TRAIN-RIDING IN PHILADELPHIA AND NEW JERSEY -- SOME OBSERVATIONS AND OPINIONS

My partner Chuck and I just got back from a great eight-day trip, the major purpose of which was to ride transit, with a few breathers off for culture and shopping. Below are my impressions of the various lines and routes we used; they are nothing but opinion but I would like to see how that jibes with the experiences of others. This is not a catch-all, but if you’re an insomniac or have nothing better to do, this might be worth the reading:

PHILADELPHIA, PA

SEPTA

Pre-Planning: Several weeks before we left, I e-mailed septa dot org with various requests and they mailed me a number of timetables and forwarded a personalized e-mail answering my more specialized requests (how to get to wherever, etc.). Also, at the so-called Suburban Station (which is a station for suburb-bound trains, not in the ‘burbs), SEPTA has have a huge wall of timetables; and during the day an open office where people can just butt in (I did!) and ask questions. With one exception, Septa controls all mass transit in Philadelphia as well as the suburbs, so the good people there also mailed me their schematic of the various “R” (for “regional”) lines.

SEPTA has a wonderful online store, too, selling such delights as hats and a genuine chromatic harmonica for four dollars. Now that is a deal! Unfortunately, though, they neglected to send me the two one-day-unlimited travel passes I has asked for. Also, the nine-dollar route map I sent for was not as helpful as I had anticipated. It appeared to be nothing more than a good comprehensive street map of Philly with red lines attached to indicate transit routes. Unfortunately, the printing was so small I couldn’t read which line was which; I made my real transit logistics decisions using the individual route timetables, which show connections. TIP: Save the nine dollars. This is especially true if you belong to the Triple-A, bec

Realy nicely done report! Have you ever ridden the Acela? Nicest ride I’ve ever taken. Rode it 4 trips NYC to Baltimore. Nice, Nice Nice.

Joe

Yes a wonderful report! I especially liked the “reminds me of” part-those were great ways to put things in a context I could understand.

Really nice trip report!

Was your Amfleet coach in original condition or a Capstone overhaul. The Capstones have upgraded interior surfaces. I can imagine any originals could be a bit dingy by now - they are 30 years old!

Amtrak does their best to discourage Phila-NYP passengers since that tends to be the “bottleneck” on the route. Amtrak has to move the seat all the way from WAS to NYP or Boston and can’t afford to have it only occupied from Phila to NYP at a cheap rate.

The PRR used to add/drop a couple P70s on the rear at Phila. I’ve often wondered why Amtrak doesn’t try the same thing. Also wonder why Amtrak doesn’t try single seat NEC to Empire Corridor rides. The Harrisburg trains could run thru to Albany, no? (with an engine change at Penn)

Al,

Thanks – great report.

Having grown up on the Route 102 Sharon Hill trolley line (it ends at dead end with no loop like the Route 101), I just wanted to add a couple of points…

Media, PA (at the end of the Route 101 trolley) is the County Seat of Delaware County. This made it an important cultural and market center for Delaware county when the line was originally built. The court house is a couple blocks to the North of the end of the line. The Pennsylvania RR also operated a line thru Media (whose station is a couple blocks South of the trolley terminus). The ex-PRR line is currently called the R3 - Media/Elwyn line and provides a much faster, one seat (no change) ride to center city. The suburbs between Media and Upper Darby (where the Market Frankford El and Norristown lines meet) were largely populated due to the presence of the trolley line itself (the line created the demand for suburban housing – a good way for the line’s builders to make extra money in real estate)

Suburban Station in Philadelphia got its name when the Pennsylvania RR still operated Broad Street Station, but wanted to reduce congestion and moved the commuter trains (ie. Suburban routes) out of Broad Street Station. Broad Street was used for intercity traffic only, and was replaced by 30th Street entirely after the second great fire which doomed Broad Street to being demolished and the land sold for real estate development.

Regarding the Route 100 Norristown High Speed line…the former equipment is more properly referred to as “bullets” or “bullet cars” rather than “brilliners”. JG Brill company (based in Philly until its end) built the bullets — highly streamlined and tested in wind tunnels, and they also built and marketed “brilliners” as their proprietary alternative to the patented PCC design. The Brilliners were not high speed runners, but designed to navigate city streets. Interestingly, Phil

Interesting idea, would require reversing ends in NY Penn Station to access the west side line, but with catenary available from Harrisburg to NYP, they could just tack a dual mode beast on the rear, release the AEM-7 and take off.

What make that proposal even more interesting would be to shift the origin of the route to the Philadelphia International airport and run thru to Albany. It might provide flight connection options for folks who find EWR too expensive and too limited service out of Stewart Airport in Newburg, NY.

Paul F.

[quote user=“paulsafety”]

Al,

Thanks – great report.

