Urban Commuter / Light Rail / Modern Streetcar News!
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DENVER, CO - The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) will open the 2.3-mile Southeast light-rail extension on May 17.  An extension of RTD's E, F and R lines, the line will extend service south from Lincoln Station to RidgeGate Station in Lone Tree, Colorado.  The $233 million extension includes three new stations and 1,300 parking spaces.

KANSAS CITY, MO - The KC Streetcar fleet is growing. The next group of KC Streetcar vehicles is on their way, starting with #805, which is scheduled to arrive in Kansas City on Monday, May 13. This is the first of two streetcar vehicles scheduled to arrive in Kansas City this year.  KC Streetcar #806 is estimated to arrive in Kansas City later this summer. The KC Streetcar vehicles are continuing the existing numbering system with 805 and 806. The last PCC streetcar in Kansas City Over 50 years ago) was numbered 799.

The KC Streetcar, formally called the RideKC Streetcar, is a streetcar system in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Construction began in May 2014 and the system opened for service on May 6, 2016. The KC Streetcar is currently free to ride, as it is funded by a Transportation development district. The streetcar has logged over 5 million riders since opening. The system started with four 100% low-floor Urbos 3 streetcars, numbered 801 through 804 made by the American subsidiary of Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in Elmira Heights, New York.

“The arrival of 805 is a long time coming. More than two years ago, we saw the ridership demand and knew we had to plan for the future in order to effectively serve the growing downtown community,” said Tom Gerend, executive director, KC Streetcar Authority. 

Expansion planning began almost at the same time construction began in 2014. Two studies covered one line north, crossing the Missouri River and eight lines heading east, west and south from downtown.

In August 2017, the KC Port Authority announced plans to extend the line north from the River Market towards the Missouri River. This proposed extension would run for 3/4 mile to Berkley Riverfront Park. If funding is agreed, this extension would open in 2020–2021, with construction costing $32 million. In August 2017, voters approved the formation of a TDD that would help to fund the extension of the streetcar south. This would extend the line for 3.75 miles along Main Street.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Progressive Railroading reported that LA Metro announced on May 29th that the southern section of the Blue Line between the Compton and Downtown Long Beach stations will reopen on June 1, 2019. The opening follows the completion of upgrades to the line’s tracks, overhead power lines and train control, as well as the addition of additional crossovers. Upgrades also included the installation of new digital customer information screens and signage at stations. 

The end of the southern section work marks the halfway point of the $350 million New Blue project, which will bring LA Metro’s oldest light-rail line up to the specifications of the network's newer rail lines, according to an LA Metro press release. When the southern section reopens, rail service on the Blue Line’s northern section will be suspended and work will begin. 

KinkiSharyo car 1069, normally assigned to the Expo Line, leading a two-car Blue Line Train during the first half of the project!

During this first half of the project, the northen end of the Blue Line was operated from Division 14 (Expo Line) in Santa Monica. Thirty-three of the KinkiSharyo P3010 cars were sent from the Blue Line yards prior to the start of the work to support the north end of the Blue line since the Blue Line shops were cut off from the outside world. These cars are in the process of being transferred back to the Blue Line. Normally supported by three-car trains, there were numerous two-car trains on both lines during thie period.

“The first half of the New Blue project has been completed on time and on budget and is a major milestone for [LA Metro’s] state-of-good-repair program,” said LA Metro Chief Executive Officer Phillip Washington.LA Metro also announced that construction work at the junction of the Expo and Blue lines near Washington Boulevard and Grand Avenue will begin June 22 and continue for 60 days.

MILWAUKEE, WI - Progressive Railroading reported on May 6th that the Milwaukee officials plan to extend the city's streetcar route to the Wisconsin Center District Convention Hall in time for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Mayor Tom Barrett announced last week.

Barrett also announced engineering plans for two streetcar additional extensions to Milwaukee neighborhoods known as Bronzeville and Walker's Point, according to a press release. The line just opened in November 2018 using five "Liberty" low-floor streetcars built by the Brookville Corporation in Brookville, PA.

