[PRCo] Re: SEPTA Route 15 PCC2 Service
James B. Holland
PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com
Mon Sep 5 22:44:01 EDT 2005
Here are some other reports of operations:::::::
Earls below for pictures.
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just got in from the route 15 ceremony and to say it was low key would
be overstating it.
there were about 20-25 SEPTA folks. Ms Moore, someone from FTA, someone
from Gov office and chairman of SEPTA board. about 30 elementary kids
came in on the cars from East and West (2329 from the East, 2332 from
the West) Andy McGenniss(sp) couple folks from the Girard Ave Coolition,
couple folks from the Chestnut Hill assoc and myself, and a few curious
Zoo patrons.
have never seen politicians say so few words, the 4 officials rang a
hand bell and the kids sang "Ding Ding went the trolley" and that was
it. less than 15 minutes. they left the cars there for a few minutes for
photos and took em home.
Channels 6, 10, 29 were there along with FM99 some local paper and the
Inquirer.... only 6 I think actually had a reporter the rest were just
getting film.
more later, and photos when I can upload em
Bob
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ECasey9631 at ...... wrote:
So history was made tonight. (or this morning) . 2323 had the honor of
being the first 15, with the return of regular streetcar service on
Girard Avenue. Car left eastbound at 63rd and Girard at 12:32 AM.
Only problem I saw were couple of vehicles parked way too close to rail
betw 63rd and 60th...car had only like two inches clearance...also the
overhead at Lancaster and Girard needs some work,,,car lost pole making
the turn....also the dirt and dust in the flangeway bwt zoo and east
over the bridge was very impressive...really kicked up the dirt.
I am not sure what the deal was with the second car,,,which was going
to be 2329...it was still sitting at the Callowhill apron at 1:10 AM.
Seemed a number of fans were waiting there for that car,,,since 2323
pulled out early. I do know that one of the three nightliners was to
be a bus because there was no qualified operator for the run...maybe
the 2329 was the third nightliner. Does anyone know what the numbers
of the Callowhill LRVs are ?
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I just got home from riding the first Route 15 car. As Ed mentioned, the
car was 2323 (former 2777).
The operator was Eric Butler who was working his first run on a trolley
tonight.
The night got off to a not so good start. As Ed also mentioned one block
pulled out early (at the direction of the stupidvisor). He was with us
the whole trip. On the eastbound trip he rode directly in front of us
with his yellow lights on - driving at about 20 MPH. There were a few
tight clearances along the way as Ed mentioned. At 26th and Poplar we
were delayed four minutes by an SUV parked on the southwest corner - a
problem that the supervisor did not notice until it was called to his
attention. With the supervisor holding us up we were running quite late.
There was an off duty instructor riding with us who talked to the
supervisor at Westmoreland and told him that the operator needed to be
able to get a feel for the car. We left Westmoreland almost a half hour
late. Going west the supervisor kept out of the way and we were able to
make the schedule. We lost the pole under the railroad bridge (going too
fast) and again at Lancaster and Girard.
As Ed mentioned, because of a lack of rail men there was a bus on the
line. This was two block. He passed us at Lancaster and Girard while the
pole was being rewired. Three block had a trolley and was about on time
when we passed him - somewhere around 11th St.
Since one block was a half hour late after the first trip the supervisor
cut him at 26th St eastbound on the second trip.
9079 was on 10-51 this morning.
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well a few comments from a day riding the 15, not being as much of a
night owl as in my youth I skipped the early morning runs.
