I was at the Harrisburg Transportation Centre and at 7:52 AM, the door opened and I went downstairs to board Keystone Train 642 since it had limited stops and only takes an hour and thirty-five minutes to reach Philadelphia. The train's consist was AEM-7 electric engine 914, Amfleet coaches 44234, 82614, 82534 and 82557 with cab car 9641. We departed on time and started what I hoped would be a fast trip with plenty of 110 mph running.
We started our fast running along the Susquehanna River.
The train quickly left the Harrisburg Airport behind, along with the connection to the Port Road that I ridden at the 2003 National Railway Historical Society convention in Baltimore.
Our train passed Three Mile Island, which put a Three Mile smile on my face this morning, before making stops at Elizabethtown and Lancaster.
Between Mount Joy and the next stop at Lancaster.
The train ran through Paradise, the Strasburg Rail Road's outside connection.
We continued our high-speed running through Parkesburg, Coatville, Downingtown and Exton before arriving at Paoli. I really enjoyed our 110 mph operations this morning as we flew through Ardmore then slowed as we neared Zoo Tower and turned south toward 30th Street Station.
Passing the Race Street engine facility before arriving only five minutes late. It had been a great trip aboard Amtrak's Keystone Service.
Philadelphia 4/10/2007
I entered the station and went straight to the South East Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) ticket office to get a day pass so I could finish riding their subway and streetcar lines. Next I went outside to SEPTA's 30th Street station and downstairs to catch a Market-Frankford train to 2nd Street.
First a streetcar came on the outside track.
My train arrived next. Six stops later, I detrained at 2nd Street and walked to 3rd and Chestnut, where I found the Society Hill Inn. Since my room was not yet ready, I stored my luggage in the bar and made my way outside to complete SEPTA.
I walked back to 2nd Street station to return to 30th Street for a free transfer to one of the streetcar lines. My train arrived and took me to 30th Street and once there, the first streetcar that arrived was a 10 Line trolley that I boarded for Overbrook, the first of the new lines I would ride today. As with my trip on the 36 Line a few years ago, we stopped at 33rd Street before diverting onto new trackage and exiting the subway tunnel at 36th Street. Our next stop was 36th and Market Street before we turned northwest onto Lancaster Street.
This was definitely not a good part of town with trash and graffiti everywhere and I would not ride this line after dark. We made stops every two blocks as we picked up and dropped off passengers, passing the large Cathedral Cemetery and continuing to Hestonville before turning onto Lansdowne Avenue. At 63rd Street we turned north and a few blocks later, enetered the Malvern Avenue loop, where I detrained.
The streetcar that brought me here.
I rode a streetcar back to 30th Street station where I walked up and over to wait for my next ride. As if on cue, a 13 Line streetcar arrived and I boarded it for my ride to the Darby Transportation Center. We went back through the subway similar to my 35 Line trip and exited at 40th/West Portal. About two blocks west, we turned onto new trackage then onto Chester Street. At 49th Street, we crossed over the SEPTA R3 Media/Elwyn Line and continued on Chester Street through Kingsessing before turning onto 60th Street. The route then turned onto Kingsessing Avenue and passed the Mount Moriah Loop, turned onto 65th Street as we passed through Mount Moriah.
After we crossed Cobbs Creek, we returned to Chester Avenue, passing the Yeardon Loop. The streetcar reached Darby and turned east onto 10th Street, dropping off all of our passengers except me then continuing on to Main Street and crossed the CSX freight line, which is on the 11 Line. The operator took me to Cobbs Creek, letting me off there so he could take his streetcar to the shop.
My 13 Line Streetcar on the 11 Line.
A few minutes later, an 11 streetcar came down Woodland Avenue which I boarded for 30th Street station. We travelled through Mount Moriah and Kingsessing, crossing over the CSX again and the SEPTA line. At 49th Street, my new mileage was over as the 36 Line joined our route back to 30th Street station. I went up, over and down again to wait for a 34 Line streetcar but first, an 11 Line streetcar came down the subway.
Next came my 34 Line streetcar for Angora. We returned through the subway to 40th Street/Portal and diverted onto my last known SEPTA line. We headed out on Baltimore Avenue through Sherwood and out to the loop at Angora where I stayed aboard as once again my streetcar went out of service. We returned to 40th Street/Portal, but turned onto the 36 Line.
