April Fools

Okay everyone, let's take advantage of the day and spin some rumors!

I heard today that the 23 and 56 have both been reactivated with PCCs that have been refurbished or bought back from San Francisco!

Plus, they're doing work on the Newtown ROW and service should be restored by the end of the month.

Did you all see the new Silverliner V's on the system today? They are diesel/electrics, to boot! I saw a five car set running over the Skoo-kill viaduct to Ivy Ridge this morning.

My friend at WCU saw them at the depot in West Chester this morning filling up with eager passengers commuting to CC and NYP.

As of today, SEPTA started running diesel-powered trains using ex-Amtrak F40s to New Hope(R2), and Quakertown(R5)
They reactivated the Fulmor R2 stop, extended the R5 from Thorndale to Harrisburg, and rebuilt the Silverliner 1s!

SEPTA is now allowing diesels in the tunnel. NH&I has a steam powered excursion from New Hope to Wawa this weekend.

queenlnr8 wrote:My friend at WCU saw them at the depot in West Chester this morning filling up with eager passengers commuting to CC and NYP.

Hmmm. I was wondering what that push-pull set was doing on the West Chester Branch. Oh, wait, that's the Brandywine Limited, making all stops between Market St/West Chester and Elwyn, then express to University City!

Septa announced today that it is going to open the Roosevelt Blvd subway starting in June and is going to build an extension all the way up the Blvd with trains terminating at Street Rd which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2006. Yeah right.That will be the day.

How about this: CWR has been installed along the Keystone Corridor from Paoli to 30th street on all four tracks.

According to SEPTA, all bus lines that run in Center City will be made trackless trolleys by the end of the year. All new articulated LRVs will be running on all bustituted trolley lines and Market East had been renamed 'Reading Terminal Station.'

I sure was suprised to find an LVT trolley waiting to depart 69th Street this morning. Of course I took it to Allentown. I was just as amazed by the Septa and Red Arrow trolleys that said "West Chester" and "Stratford" waiting to depart 69th st. How odd. Oh yeah, they really did find an L7 class Reading camelback in Cuba and Castro and the ghost of Che Guevara are personally escorting it to the US after, of course, the Cuban government fully restores it.

I was happy to see that SEPTA is now putting bathrooms in their trains. And they promised that they will never be out of order.

Many changes in the SEPTA system today:

1.) SEPTA has paved over the tracks on the MFL, replacing all trains with high-platform capable busses which run on third rail. They plan to do this to the BSL too by next week.

2.) SEPTA has extended the R5 Thorndale line to Pittsburgh, along new trackage in the median of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

3.) SEPTA has decided to extend the R6 Cynwyd line to Howard. It will share trackage with the CTA Red Line from Dan Ryan to Howard. The extended service will run once in each direction daily, using old Budd RDC's, and will continue onto the R4 Asbury Park Line after the Center City Tunnel.

4.) SEPTA has decided to replace the center city tunnel with street trackage along Market Street, and will stop every block except for at 17th St.

SEPTA's last wacky decision:

5.) SEPTA has opened up a new line instead of the Roosevelt Blvd. subway, which is at grade in the median. There are stations at Cottman Av., Grant Av. (south corner), Grant Av. (north corner), Grant Av. Jct. (where it meets the R17 Albany Line), Red Lion Rd., Byberry Rd. A, Byberry Rd. B, center of intersection, north side of intersection

matt1168 wrote:Many changes in the SEPTA system today:

1.) SEPTA has paved over the tracks on the MFL, replacing all trains with high-platform capable busses which run on third rail. They plan to do this to the BSL too by next week.

Sorry to ruin the mood, but that isn't funny at all. Not the least bit.

01 April 2004
WCAU NBC News
English
(c) Copyright 2004, National Broadcasting Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

STEVE LEVY, anchor:


Today, in a bold and unprecidented move, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) was unincorporated and dissolved. Beginning at 9 a.m. all higher level management were dismissed. Upon leaving the building, escorted by SEPTA Police, they were forced to sign a non-compete contract barring then from working at any other transit authority for the remainder of their useful lives. "This is outrageous and will not stand in a court of law" an exasperated Faye Moore said as she was dragged from her 10th floor office.

A new company, the Philadelphia and Area Transit Company, to be known as PATCO, was formed in the place of SEPTA. David Gunn, of Amtrak, was installed as President in the newly restructured PATCO. He will also remain at his position within Amtrak.

