Website HomepageRAILROAD SIGNALS of the U.S.
SEPTA's
Trackless Trolley Lines
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SEPTA Homepage
Map of past and present
Trackless Trolley Routes in Philadelphia
Only the NE routes are currently in operation
The blue and orange lines are subway lines
History
Trackless Trolleys (aka, trolleybus, trolley bus, trolleycoach, trolley coach, electric bus, or electric trolley bus), were the transit companies fix to a problem that plagued streetcars, mainly, the ability to "go around" objects that were blocking the tracks, whether intentionally or not. Anything blocking a track would bring streetcar service to a halt. This came with a small penalty though, in that the T-T's needed two trolley wires instead of one.... small price to pay for not having to tear up a street, lay track, and not having derailments. Philadelphia is one of 9 North American cities that come the 21st century, are still operating Trackless Trolleys.
Philadelphia's first Trackless Trolley route was Route 80--Oregon, which started service in 1923. For pictures of the T-T's that ran on this route, check out: http://www.phillytrolley.org/tracklessindex1.html. Route 80 ran along Oregon Avenue in south Philly. The end came in 1960 when sewer work was needed, and PTC said the cut in service was temporary, but they took the wire down and never put it back up.
The second route to open was Route 61--Ridge Avenue in 1940/1, and went from Center City to Manayunk, about 8 miles. March 12, 2011 was the 50th anniversary of the ending of service on that line, having ended in 1961. T-T's for this line used the Ridge Depot. You can find some pictures are at: http://www.phillytrolley.org/tracklessindex2.html. Some say that it was the sale of the Ridge Depot to the Board of Education that led to the conversion from Trolleybus operation to busses. At any rate, PTC did not waste any time, as the depot was cleared out in a weeks time, and a storage track that had been last used in '57-58 was removed. The busses operating the #61 line were then run out of the Allegheny Depot. The current #61 bus route goes a little further out than the Trackless Trolley route did.
Ten years earlier, they also sold the Belmont car barn near 48th and Parkside to the Board of Education. PTC had closed it in 1932 and had been using it for parts storage.
PTC was able to eventually win approval from the Public Utility Commission to formally abandon the 61 and 80 routes.
The other Trackless Trolley routes of Philadelphia are/were:
Route 29--Tasker-Morris
ran from 1947 until 2003. The Southern Depot serviced this line.
Route 59--Castor saw
Trackless Trolleys taking over from the busses in 1950. Service ended in
2003 until the arrival of the new T-T's in 2008. The line currently goes
from Arrott Terminal to Bells Corner via Castor Avenue. This line uses the
Frankford Depot.
Route 66--Frankford ran T-T's from 1955 through 2003, and then again starting in 2008. This line used the Frankford Depot.
Route 75--Wyoming saw Trackless Trolleys replace busses in 1948. The route runs from Arrott Terminal to the Wayne Junction rail station, mainly along Wyoming. Busses once again took over the operation in 2003, but T-T service was restored in 2008. This line uses the Frankford Depot.
Route 79--Snyder goes from Point Breeze to Pennsport, and runs mainly along Snyder Avenue. It had been taken out of service in October of 1956, was put back into service in June of 1961 under pressure from the city and one of its design engineers. Service started three months after the end of service on the 61 line. Busses once again took over the operation in 2003, and hasn't seen T-T's since. T-T's for this route worked out of the Southern Depot.
Most of the above information was gathered off the Philly Traction group on Yahoo, Jon Bell's page, and some from http://www.phillytrolley.org/.
Some of the information presented here was contributed by Elliot F.
I don't have any books on the subject, and info on the internet is hap-hazard... anyone else wishing to contribute and share their wealth of knowledge should please email me at toddgp30@yahoo.com, thanks.
For more good reading, try these out:
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Philadelphia/TT/ Good page by
John Bell.
http://www.trolleybuses.net/phl/phl.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEPTA_City_Transit_Division_surface_routes
http://www.phillytrolley.org/trackles.html
Some good links from JVE John:
http://www.trolleybuses.net/phl/\
htm/usa_h_phl_brill_73_delawareriverloop_1935_ss.htm
http://www.trolleybuses.net/phl/phl.htm
Currently, SEPTA has three trackless trolley lines operating: 59, 66, and 75. The three lines use 38 brand-spanking new T-T's received on June 1st, 2008. The T-T's were built by New Flyer Industries.
Two other lines, 29 and 79, are not currently in service because SEPTA has been reluctant to order additional busses to support these lines. It also looks like most of the wires are down.
ex Routes 29 and 79
The current map for bus route 29, South
Philadelphia Crosstown..... slightly different than the trackless trolley
routing.
The current Route 79 map, also called the
South Philadelphia Crosstown.... The routing is the same as the trackless
trolley route.
The Southern Division's Depot, looks like the
wires are all down from up here.
Fortunately, Bing still has the old road
layout in their system, showing you how the roads used to be at the west end of Route
29.
Route 59
The 59 route has a mid-route loop, or turnaround called the Alma Loop at Bleigh Ave. There also used to be an emergency turnaround at Hellerman St, but was eliminated due to the fact that the new TT's can operate off wire if necessary. Up until the 90's, several runs a day would terminate at the Alma Loop and head back to Arrot. From Elliot F also comes that in the 50's, 60's ,and early 70's, the 59 route also operated skip-stop service, which would speed up service by skipping every other stop.
The Bells Corner loop at the end of the line.
Route 66
The 66 line runs in northeast Philadelphia, and connects to the Market-Frankford subway line at the Frankford Transportation Center. Originally, the line was put into service in 1955 with trackless trolleys replacing busses. Service was discontinued in 2003 with busses doing the duty until 2008. This route is unique in the United States, in that along Frankford Avenue, there are two sets of wires so that SEPTA can use the "inner" set for express busses during rush hour, shown by the gray line in the map below. Route 66 has three loops in service, City Line loop at the end of the line, the Gregg St loop, just south of Linden Ave, and the loop at Cottman and Ryan Avenues. This route also had an emergency turnaround at Welsh Rd, but was removed for the same reason as the loop on the 59 route was removed. The loops are shown below.
Photo of #817 by Davidt8 (from Google) from
January 2010, in the 7300 block of Frankford Ave. It's a far cry from the
T-T's of days gone by.
A double line of Trackless Trolleys sits
at the Frankford Depot on a snowy day in 1996.
Photos courtesy Dr. Jon Bell, Presbyterian College, Clinton SC, Thanks
Jon!
A Route 66 T-T passes the entrance to the
Cedar Hill cemetery just before returning to the Frankford Terminal - at the
left is the end of the Frankford elevated structure.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEPTA_Route_66
The loop at Cottman and Ryan Avenues.
The Gregg St loop.
The City Line loop.
Route 75
Route 75 loop at Wayne Junction.... Nice commuter rail stop
here.
The "loop" at Arrott Terminal, the eastern end of Route 75.
NEW 02/28/2011
Last Updated: 12-Jun-2011