Passenger Trains > SEPTA has AEM's (I mean an ALP-44)

I always forget that SEPTA has AEM7's. This set at Trenton, July 31, 2013, reminded me. Cab-control car is 2408 for power 2308.
Compare to new MUs on train boarding for Philadelphia.

B&OB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/13 07:39 by bandob.

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You actually managed to catch their single ALP-44 there, not an AEM-7. Same thing happens to me, I go looking for SEPTA AEM-7s and always walk away with arching the ALP-44.
Cheers,
Nick

I caught AEM7 2307 pushing train 9538 through Bryn Mawr on Friday with cab car 2410 leading.

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There were rumors just a few years ago that SEPTA wanted to get rid of the "Bomb car" trains. Of course they were incorrect, because what SEPTA did was acquire secondhand Comets from NJT to lengthen the sets to six cars. So they'll be with us for a while yet.

shoretower Wrote:
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> There were rumors just a few years ago that SEPTA
> wanted to get rid of the "Bomb car" trains. Of
> course they were incorrect, because what SEPTA did
> was acquire secondhand Comets from NJT to lengthen
> the sets to six cars. So they'll be with us for a
> while yet.

They weren't rumors. SEPTA didn't find enough interest that would make the sale worthwhile. They were looking to sell them and replace them with more Silverliner V's then on order. The Push-Pull's are a thorn in the side of SEPTA for scheduling, equipment manipulation, and maintenance because of their differences from EMU's.

Abyler is right - Septa tries to run their railroad like a bus line and the push- pull sets do not fit into that operating model at all. My favorite example is on the West Trenton line (R3 to some of us) where Meadowbrook, Rydal and Noble all are in sight of each other and have only a few passenger pickups and parking spaces.

Septa has apparently changed their mind on the "bomber" sets as they have started refurbishing the cars with new paint, seating and LED lighting - but still no bathrooms!

Posted from iPhone

NGotwalt Wrote:
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> You actually managed to catch their single ALP-44
> there, not an AEM-7. Same thing happens to me, I
> go looking for SEPTA AEM-7s and always walk away
> with arching the ALP-44.

Thanks for pointing that out. I caught the ALP on the first of three loco-hauled trains I shot on the Main Line two months ago, and didn't notice the difference, although if you put them side-by-side the distinctions are fairly obvious.

Both shots are at the same open stretch along Old US-30 west of Downingtown, but from slightly different angles.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/13 10:32 by toledopatch.

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SEPTA tries to use the "push-pull" set on morning and evening express trains, largely to/from Trenton and on the "Main Line" out to Paoli etc. There was even consideration given to the electric motors that SEPTA had and putting them on the Keystone trains for power, as Amtrak was continually coming up against shortages of electric power - often to the extent that it was delaying the re-electrification efforts to get trains from NYP to Harrisburg once again. But finally that seemed to get overcome!

With NJT's ALP-44 fleet retired I believe SEPTA's lone 44 is the last of its breed in operation.

MrMichael Wrote:
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> Abyler is right - Septa tries to run their
> railroad like a bus line and the push- pull sets
> do not fit into that operating model at all. My

The push-pulls are slower to accelerate and so cannot maintain schedules set for EMU's except on express runs with limited stops and high speeds.

> favorite example is on the West Trenton line (R3
> to some of us) where Meadowbrook, Rydal and Noble
> all are in sight of each other and have only a few
> passenger pickups and parking spaces.

SEPTA has many stations located within 0.5 miles to 1.25 miles of each other. This is traditional to the region and supports the numerous walkable neighborhoods and boroughs that have grown up around the stops. In parts of the city, the lines served as quasi-rapid transit like lines for many years. The Chesnut Hill West line that I grew up along once had 10-12 minute peak headways and 30 minute off-peak. In other areas of the country where nearly everyone drives to commuter rail stops, this might seem inexplicable. I think the only other region with stop spacing approximating SEPTA's is Chicago.

Further out in the Philly suburbs where development is more recent, stops are spaced much further apart and are based on a pattern of driving or being dropped off at the station.

> Septa has apparently changed their mind on the
> "bomber" sets as they have started refurbishing
> the cars with new paint, seating and LED lighting
> - but still no bathrooms!

Installing bathrooms would mean retrofitting SEPTA's yards with sewage pumps. PRR and Reading never offered bathrooms on Philly trains, so these facilities do not exist.

I thought the cab-coaches had a bathroom that SEPTA always keeps locked except when those sets are loaned to Amtrak.

abyler Wrote:
>
> Installing bathrooms would mean retrofitting
> SEPTA's yards with sewage pumps. PRR and Reading
> never offered bathrooms on Philly trains, so these
> facilities do not exist.

Actually the MP54's and the Old Reading MU cars did have bathrooms. They were toilet seats over a hole in the floor. They were taken out of service in the middle sixties when people got sensitive about where the poop was going. The doors were locked and the words "Electric Locker" was stenciled on the doors. In truth they hardly ever got used, the trips were too short.

The push-pull sets also go to Newark, Delaware.
You can hear the AEM-7's coming in Suburban station by their constant "clickity-clickity-clickity" sound.