1953 Philadelphia Transit Map
This is the Center City map of the Philadelphia Transportation Company, printed in January 1953. This detailed map is printed on the back of the main map.
Legend:
Blue Lines represent streetcar (trolley) lines, except for Route 61, which at that time was an electric trolleybus line.
Red Lines represent diesel (or gasoline) bus lines.
Black Lines represent rapid transit lines (e.g., Broad St. Subway, Market St. Subway). Dashed lines signify lines running in subway; solid black lines are elevated transit lines.
The white numbers in black boxes represent points of interest, not transit route numbers.
Note the high density of service, with streetcars on nearly every north-south street. The former portal of the Market St. Subway and the surface car subway is visible at 24th and Market Streets. Subway cars and trolleys crossed the Schuylkill River on a separate steel truss bridge, located north of the Market St. bridge. The trolley network in 1953 was pretty much intact: takeover by National City lines with their huge fleet of General Motors diesel buses was still a couple of years in the future.
Philadelphia Transportation Company Streetcar Routes as of January 1953
Route Rail Current Number Abandoned Status ------ --------- -------- 2 15th and 16th Streets 1956 3 Frankford - Columbia Avenue 1956 5 Frankford - 2nd and 3rd Streets 1955 6 Glenside 1958 6 City Line - Ogontz Avenue 1986 7 Strawberry Mansion - 22nd & 23rd Sts. 1955 8 Dauphin and Susquehanna Avenue 1956 9 Strawberry Mansion - 4th and 5th Sts. 1956 10 Lancaster Avenue - Subway in service 11 Woodland Avenue - Subway in service 12 Grays Ferry 1956 13 Chester Avenue - Subway in service 15 Girard Avenue 1992 in service (restored in 2005) 17 South 19th & 20th Streets 1957 18 South 22nd and 23rd Streets 1953 20 12th and 13th Streets 1957 21 North 17th and 18th Streets 1956 23 Germantown Avenue - 11th & 12th Sts. 1992 26 Olney Avenue 1956 31 Market and 63rd Streets 1956 32 South 17th & 18th Streets 1957 33 North 22nd Street 1955 34 Baltimore Avenue - Subway in service 36 Elmwood Avenue - Subway in service 37 Westinghouse - Subway 1955 38 Baring Street - Subway 1955 39 Dauphin and Susquehanna Avenue 1956 40 Lombard and South Streets 1956 41 63rd Street 1957 42 West Spruce Street 1956 43 Spring Garden Street 1956 46 58th and 60th Streets 1957 47 Godfrey - 8th & 9th Streets 1969 48 Fairmount - Arch Street 1956 50 Lawndale - 4th & 5th Streets 1980 52 Chelten - Midvale 1956 53 Wayne Avenue - Erie Avenue 1985 54 Lehigh Avenue 1955 56 Erie Avenue - Torresdale Avenue 1992 57 Jefferson and Master Streets 1955 60 Allegheny Avenue 1978 62 Chester Avenue Extension 1971 added to Rt.13 63 Catherine and Bainbridge Streets 1955 64 Federal and Wharton Streets 1956 65 York Road - 6th & 7th Streets 1953 66 Holmesburg (Frankford Avenue) 1955 trolleybus* 70 52nd Street - Bala 1955 79 Snyder Avenue 1956 trolleybus* 81 Passyunk Avenue 1955 *Routes 29, 59, 61 and 75 were converted from trolley to electric trolleybus before 1953. Route 79 was converted from diesel bus to electric trolleybus in 1961. Route 61 was converted from electric trolleybus to diesel bus in 1961. Routes 29 and 79 trolleybus service was abandoned in 2003. based on _Surface Cars of Philadelphia 1911-1965_ by Harold E. Cox
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