"I am excited and up to the task of bringing Southeastern Pennsylvania the transit they so deserve." said Mr. Gunn in is press confrence.

The state of Pennsynvania was not to be left out of today's proceedings. The legislature made a bold statement saying that it will cover any budget, no matter the size, for PATCO for the next 50 years.

"Philadelphians and surrounding counties have waited long enough for a world class transit system. And, now they will get it." said a jubilant Governor Ed Rendell among the throngs of joyus transit advocates.

PATCO began its new life today on a suprisingly interesting foot. The doors to 1234 Market St. were thrown open by Gunn himself and he encouraged the media to dig as far as they wanted into the corruption of the former transit authoritie's records.

One Inquierer reporter went on record today and stated that he "was paid to keep other news agencies, including but not limited to the Inquierer) off the trail of SEPTA."

"The corruption went all the way to the top." Several state and city represenatives have suddenly abdicated their seats in the wake of information that have been flooding out of 1234.

With the new information that was found today, there are sure to be SEC, FTA, Union and governmental inquiries for the next 10 years.

In a related story, a warehouse in southern New Jersey was unlocked today with keys found in a former SEPTA board member's desk. The warehouse contained, as witnesses claim, "no less than 350 PCC trolleys from various citied in the US." It appears that the former transit authority had been buying up the trolleys to keep them off of the streets in favor of a lucrative bus contract with GM.

GM could not be reached for comment.

Unfortunately, the City Paper story I mentioned below seems the most likely of all these April fools to come true.

You guys make it sound like everything is just covered in rose petals out there today! Am I the *only* one who had a crappy commute today? SEPTA went totally nuts today; God only knows why. Maybe one of you Einsteins can figure this out:

So I'm standing on the platform at Gwynedd Valley this morning, waiting for my R5 local to the city. I'm half asleep, trying to read the 4/1/04 edition of the newspaper. I gotta pal named Bill who rides with me. He's some kinda SEPTA super-rail-geek or somethin'...if it goes on rails, Bill knows all about it. Like any other day, Bill's got his hand-held FM radio scanner on, listening to SEPTA chatter over his headphones. As for me, I'm just tryin' ta keep my tired old self awake.

All of a sudden I hear this bizarre sound way up along the tracks, coming from out of sight up north. Sounded like a SEPTA crew had swapped out their train's stupid kazoo of an airhorn with the most beautiful airhorn on Earth. I mean, WTF is goin' on here?! I'm more awake now, and I hear this million-dollar airhorn blowing for the grade crossings up the line around North Wales. I dunno what's comin' south, but it ain't our usual MU train. And it's moving fast.

Then I see this ... THING ... come around the curve up beyond the straightaway. Not an MU; a locomotive-powered train. A diesel! Can you imagine that? And wotta diesel! This monster looks like a skyscraper laid on its side, and it sounds like a bunch of 18-wheelers all at once. And it's painted this super dark green color...sorta gives it this sinister Batmobile look, you know?

This is when Bill starts a total freak-out. He's babbling some nonsense about Fairbanks Morse and how this brute is called a TrainMaster, but he's sayin' it's impossible 'cos all of them was scrapped a long time ago. I don't get half of what he's shouting, but I do know that this train is goin' like a bat outta Hell and it ain't stopping at Gwynedd Valley. I grab Bill's arm and haul him away from the edge of the platform for his own good.

This is when we see that this dark green TrainMaster thingamabob has two logos painted on it. It's got a SEPTA logo, but also has this cool, kinda old-timey gold diamond logo with something written inside it..."Reeding Lines"? "Helen Reddy Lines"? WTF?

Bill starts to hollerin' like it's the Second Coming, but the diesel is so loud everyone on the platform is practically deaf. We're all fighting against the wind as this train goes screaming past like a missile, blowing that sweet, sweet horn for the crossing right at the station. I've had SEPTA expresses go nonstop past me before, but this train was going way faster than that. That made me admit to myself: I can see what Bill likes about this train stuff... quite a rush! A pretty long train behind that TrainMaster, too...musta been nine, 10 cars, all painted dark green just like the diesel.

Hung on the end of the last car is some kinda fancy round sign that's all lit up. It says, "Bethlehem Express".

Huh? Bethlehem? Come on, Christmas was -months- ago!