The first extension, which would connect The Hop with the Wisconsin Center, Hub 640 office building, Hilton City Center hotel and much of Westown, would add a single stop to the existing line at N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. (formerly N. 4th St.) and W. Wisconsin Ave. It would connect with the line’s current western terminus at W. St. Paul Ave. and N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. near the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.

The Milwaukee Streetcar is called "The Hop". Above is a map of the current system.

The current streetcars are capable of operating in service using only battery power part of the time, because almost one third of the line is not equipped with overhead wires. The on-board batteries are charged when the vehicles are on the wired portions of the line. The sections that are operated on battery power only are along Kilbourn Avenue and Jackson Street. All other parts of the line have overhead wires, although a portion of the future branch to the Lakefront area is also unwired.

The cars are numbered 01–05, and each car is 67 feet (20 m) long, weighing 83,000 pounds (38,000 kg), and is designed to carry 120 to 150 passengers. All five cars arrived during 2018. No fares are to be charged for the first year of service, under the 12-year sponsorship deal with Potawatomi Hotel & Casino.

The $46.8 million package, which includes $20 million approved by the Milwaukee Common Council in a 2016 resolution, relies solely on funding from amendments to six existing tax incremental financing districts. 

"Our vision for the streetcar from the very beginning has been as a catalyst for economic growth that would positively impact the heart of the city and then continue into the neighborhoods," Barrett said. "What we are outlining is a critical next step in fulfilling that promise and ensuring that the momentum we’re seeing downtown continues to spread to Bronzeville, Walker’s Point and beyond. Now is the time for us to capitalize on the progress we’ve made and commit to an even brighter future for Milwaukee."

The resolution's first phase involves a $28 million existing of the existing M-Line north along Vel R. Phillips Avenue and Fifth Street to Wisconsin Avenue to provide a direct connection to the convention center and other destinations. Under the proposal, construction would begin in fall and completed in spring 2020, with the extension operational ahead of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in summer.

The resolution also commits $18.8 million toward planning, environmental studies and engineering work for the extensions to Bronzeville and Walker's Point. If approved by the Common Council, the extension plans would result in a 2.4-mile expansion of the existing 2.1-mile streetcar loop.

In March 2019, the Democratic National Committee picked Milwaukee over Houston and Miami as the site of its 2020 national convention.

MODELING HINTS....

Trolleyville Visits Brookville Equipment Corporation!
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Late last year, three model railroad businesses, involved in the modeling of current urban rail transit vehicles, were invited to visit the Brookville Equipment Corporation (BROOKVILLE) by Joel McNeil, Vice President, Business Development. These three businesses were Bowser Manufacturing (Lee English), Custom Traxx (George Huckaby) and Volkmar Meier (Interurban Models). All three of these businesses have interests in electric urban rail transit, especially as it pertains to the development of scale operational models.

Interurban Models had developed some 3D printed HO and N scale models of San Diego light rail vehicles and had just began a project to develop models of the Brookville Liberty (TM) Streetcar, an articulated low-floor, modern design. Both of these models were powered by Bowser traction drives and were to be finished with Custom Traxx decals.

Joel was suddenly called to Washington D.C. at the last minute and could not meet with the team but was very well represented by Michael White, Director of Sales, Ryan Grabowski, Mechanical Engineer; Matthew Sebak, Electrical Engineer, so any issues we had in the development of a possible model of the Liberty Streetcar could easily be resolved and at the end of the visit the group reported that they got more than they needed to build a superior model.

Lee English (left) looking at one of the N scale models brought by Volkmar Meier (right). Also examining the model are Ryan Grabowski and Matthew Sebak

The company was founded back in 1918. It was actually established by a Ford dealer, Mr. L.A. Leathers, who started installing flanged railroad wheels on gasoline powered trucks and began Brookville Locomotive Works. The idea was to defer from the underdeveloped road systems and take advantage of the better maintained railways in the area.

Dalph is shown with the first Dallas "Liberty" streetcar! (Photo courtesy of Brookville Equipment Corp.)

