Spoke to Wendy Green today

I thought that this might be of some interest. The Girard Coalition was scheduled to have Wendy Green of SEPTA public relations speak at their meeting tonight. I called her to see if the meeting was still on but she said that she wasn't sure. I asked about whether or not there had been any progress at all about the situation at Callowhill depot or if she could give even an estimate as to when service could possibly resume on route 15. She said that there was no progress at all regarding the situation on North 59th Street. As for her best guess as to when the trolleys could return: " I would say at this point it will be well into 2005." I don't know if she ever went to their meeting tonight, but by this point I'd heard enough. $60 million just sitting inside Callowhill depot and very few members of the riding public are even aware of it.

Where is the gosh-darn mayor? I know about Councilmanic prerogatives and the fact that Nutter and Street aren't exactly buddies, but c'mon, this is stupid.

I'm beyond sick over this....

Actually R8 the public should be aware. I had the Daily News do a feature on this topic back in August and they did just that. 3 page article with huge picture of a brand new PCC sitting in the weeds at Elmwood. No one cares. No one is making a stink.

Want to get attention? Organize a protest outside 1234. Demand accountability from SEPTA and city hall. No one in Council is doing anything, the mayor is useless and so we all lose.

This may be a good idea. A protest demonsration with a big model trolley and $60 million dollars worth of monopoly money being tossed into wind and strewn over the sidewalk in front of the SEPTA headquarters. Can we get enough people to show up to make this work? Being close to 30th St and Suburban Station maybe we could make this a railfan "excursion day to the protest" and get people in from outside the Delaware Valley. Anybody out there know how to put a protest demonstration together ?

I'm all for it...I like the idea of the monopoloy money flying in the air. Just tell me the time and place I'd love to see the look on the exec's faces when they walk in the building and see us there.

kevikens wrote:This may be a good idea. A protest demonsration with a big model trolley and $60 million dollars worth of monopoly money being tossed into wind and strewn over the sidewalk in front of the SEPTA headquarters. Can we get enough people to show up to make this work? Being close to 30th St and Suburban Station maybe we could make this a railfan "excursion day to the protest" and get people in from outside the Delaware Valley. Anybody out there know how to put a protest demonstration together ?

We can do it in the lobby of 1234 in front of PCC 2733 and set the sign to 15 59-Girard and make a big stink for riders getting off the El at 13th St Station.

Would we need a parade permit from the city or something else to do this ? How could we get a big crowd ( aside from offering free beer) of railfans ? Having a small demonstration of 22 people would make us look pathetic. Would the local railclubs, NRHS help us out ? I have no idea how to organize such an activity but would be glad to be a part of one.

Any DVARP guys in here? I think if we do something it would have to be on the street and not on SEPTA property, although I'm very tempted to go downstairs to that PCC and set the Route to 15 and the destination to "NOT IN SERVICE" and hang some kind of poster on the side of it explaining how the money was wasted and the company incompetent.

We could do something simple like get a bunch of posters (like the ones that you wear on your chest and back, front could say here's what $60 mil bought, with a pic of the new PCC's, and on the back say here's what we got and have a picture of a diesel spewing Neoplan) and just walk back and forth between Lowes and 13th St. We'd probablly get in trouble for littering if we throw monopoly money around.

You will need a permit if you plan to have people in the street. You will not need a permit if you stay on the sidewalk and don't "cause any trouble". I don't see Septa or the City wanting to arrest anyone over this. They are probably rather embarrassed as it is.
Anything that will shed media light on this subject would be good. So protest away and count me in.

I doubt that it would be hard to find enough railfans in the area to come to a demonstration. There are a lot of SEPTA railfan groups on MSN and Yahoo that might find the idea interesting. I'm not an expert on this but I do think a permit is required even if it's in the lobby or on the sidewalk. The evening that they hold the public hearings about the January service cuts would be an interesting night to have it. I guess it could be worth some more thought, I'd never given any thought to a demonstration.

Whoever keeps changing the sign on the display trolley at 1234 to "Route 15, Not In Service" Good job, keep it up! I wish SEPTA would take down that stupid trolley banner in their lobby. What's the point of that anyway?