Gotta love the old PRR! What a piece of railroad the PRR built.

Very interesting overhead catenary wiring on steep curves.

Thank you, and hello from the USA! Relatives of mine just got back from England and they told me how amazing the electric railroad systems are in Europe. To answer your questions: 1. This line is not used exclusively for passenger traffic, but mainly. Depending on which part of the Northeast Corridor you are on you will see a few local freights or larger freight trains each day. 2. The catenary between Washington D.C. and New York City is 12 kV at 25Hz and I believe AC.

This video makes me miss Philly in a way, I used to ride the R7 (and R3) to and from downtown... thank you for posting, brought back a lot of memories...

You are correct, SEPTA does (or did) operate equipment that is old compared to most agencies in the U.S. Up until a few months ago SEPTA was operating four versions of SEPTA railcars (called Silverliners). These were the Silverliner II, III, IV, & V. What you probably saw were the Silverliner II's and III's in SEPTA's Powelton Yard in Philadelphia. These cars were just retired after almost 50 years of service. They were replaced by the brand new Silverliner V's (which I am riding in this video).

when i left philly 30th st station on the carolinian, we used the underground terminal not this one. but south of philly before dc we hit 126. that was FUN. i subbed for this. ty for taking me along.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it! I was trying to decide whether or not to film and upload the entire trip so I am glad you like the uninterupted video. I figured if I upload the whole thing people could either watch the whole trip or just fast forward to the part that they want to see.

I have been to your country and I am always inpressed by your freight trains. you could have a great rail system even better maglev would suite the USA. Our trains run on 25 KV AC. The only real fast line is HS1 were the trains can run at 200 mph. The rest of the system was built in Victorian time and runs at only 125mph to 150 mph. many thanks for your time. yours sincerely James

I grew up riding Philly area rail. I miss it. Thanks!!!

The Silverliner IV's were delivered between 1973 and 1976 and represent the majority of SEPTA's E.M.U. fleet.You can see a train with Silverliner IV's at 13:20. SEPTA also operates a fleet of conventional locomotive hauled trains for peak time service. These are pulled by AEM-7 locomotives or an ALP-44. To find out more look up "Silverliner" on Wikipedia.

Never had a chance to ride Septa Commuter. However, your video gave me the opportunity to do so from the comfort of my Phoenix Arizona study room. The lack of "jerks" or "jitters" in this video, along with the clarity was a welcomed added bonus. However, I have to say that looking at all that catenary work is like riding under a 25kv "spider web" Excellent Video!

Wow - a jitter-free camera on a ride from Trenton to 30th Street!! Excellent job - hope to see more great work from you!!!

Thanks for this! Love the uninterrupted front view and the full ride!

Thanks, I'm glad you like it! Actually, the Northeast Corridor are some of the most well maintained tracks in North America. The rails on this line are not shaky or twisted. However, you are correct about the narrow bends. Unfortunately. because the line is nearly a century old, curves on the line do make it hard for higher speeds. But there are plans to raise speeds in NJ to 160mph in the future.

You just had going past my dad house in Bristol it right on divers side right behind trees i remember as kid watching trains go by on Northeastern corridor i remember when Amtrak was testing the German ice train as it fly right pass my house.👍👍

At 24:00. It says. First car is a quiet zone car. No cell phones or loud conversations. It is about time. I love it.

I grew up in Philly, riding the El and the Broad St. Subway. Left Philly in 1971 for Atlantic City, then Delaware, then Florida in 1980. Also rode the Fox Chase Line and mostly the Doylestown line, but had never taken the Trenton - 30th St trip until now. Excellent video...felt like I was there! Enjoyed every minute and am looking forward to more from you!

Thanks, those are my favorite views in this video as well. It is amazing how they are passing at such high speed, but look so slow.

Great video! Thanks so much for posting. And thanks to Amtrak for accommodating railfan interests!

Oh wow you're bringing back nostalgic thoughts i love the R2 Newark Line :)

The sound from the train is really cool

A really interesting cab view. I hope for more of these rides.

Awesome Video!! That stopped SEPTA train you remarked about in your notes was a Chestnut Hill West train waiting to cross over to the branch that was off to your right when you were sitting at No. Philadelphia station. Not only was he waiting for your train but also NE Regional train 181...

Excellent video, which speaks volumes.

