RDG MU ownership

I'm now wondering about the ownership of the RDG MUs. A plate on 9113 indicates the City of Philadelphia as the owner and lessor. I do know it was common throughout the 20th century for railroad locomotives and rolling stock to be owned or mortgaged by banks or trusts. But since the Reading electrics date back to 1931, it puzzles me to to see that municipal government was involved in the purchase of rolling stock by then. PSIC was not established until 1961, with the Silverliner IIs often listed as the first publicly financed rolling stock in Pennsylvania. The City of Philadelphia owned the Silverliner IIIs.

R36 Combine Coach wrote:I'm now wondering about the ownership of the RDG MUs. A plate on 9113 indicates the City of Philadelphia as the owner and lessor. I do know it was common throughout the 20th century for railroad locomotives and rolling stock to be owned or mortgaged by banks or trusts. But since the Reading electrics date back to 1931, it puzzles me to to see that municipal government was involved in the purchase of rolling stock by then. PSIC was not established until 1961, with the Silverliner IIs often listed as the first publicly financed rolling stock in Pennsylvania. The City of Philadelphia owned the Silverliner IIIs.

The city was involved in purchasing them because the commuter rail service was unprofitable and their rolling stock at the time were old & tired. I believe it also corresponded with a plan to expand service with more trips (Chestnut Hill comes to mind) and maybe electricification to Fox Chase?

AlexC wrote:The city was involved in purchasing them because the commuter rail service was unprofitable and their rolling stock at the time were old & tired. I believe it also corresponded with a plan to expand service with more trips (Chestnut Hill comes to mind) and maybe electricification to Fox Chase?

Correct. See "Operation Chestnut Hill" and "Operation Fox Chase," along with the Passenger Service Improvement Corporation (PSIC)

What the previous replies don't say is that the Blueliners, 9113 among them, were sold to the PSIC in the 60s for $1 and PSIC financed the upgrades that converted them from the Pullman Green sets to the Blueliners. So the cars were not purchased with City help in the orignal purchase of the 30s.