On October 21st, the first of the production units of the Silverliners has arrived in Philadelphia. From there they will go to Rotem in South Philadelphia to receive additional equipment and finally will be delivered to SEPTA. Now is the perfect time to get photos of the Silverliner II and III cars!!
Youtubing: Video of Silverliner V #701 in Testing
Over the past several weeks, a user on youtube by the name of “ghostengineer” has uploaded several videos fo #701 during testing in South Korea!
Check it out!!
Frankford Elevated is starting to crumble
Due to an engineering flaw, pieces of concrete has been crumbling from the Frankford El since 1997. It was supposed last for 75 years since its completion in the year 2000. SEPTA has filed a lawsuit with Parsons Brinckerhoff and Sverdrup, which is now part of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., for the cost to repair the damage. The cost: $20 million dollars or more! SEPTA is now working with Wiss Janney Elstner Associates Inc. to find a permanent solution to the problem, as they put up mesh below the structure to keep concrete from falling on the traffic below.
More details in the Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090918_Frankford_El_with_potential_to_crumble_needs_repairs.html
El Dorado catches on fire
At the Montgomery Mall, Frontier’s 4572 caught on fire while starting to head back to the Frontier district. The rear of the bus was burnt to a crisp! Stay tuned for details on whether or not 4572 will be brought back to life and to service.
Going Green Campaign
Within the past several weeks, SEPTA has started placing stickers on both the 2008-2009 hybrid fleet of buses as well as the trackless trolley fleet. The older hybrids has rear side stickers placed on it’s Air conditioner vents on the back of the bus.
100 New Hybrids in Service – 40 more to come
Started back in the Spring of 2009, Midvale, and Allegheny has received it’s complete set of new hybrid buses. These New Flyer DE40LF hybrid buses are built just like the 2008 hybrids; the only exception is that they have LED lighting.
SEPTA has also approved the option to receive 40 more buses. 20 buses out of the 40 were part of the optional order of 20 per year. The other 20 is part of the Stimulus plan passed in the Winter by President Obama. Once this order is said and done, 8220-8359 will be in service. It has been reported that 8327 has been spotted in Minnesota getting work done on the bus.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/3821253093_714612928c_b.jpg
It’s unclear which depots will receive these additional 40 hybrids.
Roster Archives added to the site.
Well after a long hiatus, I’ve decided to add rosters to the site of SEPTA bus rosters from the past. These rosters were actually uploaded by a PTV admin onto a another group several years back, so I’ve decided they would be a great fit here on PTV. They were Contributed by Doug Diehl These rosters were the official rosters at SEPTA during these time periods.
The later rosters were merely copies of rosters which were on the PTV site.
http://www.philadelphiatransitvehicles.info/history/rosters.php
Enjoy!
Atlantic City Train Crashes into car, one fatality
In Atco, NJ, train 4630, heading towards Philadelphia, smashed into a car at the Bartram Ave railroad crossing, near Bartram and Atlantic Aves. This occurred about 4:15 PM, resulting in a bus bridge for several hours. Unfortunately, the female driver did not survive the accident.
Slides of the accident can be found here: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/gallery?section=news&id=6937121&photo=1
Fox Chase Station to get a total rebuild
In six weeks, SEPTA will begin with the reconstruction of Fox Chase Station. Federal stimulus money will fund this well-needed project, since over the past 30 years, the station has fallen into such a state of disrepair.
SEPTA plans to use about 3.2 million dollars to rebuild the station. The new station would be more aesthetically appealing, be more resistant to vandalism, and be easier to clean and maintain.
The construction should not effect train operations. SEPTA hopes to have the project finished in 2010.
More information here: http://www.philly.com/community/pa/philadelphia/netimes/Fox_Chase_is_onboard_with_plans_for_train_station.html
4579 gets toasted
Unfortunately, Frontier’s 4579 caught on fire while in service on the 134. It seems like the fire may have started in the dash/steering wheel area. Due to the fire, this bus is now retired. That marks Dorado number 2 that was lost to a fire.