Bob Bruhin

Pulling a fast one…
from the Chicago Mail of September 19th 1891 – “A mile in 39.6 seconds or at the rate of over ninety miles per hour is the fastest run ever made by a railroad train says the Philadelphia Record. This unparalleled feat was accomplished yesterday on the Bound Brook railroad between Neshaminy Falls and Langhorne by engine No 206 drawing two ordinary coaches and President McLeod’s private car ‘Reading’ which is equal to two coaches in weight. Other miles were reeled off with speed as astonishing as this crack mile and at the end of the fly the world’s record was broken. From this day, all records must date from the memorable Bound Brook flight. …This run was made over the finest piece of track in the country, smooth and level, provided with 90lb steel rails and stone ballast. It belongs to the Philadelphia and Reading Company whose trains between Philadelphia and New York have made various records which have no parallel at all in England.”

train departed from 9th & Green. VIADUCTgreene’s northeast end. Two years before the opening of Reading Terminal.

(via VIADUCTgreene)

Bob Bruhin

Historically, this particular lot isn’t very special, but its neighborhood very much was. The surrounding area was pretty important in its heyday – the Spring Garden Market was nearby and the Spring Garden National Bank was across the street. A block west became home to the Caledonian Club and Girls Normal School. A block east, a Reading Railroad stop brought commuters into the neighborhood. This was once a vital and important place full of the offices of major American companies. There’s even a abandoned subway stop under it! 

(via PHILAPHILIA Empty Lot of the Week: Spring Garden Violation Shit Lot | Philadelphia City Paper | 04/16/2013)

Bob Bruhin
CFF: POINT BREAK with a live score by Great White Caps

THE CINEDELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL presents

Thursday, April 18, 2013, 8:00 PM
POINT BREAK (1991)
with a live original surf score from Great White Caps

Patrick Swayze is the charismatic Bohdi (One word, Like Cher), leader of a gang of fun loving Buddhist surfers who dress as ex-presidents and rob banks to finance their adrenaline-soaked misadventures.  Keanu Reeves is Johnny (greatest name in cinema history) Utah, square, former college football hero turned FBI agent who goes undercover in the L.A. surf community to catch the gnarly bandits.

When Kathryn (ZERO DARK THIRTY) Bigelow, working at her loosest, directs, and Jim (James Cameron) Cameron produces, action and stunts rule the day.  Highlights include sun kissed surfing footage, jaw dropping skydiving sequences and a truly outstanding foot chase where a dog is used as a projectile weapon.  Whether the movie is like that on purpose (it is) or not, awesomeness abounds. (Chris Ludovici)

In 2011, Bethlehem, PA’s Great White Caps set to work on re-imagining the score to POINT BREAK, the greatest surf/spy/extreme sports/cop drama of all time.  And the (unreasonable?) passion that these four musicians feel for the film is immediately apparent in their live performance.  Montag the Magnificent (lead guitar and instigator) has these words:   “This was a labor of love.  From my first VHS copy of this movie, to the many hungover Sundays catching it on TV, to having now performed in front of this movie well over a hundred times, it never stops being fun.  Simple as that.”

Advance tix are $10, no refunds or exchanges.

The Cinedelphia Film Festival is a Philly-centric celebration of Philly film running from April 4-27, 2013.
http://www.cinedelphiafilmfestival.com

(via CFF: POINT BREAK with a live score by Great White Caps)

Bob Bruhin

After changing its name to Friends of the Rail Park, the non-profit advocacy and planning group previously known as ViaductGreene has completed an ambitious plan to transform the underground section of City Branch railroad west of the Reading Viaduct into a submerged park. The new plan, commissioned by Friends of the Rail Park through a Community Design Collaborative service grant, calls for a grand civic entrance to the below-grade park on North Broad Street, in front of the School District Administration building, and active connections–above and below–to the campus of Community College of Philadelphia.

(via Plan For City Branch Rail Park Emerges | Hidden City Philadelphia)