Philly for a day

Next month I'll be in Philly and I'm going to have a day to railfan SEPTA.
Can I have some local advise on SEPTA. Whatever you all think is worth seeing. Thanks in advance.

I'm curious to know if there are any grade crossings within a walking distance of 30th street station.

There's a CSX grade crossing in Darby that you can reach by trolley from 30th Street Station, but you could wait quite a while for a train to come along.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/312 ... 8666WSkMfv

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Here's an example of an out-of-towner's day railfanning SEPTA:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2777

Bob

Take a long round trip.

One I've been contemplating.

From 30th:
1) Take the R7 to Trenton,
2) The River Line (NJT) to Camden
3) Then Patco to Market East
4) Take Ridge Ave Spur subway (orange) go to Girard Ave
5) Take the BSS (also orange) to City Hall
6) Take a Subway Surface (green) car from City Hall (15th Street) to 30th Street
7) Stop there if you've had enough.
8) Take the Market Frankford line (blue) to 69th Street Terminal
9) Take the R100 to Norristown (purple?)
10) Then the R6 back to 30th Street.

Look at schedule though.

You'd save the R6 Norristown fare by starting out PATCO to River LINE to Trenton, then R7/R6 to Norristown. Regional Rail's maximum fare is $7, so one-way Center City to Trenton is $7 and Trenton to Norristown is $7, with a train change at Market East (lunch at reading Terminal Market), Suburban Station, or 30th Street. Taking Regional Rail to Norristown and the P&W back usually makes for better connections, too.

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Bob

SEPTA has a lot of places that lend itself to circle trips. The R6 and Route 100 (P&W) meet in Norristown, right on top of each other, as has been mentioned.

Others that can be done:

Chestnut Hill: Ex-PRR R8 CH West and ex-RDG R7 CH East. ABout a 10 minute walk, I recall, between stations.

Media: Route 101 trolley from 69th St. to Media, R3 Media line from Center City. Trolley and train are about a 20 minute walk.

The Route 102 trolley also crosses the R3 Media line at Clifton-Aldan, where a transfer is easy.

The 102 continues to Sharon Hill, but I think the R2 Sharon Hill stop is a long way from the trolley.

The 102 continues to Sharon Hill, but I think the R2 Sharon Hill stop is a long way from the trolley.

Actually, the walk to the Sharon Hill RRD station form the Sharon Hill 102 station is not much father to walk then the trek in Media. It is just a bit easier to get lost in Sharon Hill.

The biggest one day trip I’ve done was.

R5 from Thorndale to Market East

PATCO from 8th Street to Lindenwold.

PATCO from Lindenwold to Camden

Riverline Camden to Trenton

R7 Trenton to Chestnut Hill East

R8 from Chestnut Hill West to 30th Street

R6 30th Street Station to Norristown

Route 100 from Norristown to 69th Street

Route 101 from 69th Street to Media

Route 101 form Media to Drexel Hill Junction

Route 102 from Drexel Hill Junction to Sharon Hill

Route R2 from Sharon Hill to 30th Street

R5 from 30th Street to Thorndale

ALL DONE IN DAYLIGHT – well it wasnt too bright when I left Thorndale very early in the morning, but I could still see out the dirty windows!

Some day I will sit down with all the schedules and try to work out the most bang for your buck all day excursion. Do not know if the plan will be for the most mileage or exposure to the most routes

Here are some of the circuitous routes for riding SEPTA. Some of these are very obvious; for the others, I would not attempt unless you know the area, scouted the area first, have a good map.

The best way to ride a circuitous route that consists of a Railroad Division leg and a trolley – subway leg, is to ride the RRD to the outlaying point, and then catch the trolley or subway inbound. The headways are more frequent for catching the subway or trolley. Riding the other way, you may find yourself waiting for over an hour (If your lucky) for the next inbound train.

Already Mentioned Routes:

R8 Chestnut Hill West to R7 Chestnut Hill East

R6 to Norristown for Route 100 and MFL inbound

R3 to Media then Route 101 Trolley to MFL inbound

R2 to Sharon Hill to 102 Trolley to MFL inbound

R7 to Trenton for Riverline and PATCO inbound

Ride the RRD to Fern rock for the BSS

Others

Ride the R1 Airport line out to Eastwick, then ride the Route 36 Subway/Surface trolley inbound. Some walking involved

R5 to Overbrook, then Route 10 Subway/Surface trolley inbound. Some walking required.

