SEPTA (ex-PRR) MP-54s

I'm nearly certain that you won't find any left painted in SEPTA colors, if that's the gist of your question. If you're not picky about what paint (or shade of rust/dust/filth) they're wearing, read on.

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania used to have one MP-54 on display outside by the turntable. It was still in Penn Central paint. But even when I first saw it in 1991, I was shocked at how badly rusted-out the carbody was at floor level. I thought I read that this car was finally scrapped perhaps one or two years ago since it finally got so worn-out that it posed a safety hazard.

In the late 1990s it was rumored that several MP-54s were stored somewhere along the ex-PRR Octoraro Branch, either in West Grove or Toughkenamon, PA. I vaguely recall that someone connected with the Wilmington & Western steam tourist line was the owner. I have never heard about those cars being put to any further use, and I no longer know if they are still on-site.

Two MP-54s stood for many years in CSX's ex-PRR South Phila. yard. If you knew just where to look, they were viewable from I-95 northbound just before the curve at the Walt Whitman Bridge exit. They were around the 2-o'clock angle from the highway, quite some distance away; very close to the river.

Both were coupled together & parked near the old hump area of the freight yard, near the steam-era water tank. They were either in some pale-brown primer paint, or perhaps it was just their original PRR-era Tuscan Red paint, very badly faded after all these decades. Does anyone know how those electric MU cars got there, and if they are still rusting away by the river?

I cannot think of any possible MP-54 survivors other than those mentioned above. Should someone else have more up-to-date information, feel free to add it here!

There is an LIRR MP54 located at the Seashore Trolley Museum in
Kennebunkport Maine. I know it is not a PRR MP54 but hey it is still
an MP54.

Did the active use of the MP 54's even make it into the SEPTA era? One of the problems with finding a still serviceable MP 54 is that they were so heavily used during the PRR- PC and Conrail days that they were simply worn out. A number of them were acquired by MDOT ( Maryland Dept, of Transportation) to operate on what is now MARC's Penn Line ( the NEC) in the early 1970's, but even at that time, they were so worn out that they were extremely unpopular in Maryland.

The two are still stored down in the Greenwich yard on the pair of tracks that remain to the coal tipple. CSX uses those lines for repair cars that need to be taken elsewhere. I believe that the side facing away from the highway and Philadelphia in general are completely covered with graffitti, so you won't have much luck on that side. There are reporting marks on the one in spray paint (I want to say WCRR but I don't think thats right).

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I recall reading that they were going to be used for some sort of cafe a la the Steak and Bagel train (which may be getting restored), but never made it out of the yard. The one unit is partially derailled. If you know someone at the yard, or are just sneaky, you can check them out, but please, do so at your own risk.

For the most part, they are sort of intact on the inside. The seats, although mostly removed, are still inside. It's probably the closest thing you will find to an MP54 in the Philadelphia Area.

walt wrote:Did the active use of the MP 54's even make it into the SEPTA era?

Yes. Amazingly, those being used in the Philadelphia area lasted until 1980-1981. Just like those used on the Baltimore-Washington locals, these were rolling rust-heaps more deserving of a Viking funeral than daily passenger service!

If I can find my old issues of "Cinders" (the local NRHS newsletter), I could nail down the month in which the MP-54s were finally withdrawn from Philly service. I am fairly sure that NJ DOT had already taken theirs out of service by this (VERY) late date.

That is amazing. I last rode on those cars in the late 1960's ( 1967 to be exact) and they were worn out then.

Franklin Gowen wrote:

walt wrote:Did the active use of the MP 54's even make it into the SEPTA era?

Yes. Amazingly, those being used in the Philadelphia area lasted until 1980-1981. Just like those used on the Baltimore-Washington locals, these were rolling rust-heaps more deserving of a Viking funeral than daily passenger service!

If I can find my old issues of "Cinders" (the local NRHS newsletter), I could nail down the month in which the MP-54s were finally withdrawn from Philly service. I am fairly sure that NJ DOT had already taken theirs out of service by this (VERY) late date.

You should like this:

THAT is a very interesting photo. Not only does it show SEPTA MP 54s, ( which I wasn't certain existed) but it was taken on the now abandoned ( for commuter service) portion of the R-3 at Cheyney ( near Cheyney University) VERY interesting!

walt wrote:THAT is a very interesting photo. Not only does it show SEPTA MP 54s, ( which I wasn't certain existed) but it was taken on the now abandoned ( for commuter service) portion of the R-3 at Cheyney ( near Cheyney University) VERY interesting!

