Railroad Forums 

  • Farewell To The 1970s

  • Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.
Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.

Moderator: AlexC

 #1475295  by BuddCar711
 
This Sunday June 10, the last 4 unrebuilt PATCO cars will make their absolute final run before being sent to Alstom. So wear your bellbottoms, polyester leisure suits, and platform shoes as we say goodbye to the saffron yellow and avacado green decor of the unrebuilt cars. So get down and get funky.
 #1475303  by MACTRAXX
 
BC and Everyone:

This is the end of a long term era on PATCO with the last four unrebuilt cars making their last runs
before they are being sent off for rebuilding which will conclude the rehabilitation program.

If anyone has the four car numbers please post them - and it they are original 1969 Budd cars or
1980 Canadian Vickers cars. If these cars are going to operate as a 4 car train or two 2 car trains
on a defined schedule post this information if it is known...

These four cars are going to be the last with the drab colors that the original car interiors had.
One of the best features of the rebuilt cars is the new seating and interior blue color scheme.

This is going to be the conclusion of one of the best railfan windows that are known - they once
were readily accessible on the front and rear of PATCO trains and made the ride just that much
more interesting - especially going over the Ben Franklin Bridge...

MACTRAXX
 #1475311  by BuddCar711
 
Well the last 4 are Vickers. All the Budds (except for one single) have been rebuilt. Forgot the fleet numbers though.
 #1475326  by TWTRTECH
 
Yes, the last four car numbers are...257-258 and 271-272. though the Legacy trucks are still being used on the rebuilt cars, so some Budd product will be living on.
 #1475350  by MACTRAXX
 
TWTRTECH wrote:Yes, the last four car numbers are...257-258 and 271-272. though the Legacy trucks are still being used on the rebuilt cars, so some Budd product will be living on.
TT: Thanks for the car numbers for the remaining two unrebuilt PATCO car pairs. I was further
informed that a typical Sunday schedule has two four car trainsets used in operation. This along
with a current PATCO timetable should make the train somewhat easy to find.

BC: You note only one unrebuilt single car remaining - is this car still in use or going to be retired?
I heard about - but have not seen myself - that the single cars were mated into pairs during the
rebuild - can you or anyone in the know confirm this?

What makes this interesting for me is that I was wondering just how far along that the rebuild
program was - this more then answers that question - and mention that the few opportunities
I had to ride PATCO during 2017 each time I rode in an unrebuilt train in service - I have yet
to ride in let alone set foot inside any of the rebuilt cars.

I now realize that I may be in the area this coming Sunday June 10th and may well try to ride
this last unrebuilt trainset on its last day of service - in this case I will expect that there will be
many fans out to ride and photograph these last runs - especially those that wish to take one
last RFW ride being aware that the rebuilds have full-width cabs with obstructed visibility.

MACTRAXX
 #1475351  by BuddCar711
 
Most likely that singe will be retired because there's no mate for it (though I've always said that the singles should have been kept single).
 #1475384  by MACTRAXX
 
Everyone:

I was sent information about PATCO running their last four "Legacy" cars (as they titled the four
unrebuilt 1980-vintage CV cars) on Sunday June 10th running on a schedule of six round trips.

The timetable starts early from Lindenwold at 7:00am and ends early with the final run scheduled
to leave 16/Locust at 3:05pm arriving at Lindenwold at 3:33pm. Regular fares will apply.

West from Lindenwold to 16/Locust
7:00am>7:28am
8:30am>8:58am
10:00am>10:28am
11:30am>11:58am
1:00pm>1:28pm
2:30pm>2:58pm

East from 16/Locust to Lindenwold
7:35am>8:03am
9:05am>9:33am
10:35am>11:03am
12:05pm>12:33pm
1:35pm>2:03pm
3:05pm>3:33pm

PATCO has posted a full color June 10 schedule PDF that can be downloaded at:
http://www.ridepatco.org/farewell" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PATCO has announced a contest through social media for the railfan window seat ride for the
last two trips in each direction leaving Lindenwold at 2:30pm and 16/Locust at 3:05pm.
The winner(s) will be announced on Friday June 8th.

Expect to see the rail enthusiast community out and about that day riding and photographing
these final "Legacy car" runs especially for the last afternoon trips in each direction. The cars
will have a 27 minute layover in Lindenwold which should allow ample time to trainspot there
and have a seven minute turnaround at 16/Locust Station on each of the round trips.

MACTRAXX
 #1475744  by MACTRAXX
 
Everyone:

The Inquirer posted an article about today's last runs of the final four "legacy" cars today...

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_j ... 80610.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In a photograph shown were two members of the rail enthusiast community taking advantage of
the final day of PATCO's front railfan window: Michael Brotzman and Harry Garforth.

The writer was Melanie Burney (and surprisingly not transportation writer Jason Laughlin)

From Chuchubob's pictures these final four cars really are looking good after 38 years of service.
(1980-2018) and it is hard to believe that even these add-on cars are that old - they have aged
well and no doubt have been maintained well by PATCO's shop crews.

PET PEEVE time: Why was "legacy trains"(plural) and not "legacy train"(singular) used which makes
more sense? Or better yet "The last four PATCO legacy cars" to describe this last train?
Another term that is annoying is the use of "traincars" instead of "railcars" to describe this subject.
Unfortunately PATCO used this term in their own PDF schedule for today's legacy train runs.

Hopefully all had a good day enjoying the ride and reminiscing about how PATCO was and will
be changing with the car rebuilding program drawing to an end. Any idea when these four cars
will be scheduled to be shipped out for overhaul?

On a related topic: BC mentions that there is one unrebuilt single car left - why not preserve this
original Budd car in its current state as a heritage car? Does PATCO have any plans to use this car
internally such as an inspection car for example? If PATCO chooses not to keep this car could a rail
museum or other outside organization add this car to a equipment collection? MACTRAXX

 #1477895  by TWTRTECH
 
In 1997, car 116 was damaged by a fire to the extent it could not be repaired and was removed from the fleet. As part of the overhaul project, car parts were recycled from the 116 to make repairs to other cars in the fleet. Credit-PATCO Flashback Friday
638EACCA-0E3C-4374-AAB5-1AE3CEF33A6F.jpeg
 #1477905  by MACTRAXX
 
TT: Thanks for this information concerning PATCO legacy single car 116...

Now this is what I call cannibalization...scrapped as a parts donor for other rebuilt PATCO cars.

Was this photo of #116 taken at Hornell,NY? If yes - interesting that this retired car was shipped
from Lindenwold along with the rest of the fleet to make needed parts available if necessary...

From the looks of 116's condition there is not much left and is too far gone to be saved in any
manner - oh well...Having an even number of single cars made it easy to pair them up in the
rebuilding and this was the odd single car - over and out...MACTRAXX
 #1477926  by R36 Combine Coach
 
That is at the Alstom shop in Hornell. With wishful thinking even a stripped shell like 116 could be rebuilt into a new car. It happens all the time with second and third-hand EMDs.
 #1478021  by R36 Combine Coach
 
Very good detail of the Budd stainless shell, showing the stainless subframing and "unit body" shell. Noticed the center sill is carbon alloy. The Silverliner II/IIIs were all stainless framing, as mentioned before.