I wondered where the SEPTA PCC's ran and asked the operator, who told me how to get to PCC Line 15. I stayed aboard to 65th Street where I detrained and a minute later, a 36 Line streetcar took me back to 30th Street station and I walked across the street into the Amtrak station for a KFC lunch. I visited Club Acela, checked my e-mail and made a few phone calls then returned to SEPTA's 30th Street station and boarded a Market-Frankford Line train, taking it east to Girard. I exited, went down the stairs and found streetcar tracks in Girard Street. My plan was to take the first PCC that came along.
Westbound PCC 2330, built by St. Louis Car Company in 1947, arrived and I boarded. We headed west down Girard Street, stopping about every two blocks. As we came to the SEPTA line, trains passed overhead going both ways. At Broad Street, we picked up passengers from the subway.
Our PCC car passed Girard College then turned north onto 25th Street for one block before returning to Girard Avenue. Continuing west, we passed the Philadelphia Zoo, crossed the Schuykill River and went under the Northeast Corridor where I saw Zoo Tower. A few minutes later, we crossed over Amtrak's Harrisburg Line and continued west to Lancaster Avenue, onto which we turned north for one block. We continued onto Girard Avenue, passing the Cathedral Cemetery, to 61st Street, then turned onto Robinson then south onto 63rd Street. We returned to Girard Avenue again and stopped behind another PCC awaiting its departure time.
Once on the move we returned on the trackage on which I rode west.
A westbound PCC near the Zoo stop. I returned eastbound to Front Street where I started my last piece of new SEPTA rail mileage. Again, we stopped every two blocks, passed under Interstate 95 and turned left onto Richmond Street then went under the CSX freight line and Interstate 95 again, stopping every two blocks to the Westmoreland Street loop. The PCC I was riding on had flat wheels, so I switched to the car ahead for the trip back.
PCC car 2330.
I rode PCC 2336 back to Front Street. At Girard station, I boarded the next Market-Frankford line train back to 2nd Street and once at the Society Hill Inn, I checked into my room and reclaimed my luggage before putting it in my room then I went to Sammy's Famous Steaks for a steak sandwich. After dinner, I tried to find Independence Hall.
Independence Hall from the park in front of the Liberty Center. Construction started in 1732, the same year that George Washington was born. Built to be the Pennsylvania State House, the building originally housed all three branches of Pennsylvania's colonial government. The Pennsylvania legislature loaned their Assembly Room out for the meetings of the Second Continental Congress and later, the Constitutional Convention. Here, George Washington was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in 1775, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and Benjamin Franklin gazed upon the "Rising Sun" chair in 1787.
The second floor of the building served as a hospital for wounded American POWs during the British occupation of Philadelphia in the Revolutionary War. Later, Charles Willson Peale used that space for his Philadelphia Museum. The second floor was the also the scene of fugitive slave trials during the 1850s.
The National Constitution Center, a non-profit institution that is devoted to the study of the Constitution of the United States. Located at the Independence Mall, the center is an interactive museum which serves as a national town hall, hosting government leaders, journalists, scholars and celebrities who engage in public discussions, including Constitution-related events and presidential debates.
The United States Mint in Philadelphia, the original of which was built in 1792 following the Coinage Act of 1792, in order to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States, and is the first and oldest national mint facility. Two blocks from the site of the first mint, the fourth and current Philadelphia Mint opened its doors in 1969. It was designed by Philadelphia architect Vincent G. Kling and the Tiffany glass mosaics from the Third mint were re-installed in the new facility. It was the world's largest mint when it was built and can produce up to one million coins in 30 minutes. The mint also produces medals and awards for military, governmental and civil services.
Statue of George Washington.
Independence Hall from across Chestnut Street.
South side of Independence Hall.
The Old City Hall, completed in 1791, once served as City Hall for Philadelphia. During the 1790's, the courtroom was used by the Supreme Court of the United States. City Council met on the second floor while court convened below.
I returned to the Inn to write about today's trip and relax the rest of the day.
4/11/2007 I was up early and after a waterfall shower, returned my room key and walked back to the 2nd Street subway station.
The efficient system quickly took me to 30th Street station. I went inside for a breakfast of hot cakes and sausage at McDonald's then went up to Club Acela, where I checked e-mail and relaxed before the Cardinal bound for Indianapolis arrived.
The view from Club Acela. I would be taken down an elevator in order to catch my last Amtrak train of this trip.
