Part of the Neighborhood Legend

I became part of the neighborhood's legend Sunday. I played the role of the mysterious man who was taking pictures at the crack of dawn for no good reason. Well, I had my own reasons, but the neighbors don't know and didn't ask. It started innocently enough, I wanted to get a photo of a trolley loop in Philadelphia. The loop on Malvern Avenue wasn't far from a friend's house, so just as the sun started to rise I hopped in the car and went down there. I wasn't disappointed as I saw a streetcar waiting to start its next inbound run.

A nurse was also waiting to board so she could start her day too. A few minutes before it was time to leave the motorman opened the doors and let her in. I wandered around the back of the loop to get a better shot with the sun at my back.

The nurse, of course, was still waiting. I liked the track layout here, the crossing piece and the route flipping over on itself. I also liked that weathered and aged concrete. The painter in me always wants to try to capture something like that. After I got all the shots I could, I went back to North 63rd Street where I left my car and waiting for the inbound to start its trip and hopefully catch an outbound. I accomplished both tasks, but I shot video of the outbound, so I won't attach that here. (Some day I will figure out how to post my videos.)

When I finished up I noticed a young man standing behind me filming me! I had never known myself to be so interesting. But then I thought about it and realized it must seem odd to find a guy wandering around taking photos of things on a sunny Sunday. Especially someone who was a stranger in the neighborhood. It made me laugh and when I got into my car I waved to him. He kept the camera on me until I was out of sight. I am sure the Massachusetts license plates on my car made me ever more of a mystery. I chuckled to myself as I realized I just entered the neighborhood folklore. The mysterious man who was taking photos. Maybe a cop. Maybe a government agent. Or just maybe a guy with a blog about trains.