Spray That Rail!! (SEPTA Gel Train At Work)

On the night of November 23rd, we stand on the platform of Cheltenham Station to await passage of one of SEPTA's "Gel Trains"

In this video, one of the Gel Trains (symbol "Wash One") passes by enroute to Fox Chase, then we see it return at work spraying the rails with a high-pressure water and gel solution designed to break up residue from fallen leaves on the rails. A brief shot of a CSX freight on the parallel Trenton Line follows Wash One back down the line.

The gel trains work only during the nights of the fall leaf season each year as they do battle to ensure a reduction in the number of trains sliding past station stops due to slippery rails caused by the leaf residue.

On this night, Wash One has SEPTA 2GS14B genset locomotive 70 powering the train, with ex-LIRR powerpack 622 as cab control car in push mode.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• SEPTA
• Regional Rail
• Fox Chase Line
• Wash Train
• Gel Train
• LIRR Powerpack
• 2GS14B
• Gensets

[trainman1971]

@adelgado75

They were spraying a solution on the rails to cut down on the slippery rails caused by oily residue from fallen leaves. They do it every autumn from roughly October to mid-December...

[adelgado75]

What were they doing?

[trainman1971]

@five0fan

I'd been wanting to catch them in action for quite a while, and as it happened, if I had a scanner, I would have had time to get them both that night if I had been earlier...

[five0fan]

It's great to see the LIRR Powercabs being used.