by jfrey40535
I thought it might be a good discussion with riders and railfans to review the progress of the Route 15 trolley as we approach the second month since trolley service was restored. I have some positive and negative observations:
Positive
1. The trolleys do make nice eye candy.
2. Trolleys are much quieter than buses (yes we knew this already)
3. To some extent, the trolleys have already generated more foot traffic along Richmond Street. Hopefully new business too (work in progress).
4. The pothole hitting Neoplans are gone! The ride is smoother, but not quite as good as the subway surface lines. Its still not a bus ++++
5. Trolleys don't have the chronic problem of running 5-10 minutes ahead of schedule at 1am like the buses did, so if your transferring from the MFO/BSO you can expect the trolley will be there "on or close to schedule".
6. A good number of operators are becoming trolley speed demons. The good ones know when to floor it, and even watch the traffic lights to know if they should slow down, coast or floor it.
Negative
1. The PCC "II's" are junk, or Brookville may have at least done a poor job in rebuilding the cars. Some cars have chronic problems with the line pole coming off at certain areas, regardless of how fast you are moving. Other cars work flawlessly. I'm not sure if this is an indication of poor overhead quality, or a bad line pole on the car. I've ridden the subway surface many times, and I've never seen a pole come off on those lines (except when a kid pulls it off).
The cars have only been in service 2 months, and I have observed several with broken speedometers. The speedometer is electric, not mechanical. Often you can observe on some cars the speedometer fluxuating between 0 and 60 while at a full stop.
The front doors and motors have problems closing properly. I observed one car where door #2 front would not close because the door became separated from the closing mechanism. The car was subsequently taken out of service. On most cars, door #2 does not fully closer where there is a 1" gap between the 2 door sets.
2. SEPTA's last minute track work was done very poorly. You can feel every spot on the line where a segment of track was replaced, which was done one week prior to service resumption. You can also notice the difference between the new and old track along the line. The new track is much quieter and smoother. The noisiest rail is along the Schyulkill River bridge.
3. The trolley has not made any friends with daily riders. Two months into this, and all you hear is complaints---still. Despite the fact that some of the kinks have smoothed over, many people are unhappy with the trolley. You hear complaints on both sides of the line.
4. Residents on Girard between Lancaster-63rd Street are extremely upset with SEPTA's decision to eliminate stops along that section of the line. I don't understand why stops were eliminated there, as it is a 2 lane road similar to Richmond Street. Some are claiming "hidden racism" as no stops were eliminated in Port Richmond, but many were in "Haddington".
5. The line is subject to many delays still, mostly due to cars parked too close to the tracks and wheelchairs. It still takes on average 12 minutes to load a wheelchair.
6. There are still a handful of operators who are scared of driving the trolley. Some operators know when to go full speed, and actually run ahead of schedule. The slow ones don't go over 20mph. Very aggrevating.
7. The PCC's seem much louder than the K cars. Maybe this is because the wheels are still being broken in?
8. One of the PCC's (forgive me for not documenting which one) has 1/4 of its "Art Deco" lights burned out. Hard to believe that a car that is 2 months in revenue service could look so gloomy from the inside. For that matter in the 21st Century, doesen't SEPTA (who probablly spec'd things out) or Brookville know that they now have halogen or florescent type bulbs that they could have used in the light fixtures?
9. The PCC's don't seem to be washed on the exterior on a regular basis. Some are clean, some have lots of grime on them. They definitely don't look as clean as the buses do, which are washed reguarly if you visit any depot where the bus washer is always in motion. From what I've been told, the PCC's are hand washed since they don't have access to the vehicle washing bay as the track to that bay was conveniently paved over.
Unfortunately, as a commuter, I almost have to say the buses were better. We can all say SEPTA did this intentionally, but to some extent I think the bugs that remain are just growing pains. I'm hoping by January, when the next pick starts, that the current operators who are scared of driving the trolley will go drive a bus on some route somewhere, and that some of the veteran, seasoned route 10 operators will come over to the 15. Very few operators are fond of driving the trolley. I know one who hates it so much he's transferring out of Callowhill after many years of service there.
As for the mechanical problems with the cars, hopefully SEPTA will deal with these issues accordingly. Unfortunately the warranty expiration does not help. Would be nice if Brookville would grant an extention since the cars sat for a year. I know the doors will be an issue.
I'm getting conflicting stories about the traffic light system along Girard. SEPTA tells me there are transponders on the cars that extend the lights when the trolley is within 100 feet of the signal, by 10 seconds.
An operator told me the other night that they can "request a change" of the light with the green button on their dashboard, which flashes the light on the trolley right above the signboard. The operator told me it doesent work on some cars, and that supervisors told them not to worry about using it. Who's right?