The current era began when Dalph McNeil became owner and president in 1975. Manufacturing was moved to the current Evans Street facility in 1998 and the first new frame diesel locomotive was built in 2000. By 2002, BROOKVILLE would begin a series of streetcar modernization projects for New Orleans Canal Street and Philadelphia's Girard Avenue Route 15. A review of BROOKVILLE's supply chain revealed that 55% of its components were purchased locally in Pennsylvania, and every piece of equipment is built entirely in its Brookville, PA 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility. At the end of 2018, over 100 streetcars, manufactured or renovated by BROOKVILLE were plying the rails in the United States. Additionally, over 95 percent of the suppliers, from which BROOKVILLE purchases, operate within the United States.

BROOKVILLE designed, developed and produced their own trolley pole base for mining locomotives and it was patented in 2001. The company began manufacturing trucks for streetcars in 2003 for use in vintage-style cars being newly built by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. Since 2002 it has had a streetcar division, working mainly on restoration, refurbishment and re-manufacturing of existing streetcars. The first such contract was one to rebuild 18 1947-1948 era PCC streetcars for SEPTA Route 15 in Philadelphia. The cars, known as PCC IIs, were modified in 2002-2003 and included air-conditioning. They entered service in 2005 and are still in service.

 

PCC-II Car 2331 (originally PTC/SEPTA 2738) car on Route 15 during testing. (Photo courtesy of Brookville Equipment Corp.)

Later work has included restoring PCC cars for use on San Francisco Municipal Railway's F Market & Wharves line and providing propulsion systems, controls and trucks for the in house manufactured replicas of 1923 Perley Thomas streetcars for New Orleans' Canal Street Line.

San Francisco PCC 1061, formerly PTC/SEPTA 2116, in service in 2019!

Five of the air-conditioned Canal Street Cars! (Photo courtesy of Brookville Equipment Corp.)

BROOKVILLE also completely rebuilt San Francisco 1912-built car #1, the first publicly-owned streetcar, in time for the 100th year celebration of the inception of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (SFMR). This streetcar was the first of 46 similar Class A vehicles built by W. L. Holman.

Car #1 leaving the Museum area.

In 2015, BROOKVILLE began restoring and modernizing six air-electric PCC cars for the city of El Paso, TX. these cars had been manufactured in 1937 and ran in San Diego, CA until 1948, The cars were sold to El Paso where they ran until 1973. Since then the cars had languished outdoors with no attention until now. The completely renovated cars, which include air conditioning, began service in December 2018. the next photo shows before and after photos.

Brookville has also renovated San Francisco PCC cars, beginning with the 11 cars purchased from Newark, all seven of the remaining original Muni-owned "Torpedo" double-ender PCC cars and 13 of the ex-Philadelphia PCC cars. The left photo shows some of the ex-Newark cars and a "Torpedo" being renovated while the right photo shows one of the Torpedoes in renovation during our visit. No wonder why these cars look so good in San Francisco. While we were at the facility, we saw Muni cars 1058 (Chicago), 1059 (Boston), 1007 (PSTC Red Arrow), 1010 (Muni blue/gold) and 1015 (Illinois Terminal). 1007, 1010 and 1015 were originally renovated by Morrison-Knudsen in the mid-1990s along with the entire 1050 -1063 class of ex-Philadelphia PCCs. 1010, which was on the property, was not seen by us since is was enclosed in the sealed blast booth for primer and initial paint. We also saw the two ex-Red Arrow St Louis Cars 18 and 21 sitting out back that are presently under discussion for conversion to Torpedoes.

In the above photo, two ex-Minneapolis, ex-Newark PCC cars (1076 and 1077) and one Muni Torpedo are being renovated for San Francisco heritage car service.

Muni Car 1007 which was initially painted in the Muni Breda Paint Scheme before being repainted as a Red Arrow 1949 St Louis Lightweight interurban. It had completed the framing process when this photo was taken.

