Inquirer staff photographer Tom Gralish’s weekly visual exploration of our region.
A train exits a tunnel in Gallitzin, Pa.,. one of three adjacent tunnels through the Allegheny Mountains completed in 1854, 1855, and 1902 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of the cross-state route that includes the nearby Horseshoe Curve. It is still used by Norfolk Southern freight trains and Amtrak’s passenger trains. There is a cutout in the fence on a nearby overpass for train aficionados to view and photograph.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s post-debate train tour took him through a Trump-friendly part of the commonwealth. I recently passed through the same areas of Western Pennsylvania, taking a look inside the swing state’s "T” named for its shape on a map, the areas outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Biden’s train tour took him through a Trump-friendly part of the state. Staff photographer Tom Gralish recently passed through the same areas of Western Pennsylvania, finding scenes like Rob and Cathy Preyhs preparing their car to join in a "Ridin for Biden" caravan in Beaver County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Amber Sweigart with her sons and the "Honk for Trump" sign she had to modify after her neighbors complained about all the honking, in front of their Dillsburg, York County home.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Leslie Baum Rossi (center) helps supporters choose their Trump yard sign, T-Shirt, MAGA cap, bumper sticker, pen or lanyard (only one per household) at her "Trump House” in Youngstown, Westmoreland County. The real estate investor/flipper created her “shrine” to then candidate Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. She originally planned on painting it over after the election, but it proved so popular she left it alone for the thousands of visitors who stop by every month to take their selfies in front of the 16 foot-tall Trump cutout outside.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Cars drive in a "Ridin for Biden" caravan in support of Joe Biden in Beaver County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A train exits a tunnel in Gallitzin, Cambria County, one of three adjacent tunnels through the Allegheny Mountains completed in 1854, 1855, and 1902 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of the cross-state route that includes the nearby Horseshoe Curve to the east.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Reese Hudler, 11, of Strasburg, Pa watches a freight train exit the tunnel in Gallitzin. He and his grandfather - both train aficionados like Joe Biden - are staying in a Bed and Breakfast right next to the tunnel, which is still used by Norfolk Southern freight trains and Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian passenger train that makes the 444-mile trip between New York and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia every day.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The Miners Memorial in Nanty Glo, Cambria County Nanty Glo. The town’s name means “streams of coal” in Welsh.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A diorama in the museum display at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial in South Fork, Cambria County. The National Park Service site commemorates the more than 2,200 people who died in the Johnstown Flood of 1889, caused by a break in a dam owned by the elite members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A mural painting of Jesus Christ on the side of a garage in Johnstown, Cambria County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A statue of former Democratic congressman John Murtha in downtown Johnstown. He is the longest-serving member ever of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, and the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress, a seat he won in 1974 and held until his death in 2010.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A "Women for Trump" sign on a home in Beaver County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A home in Warriors Mark, Huntingdon County displays a banner in support of President Trump.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Trump and Pro-life yard signs together in Ebensburg, Cambria County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A stylized Trump hairpiece over the words "Nope" on a yard sign in Wexford, Allegheny County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex ethylene cracker plant under-construction in Monaca, Beaver County is seen an a rear view mirror. It is one of the largest active construction projects in the United States. Ethane is unleashed during fracking and can be made into polyethylene, a common form of plastic. A cracker plant — named for the chemical reaction of “cracking” gas molecules into the building blocks of plastic — will use ethane pumped from wells across Pennsylvania and superheat the to form solid pellets of plastic.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A Pittsburgh Steelers sign in Nanty GloRead moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A view of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, from the Fort Pitt Bridge over the Monongahela River on I-376, after exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Political consultant James Carville famously said Pennsylvania was Philadelphia and Pittsburgh -- with Alabama in the middle (he actually said, “Paoli and Penn Hills”).Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A Trump / Pence sign is elevated on a boom lift along the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Carlisle, Cumberland County.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
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Pennsylvanians in the rural "T" swath went big for Trump in 2016. They still love him, but there’s a difference this time: They don’t hate Biden.
