by the sarge
I was able to catch the run of the first revenue PCC-II early Sunday Morning – actually, since I live in Port Richmond, I decided to ride the first westbound Run. Since the first car was scheduled to leave 59th street at 12:30 AM for the first trip eastbound, I decide to head out around 1:00AM, but before going to the Westmoreland Loop, I opted to drive around and meet the first run before riding. Well, SEPTA was very cautious for the first run. Leading the PCC II #2323 was a SEPTA escort vehicle with its strobe lights blinking. The pace was very slow, making the first eastbound run very late. After meeting the trolley at 5th and Girard, I headed back home to park the car and meet the trolley at the end of the line. I arrived at the Westmoreland loop just as the trolley crossed Allegany Ave. When pulling into the loop and making the final turn into the terminus, the trolley lost its pole. With little fanfare and railfans taking pictures, I boarded for the westbound journey. The SEPTA officials decided for the westbound trip, the trolley would not follow the escort vehicle and try to keep to schedule. Off we went.
The ride began nicely until the operator went too fast underneath the famous bridge between Lehigh and Somerset, we lost the pole again. After the little delay we were off and running. Because the time was approaching 200AM, we only stopped for the traffic lights until we reached Front Street. A few of the passengers boarding were a bit stunned, but happy to see the trolley.
Between Front and Broad, the ride was smooth with little stopping. Between Broad and the Zoo we picked up a significant amount of passengers. Some appeared a bit disappointed when they found out that the trolley would be a permanent sight along the line, but most were happy and appreciated the historic significance of the refurbished vintage equipment. I heard one young gentlemen note “Damn, dis’s nice, kinda back to old school”. A few were happy to find out they were on the inaugural revenue run – they found out because they inquired about why there were some SEPTA officials and some “not so regular looking riders for this time” (Rail enthusiasts) on board.
From ZOO to Lancaster Ave, the ride went as usual with some passengers boarding and disembarking. Along the way, the attention we were drawing from many citizens of the neighborhoods we were traveling through, was very obvious. At Lancaster Ave, we had a couple of slight delays. First, the automatic switches for merging / diverging on the Route 10 line were not automatic – the operator had to throw the switch manually. The delay did draw some ribbing from some of the younger passengers and horn blowing motorists. To compound the problem, when we finally went on our way, we lost our pole again. The ribbing from the passengers continued.
To 63rd and Girard, the journey went smoothly; we lost the SEPTA officials and some railfans at 59th street. At the end of the line, we were told by the operator that the trolley is going to cut the trip short and turnaround at 26th street to get back on schedule. Because, I needed to go all the way to Port Richmond and did not feel like getting off in the middle of West Philadelphia at 300 AM, I told the operator that I will ride along back to 63rd and stay on for a second trip; he did not mind at all.
I rode along the short eastbound trip and even waited on board for 10 minutes at 26th street before heading westbound. The trip went along as usual until we went through Lancaster Ave again and lost the pole. Lucky for me, another PCC II met us going eastbound, so I hopped off.
The eastbound trip on the second PCC II was nice with most stops only for traffic lights. I rode the rest of the way to Port Richmond and the pole flung off again at the terminus with the operator cursing up a storm ending in “I already hate these $%^# things already!!”
On Sunday afternoon, I decide to check out the trolley operations by automobile during the height of a slightly busy afternoon. I was disappointed to see a route 15 bus by Girard and Front. (Also, during the early mornings there were two buses operating with two trolleys). The disappointment disappeared as I was driving and started to run in more trolleys. I counted roughly six trolleys with three buses handling the schedule.
Some more observations.
The wheelchair lifts are horrible! This afternoon while driving, I witnessed a wheelchair operation about 10 blocks west of the Zoo stop. After I casually dorve all the way to 63rd st and then to 59th to check out the Callowhill depot, I headed back on Grirard driving slowly eastbound, I caught up to the wheelchair occupied trolley on the Girard Ave bridge –followed by THREE PCC II’s and a 15 BUS!!!. (I know one westbound trolley did turn around at 40th street, I guess they made the decision prior to the wheelchair delay) Then the wheelchair passenger had to get off at Broad St. Talk about delays, there is nowhere to go around accept to pass the trolley in the oncoming traffic lane –which the 15 bus did with some scary action. Something needs to be done for the wheelchairs; I believe it would be easier to lift the passenger by hand off the chair and onto the trolley, then load the wheelchair on, and then repeat for offloading. I am only joking and understand the ramifications of doing this, but honestly, the current method is going to kill this line.
I also heard complaints from passengers about the canceled stops and the inability for the trolley to lower itself. I know this is going to pose problems for senior citizens, but the people I heard the complaints from were just plain overweight.