Overall, my grade for the 15 is D+. Much room for improvement
Positive
1. The trolleys do make nice eye candy.
2. Trolleys are much quieter than buses (yes we knew this already)
3. To some extent, the trolleys have already generated more foot traffic along Richmond Street. Hopefully new business too (work in progress).
4. The pothole hitting Neoplans are gone! The ride is smoother, but not quite as good as the subway surface lines. Its still not a bus ++++
5. Trolleys don't have the chronic problem of running 5-10 minutes ahead of schedule at 1am like the buses did, so if your transferring from the MFO/BSO you can expect the trolley will be there "on or close to schedule".
6. A good number of operators are becoming trolley speed demons. The good ones know when to floor it, and even watch the traffic lights to know if they should slow down, coast or floor it.
Negative
1. The PCC "II's" are junk, or Brookville may have at least done a poor job in rebuilding the cars. Some cars have chronic problems with the line pole coming off at certain areas, regardless of how fast you are moving. Other cars work flawlessly. I'm not sure if this is an indication of poor overhead quality, or a bad line pole on the car. I've ridden the subway surface many times, and I've never seen a pole come off on those lines (except when a kid pulls it off).
The cars have only been in service 2 months, and I have observed several with broken speedometers. The speedometer is electric, not mechanical. Often you can observe on some cars the speedometer fluxuating between 0 and 60 while at a full stop.
The front doors and motors have problems closing properly. I observed one car where door #2 front would not close because the door became separated from the closing mechanism. The car was subsequently taken out of service. On most cars, door #2 does not fully closer where there is a 1" gap between the 2 door sets.
2. SEPTA's last minute track work was done very poorly. You can feel every spot on the line where a segment of track was replaced, which was done one week prior to service resumption. You can also notice the difference between the new and old track along the line. The new track is much quieter and smoother. The noisiest rail is along the Schyulkill River bridge.
3. The trolley has not made any friends with daily riders. Two months into this, and all you hear is complaints---still. Despite the fact that some of the kinks have smoothed over, many people are unhappy with the trolley. You hear complaints on both sides of the line.
4. Residents on Girard between Lancaster-63rd Street are extremely upset with SEPTA's decision to eliminate stops along that section of the line. I don't understand why stops were eliminated there, as it is a 2 lane road similar to Richmond Street. Some are claiming "hidden racism" as no stops were eliminated in Port Richmond, but many were in "Haddington".
5. The line is subject to many delays still, mostly due to cars parked too close to the tracks and wheelchairs. It still takes on average 12 minutes to load a wheelchair.
6. There are still a handful of operators who are scared of driving the trolley. Some operators know when to go full speed, and actually run ahead of schedule. The slow ones don't go over 20mph. Very aggrevating.
7. The PCC's seem much louder than the K cars. Maybe this is because the wheels are still being broken in?
8. One of the PCC's (forgive me for not documenting which one) has 1/4 of its "Art Deco" lights burned out. Hard to believe that a car that is 2 months in revenue service could look so gloomy from the inside. For that matter in the 21st Century, doesen't SEPTA (who probablly spec'd things out) or Brookville know that they now have halogen or florescent type bulbs that they could have used in the light fixtures?
9. The PCC's don't seem to be washed on the exterior on a regular basis. Some are clean, some have lots of grime on them. They definitely don't look as clean as the buses do, which are washed reguarly if you visit any depot where the bus washer is always in motion. From what I've been told, the PCC's are hand washed since they don't have access to the vehicle washing bay as the track to that bay was conveniently paved over.
Unfortunately, as a commuter, I almost have to say the buses were better. We can all say SEPTA did this intentionally, but to some extent I think the bugs that remain are just growing pains. I'm hoping by January, when the next pick starts, that the current operators who are scared of driving the trolley will go drive a bus on some route somewhere, and that some of the veteran, seasoned route 10 operators will come over to the 15. Very few operators are fond of driving the trolley. I know one who hates it so much he's transferring out of Callowhill after many years of service there.
As for the mechanical problems with the cars, hopefully SEPTA will deal with these issues accordingly. Unfortunately the warranty expiration does not help. Would be nice if Brookville would grant an extention since the cars sat for a year. I know the doors will be an issue.
I'm getting conflicting stories about the traffic light system along Girard. SEPTA tells me there are transponders on the cars that extend the lights when the trolley is within 100 feet of the signal, by 10 seconds.
An operator told me the other night that they can "request a change" of the light with the green button on their dashboard, which flashes the light on the trolley right above the signboard. The operator told me it doesent work on some cars, and that supervisors told them not to worry about using it. Who's right?
Overall, my grade for the 15 is D+. Much room for improvement
Last edited by jfrey40535 on Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
