[PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line?

Thu Aug 7 11:20:57 EDT 2008

You want some real bargains Bob:   
Compare Amtrak fares between Philadelphia and New York with the "indignity" of taking a SEPTA train to Trenton and changing to a New Jersey Transit local to New York.   

Amtrak varies from $45 coach to $111 for the Acela fare one-way.   I think they have a 10% senior citizen discount.   

SEPTA's fare from Philadelphia to Trenton for seniors is $2.00.  The New Jersey Transit senior fare is $5.75 from Trenton to New York.   Total $7.75 versus $40 on Amtrak versus $50 plus tolls plus parking if you are insane enough to drive.   

My problem is the closest SEPTA fare to me is Exton or Downington and I would still have to drive into there and find a place to park.  And SEPTA has an ingenious rule that says it doesn't matter if our fare machines don't take US paper money, if you don't have a ticket, you pay the surcharge ont he train for not having a ticket.  The PUC ruled many years ago that such practices were illegal for private transportation companies in Pennsylvania but public agencies are subject to the PUC and do as they wish.   So I still have to take Amtrak at least to 30th Street, Philadelphia in order to get an open SEPTA ticket office.   

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Bob Rathke" <bobrathke at comcast.net> 

> Mark is correct - the beach at Beverly Shores is very nice. And yes, the 
> South Shore is fast running between Michigan City and South Bend - there's 
> only one stop in the45-minute stretch through the Indiana countryside betwen 
> those two cities. Very interurban-like, even today. 
> 
> I've lived in the Chicago area for 25 years, and I go downtown on business 
> at least once a month, but I haven't driven or parked downtown in 20 years. 
> I always take the Metra train which is faster than driving, and parking 
> rates at the suburban stations are cheap - from free to $1.50 per day. 
> 
> However, even at $27, downtown Chicago parking is a bargain compared to 
> large metropolitan areas like New York City. I remember one of the few 
> times I drove into Manhattan and parked at a midtown garage for three hours 
> and paid $45. That was in 1986. I don't want to ask what that Manhattan 
> garage charges today. 
> 
> Bob 8/6/08 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mark McGuire" 
> To: 
> Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 6:50 PM 
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line? 
> 
> 
> > Speaking of Chicago, John, I just got back yesterday. My thoughts are if I 
> > lived there and worked in the city, no way would I drive. The traffic is 
> > absolutely horrendous. We drove into the city on a Sunday to walk around a 
> > bit. The traffic was not bad, but the parking charges were out of this 
> > world. We parked in a garage and 4 hours later the charge was $27. So on a 
> > weekday, if I were to drive and brave the traffic, probably leaving the 
> > house an hour or so before a normal day(is there such a thing in 
> > Chicago?), I would then be faced with a parking bill off the charts. Yes, 
> > people probably pay their parking monthly, but it still has to be 
> > rediculous. And with gas prices the way they are, I'd be very much 
> > inclined to take the Metra or CTA. I didn't pay much attention, but I'm 
> > sure they have "Park and Ride" lots all over the place. The question is 
> > how much do they charge to park? If you have a Metra line near your home 
> > in Chicago, consider yourself lucky. That way you can walk! 
> > to the line and take the train into town watching all the stagnant, 
> > bumper-to-bumper traffic on your way. 
> > I didn't ride CTA or the Metra, but I did get to finally ride on the 
> > South Shore line. My sis and I had to drop my other sis off at Midway 
> > airport, so after we did that we drove near the University Of Chicago, 
> > found free parking, and hopped on the SS line at 57th St. Station. Never 
> > rode it all the way to the end of the line, but I'm regretting that 
> > decision as I'm told the interurban train really opens up after Michigan 
> > City and we got off at Beverly Shores. But the beach was really nice 
> > there. I was very impressed with the smooth ride and the condition of the 
> > track and overhead. My ramble is over. Carry on. 
> > 
> > Mark 
> > 
> > -- John Swindler wrote: 
> > 
> > Steering column guide lines??? Been around for decades. We had them in 
> > Chicago to help the drivers get a 40 ft. bus under the el structures, such 
> > as the Lincoln-Wells route. Suspect they were also at right hand turns to 
> > help driver avoid ramming the rear tires into the curb. 
> > 
> > J 
> > 
> > 
> >> From: fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street 
> >> car line?> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 18:47:23 -0400> To: 
> >> pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > Wouldn't that make a wonderful 
> >> college prank to go out in the middle > of the night and repaint the line 
> >> on the street?> > On Aug 4, 2008, at 5:45 PM, Ken & Tracie wrote:> > > I 
> >> liked the "railfan" remark I received from a friend a few weeks ago> > 
> >> concerning the French Civis trolley buses. It reflected a comment I > > 
> >> made> > over a year ago:> >> > "Milwaukee wishes to reintroduce trackless 
> >> trolleys. However, these > > will be> > steered by "reading" a painted 
> >> line upon the street surface.> >> > "The Marmon-Herringtons and 
> >> Pullman-Standards tossed upon the scrap > > heap in> > 1965 seemed to get 
> >> along very well with their 'primitive' steering > > wheels."> >> > K.> >> 
> >> > ----- Original Message -----> > From: "Fred Schneider" 
> >> > > To: > > 
> >> Sent: Monday, Augus! 
> > t 04, 2008 2:14 PM> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line?> 
> > >> >> Machinery evolves over time, doesn't it. (Retorical.) We have gone> 
> > >> from breaker point ignition systems to solid station ignition in cars> 
> > >> and from carburetors to fuel injection but they are still gasoline> >> 
> > burning behemoths. Our trolley cars have gone from field weakening> >> 
> > control to series-parallel control to series-parallel with field> >> 
> > weakening for higher speeds to thrystor control to AC propulsion> >> 
> > schemes but they are still trolley cars on steel wheels on steel> >> 
> > rails.> >> >> > 
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