Having grown up on the Route 102 Sharon Hill trolley line (it ends at dead end with no loop like the Route 101), I just wanted to add a couple of points…

Media, PA (at the end of the Route 101 trolley) is the County Seat of Delaware County. This made it an important cultural and market center for Delaware county when the line was originally built. The court house is a couple blocks to the North of the end of the line. The Pennsylvania RR also operated a line thru Media (whose station is a couple blocks South of the trolley terminus). The ex-PRR line is currently called the R3 - Media/Elwyn line and provides a much faster, one seat (no change) ride to center city. The suburbs between Media and Upper Darby (where the Market Frankford El and Norristown lines meet) were largely populated due to the presence of the trolley line itself (the line created the demand for suburban housing – a good way for the line’s builders to make extra money in real estate)

Suburban Station in Philadelphia got its name when the Pennsylvania RR still operated Broad Street Station, but wanted to reduce congestion and moved the commuter trains (ie. Suburban routes) out of Broad Street Station. Broad Street was used for intercity traffic only, and was replaced by 30th Street entirely after the second great fire which doomed Broad Street to being demolished and the land sold for real estate development.

Regarding the Route 100 Norristown High Speed line…the former equipment is more properly referred to as “bullets” or “bullet cars” rather than “brilliners”. JG Brill company (based in Philly until its end) built the bullets — highly streamlined and tested in wind tunnels, and they also built and marketed “brilliners” as their proprietary alternative to the patented PCC design. The Brilliners were not high speed runners, but designed to navigate city streets.

I’m a bit surprised that you missed any of NJ Transit’s diesel-powered lines out of Hoboken. Any ride on the Port Jervis line includes a terrific view of the Manhattan skyline after leaving Passaic on inbound runs when the train crosses the Jersey Meadows.

Correction on the history of Broad Street Station, the station for through trains. The fire affecting primarily the arched trainshed and not the building. I believe the arched trainshed was replaced by butterfly platform cannopies, and the station continued in operation. I know for a fact that the station was completely rebuilt, and indeed, service was restored immediately after the fire was put out on the remaining servicable tracks. The station served all steam-powered trains, and at the time only electrically hauled trains were allowed on the lower level of 30th Street. The last train out of Broad Street was a Philaelphia Orchestra special train, and they had a short concert in the station before departure, and some brass players took up a position on the open observation car platform to play something (tattoo, I think) as the train left. The next day some people were suprised to Reading Pacific-type steam locomotives on the lower level of 30th Street on the specific Pennsylvania-Reading-Seashore trains that operated out of 30th Street. (Seashore lines did not own its own steam locomotives and its roster was split between the Pennsy and Reading. At the time most trains ran to the Camden ferry terminal, but some ran through Frankfort Junction to Broad Street, or then to 30th Street, and I don’t remember any running to Reading Terminal. Seashore Lines did not segregate its rented locomotives as which ran on Pennsy tracks and which did not.)

A Reading Pacific at 30th St? Who’da thunk it! I wonder if it had PRR cab signals installed…

Sorry for the apparent confusion – I didn’t specify that both the first fire (1923) and the second (1943) were focused on the wooden platform planks and baggage areas under the tracks. Indeed, the headhouse was not damaged, and the non-combustible iron/steel and glass trainshed was warped/distressed from the heat and replaced with individual canopies over each distinct platform. The station facilities (not the he

Live and learn! I hope we can use your suggestion at a later date. The one excursion we planned but missed due to overall fatigue was Penn Station - Syosset via the LIRR. Believe the train has a diesel engine, or gets one at Hicksville. - a. s.

More on Broad Street. As far as I recall, the closure of Broad Street was not related to the fire in any way, just to the opportunity to improve traffic and the whole city area by removing the “Chinese Wall” that was the embankment PRR approach to Broad Street. This could not be done during WWII because of heavy rail passenger traffic. Broad Street terminated the Clockers then running every hour to New York, about eight daily Pittsburgh trains (at least one each way with through sleepers to Chicago), and steam trains to places like Williamsport and other Pennsylvania branches terminals. Some secondary Chicago and St. Louis trains from NY did make a reverse move into Broad Street. You are correct about how PRSL trains were handled, and indeed the Reading Pacifics I observed were always on the north end of the 30th Street lower level tracks. And you are correct about the lack of direct connecting tracks from the PRSL to Reading Terminal. But one strange thing if memory is correct, is that there was a daily Harrisburg departure from Reading Terminal that had a through sleeper to Chicago - via the PRR from Harrisburg! (The two stations in Harrisburg were reasonably close, if I rermember correctly.)

The brass players on the observation car platform of the Philadelphia Orchestra special that was the last departure from Broad Street played the tune of “Auld Lang Zyne”

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Then drink a cup of kindness dear, for the days of Auld Lang Zyne."

The event was covered by a national radio broadcast.

The through sleeper probably traveled to Harrisburg via Reading, PA. The two stations in Harrisburg were immediately adjacent to each other and had a direct connecting track between them. The sleeper could have been pulled off of the rear of the train by a switcher and immediatly transfered to the PRR for forwarding to Chicago. http://kc.pennsyrr.com/maps/images/rdg_hbg_1934.jpg

Reading had other sleeper run through operations via connecting railroads, too.