As a graduate of said university, when I saw that photo on ebay, I knew I just had to have it.

I had it framed in my dorm while I was there and it was quite the conversation piece.

Cool photo, ekt! That shot may have been taken during the NRHS chartered fan-trip which used a set of MP-54s painted in the then-new SEPTA livery. It was held was either in the spring of 1978 or the spring of 1979. The trip went to West Chester and someplace else I can't remember...it also had a photo stop at Chestnut Hill West that day.

It's a credit to the design & materials used by the PRR as well as relentless zillions of man-hours of work at Paoli Car Shop that kept those cars going from the era of ragtime and World War One up until the coming of Reagan and MTV!!!

A similar story can be told regarding the longevity of the Reading Company's steel electric MU cars. They ran from 1931 until 1990. Somehow I doubt that even the durable Silverliner IIs and IIIs are going to beat them.

Amazing picture. The closed portion of the R3 and the 54s!

ekt8750 wrote:

walt wrote:THAT is a very interesting photo. Not only does it show SEPTA MP 54s, ( which I wasn't certain existed) but it was taken on the now abandoned ( for commuter service) portion of the R-3 at Cheyney ( near Cheyney University) VERY interesting!

As a graduate of said university, when I saw that photo on ebay, I knew I just had to have it.

I had it framed in my dorm while I was there and it was quite the conversation piece.

A Cheyney Grad eh! So is my wife---- and that last, 1967, trip I made on an MP 54 was made so that I could travel to West Chester State ( now West Chester U) during the summer session that year for a class to pick up the last three credits I needed to graduate from WCU.
And there is no question about the quality of those cars when they were built. In fact, that durability was probably their downfall, in that it led the PRR and its successors to operate the cars long after they had ceased to be attractive for passengers. As long as they would run, they did run, much to the chagrin of most riders.

walt wrote:That is amazing. I last rode on those cars in the late 1960's ( 1967 to be exact) and they were worn out then.

My grandfather, who rode Paoli Locals into the city for roughly forty years, used to despise MP-54's, especially once the then-modern Pioneer III's and SL II/III's came along. It was amazing they lasted so long - some of the MUs went into service in 1915 with the inauguration of electrification on the Paoli line, and the original ones dating to 1913 or so were locomotive-hauled. I think some of those later became paired with MUs. For riders they came to be a symbol of the deteriorating state of PRR commuter rail operations as the company decayed. They were used all over the NEC and Harrisburg line in commuter operations, and were all maintained at Paoli, even the ones in NYC service. The LIRR had their own version as well.

To the original question, the RR History Museum of PA roster still lists ex-PRR/PC 607, unrestored. I haven't been out to Strasburg in a good while now, but hopefully it's still there, and I concur with Franklin's assessment of the poor condition of the unit. It's also worth noting they have two Pioneer III's ("Silverliner I's") out there, and hopefully they'll get some Silverliner II's and III's as well as SEPTA retires them in the next few years.

When I was a kid in the 80's I'm fairly certain they had one or two MP-54's (or other similar PRR-era coaches) stored in the back of the Paoli Shops, but they're definitely not there anymore as they've cleaned up the contamination there and razed some of the former structures.

khecht wrote:
It was amazing they lasted so long - some of the MUs went into service in 1915 with the inauguration of electrification on the Paoli line, and the original ones dating to 1913 or so were locomotive-hauled. I think some of those later became paired with MUs.

The first MP 54's were rebuilds of the PRR's steam hauled P-54 suburban coaches. However, the MP 54's were built up through the early 1930's. so not all of the units date back to 1915. The entire MP 54 fleet included full baggage cars, combination baggage and passenger cars and even RPO Cars, in addition to the straight coaches. There were also 43 unpowered trailers ( these were not simply unconverted P-54 coaches, as they were control trailers which could have been placed at the head end of a train, but which were usually in the middle). They were paired with powered coaches( semi-perminently coupled) which had slightly more powerful traction motors to allow them to pull the trailers. The end of the powered coaches to which the trailer was coupled did not have the owl eyed windows which were the hallmark of the MP 54's appearannce ( those ends did not have .any windows). At its peak, PRR's MP 54 Fleet numbered almost 500 units with over 300 striaght coaches.