Recently I began taking photos at each station stop. My first thought was, well these won't turn out well. The windows of the train through which I shoot are usually somewhat smeared or scratched. Reflections from inside the car are sometimes easier to see than whatever is outside the windows. The places I shoot are rather arbitrary - depending on what car I'm in, and what stop we're at, I may have a view of the station or of weeds along the track, or of a fence. The sun in the morning and late afternoon is often blinding. I have only a minute or so to point and click, and I'm not much a photographer anyway.
I like the photos anyway, probably because of all these flaws.
Willow Grove
Sometimes I need to leave rather early in the morning. The station glows golden against a dark blue sky.
Battered, ragtag newspaper machines offer slightly stale news, looking just a bit shamefaced, as though they sense that most of the commuters who walk by them every day are carrying those newfangled laptops and iPads and smart phones. I have never seen anyone purchase a newspaper from the machines (someone must buy them). However, the free newspaper (the Metro) is rather popular.
Crestmont
Crestmont station is very, very tiny. It doesn't have a real station, just a little structure like a bus stop shelter, and on some runs the conductor asks if anyone wants to get off at Crestmont, because if no one speaks up they will just shoot by without stopping (unless they see someone waiting on the little platform).
This is a late afternoon/early evening shot of Crestmont Station. Most of the time I am sitting by a window with no view of the actual station, since it is so small that only one rail car will be near it.
Roslyn
Roslyn is next, and in this photo you can see the inside of the train car (and the book in my lap) superimposed against the walkway leading up to the platform.
Ardsley
Giant hands!
This late afternoon shot of the other side of the Ardsley station catches the sun through that scratched plastic.
Glenside
Glenside station is interesting because a small building of rowhomes is directly across the street from the tracks. And for some reason they were all built with big picture windows facing the train tracks. I've never seen any of them with open shades.
Jenkintown-Wyncote
The students who attend Temple University head off into the sunrise at this station.
Market East
It's an underground station, but you can see the trees up on Market Street through the windows.
Suburban is the only station that receives no outside lighting. It is always filled with a murky, greenish light. The name seems ironic, since Suburban is in the heart of the city, but it refers to the fact that when it was originally built it was the station for folks arriving from the burbs.
30th Street Station
My destination. From here I can walk to the office (about 8 blocks), take a trolley, or take the Lucy (a small bus that takes people further west).
You are a marvelous photographer!
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