I am a little confused, weren't the CTA cars narrow gauge? Yet, in the very beginning of this clip, you see a CTA car and a Budd Elevated car on the same tracks? The Norris town line is narrow gauge, the Market-Frankford elevated trains run on Pennsy wide gauge! What gives? Did they convert a few of the Almond joys over to narrow gauge temporarily for service on the Norris town line ?
@italobambino43 Buon Giorno Pisano. The P&W, PATH, and CTA were all built to 4 ft. 8 1/2 in, standard Railroad gauge. The Market-Frankford line and the Red Arrow trolley lines were all built to 5 ft. 2 1/2 in. wide gauge. "Officially" the city trolley routes are 5 ft. 2 1/4 in., not that it makes much if any difference. The CTA's did not need to be regauged but the MFSE "Almond Joys" needed to be regauged to run on the P&W. Hope this eases up any confusion.
Yes Pisano and Buona Cera! That was the eye catcher, the El car didn't belong! I have a funny tale, when they built the Delaware River Bridge ( aka, Ben Franklin Br.), the original plan called for high speed trolley service between Camden and Philadelphia, only one problem, Camden used narrow gauge, Philadelphia used wide gauge! That's also why the Locust subway extension didn't come about till 1936. I never understood why Philadelphia made the two subway lines incompatible?
@italobambino43 The Market St. elevated was opened in 1907. The Broad St. line opened some 20 years later. Another difference between the two is that the Market St. line, though wide gauge, was built to IRT-type clearances, i.e., 55' length maximum, while the Broad St. and Delaware River Bridge lines were built to accommodate IND/BMT size, length of 65 ft. This would make the 2 lines that much more incompatible.
I am a little confused, weren't the CTA cars narrow gauge? Yet, in the very beginning of this clip, you see a CTA car and a Budd Elevated car on the same tracks? The Norris town line is narrow gauge, the Market-Frankford elevated trains run on Pennsy wide gauge! What gives? Did they convert a few of the Almond joys over to narrow gauge temporarily for service on the Norris town line ?
italobambino43 1 year ago
@italobambino43 Buon Giorno Pisano. The P&W, PATH, and CTA were all built to 4 ft. 8 1/2 in, standard Railroad gauge. The Market-Frankford line and the Red Arrow trolley lines were all built to 5 ft. 2 1/2 in. wide gauge. "Officially" the city trolley routes are 5 ft. 2 1/4 in., not that it makes much if any difference. The CTA's did not need to be regauged but the MFSE "Almond Joys" needed to be regauged to run on the P&W. Hope this eases up any confusion.
nyshortline 1 year ago
@nyshortline
Yes Pisano and Buona Cera! That was the eye catcher, the El car didn't belong! I have a funny tale, when they built the Delaware River Bridge ( aka, Ben Franklin Br.), the original plan called for high speed trolley service between Camden and Philadelphia, only one problem, Camden used narrow gauge, Philadelphia used wide gauge! That's also why the Locust subway extension didn't come about till 1936. I never understood why Philadelphia made the two subway lines incompatible?
italobambino43 1 year ago
@italobambino43 The Market St. elevated was opened in 1907. The Broad St. line opened some 20 years later. Another difference between the two is that the Market St. line, though wide gauge, was built to IRT-type clearances, i.e., 55' length maximum, while the Broad St. and Delaware River Bridge lines were built to accommodate IND/BMT size, length of 65 ft. This would make the 2 lines that much more incompatible.
nyshortline 1 year ago