K-Kar on the 15??

Good Evening, Everyone:

Well, it was the uniformed supervisor who put the K-car on route 15. He should be reprimanded or suspended.

But remember, it was 40 years ago when an all-electric PCC car operated on route 10 due to an egregious error
by a car cleaner or maintenance man who signed it for a destination on that line. The all-electric was one of the
cars assigned to route 15. That evening, a new motorman assigned to route 10 who saw a car already signed
for his route, took the all-electric out and operated it onto the subway.

Was there a K-Kar on the 15 recently?

They ran k-cars for a few months on the route 15 back in the summer of '95, I think so they can run on that route.

kevikens wrote:They ran k-cars for a few months on the route 15 back in the summer of '95, I think so they can run on that route.

In '95, the line wasn't ADA compliant. I don't believe they're allowed to run K-cars, which aren't compliant, on a compliant route.

I understand it was an error, but what was the big deal with operating an all-electric on the 10 40 years ago?

There was a K car on the 15 yesterday after a PCCII's lift fail and had to be taken out of service. The K Car was deployed as an emergency car.

The K Car was deployed as an emergency car.

Weren't any PCC's available to cover for it?

I've also noticed depending on the day of week that there are fewer buses out. Ordinary riders think buses are still out for, as one person put it today, "those who have a phobia of trolleys". That was a new one....I guess kind of like the C bus for those who have phobias of subways.

I've noticed 2 cars today that also have non-functioning speedometers. Wonder if this is going to be a trend?

Non-working speedometers already? Oy vey!

And the warranty on the fleet is almost expired too....that won't help them any when it comes to repairs.

SEPTA never did take the option to have 8 more cars rebuilt into PCC-II's,
thus assuring the presence of a spare margin for the fleet. As it is now, there are almost no spare cars available. And it's too late for the option....since no PCC's remain available for rebuild and the option period has long expired.

Here's my stupid question of the day:

How does SEPTA plan to wash & maintain the trolleys at Callowhill?? From what I can see, there is no way for the cars to go through the bay where the "bus washer" is. The track in that bay has been conveniently paved over, and from the looks of the cars, especially after last week's rain, they haven't been washed yet.

Will they be "hand washed"?
Will they send them to Elmwood to wash them?

I'm asking because we know that equipment that SEPTA has that they want to get rid gets ignored in the maintenance dept. For that matter I've already seen a few PCC's with scratched up bodies from minor traffic accidents. Wonder if they have the correct paint code to maintain the finish for those minor fender benders.

Where did they get the K-car from that operated on the line on the 12th ? Did they comandeer a number 10 trolley from Lancaster Ave. or are K-cars now operating out of Callohill ? By the way I have been observing the PCC II's since the line opend and it does seem that they have ironed out the wrinkles. Any word or feedback from the users in the press or media ?

kevikens wrote:Where did they get the K-car from that operated on the line on the 12th ? Did they comandeer a number 10 trolley from Lancaster Ave. or are K-cars now operating out of Callohill ? By the way I have been observing the PCC II's since the line opend and it does seem that they have ironed out the wrinkles. Any word or feedback from the users in the press or media ?

K-cars are assigned to Callowhill now for Route 10. And now that the line is running, it seems the press could care less.

I and my fellow Traffic Checkers had the pleasure of riding the 15 once again today.

All my trips ran on time, and my last one finishing at 63-Girard arrived 10 minutes early! Operations appeared to be moving smoothly. I did see 2 Eastbound cars back to back at one point, both with heavy loads, so the first probably picked up a wheelchair. This was during rush hour so headways were already about 8 or 9 minutes at that point.

I also got to pick up a car at Callowhill today. PCCs are stored in one bay, with K-Kars in the bay next to it. The infamous 59th St has been repaved and new traffic lines painted. The problem block of 59th St now has a single lane SB with no parking (and No Parking signs posted) while the NB side is double laned with parking on the side. I guess that was the most logical way to handle the track being in the middle of the street.

I saw some K-Kars coming off the 10 heading South on 63rd, then left on to Girard down the Rt 15 tracks to 60th, and then South on 60th to Callowhill.

wagz wrote:I also got to pick up a car at Callowhill today. PCCs are stored in one bay, with K-Kars in the bay next to it...

Actually 1 bay was destroyed in a fire about 5 years ago. The bay you reffer to is actually 2 bay and that is the shop bay. 3 bay is the Kawasaki bay and 4 bay is the PCC-II bay.