[quote user=“al-in-chgo”]
CAMDEN, NJ TO TRENTON:

New Jersey Transit (NJT) diesel light-rail “River Line”.

Pre-planning: The folks at NJT headquarters in Newark really bowled me over with their intelligently designed, useful publicity and transit materials. My first request included (without my having asked) a map of the complete NJT commuter-train system with color-coded routes on a black background; other materials offered promotions, maps and timetables for NJT’s light rail lines. This route, the River Line, runs up the eastern side of the Delaware from Camden to Trenton, according to the timetable 69.7 miles. A further e-mail request for more specific timetables on some routes led to a quick first-class-mail response with everything I needed, even fares. The change from PATCO at Camden - Broadway station to NJT’s light-rail is as easy as changing floors can be, but note that the Light Rail calls that station “The Walter Rand Transportation Center.” (Note that the LTR doesn’t originate at Broadway but several stops earlier.) I am still impressed: A-plus.

Quality of Ride: Fascinating. The LRT trainset resembles a classic “accordion” bus or tram but with a bigger middle - that’s where they put the diesel-electric engines. For a weekday afternoon, the number of people riding, especially South to North Jersey, was impressive, and the passengers comprised a healthy mix of people: all races, all ages, and we all got along fine. The ride itself is fairly smooth but what really impressed me was the kick those new-generation diesel-electrics have. Only when getting up to top speed (which I would guess is about 65 - 70 mph) could we hear the diesels growling. The usual kind of whine from electric locomotion, but no diesel smell. The motorman was easily approachable and he let someone (whom he probably knew already) sit all the way up front just opposite him. Was I jealous! Since the engines are quick off the mark, and the

I also stated, (immediately following the truncated quote)

“JG Brill company (based in Philly until its end) built the bullets — highly streamlined and tested in wind tunnels, and they also built and marketed “brilliners” as their proprietary alternative to the patented PCC design. The Brilliners were not high speed runners, but designed to navigate city streets.”

Unfortunately, my words were not clear or precise enough to distinguish that I understand that the two models were completely different designs.

PTC = Philadelphia Transit Company which never owned ANY double ended brilliners. Philadelphia Suburban Transit Company (a stock/shareholder company that was disctinct from PTC and remained so until SEPTAs assumption of both properties) did operate double ended brilliners.

Bah; was a typo. Should have just said “Red Arrow”. The 103 should still be a trolley line to this day, too…

As for Newark Broad (former DL&W), that station’s undergoing a major reconfiguration, into one that the Lackawanna should have built to begin with—with at least one island platform so that all three tracks can have a platform adjacent. The high platforms are also new.

Here’s a view of Broad Street that could be from the 80s:

Also, is it my perception, or are people in this forum trying to find any excuse to dump on Amtrak? There are commuter cars in far worse condition than Amfleets. Remember, Amtrak gets a tenth per route-mile what commuter railroads get, in terms of funding. One-tenth.

[quote user=“JT22CW”]

Bah; was a typo. Should have just said “Red Arrow”. The 103 should still be a trolley line to this day, too…

As for Newark Broad (former DL&W), that station’s undergoing a major reconfiguration, into one that the Lackawanna should have built to begin with—with at least one island platform so that all three tracks can have a platform adjacent. The high platforms are also new.

Here’s a view of Broad Street that could be from the 80s:


| From: | “SEPTA TIC” septatic@septa.org Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert |
| - | - |
| To: | “‘allen smalling’” smalling_60626@yahoo.com |
| Subject: | RE: Route 103 |
| Date: | Sun, 21 Oct 2007 15:05:25 -0400 |

Reply: SEPTA does operate the Route 103 bus route. Sincerely,

The Red Arrow 103 was indeed a trolley during the time Brilliners ran the route; the mention of Brilliners on this thread brought it to my mind. The route had a dedicated ROW for the trolleys, which was decimated (most likely needlessly) with the widening of West Chester Pike. This low-resolution pic shows a Brilliner on the 103 route circa 1954.

P70s vs Amfleet.

The trade-off is HEP jumpers vs. a steam connection. The steam connection is needed year-round for reheat in the HVAC system. The steam connections are cranky things. I think I’d rather deal with HEP jumpers.

Empire svc riding backwards.

The train would change direction in Penn, so Empire passengers would be riding forward. But, there is a precedent for rear facing seating on Empire service. The Turboliners used to have 50/50 forward/rear facing seating (as the Keystone trains SHOULD have - if they don’t already…) and these trains used to go all the way to Buffalo like that.

Empire serice consist is typically 4 or 5 Amfleet and a P32. A Keystone train is typically 5 coaches and and AEM7. What crew agreement issues would be involved? Maybe an arbitrary for the engine swap at Penn?