Nov 8, 2022
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seen from United States
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The morning before the Schuylkill mission👀
Ugh 😩 how do I draw John...
In 2019, the Hagley Library was privileged to receive a donation of over 150,000 negatives from railroad photographer and collector Herbert Harwood Jr. The following is one of a series of posts featuring images from the collection. To learn more and see additional images from the collection, check the Hagley Digital Archives.
On April 25th 1958, the Baltimore Sun published this photograph under the headline “B&O Run That Began in 1863 Is Now Grinding To A Halt”:
“Tomorrow, a railroad which had made history since its founding, reluctantly will make some more. Its most famous passenger train - The Royal Blue - will make its last run. Passenger service between Baltimore and New York will be eliminated entirely...
“...The railroad has decided that the famous name will not be transferred to any of its trains still to be maintained in [passenger] service from Baltimore to the West. Tomorrow the Royal Blue Line vanishes.” (The Evening Sun, 25 April 1958)
The Royal Blue line was the first of the many famed passenger lines that would soon vanish as rail traffic dropped significantly as more people chose automobiles and airplanes as their transport of choice. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had an additional obstacle of competing with the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad who had a clear dominance of the passenger market along the Northeast Corridor making a duplicate service increasingly difficult to justify
In 1990, Herbert Harwood Jr. wrote a book titled “Royal Blue Line” that offers the seminal history of the B&O’s historic passenger line and its connection to the bigger story of the Baltimore & Ohio’s efforts to enter the highly competitive northeast rail market. He closed his book with this:
“By objective standards, the [Royal Blue] line itself was unnecessary when it was built and redundant for much of its life. But for those very reasons the Royal Blue Line was forced to make itself into something out of the ordinary. That it surely did, and that may be a more lasting accomplishment.”
Herbert Harwood collected the negatives here of the final run of the Royal Blue from another photographer named John D. Denny Jr. who gracefully documented it’s last trip through the B&O passenger station in Philadelphia in 1958.
This collection is currently being processed, but selected items have been digitized and made available on the Hagley Library’s Digital Archive. Click here to view them now.
fountain of youth
tuesday
Busy couple days in Philly seeing old friends, old places, and new places. Haven’t been here in a number of years, the city feels different and the same. Mostly spent Monday walking around, didn’t get a chance to run. Different today. Took a 17 mile nostalgia run through University City, the museum area, along the Schuylkill River, and around Fairmount Park - all the routes we used to run in college. Even picked up the pace a little, felt inspired.
During a recent Saturday group run, somehow a conversation about running and injuries/illnesses came up. I recounted a funny story of how a college teammate thought he got mono from drinking from a public water fountain fountain along the Schuylkill. Happy to see that fountain still standing (and in use).
Monday motivation.
I can look at this every week and not get tired of it. #philadelphia #philly #phillygram #schuylkillriver #schuylkillrivertrail
Sunday Runday My training stalled a bit after the OctoHalf due to some aches and pains. I ran 8.5 last weeken and it went well, so I thought I'd try for 10 this weekend. Managed 11. I love running along the Schuylkill. It's beautiful...the Art Museum, Boat House Row, rowers, bridges, statues I never noticed before, friends on their own training outings, and Phillies murals I never saw before because I'm usually driving that street and the mural's on the side of the building you can't see when driving. Usually after a ling run I'll hit Hip City Veg for a shake, but splurged on Dottie's Donuts instead. Despite a couple of weeks of really low mileage, I managed the 11 with no problem. Not even any soreness the next day. Yay!
From the Chestnut Street Bridge #Philly #phillyatnight #schuylkillriver #30thststation