Roger DuPuis II, Author at Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys

FPT’s $20 Day a success, benefits Philly cars at BSM

Posted onNovember 14, 2019November 14, 2019AuthorRoger DuPuis II

On Sat, Nov. 2nd, Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys (FPT) held their annual $20 Day at BSM.

This event raises funds to support PCC 2168 and Snowsweeper C-145, both Philly cars. For a donation of $20 (or more), folks get unlimited streetcar rides, the opportunity to photograph cars anywhere along the line, and can actually operate the various cars.

Cars 417, 554, 2168, 4533 and 7407 were in service from 10.0AM until 3.30PM. We had a total of 63 visitors visitors and raised a total of $1405.00, which will be used for the upcoming body repair work on Philadelphia PCC car 2168, which had a complete restoration back in 2009. However, the salt from more than 50 winters in Philadelphia has caused some corrosion on several spots, so these need to be repaired to keep the popular car looking good

At noon, as seen here, FPT Directors Bill Monaghan, Matt Nawn and Harry Donahue presented BSM’s Vice President, Ed Amrhein, with two checks: one for $9000.00 for car 2168 and another for $1500.00 for Snowsweeper C-145. This makes a total of $6650.00 that FPT has given towards C-145 since the project began early last Spring.

If you would like to contribute to the sweeper , please make sure you mark clearly on your check C-145 .

FPT helps secure new home for SEPTA ex-CTA rapid transit cars

Posted onOctober 23, 2019October 23, 2019AuthorRoger DuPuis II

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/

Video: Our support for PTC 8042

Posted onAugust 28, 2019September 17, 2019AuthorRoger DuPuis II

Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys recently presented the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum with a $3,000 check toward the ongoing restoration of Phila. Transportation Co. Peter Witt car 8042, as seen above.

Pictured Left to Right: From the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum: Scout Becker, Executive Director; Bruce Wells, Director of Restoration; Chris Golofski, President; From Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys: Bill Monaghan, Founder & Director; Harry Donahue, Founder & Director; George Rich, Volunteer

Watch the video about the project by Operator Logan on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xosVMXOrP58

PTC C-145 Work Video: Episode 1

Posted onAugust 13, 2019September 17, 2019AuthorRoger DuPuis II

For those who have been following the C-145 sweeper restoration progress through our posts, we have an exciting new feature. Videographer Operator Logan has started documenting the work for his YouTube channel. You can see the first episode by clicking here.