NJT AC line to Lindenwold for PATCO inbound

If you wan to add buses to the equation, the list could get a lot longer…

I reccomened that you ride the 100. The N5 car is like a "bus on rails." The acceleration of that toy is like a roller coaster. You pass through a variety of neighborhoods. The R6 is scenic because it runs along the Sckuykill(pardon my spelling) river.

I reccomened that you ride the 100. The N5 car is like a "bus on rails." The acceleration of that toy is like a roller coaster. You pass through a variety of neighborhoods. The R6 is scenic because it runs along the Sckuykill(pardon my spelling) river.

The R6 is also almost a mini-tour of the industrial past, going past many abandoned factories and warehouses and the like in North Philly and of course along the Schuylkill. Tons of old sidings as well.

(I remember how to spell Schuylkill because my 6th grade geography teacher drilled it into us. S-C-H, U-Y-L, K-I-L-L Schuylkill!)

Rt 100
Broad St Subway
Any subway surface line
Patco & NJT Riverline
R5 to Radnor, about a 20 minute walk will connect you to the Rt 100. There are many interesting stations here along the former PRR mainline.

Definitely take a look at the Reading Terminal Market for lunch time. Also look upstairs at the former Reading Train Shed (now the PA convention centre).

Suburban Station is also quite interesting I think. You can really see where the PRR got the idea to tear down NYP and place it all underground.

drewh wrote:Rt 100
Broad St Subway
Any subway surface line
Patco & NJT Riverline
R5 to Radnor, about a 20 minute walk will connect you to the Rt 100. There are many interesting stations here along the former PRR mainline.

Definitely take a look at the Reading Terminal Market for lunch time. Also look upstairs at the former Reading Train Shed (now the PA convention centre).

Suburban Station is also quite interesting I think. You can really see where the PRR got the idea to tear down NYP and place it all underground.

If you know the way from the Radnor R5 station to the Route 100 station, the walk is under 10 minutes.

Great post. I will be in Philly for a few days next week, and plan on taking the R6 to Ntown, but I'm going to go to KofP, and I'll come back on the R5 from Paoli. I also plan on PATCO and the ACL to AC. Note in regard to great lunch or dinner locations, the White House in AC is an excellent choice.

If you know the way from the Radnor R5 station to the Route 100 station, the walk is under 10 minutes.

Never tried it - it just seemed like it would be about 20 mins.

Some great Philly places for dinner include:
Morimoto's
Buddakan
Tangerine
Susanna Foo's
Pod - University City area - 36th St stop on Subway Surface Lines
Sonoma - Manayunk - R6 line

Moshulu - on the Delaware
http://www.moshulu.com/site/main.asp

A good resource for dining info:
http://www.philadining.com/

drewh wrote:Some great Philly places for dinner include:
Morimoto's
Buddakan
Tangerine
Susanna Foo's
Pod - University City area - 36th St stop on Subway Surface Lines
Sonoma - Manayunk - R6 line
Moshulu - on the Delaware
http://www.moshulu.com/site/main.asp

A good resource for dining info:
http://www.philadining.com/

I agree with those choices, but they are expensive (particularly Morimoto--though the damage is less if you go for lunch [if you do go -- lunch or dinner, order the omakase {chef's choice} menu, and sit at the sushi bar, so you can meet Morimoto-san if he's in town]), and some are on the exotic side.

Note also Sonoma is now operating under the name of "Derek's"--we passed by it three times before we realized they changed the name. I had a real nice steak frites there last week.

Matt Mitchell
(thinks Morimoto's tempura rock shrimp is the best bar snack in the world)

Some less-expensive places to eat in Philly:
Tony Lukes (others may disagree here, but I think they're the best cheesesteaks)
at Front & Oregon

Passage to India
Juniper and Walnut

Monks (great Belgian beer - have to try the frites)
16th north of Spruce