Arrow IIs—Completely Gone?

glennk419 wrote:I can't verify the number of the Arrow II that went to Septa for the wire train but some pictures of it in its' new digs can be found here: http://www.trainweb.org/phillynrhs/RPOTW040926.html

Wow!! They're almost identical to the S-IVs (sans the center doors). Were they built around the same time? Did the S-IV have the same problems??

I've ridden the Septa SL IV's for years and never received the "free shower".

I guess it was a feature limited to the Arrows.

Some of the A3's are starting to develop this "feature" as well....but not nearly as bad as teh A2's in their final years...

I remember taking an A2 train from S. Orange to Hoboken, adn I couldn't figure out why no one was sitting towards the ends of the car....then I saw why - hahahahaah

I also remember seeing the interior of the A2's as having different seating (in terms of colors at least). What kind were they? Which lines did they run on and how many years did they serve?

The Septa SL IV's have 3-2 seating which is reversed on each end of the car as well as 4 "bulkhead" seats where the center doors were located on the A2's. Rumor has it that the center doors were actually installed on the Septa cars and reside behind the center door plugs.

I don't think I ever rode an A2 so I'm not sure what the seating configuration was on them.

glennk419 wrote:The Septa SL IV's have 3-2 seating which is reversed on each end of the car as well as 4 "bulkhead" seats where the center doors were located on the A2's. Rumor has it that the center doors were actually installed on the Septa cars and reside behind the center door plugs.

I don't think I ever rode an A2 so I'm not sure what the seating configuration was on them.

The center doors were installed and reside in the side pockets. I was on a SL IV last year and the side panel wouldn't stay shut and you could see the door.

The A2's had 3-2 flippable seats. I called them pumkin trains because of the colors.

The SL IV's and A2's were built about the same time. The main diffences being the seats (fixed vs. flip) and the SL IV's have dynamic brakes. I never experineced a shower in the SL IV's either.

I have some pictures of the A-II's being cut-up in Morris County (Rockaway?), taken by Gary Kazin. If he gives me the OK, I'll try to post them on my web site in the next couple days.

There was a video posted a little while back on Alameida's website of the whire train with the Arrow II car leading the way IIRC.

OK, here are the photos of the Arrow IIs being cut-up - http://mysite.verizon.net/scheurle/aii.html

Wow, those are some really depressing shots. Thanks though Bob for sharing them.

WOW, that IS depressing.

I guess SEPTA finally did something right by preserving at least a little piece of history.

One year ago today. Boy that's a shame... I can't see how these things couldn't have seen a better use than that.

Not depressing to me. Having made over 1,000 trips on Arrow II cars, I was glad to see them go. Leaky roofs and leaky A/C evaporator units guaranteed wet seats almost every day of the year. (The conductor on my morning train thoughtfully placed "wet seat" signs under the leaks every morning.) The leaks rotted the floors. The floors were also rotted near the bathrooms. The center doors never worked, but let in so much air when the train was moving that the A/C system was overwhelmed on hot days and the heating system was overwhelmed on cold days. If it was snowing, so much snow would leak through the closed center doors, snow would accumulate in the center vestibule! The suspension was so bad on some cars, you could loose a few tooth fillings.

The conductor on my train used to joke that NJT could sell the carbodies as 85-foot garden sheds -- except that you couldn't store anything in them because they would leak every time it rained!

Can't wait to see the C5's meet the same fate!!!

Great pics Bob, thanks!

Oddly enough though, it seems to me that the A2's externally, seemed to look in better same than the A3's. Maybe its just that the A3's have seen much more higher speed service and have yet to be "demoted", adn the associated wear and tear, but there seems to be many more "bumps and bruises" on the A3's than existed on teh A2's.

I wonder how those AIIs made it until Jan 2004. I watched the majority of them being lopped in half at Port Morris in summer 2001.

Another great feature of the Arrow II was the PA box which was located in the middle of the car, at the center doors. Very convenient. And on a few AIIs, if you turned the coach key to activate the PA and held one of the grab irons, you'd receive a mild shock. I guess you would provide the ground for the PA circuit.