The cars were beautiful and the cameras' were everywhere. not just
traction fans but older folks who rode em years ago, and the 3 year old
little girl I waited with on 15th going to the zoo couldn't wait for a
"green one" to come along...
lotta dewirements, and the operators still haven't got the hang of the
retrievers, as almost for sure one dewirement leads to a couple more at
high wire spots. all switches were being thrown manually so that
slowed things down a bit. the operators seemed to like the cars and
were enjoying the attention, but by late afternoon there were as many
buses on the line as there were cars. I counted at least 5 different run
numbers that were buses during the course of the day. not too many
auto/trolley confrontations and all were resolved quickly. the signal
preemption system if working the operators hadn't noticed
the weather was fantastic, the sky was bright blue and clear with a few
puffy clounds. Since I still use film it will be a few days before I get
anything on line...one operator after fighting with an unmentionable for
7 minutes muttered that she had 3 or 4 regular riders in wheelchairs and
wonder how she was gonna stay on schedule Tue.
a lot of new car learning curve some operators were hitting the brakes
pretty hard and early in the day the track appeared to be "grabby" and
had to hit the track brakes a number of times to stop, as the day wore
on this was happening less and less.
the wire truck was out working on trouble spots on the overhead and the
#15 pull in to the car house is quite awkward to say the least. I
watched one operator lose their pole 4 times trying to do the back up
move into the car house..
at least one of the unmentionables was broke by the end of the day
(2333) and several fare boxs were out of service by late in the day.
while the cars were nice and comfortable even with a full load a couple
of operators were complaining that the blowers for them were inadequate
and they were getting hot, and it was a nice day in the 80's the windows
can't be opened so the first time an A/C fails in the summer is going to
be a riot waiting to happen.. many trips were standing room only lets
come back in a month or so and see how things are working when there
aren't 6 supervisors following cars around and helping with pole
rewirements etc. and the new car smell is gone. even watched a local kid
pick up some trash from the floor of the car.. all in all it was a nice day.
Bob
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Sun Sep 4, 2005 6:03pm
Subject: Re; 1st Day of Route 15
<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Philly_Traction/message/26251>
Managed to make the trip this morning to scout the "new" route 15...
Cars ran quite nicely, even though the track seems to have more
"texture" than the subway surface lines. Not sure if it was only on the
cars I rode, but the cars, while seemingly smoother and peppier than the
GOH cars I recall, did seem to poke more than a Kawasaki would, but this
may well be due to the Operators' confidence in them thus far, taking
things at a more cautious speed.
Bunching was a severe problem today, and this coming on a Sunday
schedule. Problem began early when ridership was light, but more than a
few cars got hit HARD once the afternoon came. I was on one car that
left Richmond-Westmoreland a little after 1pm, and we carried a crush
load from 16th Street West. By this time, the long wait, the crowded
conditions, and the slow operation was doing little to endear the cars
to the riders of the line. The cumbersome lift did nothing to help this
situation either, as we spent nearly 10 minutes at Broad Street while a
patron in a Wheelchair alighted.
Up until this time, local reaction was a mixed bag, whose negative
points were fueled largely by the long waits resulting from the bunching
of service. Still a lot of people on the streets could be seen admiring
the cars as they passed, both groupies and locals alike.
One of the neatest things had to be the strong railfan presence all
along the line today. You could not have asked for a better day, and it
seemed everywhere you looked, someone was making the cars and their
Operators instant celebrities. I did manage to get some really good
photos and DV clips despite some rather long wait times. Sure will be
curious to see how the line does on a weekday, and if the speed of the
cars can approach that of a K-Car once the track gets broken in, and the
Operators become more comfy with the cars capabilities.
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Date: Sun Sep 4, 2005 6:58pm
Subject: Re: Re: Route 15 returns
<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Philly_Traction/message/26256>
I enjoyed riding the entire line on the first day. The bunching and
delays were acceptable because I was with a group of railfans.
We had a wheelchair lift experience where it took three employees
nineteen minutes to get the person on board eastbound at Parkside.
Our motorperson and the motorman from the car behind got him off at
Broad Street in seven minutes.
My photos start at the bottom of this TransitSpot page. I thank John
Villanueva for making the site available.
http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix?page=7
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An album of pics from opening day that you can view here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gameshowdawg02/album?.dir=6335
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http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix/05_09_05_02
http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix/05_09_05_05
http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix/05_09_05_06
http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix/05_09_05_12
http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix/05_09_05_15
http://www.trainweb.org/phillynrhs/RPOTW.html
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Jim__Holland
I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!
down with pantographs ---- UP___WITH___TROLLEYPOLES!!!!!!!
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