Philadelphia's Suburban Red Arrow Trolley Heritage is a photographic essay of suburban Philadelphia's Red Arrow system and operation by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). By 1899, the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company operated trolley service to West Chester. In 1902, the Ardmore & Llanerch Street Railway Company began service to Ardmore. Philadelphia & Garrettford Street Railway Company reached Media in 1913 and Sharon Hill in 1917. These companies consolidated into the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (PSTC) in 1936, becoming known as Red Arrow Lines. Philadelphia & Western Railway Company (P&W) merged into PSTC in 1953. Pennsylvania State Highway Department plans to widen a portion of West Chester Pike resulted in buses replacing trolleys between West Chester and West Gate Hills in 1954. Rush hour trolley service continued between 69th Street Terminal and West Gate Hills until bus replacement in 1958. Buses took over Strafford Line in 1956 and Ardmore Line in 1966. SEPTA acquired PSTC in 1970 and purchased new rail cars for Media, Sharon Hill, and Norristown Lines. Philadelphia's Suburban Red Arrow Trolley Heritage documents Philadelphia's western suburbs trolley history.

Chicago's extensive transit system first started in 1859, when horsecars ran on rails in city streets. Cable cars and electric streetcars came next. Where new trolley car lines were built, people, businesses, and neighborhoods followed. Chicago quickly became a world-class city. At its peak, Chicago had over 3,000 streetcars and 1,000 miles of track--the largest such system in the world. By the 1930s, there were also streamlined trolleys and trolley buses on rubber tires. Some parts of Chicago's famous "L" system also used trolley wire instead of a third rail. Trolley cars once took people from the Loop to such faraway places as Aurora, Elgin, Milwaukee, and South Bend. A few still run today.

While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the "Initial System of Subways" during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago's soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago's first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park "L" into the median of Chicago's first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago's "I Will" spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago's subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride--making it a "Second City" no more

The ultimate guide for train lovers, Field Guide to Trains is fully loaded with pictures and fun facts on all the machines that ride the rails