCC cars ran from the 1940s until 1981 when they were replaced by modern, air conditioned Kawasaki trolleys.
I rode those older cars on three different routes when I was growing up and living in Phila. I remember the heat in the summer and the lack of heat (sometimes) in the winter.
I took the underground photos while on a street shooting excursion. I shouldered my Pentax Spotmatic and stuffed a couple extra rolls of film into my pocket that day. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as street photography. I was simply continuing something I liked doing, something I began when I wandered about the streets of Saigon in 1966.
If I tried photographing in the Phila. subways today, I’d undoubtedly be stopped by the police. Times certainly have changed. I wonder if people have? People going about their daily lives make wonderful subjects. I never once had a problem capturing people on the streets back in the early 1970s.
Stop by The Monochrome Weekend for more great monochrome photography.
A great nostalgic sequence. Melancholy also re the freedom to photograph. Hasn’t happened here – yet.
So strange to see, so many years ago but still just a little *puff* in this universe 🙂 Thank you for taking me back to this years, liked it a lot.
Still a nice weekend.
Wonderful post. I love the way you have pictured movement in the first one.
Fabulous set of mono shots!
Great shots and interesting wrint.
…writing… I mean.
I Loved you firt shot! I just have to go back and scan some of my old ones.
I love the move in the photo. Nice work.
More great pictures! I like the contrast of the sharp focus of the people and the blur of the train in the first one. (And now I understand what a trolley is – in the UK a trolley is a large basket on wheels for filling with groceries in the supermarket…I always wondered how exactly they served a public transport role!)
The trolley name comes from the trolley pole that contacts the overhead wire for power. Another name would be streetcars. Some streetcars use a pantograph for power collection.
I love the chance to still ride the streetcars in New Orleans. To me, it has always been a bastion of nostalgia, much like the cemeteries, which stand still as progress speeds past us.
I enjoyed this sequence so much. I was 13 in 1970 so this reminds me a lot of my teen years.
I love these Black and whites, John! I like very much what you did with the first two – the blurring! Nice job! 🙂
Thanks for your nice comment!
Your pictures are so beautiful!!
Those are nice BW photos of the old days…the moving trolley was captures just like as it is! Looking forward for more from you.
AL
I just love the subway shots they are classic and the history/time line that you share along with the photo’s is perfect.
Your photos are priceless! That old-school trolley looks like one of the ones that run in San Francisco. They’ve apparently bought all the old ones from around the country and now use them for public transportation.
i lie tihs post. thanks for beinging us on a trip back through tim
oh dear oh dear i hadn’t edited this comment before it went through.. i meant to write I like this post. thanks for bringing us on a trip back through time 🙂 sorry
Not to worry. I erased the draft. LOL
Well, this was an interesting ride. I enjoyed it with the photos-
Terrific sequence and the writing complements it perfectly.
I LOVE that first shot with the people waiting as the train goes whizzing by.
wonderful shots..
i absolutely love the first photo..
It’s good to step back in time once in awhile, excellent shots. Pentax did make a great camera in those days.
I do love the first and the second very much! I think they’re excellent 🙂 And also I like that they are so old (I mean, older than me ;))
wow..great shots…a photo with action
thanks for stopping by at mine
Glad to see someone else digging out old b&w shots. I used a Pentaz S1a for a few years before I bought a Spotmatic, then a Pentax ME which lasted me years before a shutter problem. I now have a Pentax LX for my Pentax lenses. Too many different systems, but I just love using the old kit. Nice shots, and yes, you get strange looks if you shoot on trains and trams now. Everyone immediately thinks ‘terrorist’.
The top one is my favourite and it’s the lady with the hat and parcel which ‘makes’ it.
Lucy
Excellent shots, the first one is my favorite. Love the movement!
Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing.
fantastic crisp photos!!! love the 1st one – makes me feel the wind as the train passes by. and the last one…ahhh! feels familiar, reminds me of my late father, i don’t know why! brings back memories, sweet, warm memories!
thanks for such a beautiful post!
eng
Splendid monochromes. I like the first one….you captured the ‘movement’ so well.
Thanks for stopping by my very first entry to the monochrome weekly by Aileni.
Have a nice day.
I love your photos. We have trolleys in Gothenburg. Off and on there is a discussion. Some people would rather have a subway, but a large part of the city is placed on mud so that is not really an option. The trolleys are rather slow-moving, but I love to go by them and they are indeed more comfortable than buses.
Thank you.
I grew up around trolley cars. Buses always seemed second rate to me. My grandfather worked on the trolleys all his life after he and my grandmother emigrated from Ireland.
When my wife and I moved back to Phila. after I finished college, our first house was a stones throw from a trolley stop. Easy commute to center city.
I miss the trolleys, but not enough to move back to the city.
Great sequence, would be neat side by side in a frame. Not to date, but this was before I was born. 🙂 Neat to see some shots taken during that time. Exceptional shots!
Thanks Elizabeth. I have lots of fun sequencing a story.
This is my favorite for the week, a wonderful essay. I’ve never been to Philly but it makes me feel nostalgic all the same.
Very nice sequence of photos and history of your youth riding the trolleys in Philly. I particularly liked the first photo.
Nice and wonderful post! Great shot:-)
Have a nice week!
Very interesting to read the text with the images, it gives them even more life. I really like the contrast between still standing and moving in the first photo.
I love these! The way you’ve captured the movement in shot 1 (and 2!)…Absolutely stunning! I love photographs which depicts an “instant in time”- the more “every day” (and possibly considered mundane by some)-the better. Unfortunately I always feel slightly self conscious taking pictures of people going about their daily lives…so I tend to secretly take snaps from the passenger car window…;)
The first one is scary how close they appear to be! But they are all wonderful captures! I’ve never ridden on a subway before, I think it would be a fun adventure, but I don’t think I would want to have to do it daily.
Not as scary in reality. The trolleys aren’t going that fast in the station and the people are a few feet back from the tracks.
Great post and I think you should go take some street photos down there right now!
No subways in my NJ neighborhood Michael. My street photography these days is along 2 lane blacktop roads winding through the cornfields and peach orchards.
I love these photos, the fashion and cars, bring back memories of the past!!
I will be back to visit when I have more time!
Are you still living in the Phila area?
Thanks for stopping by Martha. We moved across the river to NJ (Gloucester county) 22 years ago. Not far, but I don’t get back to the city very often now that I’m retired and don’t have to commute.
I have some photos I took when I was riding the High Speed line. I’ll dig them up and might publish them sometime in the future.