But their signature development would be the modern low-floor Liberty streetcar with capability of "off-wire" operation. On September 14, 2011, BROOKVILLE announced plans to develop a low-floor, articulated tram. The design was later named the Liberty, and features the ability to operate away from the overhead electric power wires for a limited distance, using a lithium-ion battery on board energy storage system (OESS). These batteries recharge when the pantograph is raised to contact the overhead wires along the route or at selected charge stops along the line. The Liberty Streetcar easily complies with the Federal 2020 Buy America Requirements.

In early 2013, the company received a $9.4-million order for two Liberty streetcars from Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The first model was delivered in 2015 and they were for the Dallas Streetcar, which opened for public service on April 13, 2015. These cars are currently in operation in Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; Milwaukee, WI; and Oklahoma City, OK. Cars are currently on order for Portland, OR, Tacoma, WA and Tempe AZ. In 2015, the "Liberty" streetcar won the Technical Innovation of the Year Award at the Annual London, England Global, Light Rail Awards Meeting.

Detroit Liberty 291!

Oklahoma City Liberty 201801!

This is one outstanding facility demonstrating the pride of American know-how and manufacturing. If any city in North America, particularly on the west coast (hint...hint) is planning trolley line, they better talk to these folks (....or forever hold their peace.....) They are even improving the already excellent Liberty and adding some capabilities to the already neat car. We will tell you all about these improvements as soon as we get them from BROOKVILLE.

Custom Traxx Visits ESU LokSound, English's Model Railroad Supply and Train Control Systems!
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ESU Loksound (ESU) just completed its relocation to 1304 Jordan Avenue in Montoursville, PA. They are on the second floor of a two story building that we named the Bowser Model Railroad Complex (BMRC) that contains 35,000 sq ft of floor space. The new ESU home is strictly a manufacturing facility not intended for customer visits. The same building is also the home of Bowser Manufacturing Co, 1302 Jordan Avenue, Montoursville, PA 17754 and English's Model Railroad Supply (EMRRS) which is on the first floor of the same building. Do not be misled by the EMRRS official address of 201 Streibeigh Lane. It is all the same building, only the entrances are different.

The EMRRS entrance to the current Bowser Model Railroad Complex in Montoursville, PA!

They were still moving into the facility when we visited so not a lot of photos were taken. Their new facility will greatly enhance their response to customers.

Matt Herman, ESU General Manager, discussing projects with Lee English, CEO of Bowser Manufacturing!

When the Bachmann HO scale model of the four Pennsylvania Railroad Semi-Streamlined K4 Pacific (4-6-2) debuted earlier this year, we were really amazed by the WOW Sound in the locomotive but that amazement was to be short lived. Then the Siemens ACS-64 "Sprinter" commuter electric locomotives entered the marketplace and the Southern California Traction Club just had to have one, even if currently the club has no place to run a locomotive that requires 22" radius curves. so we first ran it on the EMRRS store layout with, very unprototypically, nine freight cars. But we did include a PRR caboose and the engine pulled those nine cars effortlessly.

Custom Traxx SEPTA Siemens ACS-64 "Sprinter" breaking in on the EMRRS store layout!

While at Bowser, we ran the LRVs that we were taking to the 24th National Trolley Meet on the same layout. These included models of the 1989-built Los Angeles County Transportation Commission NipponSharyo P865s 100 & 102, Siemens 2014-built S70 Atlanta Streetcar 1001 and 2014-2018 built LA Metro P3010s 1047 and 1111 along with 2018-built Oklahoma City Brookville Liberty 201801, all of which are 3D printed bodies and chassis with Bowser traction power.

Also while in Pennsylvania, we stopped by Boyer Machine, who supports Bowser Manufacturing with quality moldmaking. They have been making the base plates for the Custom Traxx Rail Bender, designed specifically for bending the girder rail originally developed by Richard Orr and sold by Custom Traxx since 2003. Boyer Machine is a family operation in Northumberland, PA, owned by Ron & Judy Boyer along with their son Nate, shown in the below left photo. Nate is the master machinist who designed our acrylic plate. replacing cast metal plates dating back a few decades.

