BY STEVE BARRY PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR I
T SEEMED LIKE A GOOD CHOICE — the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical
Society was
looking for a spring trip using regular service trains. The trip would originate somewhere in northern Delaware or southeastern Pennsylvania. I suggested we go to Coney Island to get a hot dog from the original Nathan’s Hot Dog stand. So on April 1, 1995, a group of us set out to travel across New Jersey and through Manhattan to Brooklyn in search of a hot dog.
The trip would take us up Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor from our starting point south of Philadelphia into New York City. However, instead of taking Amtrak (which would get us there quickly), we opted to use all commuter trains (which would get us there cheaply). A one-seat Amtrak ride would be traded for two train changes for the ride up the NEC. Our trip began at the SEPTA station
in Marcus Hook, Pa. — at the time, SEPTA service into Delaware was quite limited, especially on weekend evenings, so boarding at Claymont or Wilmington was not a viable option as we’d likely get back late. We boarded a Silverliner IV and headed to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Where we would change trains and take another SEPTA train to Trenton, N.J. The grandeur of 30th Street Station is
not to be underestimated. Certainly one of the top two or three most magnificent stations in the east, the eight-story-high ceilings with the tall chandeliers are always breathtaking. Our arrival was on SEPTA’s upper platforms (Amtrak uses platforms beneath the station), and while we didn’t need to go inside the station, many of us did just to soak in the station’s magnificence.
An F line train approaches West 8th Street in Brooklyn on April 1, 1995. Located not far from Coney Island, West 8 Street is where a few subway lines to outermost Brooklyn converge on two levels, making it an interesting station for photography. Alas, the Brighton Laundry no longer stands here to serve as a photographic backdrop.
At Trenton we changed to a New Jersey Transit train. Trenton station is nowhere near the same league at 30th Street — a mid-century block building with a cramped waiting room in a concourse that spans the platforms and tracks. From here we would continue into Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan. We were riding in the lead car of a set of Jersey Arrow self-propelled multiple unit cars, and as the conductor was taking tickets he soon realized he had a
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