Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys have been organizing multiple charters on SEPTA's extensive streetcar network per year for the last few decades and until April of 2024 I had ridden exactly zero of of them until when a trip featuring the newly heritage painted #9000 was offered. TLDR I can see why people were always enthusiastic about these events and I managed to come away with enough content for two complete posts. The first will cover the video I recorded from the back of LRV #9000 and the second will cover the still photos and shorter video clips.
We start off with #9000 pulling out of Elmwood depot and using a short stretch of diversion track to pass under the NEC and reach the Route 11 on Baltimore where the #9000 charter made a left and proceeded to the Darby Transportation Centre.
After completing a photo stop at Darby, the character proceeded to the 40th St trolley portal with a brief intermediate stop at the CSX Philly Sub grade crossing.
At the 40th St portal, #9000 took a 360o spin on the circle track with charter organizer Bill Monaghan Jr performing some work with the the switch iron due to the automatic switching mechanisms being not quite functional.
Next up was an express run through the Subway-Surface Trolley Tunnel with an intermediate photo stop at 13th St, ultimately emerging at the 36th St Route 10 portal.
After a pair of photo stops on the Route 10, the charter returns to the 36th St portal after a short turn at the 54th St loop with an intermediate stop at the 40th St diversion junction.
At this point it was time for another run through the trolley tunnel. One of the party pieces of these trips is to turn off the lights while inside the tunnel, which makes for a very cool effect.
After a photo stop at 30th St station, the character proceeded down the Route 34 to the Angora Loop.
Skipping ahead a bit, the character departs a photo stop opposite the 49th St R3 station, to then use the 49th St diversion trackage to loop around the Woodlawn heavy repair depot and return to the Route 13 on Woodland Ave before short turning at the infrequently used Mt. Moriah loop.
The final leg of the journey involved running from the Mt. Moriah loop to Elmwood depot via the 49th St diversion track, Woodlawn depot, the Route 11 and finally the Island Ave connector track.
I hope you all enjoyed this special video content. I'll be back next time with all the fantastic stills.
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