EMRRS is a throw back to hobby shops in the "good Ole days". They are well stocked just like the days before the Internet. A few photos of the inside of the 6,500 square foot facility below. Note that they stock lots of various manufacturers including Broadway Limited items.

Note the multiple stock in most items. You can not usually leave empty-handed!

Note the various Broadway Limited items on both shelves!

EMRRS is run very well by only three full-time model railroad professionals, Richard Cox (Manager), Frank Passero, (Sales) and Vern Trego (Repairs) along with a few part time helpers.

EMRRS' Richard Cox (left) and Frank Passero (right)! Vern Trego was unavailable when this photo was taken!

So if you are driving on Interstate 80 in western Pennsylvania, just take the Interstate 180 north to Montoursville and take the Fairfield Road exit and head south to Lycoming Drive and turn right. Turn left at the second opportunity, Streibeigh Lane. The complex is on the left (east) side in the second block. If you do not you may later regret it. It is worth the detour to go there at least once.

Store hours are:

Monday through Friday - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Saturdays - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM except from April through September when the hours are 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Sundays - Thanksgiving to Christmas - Noon to 4PM.

If there is any doubt, call the store at (570) 368-2516.

On our way from Montoursville, PA we stopped at Blooming Glen, PA to visit Train Control Systems (TCS). TCS worked with Bowser to develop the first decoder for the Bowser HO scale PCC cars, introduced almost ten years ago. This decoder, the M1-T, had the first realistic brake light function for the PCC car. This feature has been included in almost every PCC decoder made ever since and is available in most of the TCS decoders currently made. While there, we had our Bachmann SEPTA Siemens ACS-64 upgraded with the latest DCC circuit board.

Then it was on to the 24th National Trolley Meet!

Just in: Bowser is again considering producing the Kansas City all-electric PCC in HO scale. This project was shelved a few years back when insufficient pre-orders were received. The sudden and inexpected shutdown of the AFFA Tech Facility in Guangdong Province, China in July 2018 halted production for 14 model railroad manufacturers including Bowser. Since that time, Bowser has obtained two new production facilities and will be ramping up production during the remainder of this year. This has caused an 18 to 24 month manufacturing delay for all concerned. Watch The Custom Traxx website for more information on this project.

 

The 24th National Trolley Meet!
[Part One!]
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It was our initial intent to report this fine biennial meet in both this and the July issue due to the amount of items that could be reported. However, sales were so intense for Custom Traxx at this show that a lot of photography could not be accomplished and for that we must apologize. Several vendors reported the best sales ever. One of them reported the highest sales in any show since they were founded. Custom Traxx sold out on the popular Bowser 125100 and 125130 traction power units two hours after setting up their booth on Friday. They had increased their stock levels on these popular traction units during their trip to Bowser earlier the same week.

So part one of this report will have:

1. An overview of the meet itself;

2. An announcement about another new 3D streetcar model that could shortly be available;

3. A summary of the May 18th briefing by Brookville Equipment Corporation's Ron Smith, Project Manager for the Tucson Streetcar renovation and the current rehabilitation of the thirteen Muni 1947/1948 ex-Philadelphia PCC cars and three "Torpedoes" 1007, 1010 and 1015; and

4. The May 19th PCCII trip.

The fact that the PCCII cars were developed by Brookville, combined with our visit to Brookville on Wednesday, May 15th, gave us an in depth view of Brookville's high degree of professionalism and workmanship.

Ron Smith promised to send us a copy of his presentation and if he does, that will be Part Two of this report!

1. The East Penn Traction Club [24th National Trolley Meet]!

Trolleyville looks forward to this meet, which has been presented for many years now. It is largely made up of electric railway lovers and electric railway modelers who have enjoyed the hobby and in many cases inherited it or had it passed to them from other generation. Every two years these mostly friendly and congenial trolley lovers get together and enjoy both the hobby and the friendship. We had warm and cordial experiences with all of those participating, that is except one, and most of you know who that is. We attempted to greet that person twice and got no response once and a grumpy one the next so that was that. But that did not detract from an otherwise fantastic meet. We were able to capture some of the meet between all of the sales.

