Former Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) cars, #482 and #483, which were acquired by SEPTA in the mid-1980s, were moved to King Manor (DeKalb St. Station) on the Norristown High Speed Line (Rt. 100) on early Saturday morning, October 19, 2019. The cars were picked up on Sunday morning, October 20 for delivery to the Craggy Mountain Line (craggymountainline.com), located near Asheville, North Carolina. We are happy to report that they arrived safely the following night, as seen in the attached photo.
Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys (FPT) had been working to find a home for these vehicles for the past several years, since the vehicles were planned to be scrapped if no realistic plans for preservation could be made. Bill Wall from the Shore Line Trolley Museum (Branford) was able to put FPT in contact with the Craggy Mountain Line, and FPT started the paperwork to request information about the status of the cars from SEPTA. Craggy Mountain Line plans to start the restoration work on the cars upon arrival and will keep the cars in their red, white and blue SEPTA colors.
Craggy Mountain Line and Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys would like to thank SEPTA for donating the cars and for their tremendous assistance in planning and moving the cars for highway shipment to North Carolina.
If you would like to make a donation to help with the restoration of the CTA cars, please send it to:
FPT
Box 33397
Philadelphia, PA 19142.
Please mark “CTA CARS” on your check.
You can see more photos from the move on the Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Friends-of-Philadelphia-Trolleys-180655945374324/