West Jersey Chapter members watch as a wheel set is moved by hoist to a truing machine (out of sight to the right) to adjust the wheels’ running surface profile at PATCO’s shop complex in Lindenwold, N. J. In the foreground is a Pioneer III truck equipped for over-running third rail operation, which is used on all PATCO cars. The blue, green, and grey cylindrical canisters behind the truck are traction motors, color-coded by supplier. The cars visible in this scene are 1059 on the left and 1080 in the center, both PATCO II cars built by Vickers as 259 and 280, respectively, and rebuilt by Alstom in Hornell, N. Y. Our tour included a visit to the new shop building erected to service the newly refurbished cars. Photo by John W. Burlage.
Burlington County History Awards Ceremony
Authors and Chapter members Christopher J. Young, Jr., and William J. Coxey were awarded plaques for their book Two Roads to Medford, which won the Burlington County Published History Award for 2018. The awards ceremony was held at the Smithville Mansion on Friday, May 18. Accepting the award on behalf of the authors are (from left to right) Chapter officers John Burlage, Dave Homer, and Ron Baile.
SEPTA Trolley Excursion
West Jersey Chapter members and friends pose for a group portrait at the temporary eastern terminus of the SEPTA Route 15 trolley at Frankford and Delaware Avenues, Philadelphia, on Sunday, October 15, 2017. Our LRV for the six hour tour was none other than prototype Kawasaki "K-car" 9000, which was built in 1980. The tour covered much of Routes 10, 11, 13, 15, 34, and 36, non-revenue and diversion trackage, the Center City trolley tunnel, Elmwood depot, and Callowhill carbarn, with numerous photo stops. Photo by Bill Monaghan, Jr.
Athenaeum of Philadelphia Tour
West Jersey Chapter members and friends gather around a model of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broad Street Station at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia on Sunday, April 23, 2017. Chapter member Kyle Payne (third from left) arranged the tour of the Athenaeum, which featured an exhibition entitled Laying Tracks & Laying Foundations: Building for the Railroad. More information on the exhibition can be found on the Athenaeum of Philadelphia's website.
A Walk to Milepost 3 on the Princeton Branch
West Jersey Chapter member John Kilbride (at center, in orange) hosted a trip over the Princeton Branch on Saturday, March 8, 2014. After inspecting NJ Transit's new temporary station at Princeton, the group hiked to Milepost 3, now standing amidst the buildings of Princeton University on land that was once the PRR's terminal. The left side of the cast iron milepost reads 3, the distance to Princeton Junction. Originally the Princeton Branch was 3.2 miles long. Photo by Kevin Painter.
River LINE Shop Tour
West Jersey Chapter members and friends gather for a group photograph at the River LINE shop in Camden on the morning of Saturday, June 8. LRV 3503 had ferried our group from the 36th Street Station in Pennsauken to the shop complex, and is positioned over the inspection pit in this photo. After the tour, LRV 3503 took us back to 36th Street Station, where some members of our group rode the River LINE from there to Trenton and return. Photo by Dave Homer.
Wilmington Shop Tour
West Jersey Chapter members and friends gather for a group photograph beneath the date stone in the conference room of the Administration Building (Building No. 12) at Amtrak's Wilmington Maintenance Facility on Saturday, April 6, 2013. After hearing a brief history of the facility and given a safety briefing, our group toured the facility, which included visits to the locomotive shop and the wheel shop. Building No. 12 was built in 1903 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and currently houses the Facility Maintenance Staff, the headquarters for the Amtrak Bureau of Rolling Stock Engineering, and several other offices and departments. It sits between the Northeast Corridor and the Locomotive Shop. Photo by Kevin Painter.