In the first photo below, Volkmar Meier of Interurban Models demonstrated his HO and N scale models. He brought everything that you see on his table along with him on the plane from Paris!. He also provided an N scale model of the Brookville "Liberty" car to Brookville's Joel McNeil. Volkmar's HO scale 3D printed model of a Milwaukee Brookville Liberty is shown on the table with a model of the Liberty Liner.

John Partridge, who in the May 2018 issue of the Times described how he turned a toy into a model of the Boston KinkiSharyo Type 7, is working on a 3D printed floor for the Boeing SLRV that ran in San Francisco and Boston. At one time, a replacement aluminum or pewter cast floor was available through Custom Traxx from Bowser. However, Bowser lost the capability to fabricate these floors. We will let you know how this proceeds.

2. The 3D Printed Baltimore Semi-Convertible Deck Roof Car Kit!

One of the first items that we came across was another 3D printed HO scale model. We were shown the highly detailed, smooth shell. The notice that we were presented was as follows:

A 3-D printed HO scale model of the 11 window Brill-built Baltimore one-man semi-convertible deck roof 11 window car has been made available by Australian modelers Greg King and Joe Spinella of Transit Classics (transitclassics@iinet.net.au). The model is exquisitely detailed and made to accept the Bowser 125130 drive with 4 foot-10-inch wheelbase. The model is available from Shapeways (item https://www.shapeways.com/product/LZSHJR4BX/baltimore-semi-convertible-trolley?key=5d040d7582d8532739f62ae2974c4927 ) and soon will be available directly from Greg and Joe produced from superior and less fragile medium and at a significantly lower cost. Joe and Greg made a resin cast version in O scale several years ago. Richard Allman observed it and admired it at the Bay State Model Railroad Museum in Roslindale, Massachusetts, where it was completed by Tony Tieuli. Richard urged Greg and Joe to undertake the project. He recognizes that in the current environment where modelers shake something out of the box and put it on the track, a craftsman kit entails significant risk which is deeply appreciated. Most of the needed supplies to make the car operational are available, including drives, poles, pole hooks, and couplers (the Bowser couplers will be very serviceable). Fenders, retrievers will entail some minor fabrication or else some luck in finding pieces, but the work will be minor. Greg has some decal sets and depending upon interest. Custom Traxx is considering producing more sets. The underbody details can either be used from the “stash” of craftsman modelers or as an alternative. Shapeways has a set ( item https://www.shapeways.com/product/G23DSSZAH/underfloor-detail-for-chicago-car?optionId=59090429 ) that will provide an acceptable result. Where George and I have a (friendly!) disagreement relates to the floor. Bob Dietrich and I like to fabricate our own brass floors and cut out the space for the drive, Custom Traxx stated that he would have preferred a 3-D printed floor, set up for the Bowser 125130 mechanism. Our preference for a fabricated brass floor is because of the necessity of adding weight to this very light-almost weightless model and therefore preferring a more robust floor to accommodate the necessary weight. We will have a template of the floor. The prototype streetcars were part of an 885-car fleet of double-ended deck roof cars that ran in Baltimore from the early 1900’s until the mid 1950’s. The model is a one-man car in a series built between 1914 (cars 5560-5644) and 1917 (cars 5645-5744). They were superficially like the 140 later 13-window two-man multiple unit cars. Baltimore was unique as a property, ordering deck roof cars right through World War One, by which time arch roof cars were the norm. Photos show the cars in the striking and distinctive orange-yellow and cream colors with the red anti-climbers and the final National Cities’ Lines simple dark yellow. The cars ran on many routes including some of the “jerkwater” branches such as Cheswold and Lorraine Cemetery, sometimes on Catonsville Junction-Ellicott City, and Fort Howard along with through-routed lines suitable for one-man operation. This is an ideal model for someone who wants to get back into craftsman-level modeling or someone who wants to attempt a model with a very high likelihood of success! Note: If this model is not your cup of tea, then this may be a good model on which to "practice" new skills on. If you mess up, no loss, But it you are successful, you have a new skill and a great model. Greg and Joe are to be highly commended for this undertaking. They are very customer-friendly, and are themselves accomplished traction modelers. This is a win-win for them and for our traction modeling fraternity. We hope that it will be well-supported!