The “Trump House” in Youngstown, Pa Sept. 2, 2020 the day before President Trump has a campaign rally scheduled in nearby Latrobe. Locals say it is because of the house. Many others speculate he might actually go there to see it for himself in person.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Visitors arrive at the “Trump House” in Youngstown. Real estate investor/flipper Leslie Baum Rossi created her “shrine” to then candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Thousands of visitors stop by every month to take their selfies in front of the hose and the 16 foot-tall Trump cutout.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Supporters wait to enter the “store” at the “Trump House,” to pick up their free yard signs, T-Shirt, MAGA caps or bumper stickers, pens and lanyardsRead moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Leslie Baum Rossi (center) helps supporters choose their free Trump swag. She won't say how she pays for everything, but does not accept donations from visitors and has received no funding from political groups or the Trump campaign.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Supporter Tony Germaine of Pittsburgh displays the free lawn sign he picked up. He drove his RV to town to get in line early for a campaign event President Trump has scheduled in nearby Latrobe.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Rossi reopened the first floor "store" for the President’s 2020 reelection campaign.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
In 2016, while still campaigning for the White House, candidate Trump tweeted “Friends from Pennsylvania just sent this to me! A beautiful home in the tiny town of Youngstown, PA - birthplace of golf legend, Arnold Palmer. Safe to say, they are on the #TrumpTrain! Thank you for your support!”Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Thousands of supporters visited the house during the 2016 presidential campaign, and owner Rossi originally planned on painting it over after the election, but it proved so popular she left it alone.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
October 5, 2020: "All You Can Eat" reflected in a rearview mirror along Route 70, in the Golden Triangle, a census-designated place (CDP) located within Cherry Hill.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
September 28, 2020: Protesters lie in the street at the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby during a “die-in” after a Kentucky grand jury did not bring charges against officers in the killing of Breonna Taylor.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
September21, 2020: A theatrical-inspired demonstrator pauses by City Hall late at night, after a day of walking and protesting through Center City.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
September 14, 2020: A retired Pep Boys (Manny, Moe and Jack) statue looks over the Alice in Wonderland maze at Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township. The children's amusement park has "rescued" many vintage advertising statues for placement around its grounds. The cigar in Manny's mouth (left) was removed from the company's logo and ads in 1990.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
September 7, 2020: Shared airspace above William Penn, atop City Hall.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 31, 2020: A tree trimmer works up high, sawing limbs off a couple trees along Center Street in Haddonfield.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 24, 2020" Naser Berjaoui and Nichole Heffner of Marlboro, N.J. spent the day in Philadelphia, including a visit to the Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest on Penn's Landing, where Berjaoui won a blowup alien prize for ringing the bell with a sledge hammer. The TV screens at a bar on the 200 block of Chestnut Street are tuned to the Phillies and NBA instead of the final night the virtual Democratic National Convention.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 17, 2020: A rabbit passes through the outdoor garden, behind the gate at the Rodin Museum on the Ben Franklin Parkway. At left are the Three Shades (Les Trois Ombres). Following a nearly six-month closure due to the pandemic, the museum plans to reopen to the public on Sept. 6.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 10, 2020: The living room wall in the Point Breeze apartment of Matt Reed, 24. His painting titled "Red Broom" is at right. An untitled work by his father, Jeffrey Reed, a representational painter who teaches at Community College of Philadelphia is at left. Real-life existence of pandemic 2020 is at center.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
August 3, 2020: Coming off a month that saw temperatures in the 90s for 21 days, we have to wonder whether high wires are cooler for pigeons than sidewalks. These were seen in Grays Ferry last week.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 27, 2020: A neon sign inside a lobby and reflections combine in a rainy image along North Fifth Street in Olde Kensington.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 20, 2020: After-work athletes work out at the Center City District Fit Boot Camp on Dilworth Park, next to City Hall, last week.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 13, 2020: Cars drive through rain puddles along the White Horse Pike in Lindenwold as Tropical Storm Fay passes through on Friday.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
July 6. 2020: Singer Fabiano "Fabian" Forte is visible on the deteriorating mural "South Philly Musicians" before framing for the construction of 21 mixed residential and commercial units covered it at Ninth and Wharton Streets. The mural by artists Peter Pagast, Brad Carney, and Carlton William was dedicated in 2005 across from Geno's and Pat's Steaks, and featured Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, and others. Mural Arts Philadelphia determined that it could not be restored and retired it in 2015. It was replaced a year later by a new mural, "South Philly Musicians Remix," by Eric Okdeh at 1532 S. Broad St.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
June 29, 2020: Residents enjoy an "adult swim" at Haddon Township's municipal Crystal Lake Pool during New Jersey's second week of coronavirus reopenings. Clockwise from left are Camie Costanzo, 40; Jeraldine Schachte, 70; and Larry Richio, 69.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
