by Adam Elmquist and Bill Monaghan/photos as noted
Wilmington Chapter NRHS sponsored its annual Super Saturday Streetcar Special XXIX photo charter over SEPTA’s trolley lines February 11, 2023. The trip departed from Elmwood Depot in southwest Philadelphia and covered portions of the SEPTA Subway–Surface lines and much of the Surface Diversion trackage up to 41st Street and Lancaster Avenue. The group also enjoyed a guided tour inside SEPTA’s Woodland Shop to see the quality work that is being done to rebuild the 18 PCC-II cars, with an opportunity to photograph more equipment outdoors at the transfer table.
The annual event on the Saturday preceding Super Bowl Sunday is always an enjoyable affair with a dizzying number of photo stops, all carefully curated by Railfan & Railroad editor Steve Barry for optimum sun angle and photographic interest. There are moments of levity, as when local residents inquire as to why 40 adults with cameras are swarming a trolley car stopped briefly in the middle of the street. There were also wonderful surprises, such as during the afternoon photo and rest stop at Yeadon Loop, when the follow-ing two revenue cars happened to be ones specially decorated by their operators for Valentines Day and Black History Month. This provided plenty of photo ops of the operators posing with their cars carefully spotted to maximize photo angles…