A while back, I discovered what I like to call Philadelphia’s Secret Garden… and I recently took another visit with the folks from ViaductGreene, who are hard at work advocating for the 9th Street and City branches of abandoned railway to be converted to public space. Here’s how our day unfolded:
At the beginning of our tour, we start off on the northwest end of Pennsylvania Ave, where the rails continue up past Girard Ave…
… this might be an ideal location for an entrance to the envisioned park, and a connection to existing paths in Fairmount Park.
Our escort from SEPTA pointed us along the way,
… as we walked back along the rails…
… enjoying our last bits of sunlight on a beautiful autumn day…
… before being plunged into the darkness that is the tunnel under Pennsylvania Ave.
It’s not all darkness, as the sun filters down through ventilation grates…
… creating these lovely pools of light…
… but for the most part we’re glad that we brought flashlights and headlamps.
As we approach the other end of the tunnel…
… the daylight makes it a bit easier to navigate the uneven footing.
Paul is ever the excellent tour guide… he’s brought along printouts of historical photos that show the site as it was in Philadelphia’s earlier industrial days.
As we pass by the police station parking lot…
… we take moments to look around…
… and envision what it would be like for the public to be able to enjoy these magical spaces on a regular basis.
Of course, the folks from ViaductGreene are already quite familiar with the space…
… but every visit is an adventure. This time someone had chained up one of the access points… but as we had SEPTA’s blessing, we forged ahead.
(conveniently, a certain photographer that I know keeps a multi-tool with wire cutters on him…)
When I last visited, it was wintertime… but of course the vegetation is a bit more overgrown in the warmer weather…
… which made for a bit of a jungle adventure…
.. but we didn’t let that stop us…
… as we trudged through the refuse…
… trying to be respectful, conscious that this space is a refuge for some of our city’s most vulnerable citizens.
As we headed east through the sunken wilderness…
… Paul continued his narrative of the area’s industrial history…
… as his rapt audience listened attentively.
Liz helped bring up the rear of our procession…
… as we all stopped to take a pause…
… and stare at our glowing rectangles.
As we approached the east end of the City line…
… Paul detailed how it connected across Broad Street to the elevated 9th Street Line.
As we shared in laughs…
… we also found ourselves frustrated… this time we were supposed to discover a passage through the basement of a neighboring building… but somehow we’d been given the wrong keys.
As we waited for our contact to see if they could get their hands on the right keys…
… we continued to share in some fellowship…
… and bask in the glow of the setting sun. Here she’s excited about how beautifully it is lighting a neighboring building…
… but of course I’m more drawn to how that sunlit-building becomes a large diffuse light source, bouncing back like a studio softbox, making for some nice portraits.
As those keys never manifested, we ended up having to call it quits for the day…
… and in the meanwhile, Leah and the rest of the crew at Viaduct Greene continue to work towards a public use of these magical spaces.
Check them out at:
Also, If you’re not familiar with the elevated track section on 9th street, check out my earlier post.
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Also, you can find more images from this series and order prints in the JJ Tiziou community archive.
