The Spring 2017 issue of The Streamliner has arrived! Features include:
- FPT Awards More Grants.
- Lending a Hand in Manheim
- Ernie Mozer Photos
- FPT at East Penn Traction Club Meet
- 2743 progress update
- Members’ Day at Rockhill
Click here to download.
Tag: Rockhill Trolley Museum
2743: We’re getting there!
Mike Lawson chats with Rockhill Trolley Museum’s Joel Solomon during work on 2743 at the museum, April 8, 2017.
Work on restoring the interior of PTC 2743 to its 1960s appearance continues, with some significant advances in recent weeks.
All of the car’s seats have now been reupholstered, and volunteers are in the process of re-installing them. The overall appearance is truly gratifying, but two of the most amazing sights are at the front and the back. In the rear of the car, the back bench has been reupholstered in three sections, with the middle cushion easily removable to allow access to a back-up controller, which has yet to be installed. In the front of the car, meanwhile, volunteer Mike Lawson has installed the redone operator’s seat cushions on a cleaned-up frame which works — and looks — much more like the original models than the heavy old seat frame which had been inside the car since its final days of service in Philadelphia.
Mike’s skills and enthusiasm have come as a welcome breath of fresh air as we move toward the final stages of the interior work. His attention to detail really shows through on the primed and repainted cab heaters and other floorboard details. Mike also reinstalled the Pennsylvania PUC notice plate, which, was recently donated to FPT by Chuck Kumpas, and offered some helpful tips about how to clean and polish it. He also removed the plexiglas panel behind the operator’s seat, another 1980s addition. Work is underway to replace the original cloth operator’s curtain which hangs in that space.
In the attached photos, we see Mike, Jerry Evans and Harry Donahue at work inside the car on Saturday, April 8, along with some detail shots. Anyone who might be interested in helping FPT finish this work is welcome to contact us. In particular, we will be looking to do interior paint touch-ups during April and May.
Mike Lawson relaxes in the refurbished operator’s seat.
Harry Donahue checks out the new back bench, with back-up controller access panel.
Looking toward the front of 2743.
The vintage Pennsylvania PUC notice plate has been installed on the front door motor panel.
Here is a closer look at the refurbished rear bench seat.
Painting, Charters and More: What’s New at FPT
If you’re like us, you can never get enough of vintage traction. This year has brought much action on the restoration and charter front, with so much more to come.
INTERIOR RESTORATION OF PCC 2743
Harry Donohue, Rob Masciantonio and Cheau-Erl Lam work inside 2743 at the Rockhill Trolley Museum, Aug. 20, 2016. (Roger DuPuis photos)
Harry Donohue, Bill Monaghan and many friends have been busy working on the restoration of PTC PCC 2743 to its circa-1960 colors at the Rockhill Trolley Museum. You can read about the project’s background, in detail, here, as well as in the current newsletter and in future updates on this site.
As of now, much of the interior has been repainted from the two-tone SEPTA GOH blue of the 1980s into the two-tone green and cream of the PTC years. The photo at left shows some of that work underway recently.
Several seats also have been reupholstered in a rich brown material appropriate for that era. So far, 12 double seats are paid for, and FPT continues to raise money for the rest to be re-covered.
Interested in donating or helping with the work? Contact us via this site, or by emailing FPT2799@comcast.net. The cost of a double seat is $235, for a single seat the price is $195.
CHARTERS AND MEET-UPS
FPT founding member Harry Donohue is seen at the controls of SEPTA PCC 2168 at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, July 23, 2016. (Roger DuPuis photo)
In a time-honored tradition, many FPT members and guests rang in 2016 aboard a chartered suburban SEPTA Kawasaki car, setting the tone for a year filled with fun events to bring railfans together and raise funds for FPT’s mission. Summer may be flying by, but there’s still plenty of time to join us for fan trips and more.
As you’ll find on our new upcoming events page, FPT has a charter coming up this September in Pittsburgh, followed by in November by a special FPT gathering at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.
Check back often for information about FPT’s activities, including newsletters, photos, special reports and updates on the progress of our fundraising and restoration projects.