Thanks, glad you liked it! 30th Stree Station is two levels. The bottom level is used by Amtrak and the trains go straight into the platforms. The second level is used by SEPTA and the platforms are pretty much perpendicular to the platforms on the bottom level. This is because after stopping at 30th Street SEPTA trains continue on to center city stations (Suburban Station, Market East, etc.). However the Amtrak trains continue on to places south (Wilmington, Baltimore, etc.).

Brings back so many good memories, on the R7 line down to "Clean Water Action"

Thanks! I'm not sure If I will be able to, but they are a lot of fun to film also so I would say there is definitely a chance I will do more in the future.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

In my Mind's Eye I'm imagining what it looked like out of the Cab window of GG1's, E44's and CR SD40-2's back in both the 70's and 80's. Hard to believe the amount of freight which once traversed this terriotory. PYSE/SEPY, PYOI/OIPY and the old TV truc-trains.

Thanks. This video was taken and uploaded in 1877. Just kidding! I'm not sure why it says that, maybe I uploaded it 136 days ago, but definitely not years. Thanks for watching!

Thanks! It does take time to find and highlight all of the spots and stuff so I tried to get a bunch of big landmarks and almost all of the interlockings so that if someone wanted to find a specific spot they would at least be able to start close by. For example, if someone was looking for the Morrisvile flyover they could go to Morris Interlocking and find it that way. I'll try to add a few things that you suggested though, like the stations that were not stopped at and ZOO. Thx for commenting!

42:16 I can see the Arrow Poles on the Right Side

The Palmetto passing was great! A very unusual view of that and the Regional as if in slow motion.

Thanks, I'm glad you like them! They are fun to film also!

I love this video! Thanks for the ride.

Thanks buddy now i have enough data to complete this on the Train Simulator 2013... Already got the Wilmington Line done and i need to extend it to Newark, DE

Thanks for the ride.

Thanks, I'm glad that you enjoyed it!! :)

I don't know about the only, but definitely one of the best! Thanks for the comment and sub!

Super Film. Danke für hochladen :-)

Nice video. Thanks for sharing

Wow. Philadelphia is a BIG city! I have only visited Pennsylvania once, and that was bout 10 minutes in to the north border? I only remember a man ordering "sunny side up" eggs and asked my parents what that was. But what I saw was nice. I will tell you something, I am tired of the western railroading in California. Being a modeler I like this eastern stuff better!! Lots of graffiti on rail side structures makes for an interesting model layout. Yeah, we have that here as well, but the scenery here is really busy looking. Great video!

Thanks, and yes the camera was zoomed in just a bit. I zoomed it to what looked good and I was trying to cut off most of the window frame from the shot.

Thanks for the nice comment! Unfortunately the SEPTA Silverliner V's stop running at Trenton or else I would do a trip from Philly to NYP. Because this video is so popular, I may eventually do a video from Philly to Wilmington.

Love the video...I've ridden the "R7" Line a number of times...now, for the downfall. I love thier new "Silverliner V" Cars...but I wish that they would do something with those "OVERSIZED" Graphics on the cars...kind of reminds me when NICTD's (Chicago South Shore And South Bend Railroad) had those oversize "Orange and Maroon" stripes on the sides...and the HUGE (CSS&SB Lettering) on the top sides too! They revised the styling, and even now has the old "South Shore Line" emblem, along with the "NICTD" emblem. All the older CSS 1982 and after are now revised and updated colors and graphics. Now, SEPTA did a colorful job on the Silverliners before these cars were delivered! You already know that "SEPTA" owns the train, right? Case in point, look at some of Philly's "Broad Street Subway" Cars (Orange Line) that had all that excessive "Orange" paint on them! That is what I'm talking about! I will miss SEPTA's older fleet, and I was really sad when I heard that the Silverliner fleet was being sidelined. I trust that these cars don't have those "funny" controllers to operate the train...I had the pleasure years ago to talk to an Engineer who showed me one of the cabs. I do love to see that Amtrak is taking care of the former Pennsylvania Railroad's flyover's on the corridor too! I hope that "SEPTA" doesn't put a "curtain" on that railfan window where you cannot see out the front window! Sounds like something "METRA" would do here in Chicago. Again, great video...I wish that I could see a South Shore Train run on those tracks and really reach their top MU Car speeds! :)

3. My guess is that the wires do move above the trains to prevent wearing the pans in one place, but we just can't see it in the video. The catenary was built in the early part of the 1900's, being completed to NYC in the 1930's.

