We passed through the 4,747 foot long Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley "Laurel Line" Crown Avenue tunnel, one of the largest interurban tunnels ever built.
Exiteing the tunnel.
We took the curve by the cemetery.
The tunnel under Neptune Road.
We were about to go under Interstate 81.
A stone retaining wall.
Three views ahead.
More stone work.
Looking straight down the tracks.
Our route takes another curve.
The passing track.
Another curve.
The location where the former Erie Railroad joined our route.
Another curve.
Milepost 4.
Yet another curve.
The point where we leave the former Erie Railroad tracks.
The Lackawanna Visitors Center.
The route up to PNC Park and the car barn.
The trolley arrived at the car and and we all detrained for a brief tour.
Cars 76 and 80.
Car 76, the one in which I had just ridden.
Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company 80 built by J.G. Brill to Philadelphia and West Chester Traction in 1932. Car 80 was one of ten lightweight "Master Unit" style cars delivered. These cars addressed mounting competition from the automobile by introducing sleek lines, contemporary automotive styling features and cushioned leather seats to the Red Arrow service. Car 80 endured in service until retired and sold in 1982 by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. It has been returned to its early all-reddish-brown PSTC paint scheme and continues to operate at the Electric City museum.
From here I went into the car barn.
View inside the car barn.
Philadelphia Transportation Company car 520, nee Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company 5287 built by J.G. Brill in 1923 as part of a huge order to modernize its 2,500-car passenger and work fleet. The car had its number changed in 1926. While most Philadelphia streetcars were single-ended, the 5200-series is double-ended, the last such Philadelphia cars. In 1941, PTC modernized car 5205 with upgraded mechanical parts, padded leather on the seats, and a repainting from orange and cream-yellow to green and cream-yellow. The car escaped the scrapman's cutting torch in 1957 and is now undergoing refurbishment in Electric City's restoration shop.
hiladelphia Rapid Transit Company trolley D7, nee Philadelphia Rapid Transit 2624 built by the railroad in 1908 It was an unusual "coal trolley," resembling a railroad hopper car with end platforms and a pole added. The car dutifully hauled coal to power stations where PRT generated its own electricity. PRT gradually bought more and more power rather that generating its own, and it closed its power stations slowly between 1913 and 1925. Car D-7 was then converted into a vacuum cleaner car for the streetcar subway-surface tunnel. It was sold off in 1971 and is the only coal trolley preserved today.
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company snow sweeper trolley C-128 built by J.G. Brill in 1923. It was the highest-numbered of ten double-truck snow sweeper trolleys included. Streetcar company franchises often required the companies to clear the streets of snow. Large rotating brooms of bamboo shoots would sweep snow from the track, while a side-mounted plough blade cleared the adjacent roadway lane. The 1923 PRT sweepers used recycled motors, controllers and other parts from retired streetcars. SEPTA disposed of these snow sweepers in 1974.
Philadelphia Transportation Company "air-electric" PCC car 2054 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1940. It spent its entire service life in Philadelphia, and in 1980 was selected by SEPTA to be painted in the original Philadelphia PCC paint scheme of silver, cream and blue accents to represent its 40th anniversary of service. PCC cars, like 2054 and the later "all-electric" types, represent nearly half the timespan of Philadelphia's electric trolley service, between the days of horse or cable cars and today's modern light rail vehicles.
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company trolley 2282 built by J.G. Brill in 1906. It is the last of 775 "Pay-Within" cars that dominated Philadelphia streets in the first decade on the 20th century. The Pay-Within fleet was constructed by modifying several groups of similar streetcars built between 1899 and 1906. Enclosed end platforms were added, with sliding doors and the first use of automatic folding steps on streetcars. Many Pay-Within cars were retired in 1923, when PRT's large order of cars was delivered, including Electric City's 5205 and 8042.
Car 2282 was sold to the Shamokin & Edgewood Electric Railway, eventually became a carbody on a farm near Elysburg, and was later saved for preservation.
Scranton Railway Company streetcar 324 built by J.G. Brill in 1903 The railway company started modifying cars in this group to Pay-As-You-Enter-style configuration, beginning in 1916. At a later date, it modernized and simplified a number of these cars, rebuilding them with a plain arch roof and flat steel side sheathing. Despite this renovation, newer car types rendered car 324 surplus by 1941. It was stripped of components and sold off. It then served as a diner in nearby Gouldsboro, Covington Township, eventually being built into a larger restaurant building.
The Electric City museum acquired and retrieved the carbody in March 2000 for eventual restoration. Car 324 is one of two Lackawanna County and northeast Pennsylvania trolley in the museum's collection.
Views inside the car barn.
Another view of the active trolleys.
Display boards.
Time line of the Electric City Trolley Museum. Everyone reboarded Car 76 for the return trip.
The south entrance to the Crown Avenue Tunnel on the return trip. I thanked the operators then detrained and saw a few more items to photograph.
Lackawanna F3A 664, ex. Central of New Jersey 56, exx. Bangor and Aroostook 46, nee Bangor and Aroostook 506A, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1947.
A head-on view.
Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 2317 was running the short trips at Steamtown today.
As I was leaving, Canadian Pacific 2317 was reversing over the Lackawanna River. From here I drove to the Clarion Inn as I did not feel well and would relax the rest of the day.
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