View allAll Photos Tagged schuykill
Shot from the Schuykill River Trail. Designed by César Pelli, who designed the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.
Went looking to see about accessing a site today, but it was way busy and not worth the risk. But I found an abandoned railroad bridge over the Schuykill River so I guess it's not a total waste.
Monochrome Monday - Steam Bonus
I got my first look at Reading and Northern 2102 Fourth of July weekend and let's just say it exceeded expectations. Much has been written about the rebirth of this stout 4-8-4 built in the Reading Railroad's own shops in 1945 so I won't rehash a long history now, but here was the first shot that kicked off a fabulous but sometimes challenging day. The light was kind of wrong for this shot but the sky was still a bit overcast and hazy enough that it flattened out the scene a bit. There was a large photo line set up to the right on the inside of the gentle curve so I went to the outside to get something a touch different and I do like the result.
Here she is on home rails with 19 cars and a sold out train of 750 passengers headed from North Reading to Jim Thorpe on her old home rails just like she did many times in RDG days hauling both freight and the famed original Reading Rambles in the 1960s. Today it is known as the RBMN's Reading Division mainline, and this is about MP 76.7 as she steams up Main 1 on a two mile stretch of restored double track. Overhead is the John Bartam Trail, the former Pennsylvania Railroad Schuykill Division which once gave the PRR a direct Philadelphia to Wilkes-Barre line to compete with the Reading (albeit a portion via trackage rights on the LV through Hazelton). The last train over that bridge was probably around 1978 or so during the early Conrail years.
Tilden Township, Pennsylvania
Saturday July 2, 20220
Explored, August 21, # 359
I spent yesterday in Philadelphia, my hometown.
So I stood on the bridge and got my shot of Boathouse row, my favorite site in Philly since I was a little kid because they always reminded me of gingerbread houses at night.
This was taken before it got pitch black and since I busted my tripod earlier, I had to perch the camera on the bridge and hope the shaking caused by the buses and trucks didn't send it into the Schuykill River below, or worse, blur the shot.
Some history about Boathouse Row:
"Boathouse Row is a National Historic landmark located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. It consists of a row of boathouses housing racing shells. Each of the ten boathouses has its own history, and all have addresses on Kelly Drive (named after famous Philadelphia Olympian sculler, John B. Kelly, Jr., a Philly Councilman and Grace Kelly's brother). The boathouses are part of a group known as the Schuylkill Navy, which encompasses several other boathouses along the river."
Per Andrea's suggestion- please click here to view large on black-
View On Black
A view of the skyline of Center City with Old City in the foreground in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania looking west.
Water Works and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It consists of a row of 15 boathouses housing social and rowing clubs and their racing shells. Each of the boathouses has its own history, and all have addresses on both Boathouse Row and Kelly Drive (named after famous Philadelphia oarsman John B. Kelly Jr.).
Boathouses #2 through #14 are part of a group known as the Schuylkill Navy, which encompasses several other boathouses along the river. Boathouse #1 is Lloyd Hall and is the only public boathouse facility on the Row.[2] Boathouse #15 houses the Sedgeley Club, which operates the Turtle Rock Lighthouse. The boathouses are all at least a century old, and some were built over 150 years ago.
The Falls Bridge is a steel Pratt truss bridge that spans the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It connects Kelly (formerly East River) Drive at Calumet Street with Martin Luther King, Jr. (formerly West River) Drive at Neill Drive. It replaced a wooden covered bridge at the same site.
Out and about...Schuykill River Trail is a fav area to ride for me all year long. This was taken after a morning ride.
MS-150 - secure.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/PAEBikeEvents?p...
Frog's eye view of an old tunnel near Valley Forge, Pa. It was built in 1884 by the Pennsylvania Schuykill Valley Railroad and abandoned by Conrail about a century later.
It was a double-track bore once upon a time.
I read somewhere that a large truck parked on the street above caused the ceiling collapse you see here; that street now has a 3-ton weight limit and trucks are barred from using it.
My train was 50 minutes late last night, so I had time to take some shots around the 30th Street train station in Philadelphia.
A view of the skyline of Center City with Old City in the mid-ground and a passing PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corporation) subway train on its way to Camden, New Jersey as seen from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania looking west.
Having wrapped up their work at Stella Jones, Reading and Northern local freight QADE (Tamaqua to Delano turn) is headed railroad east as they curl through backyards at about MP 3.4 on the RBMN's Reading Division - Morea Running Track. This rarely photographed branch is accessed via a 7 mile trip up the mainline to Haucks, then 6 miles up the Hazleton Line to Delano Jct., then reverse direction 3 miles to Morea Jct., then almost 6 miles out to as far as the Skytop Coal load out high up on Broad Mountain.
