To the uninitiated a cold windy rainy night might not seem like a good time to make urban photographs.
In my eye this is a fantastic opportunity to make unconventional images.
My brother and I planned to ride SEPTA’s No. 15 streetcar along Girard Avenue to have burgers and beer at Johnny Brenda’s located on Girard near the crossing of the Market-Frankford rapid transit line.
I worked with my Lumix LX7 hand-held to expose this selection of images.
Some of the street views were exposed using the Lumix’s ‘night mode’ that exposes a burst of images in rapid succession and combines them in-camera as a composite.
As you can see it was really lashing down and the most difficult part of this exercise was keeping the lens dry.
A Lumix LX7 night-mode image composite exposed at Girard and 41st Street.A Lumix LX7 night-mode image composite exposed at Girard and 41st Street.On a route 15 PCC car.The back of the PCC car near the end of the run.PCC’s pass on Girard near the Market-Frankford line elevated. Exposed handheld in ‘A’ mode.A Lumix LX7 night-mode image composite exposed at Girard Avenue and Frankford Street.A PCC takes the corner from Girard onto Frankford.This was made with a relatively long exposure for a handheld photo.Johnny Brenda’s bar was a welcome refuge from the rain.Beneath the old elevated railway crossing Girard. Sorry no PCC’s, I wasn’t in the mood to get any more wet that necessary to get home!
2 comments on “Seeking Streetcars on a Rainy November Night; 10 New Photos.”
wts on said:
Your rainy night photos make Philly look better than it really looks. Likewise immediately after a substantial snowstorm day or night.
As for the PCC interior, it appears SEPTA did a better conversion to meet contemporary requirements than Boston’s MBTA’s plastic job. However both did great exteriors, including adaptions for adding air conditioning.
Not complaining about the interiors. I’m thankful for the work of people at both agencies. They have been successful despite great opposition. These are not museum restorations. They must meet the needs of modern mass transit.
Ride them while you can. Boston’s has at least a 5 year extension of life for a relatively short interurban-type line. Philly’s Girard Ave is a long street-running line with lots of variety. I don’t know the time until the next major decision will be made at SEPTA.
Your rainy night photos make Philly look better than it really looks. Likewise immediately after a substantial snowstorm day or night.
As for the PCC interior, it appears SEPTA did a better conversion to meet contemporary requirements than Boston’s MBTA’s plastic job. However both did great exteriors, including adaptions for adding air conditioning.
Not complaining about the interiors. I’m thankful for the work of people at both agencies. They have been successful despite great opposition. These are not museum restorations. They must meet the needs of modern mass transit.
Ride them while you can. Boston’s has at least a 5 year extension of life for a relatively short interurban-type line. Philly’s Girard Ave is a long street-running line with lots of variety. I don’t know the time until the next major decision will be made at SEPTA.
Some GREAT shots! Reminds me that Philly is an oft taken for granted transit destination.