As of this date, what is needed to complete this car, after one acquires the shell:

1 - Bowser 125130 traction drive which has a 4' 10" wheelbase and very close to correct sideframes. *
2 - Underbody details. **
3 - Two trolley poles, two pole hooks, two trolley catchers, fenders, traction couplers and decals. ***
4 - Fabricated brass or 3D printed floor. ****

* Currently available from Bowser Mfg and Custom Traxx and others!
** Currently available from Shapeways!
*** Available from various sources and/or scratch-built!
**** Trolleyville has recommended that a 3D printed floor be created intended for use with the 125158 Bowser mechanism.

For up-to-date information about this evolving kit, contact Richard Allman at allmanr@verizon.net!

3. BROOKVILLE Presentation!

The BROOKVILLE Briefing began at 8:00 PM about two blocks from the Fairgrounds and lasted about 90 minutes and covered the renovations to the El Paso (ex-El Paso, ex San Diego) streetcars and the San Francisco (ex- Philadelphia) streetcars. The presentation was held at Phoebe Allentown, 1925 Turner Street, a facility dedicated to the best care for senior citizens of various capabilities. Michael Junod, EPTC President, is shown in the below left photo as he introduced the guest speaker. The audience is shown in the right photo

4. PCC II Fan Trip!

The May 19th PCC trip, sponsored by the Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys, Inc (FPT) began at Elmwood Depot at 11:00 AM using PCC II 2321, formerly 1947 PCC 2738. Right on time the far pulled out onto Elmwood Avenue westbound and turned north on Island Avenue, left on Woodland Avenue (Route 11) and proceeded to the Darby loop.

Note: Car 2321 had experienced damage on December 1, 2005 after a derailment and more serious damage on May 1, 2014 after collision with high speed auto during a police chase.

After a short photo stop, the car went eastbound on Woodland Avenue to 58th street where it turned north on non-revenue trackage to Chester Avenue (Route 13), turned west and went to Mount Moriah Loop, a short turn loop on Route 13.

After another photo stop, the car went eastbound on Chester Avenue back to 58th Street to Woodland Avenue. The car went east to 50th Street where it circled the Woodland Maintenance Facility and ended northbound on 49th Street to Baltimore Avenue (Route 34) where it went to 61st and Baltimore Avenue for the first "pit-stop" and another photo stop.

Then the car went eastbound on Baltimore Avenue all the way to the 40th street subway portal. PCCII cars are not allowed in the subway due to the lack of ATC equipment. After another brief photo stop the car headed west on Woodland and Chester Avenue. The car did make one trip on the "diversion" trackage to 40th and Filbert. This trackage consists of portions of the former (abandoned in the 1950s) trolley routes 38, 40 and 42 and is used when the subway must be closed for maintenance. It deposits passenger at the 40th and Market subway station to continue their trips to center city. The next photo is car 2321 crossing Market Street southbound on the "diversion" route, commonly called "going over the top".

When we returned from that trip, the car when westbound on Chester Ave, South on 49th street and westbound on Elmwood Avenue (Route 36) until we passed Elmwood Depot. We got off the trip then although the trip did continue to the end of Route 36 at 88th & Eastwick and back to Elmwood Depot. It was after 3:00 PM when Trolleyville left the trip to head to Philadelphia International Airport for a late return flight to Los Angeles.

The FPT was founded in 2003 when four Philadelphia traction fans met for the purpose of forming a non-profit organization which could work with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to promote and preserve some of the historic trolleys in Philadelphia. SEPTA had zero interest at the time. To date, FPT has made nearly $200,000 in grants to established trolley museums for the preservation and restorations of trolleys from the Philadelphia area.

To do this, FPT sponsors trips like the one reported in this article and they have another one planned in Toronto for Saturday, August 17th. They also currently have a restoration campaign for PRT/PTC Brill Peter Witt #8042. Your support of these activities is encouraged.!