The rails here are former Lehigh Valley Railroad dating from before 1870 I believe, and in the last years of the LV this was designated the New Boston Branch. Interestingly the Pennsylvania Railroad also ran along this line account their Schuykill Branch connected with the LV in New Boston and they had trackage rights into Hazleton via this line, even running a named passenger train from Hazleton to Philadelphia in the 1920s.
While the old Morea Colliery is but a memory Skytop Coal company still loads a car or two on occasion, but what sustains the line these days is inbound loads of poles for Stella Jones and pellets for Poly Plastics up the branch. Bracketing the train is RBMN 2012 on this end and 2011 on the rear. Both are EMD GP38-2s built with high short hoods for the Southern Railway in Sep. 1979 and Oct. 1976 as SOU 5256 and 5184 respectively.
The crew will pull up here and pause for a bit at the Conoco gas station for some snacks and a drink before continuing on over the overpass across PA Route 54 as they parallel I81 through the woods along the spine of the ridge to work Poly near Delano on their return trip.
Mahanoy Township, Pennsylvania
Friday August 22, 2025
The old Radio Corporation of America (better known worldwide as RCA) "Building 17" or "Number 17" (also affectionately called the "Nipper Building" by former RCA employees) with its distinctive lighthouse-like "Nipper Tower" which is today converted into residential loft apartments on the Camden, New Jersey riverfront across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania looking east southeast.
["Nipper" refers to the name of the dog which was depicted as listening to a gramophone record in the corporate logo of RCA.]
Just before the storm moved in. A spring evening in Fairmount Park, capturing the lights of the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia and South Jersey Photographer's
Club has selected this one to be its cover photo (4-21-2015).
Thank You!!!
I always find it amusing when trains pull up to trackside restaurants, cafes, or stores and park like any other customer that arrives more conventionally by car or truck!
Having wrapped up their work at Stella Jones, Reading and Northern local freight QADE (Tamaqua to Delano turn) has started back railroad east and has paused a mile up the line here beside the Conoco gas station at about MP 3.4 on the RBMN's Reading Division - Morea Running Track. The crew stopped here for a bit for some snacks a break and a friendly chat with me before continuing on over the PA Route 54 overpass and through the woods along the spine of the Buck Mountain paralleling I81 headed to work Poly near Delano on their return trip.
This rarely photographed branch is accessed via a 7 mile trip up the mainline to Haucks, then 6 miles up the Hazleton Line to Delano Jct., then reverse direction 3 miles to Morea Jct., then almost 6 miles out to as far as the Skytop Coal load out high up on Broad Mountain.
The rails here are former Lehigh Valley Railroad dating from before 1870 I believe, and in the last years of the LV this was designated the New Boston Branch. Interestingly the Pennsylvania Railroad also ran along this line account their Schuykill Branch connected with the LV in New Boston and they had trackage rights into Hazleton via this line, even running a named passenger train from Hazleton to Philadelphia in the 1920s.
While the old Morea Colliery is but a memory Skytop Coal company still loads a car or two on occasion, but what sustains the line these days is inbound loads of poles for Stella Jones and pellets for Poly Plastics up the branch. Bracketing the train is RBMN 2012 on this end and 2011 on the rear. Both are EMD GP38-2s built with high short hoods for the Southern Railway in Sep. 1979 and Oct. 1976 as SOU 5256 and 5184 respectively.
Mahanoy Township, Pennsylvania
Friday August 22, 2025
This is the PRR Arsenal bridge over the Schuykill River just south of 30th St station. I had always wanted to photograph a train on the bridge and with the new Schuykill River walkway, its now easily accessible. The only problem is that trains are infrequent here. The bridge was originally a swing bridge and has been permanently disabled for many years, hence the two different supports on the pier underneath the spans.
Explored August 22, #340
This is another shot from my "24 hours in Philly Adventure"
This faces opposite Boathouse Row, which I posted yesterday and this was just before sunset. The highrises are in Center City, Philly, where all the action is- shopping, the historical area, city hall, etc. This is also right near the Art Museum (made famous in the movie Rocky when Stallone charged up the steps. One day I have to do that. NOT!)
This is one of my first hdr experiments.
BoatHouse row is a famous landmark of Philly. They have their lights on all over the year and you get a beautiful feeling of Christmas every time you see them.
Philadelphia. Schuykill Banks Boardwalk benches in the snow
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Another shot from my crazy 24 hours in Phily.
This is the view from Spring Garden street overpass overlooking the Schuykill River and Boathouse row in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, right next to the art museum. There is a dam in the river and behind it are the boathouses. For a night shot of these great little buildings, see my post from 8/21.
