Last updated: Wednesday, June 12
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Four and a half years after being taken out of service for refurbishment, SEPTA’s vintage trolleys are returning to service this weekend. On Wednesday, SEPTA unveiled the first of the restored vintage trolleys to hit the streets.
Since January of 2020, when 18 of the rusting vehicles were sidelined for an overhaul, workers at SEPTA’s Woodland Avenue maintenance shop have been rebuilding them. The first set of those 1940s-era green-and-cream-colored, Presidents’ Conference Committee-style trolleys will go back into service on Sunday, June 16. They’re 75 years old, but they look like new.
“We’ll start with eight trolleys available for service,” SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch told KYW Newsradio. “So we will still have to have some bus substitutions on Route 15.”
Route 15 runs along Girard Avenue between West Philly and Port Richmond.
The PCC streetcar design dates back to the 1930s. The eight cars will keep that retro look — and SEPTA has added modern touches, including digital message boards, air conditioning and security cameras.
“When people see these trolleys, they’re going to look like they’re museum-quality vehicles. But these are going to be workhorse trolleys out on our line,” Busch said. “From the paint to the seats to everything, they’re historically accurate, while having all the modern conveniences that our riders need.”
On Wednesday, SEPTA took reporters and elected officials on a ride around the Woodland Avenue maintenance yard aboard one of them.
“This car is both utilitarian and comfortable, and it’s appealing. It’s visually appealing,” said Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer, a former trolley operator, himself.
Sauer said the sight of the trolleys takes him back to his childhood.
“I can remember these cars — this specific car — running outside my front window.”
SEPTA has been doing the restoration work itself, rather than hiring a contractor. The refurbishment costs SEPTA between $250,000 and $400,000 per trolley, Busch said.
Workers at the yard wore t-shirts with images of the trolley cars with the words “Did you miss me?”
Mechanic Woodrow Robins says the work has been painstaking.
“We do fabricate everything in house, because you can’t get the parts. We have to find the old rusted best-of-the-best parts and make new parts from it,” Robins said.
And nothing was easy, he says.
“There’s not one nut or bolt that comes out. We have to cut and drill out every nut and bolt in the trolley to rebuild it. It’s just very challenging, each and every one of them.”
SEPTA first expected the trolleys to return last fall, but test runs and driver training took longer than expected. “Each of these vehicles has over 200 test miles on them. We’ve trained additional staff to be able to operate them,” Busch said.
Busch said the PCC trolleys should run along Route 15 for about 10 more years until they’re permanently replaced under SEPTA’s trolley modernization program.
Meanwhile, work continues on the remaining 10 vintage trolleys. Sauer says they will be refurbished and returned to service in the coming years.