As to the trolley poles that keep flying off; I know from experience that this can either be caused by the overhead not being lined up properly, new frogs, or inexperienced operators going too fast – there is a procedure when traveling over frogs that operators have to master; coast through slow, then apply power once you hear the last axle hit the switch.. Sometimes the tolerances are so tight on switches; the specifications are designed for frogs that have been worn down a bit from normal operations. I’ve seen the problem of flung poles arise in established lines in the past when new switches were installed; hopefully this is what is happening, plus, many of the operators of the Route 15 are green, so once they get the feel for operating and the frogs wear down, the problem should fix itself.
More to come on the progress of this line as I have to ride daily.
The ride began nicely until the operator went too fast underneath the famous bridge between Lehigh and Somerset, we lost the pole again. After the little delay we were off and running. Because the time was approaching 200AM, we only stopped for the traffic lights until we reached Front Street. A few of the passengers boarding were a bit stunned, but happy to see the trolley.
Between Front and Broad, the ride was smooth with little stopping. Between Broad and the Zoo we picked up a significant amount of passengers. Some appeared a bit disappointed when they found out that the trolley would be a permanent sight along the line, but most were happy and appreciated the historic significance of the refurbished vintage equipment. I heard one young gentlemen note “Damn, dis’s nice, kinda back to old school”. A few were happy to find out they were on the inaugural revenue run – they found out because they inquired about why there were some SEPTA officials and some “not so regular looking riders for this time” (Rail enthusiasts) on board.
From ZOO to Lancaster Ave, the ride went as usual with some passengers boarding and disembarking. Along the way, the attention we were drawing from many citizens of the neighborhoods we were traveling through, was very obvious. At Lancaster Ave, we had a couple of slight delays. First, the automatic switches for merging / diverging on the Route 10 line were not automatic – the operator had to throw the switch manually. The delay did draw some ribbing from some of the younger passengers and horn blowing motorists. To compound the problem, when we finally went on our way, we lost our pole again. The ribbing from the passengers continued.
To 63rd and Girard, the journey went smoothly; we lost the SEPTA officials and some railfans at 59th street. At the end of the line, we were told by the operator that the trolley is going to cut the trip short and turnaround at 26th street to get back on schedule. Because, I needed to go all the way to Port Richmond and did not feel like getting off in the middle of West Philadelphia at 300 AM, I told the operator that I will ride along back to 63rd and stay on for a second trip; he did not mind at all.
I rode along the short eastbound trip and even waited on board for 10 minutes at 26th street before heading westbound. The trip went along as usual until we went through Lancaster Ave again and lost the pole. Lucky for me, another PCC II met us going eastbound, so I hopped off.
The eastbound trip on the second PCC II was nice with most stops only for traffic lights. I rode the rest of the way to Port Richmond and the pole flung off again at the terminus with the operator cursing up a storm ending in “I already hate these $%^# things already!!”
On Sunday afternoon, I decide to check out the trolley operations by automobile during the height of a slightly busy afternoon. I was disappointed to see a route 15 bus by Girard and Front. (Also, during the early mornings there were two buses operating with two trolleys). The disappointment disappeared as I was driving and started to run in more trolleys. I counted roughly six trolleys with three buses handling the schedule.
Some more observations.
The wheelchair lifts are horrible! This afternoon while driving, I witnessed a wheelchair operation about 10 blocks west of the Zoo stop. After I casually dorve all the way to 63rd st and then to 59th to check out the Callowhill depot, I headed back on Grirard driving slowly eastbound, I caught up to the wheelchair occupied trolley on the Girard Ave bridge –followed by THREE PCC II’s and a 15 BUS!!!. (I know one westbound trolley did turn around at 40th street, I guess they made the decision prior to the wheelchair delay) Then the wheelchair passenger had to get off at Broad St. Talk about delays, there is nowhere to go around accept to pass the trolley in the oncoming traffic lane –which the 15 bus did with some scary action. Something needs to be done for the wheelchairs; I believe it would be easier to lift the passenger by hand off the chair and onto the trolley, then load the wheelchair on, and then repeat for offloading. I am only joking and understand the ramifications of doing this, but honestly, the current method is going to kill this line.
I also heard complaints from passengers about the canceled stops and the inability for the trolley to lower itself. I know this is going to pose problems for senior citizens, but the people I heard the complaints from were just plain overweight.
As to the trolley poles that keep flying off; I know from experience that this can either be caused by the overhead not being lined up properly, new frogs, or inexperienced operators going too fast – there is a procedure when traveling over frogs that operators have to master; coast through slow, then apply power once you hear the last axle hit the switch.. Sometimes the tolerances are so tight on switches; the specifications are designed for frogs that have been worn down a bit from normal operations. I’ve seen the problem of flung poles arise in established lines in the past when new switches were installed; hopefully this is what is happening, plus, many of the operators of the Route 15 are green, so once they get the feel for operating and the frogs wear down, the problem should fix itself.
More to come on the progress of this line as I have to ride daily.
