Can anyone shed some light on the whereabouts of Philadelphia PTC "Peter Witt" streetcar No. 8530? I read that it was acquired by a private group from PTC in 1957 and stored at Mt. Hope, Pa. Is this car still stored in Mt. Hope and are there any plans to restore/operate the car in the future?

> Can anyone shed some light on the
whereabouts of PTC 8530? It was
acquired from PTC in 1957 and stored
at Mt. Hope, Pa.<
Mr. Paul Rhodes? bought it, a trackless
trolley motor, and some electrical
engineering help back then. Something
spins the motor to generate D.C. to run
the car ocasionally on 1000 feet of
track. It lives in a 3 track pavillion
between 2 Reading trolley bodies, which
may have been recently moved to Topton
or Scranton.
In the recent past, the East Penn Valley
club (sic) would have picnics and rides
at the site.
There is some confusion about the proper
name of the location, it may only be near
Mt. Hope.


TyburnRR@cs.com

I have also heard that 8530 is operational, and I have seen photos of it that show it to be in excellent physical condition. There was a discussion on an online traction group a while back about this car, including the following information:

"#8530, while cared for by Ben Hershey, was owned by a private family and they have continued to retain ownership even after Ben's passing. I have never met the owners personally and Ben indicated to me that while he was permitted to maintain, operate, and bring visitors to the car, the owners liked to remain low key and the car is a treasured family possesion with a great deal of sentimental value to them, besides its obvious historical value. The same family owns the land the car sits on as well as the shed it is stored in."

I hadn't heard about any Reading streetcars also on the property.

Frank Hicks

Preserved North American Electric Railway Cars
F-Hicks@wiu.edu