SEPTA's D-39 Tower Car is Saved

Lance Myers · **Posted:** Sat Nov 22, 2003 2:50 am

Rockhill, PA - The Rockhill Trolley Museum took delivery of a new car on 11/20.

SEPTA's D-39 tower car, built 1908 for the Philadelphia Rapid Transit
Company, was delivered by low boy trailor the afternoon of Thursday
November 20.

Friday was spent unloading the car and it's trucks. A pair of standard gauge trucks were redied over the summer to replace its broad gauge trucks.

The car is operational, but will require a good bit of work, mostly cosmetic, to bring the car back to her former glory.

Originally built as an ash car, then rebuilt several times into a garbage car, a freight motor, and finally a tower car, D-39 was SEPTA's oldest piece of equipment when sold.

The Rockhill Trolley Museum is proud to be the owner of this historic piece of equipment.

Rockhill Trolley Museum
altoona_east@railfanusa.com

Tom Gears · **Posted:** Sat Nov 22, 2003 9:41 pm

Exactly what is a "tower car". How will the car be displayed/used?
Thanks,

Tom

Brian Norden · **Posted:** Sun Nov 23, 2003 4:20 am

> Exactly what is a "tower car". How
> will the car be displayed/used?
> Thanks,

In street railway parlance a "tower car" is a car (usually self powered) that is equiped with an elevated platform or tower to enable crews to work on the overhead wire. Some cars look like an express car with a work platform on the roof and usually with a smaller elevating platform. Other cars look like flat cars with a motorman's cab and have either one or two towers. Work surfaces (platform tops) are made of wood for insulation value as the wire is generally worked "hot."

Brian Norden

ge13031 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 23, 2003 8:45 am

> Exactly what is a "tower car". How
> will the car be displayed/used?
> Thanks,

> Tom

If you go to the website listed and run thru the "news" section down to April 6 2003 you will see a shot of the car out on SEPTA. I don't think you will ever see it happen live again but one of the greatest movie shots from the Lake Shore Electric Railway shows such a car working the trolley wire "hot" with two guys on the roof literally banging the wire hangers back into alignment. Neat operation, sight down the wire, bang on the hanger, move to the next one, repeat until wire is in line with your trolley pole.

BTW: great job on the website!!!

lamontdc@adelphia.net

Jan K. Lorenzen · **Posted:** Sun Nov 23, 2003 6:24 pm

> If you go to the website listed and run thru
> the "news" section down to April 6
> 2003 you will see a shot of the car out on
> SEPTA. I don't think you will ever see it
> happen live again but one of the greatest
> movie shots from the Lake Shore Electric
> Railway shows such a car working the trolley
> wire "hot" with two guys on the
> roof literally banging the wire hangers back
> into alignment. Neat operation, sight down
> the wire, bang on the hanger, move to the
> next one, repeat until wire is in line with
> your trolley pole.

> BTW: great job on the website!!!

One of the fun things encountered during a visit to Seattle two summers ago was watching the wire crews straighten live trolleybus wire in regular traffic. Bang it into alignment, then move on. Repeat as required.

I'd love to see the LSE movie - where can I get a copy? I lived in Avon Lake in the early 70's.

Steve Loitsch · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2003 5:37 pm

I don't think you will ever see it
> happen live again but one of the greatest
> movie shots from the Lake Shore Electric
> Railway shows such a car working the trolley
> wire "hot" with two guys on the
> roof literally banging the wire hangers back
> into alignment. Neat operation, sight down
> the wire, bang on the hanger, move to the
> next one, repeat until wire is in line with
> your trolley pole.

Another thing that is fun (???) is hanging new wire with the whole cable reel "hot" inside the linecar, while I have done some overhead work, this would be one job I would not want, a whole reel of cable hot, inside of a small single truck line car. As for banging on hangers I know this is stil done at least at one trolley museum and probably others as well. The hangars need to be peened over the trolley wire and then the threaded cap and cone screw into the hanger. As many of you know this is all done with the wire hot.

Steve Loitsch

sloitsch@cgctahoma.uscg.mil

Charlie · **Posted:** Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:49 am

It's nice to see a workcar being preserved. Seems like the vast majority of workcars are scrapped by museums for parts to restore passenger trolleys. Kudos to Rockhill!

Charlesebrown@webtv.net