SEPTA and the Snow

Anyone know if SEPTA does anything "Special" to keep the trains running when it snows bad? By special, I mean go to extraordinary means to get works crews in, or have crews on standby at places like Wayne or Penn Coach yard? I know the trains themselves don't have much trouble, but I was actually stranded at Warminster once a few years ago because no one was around to operate the train. The train was there and ready to go, but no driver. To my amazement, another train came in, the engineer had to get out of his train, move the one on the platform back, pull his train in, and then went home because his "shift was over".

Anyone have any similar experiences?

jfrey40535 wrote:Anyone know if SEPTA does anything "Special" to keep the trains running when it snows bad?

Yep. Planning for snow involves a lot of things, from calling contractors to plow out stations to spiking switches so snow won't get in the points and prevent them from closing, to sometimes storing trains in the tunnel.

To my amazement, another train came in, the engineer had to get out of his train, move the one on the platform back, pull his train in, and then went home because his "shift was over".

It's possible that engineer was at the end of his legal hours of service, and would not have been allowed (as a matter of federal law) to run another trip.

I was wondering. Do the trolleys fair better in heavy snow than buses ? Maybe they will release the PCCII's if so.

There's nowhere they can run them. They can't go in the tunnel, and I doubt they would run them with a mix of buses on the 15. From what I've seen of videos of Philadelphia trolleys in the snow, they seemed to do okay. Of course back in the day, PTC had special snow removal equipment for city streets. All of the equipment is in a museum now of course.

I was wondering. Do the trolleys fair better in heavy snow than buses ? Maybe they will release the PCCII's if so.

I was wondering about that too. I saw a picture in a library book once that showed an old PCC trolley (route 6, I think) that derailed because of ice and snow packed into the track. But it didn't say if that was a common problem or not. Snow probably isn't much of a problem, but I would think ice would present all sorts of difficulties, from decreased traction to interfering with the trolley pole (wire contact, etc).

I have been on the Trolleys during heavy snow like this they seem to do fine.

One line that fares(*) badly in the snow is unfortunately the 100 NHSL / P&W. Heavy snow can pack down around the the third rail and cause contact problems for the shoes. Long ago, the Red Arrow had a good set of snow removal and ice control equipment (remember the "pickle car" that spread de-icer on the rails?) but SEPTA retired much of it without adequate replacements, no doubt in a misguided effort to save $$$.

At one time there were rumors that as part of a settlement for missed deadlines, one of the vendors (ABB?) would give SEPTA some diesel equipment that could be used for ice and snow control, but it fell through. And that led of course to the fiasco in the mid-90's when the line was down for nearly 2 weeks after a heavy snow. Without plows and de-icers, most of the ROW had to be cleared by hand! Then SEPTA patted itself on the back in an internal document that made it seem as though using brooms and shovels to clear 26 miles of tracks was some kind of major triumph rather than gross stupidity.

(*) please - that's not "fair"

I actually have a good Septa story from the snowy late-night of Sat. the 23rd.
I had a case of cabin fever and took the R5 from Jenkintown to Ft. Wash. to visit firiends. Why drive? I thought.
Being that the station announcemts kept talking of 50 min. delays, I didn't bother with a schedule (even Ft. Wash!).
Having grown up along 'The Reading', I knew that there would be a CC-bound train as late as 10:30 PM.
2 hours later and still no trains.
Please bear in mind that there was 1' of fresh snow, it was 9 degrees, and the wind was blowing 30+.
Finally, after 3 Lansdale-bound trains went past, I flagged the engineer.
He agreed to get me back to Jenkintown - by way of Fortuna!
From Fortuna to Jenkintown we sailed without stopping once.
I had the entire train to myself.

How did you manage to "flag down" a train? I can't do that for buses let alone trains!

JeffK wrote: One line that fares(*) badly in the snow is unfortunately the 100 NHSL / P&W. Heavy snow can pack down around the the third rail and cause contact problems for the shoes. Long ago, the Red Arrow had a good set of snow removal and ice control equipment (remember the "pickle car" that spread de-icer on the rails?) but SEPTA retired much of it without adequate replacements, no doubt in a misguided effort to save $$$.

(*) please - that's not "fair" :wink:

Cut him a break; he's not an English teacher. :)

I took the R6 to Norristown in Sunday planning to take Route 100 to 69th Street for snow photos of 100, 101, and 102.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_21

There were several passengers waiting for the P&W at 11:20, implying that the 11:15 had not gone out. The two cars that were in the station

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_25

left at 11:37 WITHOUT PASSENGERS!

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_26

The 11:28 had not arrived from 69th Street, so there was no equipment to cover the scheduled 11:45 departure. There were no announcements or notices of service disruption. A phone call to SEPTA went unanswered.

At 11:50 most of us went down to catch the 11:54 R6 back to Center City.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_28

I got a couple subway-surface trolley shots at 40th Street

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_32

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_38

and a couple El shots at 46th.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_41

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/SEPTA/05_01_23_43

Neat pix!

chuchubob wrote:Cut him a break; he's not an English teacher.

Sorry - couldn't resist the opportunity to make a bad pun ...