NEWS AND OTHER STUFF WE THOUGHT OF
Trolleys and Traction in Philadelphia: Super Saturday and Winterfest
IT ALL STARTED INNOCENTLY ENOUGH back in 1993. I was looking for a rail activity to do on the day before the Super Bowl that wouldn’t take me too far from home but keep me close enough to watch the big game on Sunday. I thought perhaps others were looking for a similar activ- ity. As trip director for the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Histor- ical Society, I had put together a couple of streetcar charters in Philadelphia and figured that would be something easy and fun to do. Thus, on January 30, 1993, the Wilmington Chapter ran the Super Saturday Streetcar Special, using a Peter Witt car on the northernmost extant (at the time) routes on SEPTA’s system. Somehow Super Bowl weekend came
and went in 1994 without anything special, but in 1995 the urge to run a pre-game trip hit again. On January 28, 1995, the Wilmington Chapter was out on SEPTA again. In keeping with the National Football League’s tradi- tion of using Roman numerals, we billed this one as “Super Saturday Streetcar Special II.” From 1995 onward, the trip would run every year. Over the years, the chapter has char-
tered a variety of streetcars on a variety of routes. SEPTA maintained a small fleet of historic PCCs that we could use
70 APRIL 2017 •
RAILFAN.COM
TOP: Super Saturday Streetcar Special XXIV pauses at the loop in Yeadon, Pa., just outside the Philadelphia city limits, on February 4, 2017. The destination sign on the PCC-2 says it all. ABOVE: When your editor has control of the destination sign, interesting things can be displayed. The streetcar charter rolls down the friendly confi nes of 26th Street on Route 15. STEVE BARRY PHOTOS
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