Cardinal 51 4/11/2007
The train arrived as soon as I stepped off the elevator and walked down the platform to Room 3 of the sleeper "Skyline View" and met my sleeping car attendant, Thomas Finnegan. We departed on time with AEM-7 electric engine 916, Viewliner sleeper 62036, lounge/diner 28013 and coaches 25073, 25123 and 25113. I walked through the train and met the rest of the crew and noted that it now had a Diner-Lite on board both sets of equipment, so would try it.
Breakfast was being served on Amfleet 28013. I read the New York Times sports section before switching to USA Today as we rolled down the Northeast Corridor, stopping in Wilmington and Baltimore as I enjoyed the view from Room 3 then took a trio of photographs of this dinette.
Steam tables had been added to this car.
Thre was more storage space above the steam tables.
One table was set up for a wheelchair. The train made great time and arrived in Washington Union Station over an hour early so I went inside to visit Club Acela to make a telephone call and check my e-mail before returning to the train.
Amtrak P42DC 185 replaced AEM-7 916 during our layover. I listened to the first CD of Rush's "Live in Rio" before we departed on time, plunging into the Capitol Tunnel.
The United States Capitol Building.
The Washington Monument.
The Jefferson and Washington Monuments.
Starting across the Potomac River.
Almost into Virginia. The train stopped in Alexandria and I went for lunch in the dining car.
The All-Day Menu.
The Dinner Menu. I decided on the buffalo wings, chocolate ice cream and bottled water for this first Diner-Lite meal, since I was not all that hungry.
South of Alexandria, we passed the Red Train of the Ringling Brothers and Barnun & Bailey Circus. Khine from Burma joined me for lunch, where the wings came in a basket and were tasty. Having ice cream aboard the train again completed an excellent meal. However, there is one problem with this car. Passengers at the far end by the door do not have a window. Instead, there are two short tables used by the crew. If these were switched to the door end, then every passenger table would have a window. After all, the joy of dining on a train is the view seen from the windows while eating your meal.
We almost hit a car causing the train to make an emergency stop. While we were stopped, a northbound Norfolk Southern freight train passed us and during this time, I did Sudoku puzzles while listening to Rush as we made our way to Culpepper, then onto Orange, where we left the Norfolk Southern mainline on what was becoming a rather cloudy day. As usual, we slowly proceeded to Gordonville before picking up the pace going to the fresh air stop at Charlottesville.
The Norfolk Southern local that delayed our Cardinal.
The Cardinal at Charlottesville.
While in the station, we had to wait for a red signal to allow the same Norfolk Southern local to proceed across the crossing and continue east.
Once we had a green signal, we left town and I listened to Jethro Tull's "Back in Birmingham" as the day turned darker. The train took the siding at Crozel, Virginia while we waited for Amtrak 50, the eastbound Cardinal, which passed us at 3:24 PM. While I was finishing a Sudoku puzzle, I made a 5:00 PM dinner reservation then as the train passed through the first long tunnel, I switched to music from the "Two River Collection", the melodrama about Billy Miner that I saw on my Rocky Mountaineer trip over the Canadian Pacific Railway's mainline from Vancouver to Calgary and back. After Staunton, I switched to John Cougar Mellencamp's "Scarecrow" and it was then time for my first official Diner-Lite dinner.
I was seated with Steve going to Portland and Jessica going to Charleston. I ordered the country beef short ribs which were excellent and had sweet temptation chocolate cake. Back in my room, it was time for Scorpions' "Eye II Eye" as I enjoyed the scenery climbing the Alleghenies and the Eastern Continental Divide into West Virginia. I had a hot shower and finished just as the train was leaving White Sulphur Springs at 6:14 PM {5:00 PM}. Later, we stopped at Alderson to pick up a couple of passengers and the train continued to Hinton and Prince as I listened the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street".
It became too dark for pictures by Thurmond, but I rode the vestibule to enjoy the New River Gorge and see the bridge across it and Hawks Nest. The train rolled the last miles into Charleston, where I called it a night.
4/12/2007 Tom awoke me about fifteen minutes before the train arrived at Indianapolis on April 12th which gave me plenty of time to be ready to detrain. It had been a wonderful trip aboard the Cardinal and now I know I can live with Diner-Lite. We arrived at 6:06 AM {4:30 AM}, which was perfect.
The Cardinal before I went inside the station to meet Chris Parker.
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