I went to your website...the picture looks great! Nice job!

Great video I was looking for something like this. I dont see too many videos or reviews of the Septa run from TRE to PHL

Thank you very much! I'm glad that you liked it. Thanks for subscribing too!

I'm glad I could help!

Yes, SEPTA is the transit agency for Philly. It stands for SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transit Autority , so basically it serves Philly and the surrounding counties. You most likely did see a train go between PA and NJ. If you were around the Trenton area SEPTA trains (such as the one in this video) run right across the Delaware river to Trenton. There is also something called PATCO that runs between Philly and Camden, NJ (right across the river). Look them up on Wikipedia you can find more info.

If you were riding an Amtrak train it would pull directly into the station. But, since the SEPTA trains need to turn to go into Center City that is why there is the large curve approaching the city. Because this curve is needed, they are not looking to straighten out the approach.

Ah yes... I remember my days of taking NJ Transit from Hamilton, doing the Trenton shuffle, and taking the R7 to Suburban station before the days of the River line. Wonder how RiverLine/Patco from Bordentown to Locust St. compare?

Andalusia station 20:34 Whiannoming station 27:25 Frankford station 28:45 Frankford junction station 29:45

Superb video!

Thanks for the info! I added it to the description.

Thanks! I hope to do another SLV ride within the next few months.

It would truly be nice if the northeast corridor could and should go all the way to the state of florida that would be the southeast corridor,it would work so well!!

Great video. I am from England and have a couple of Questions. I noticed that freight was absent ,is this line only used for passenger traffic ? what voltage is the overhead current and is it DC or AC. I would also like to know why the overhead wires seem to keep to the middle of the track, where them in the UK zig zag to prevent where on the overhead pick up.

Thanks. Nice job.

Nice video

like these views from the front!

Thanks for the compliment! I'm more of a NEC guy, but hey you never know!

Nice steady shot. The skyline makes me think third rails look rather pretty compared to that matrix of wires up there. A little startling at 24:40 on the adjacent track. Seriously though? Someone is in need of a beautification program.

That was good!!!!!

Excellent!!!

Yes , overlooking the operators seat , you can shoot out the rare cab...

Oh yeah just what i needed to cheer me up from the crash of Train Simulator 2013 (Something bad has happened) Was working on the SEPTA Rail System but i give up cause of all the Program Crashes and Glitches.

Great video!

there was one time i was riding septa Silverliner Vs and we got of at 30st amtrak platform

I went on one to the aquarium and had huge windows

The only way to view the NEC!

You're right it was not Holmesburg JCT but it was Holmes Interlocking. If you go to 26:03 you will see Holmesburg JCT. The interlocking is right beyond the station. Yes, that section over the turnout was a little rough :) By that point the train was pretty packed so I think somebody's knee hit the tripod which is what all the shakiness was from.

Look at all the broken windowed former factories.Makes me think of America's abandoned industrial base.

Hey Acelaphillies, it's me, (the 45 guy). I didn't know that that you had a KZfaq channel! I don't think I saw you mention it on the forums but good to see you here. That train that passed you at 24:50 looked like a regional. Saddening to see the graffiti on the signal boxes and walls.

I've never seen such monstrous catenary masts (and you can see a lot of them in Switzerland). And is it possible that the catenary is hanging straight over the centre of the track? No zigzag?

Well, what I meant is that the railway ties look uneven and some even seem to be missing. Also the whole ride is rather shaky and you can see, that the rails are not entirely straight at times. I bet the trains wobble around a lot, don't they? Like the locomotive in one of your other videos. The simple fact is, that if that is symptomatic for the whole corridor and if that is the best you have there, the whole rail network must be reworked, before it is fit for higher speeds.

The old Levittown station.

Awesome!

Loved it. Noted a very winding approach to 30th street station. Have they never looked at untangling it? Also noted the SEPTA trains seem 'old' am I wrong?

Yes, I believe it was.

Thanks!

I took this trip in September 2013

Can you do one from the net riverline from Trenton to somewhere else

10:14 NJ Transit train ride from Trenton to Bristol (Gladstone Line to Trenton Line)

this is awesome! can this like be your thing? if you manage to do this for some of the other lines i will be overwhelmed with joy :)

Its complicated but i will soon complete it... just having problems with the Keystone Line

Thanks, great video! How about West Trenton to Philly?

There are miles off straight track in the US why haven't rebuilt the lines into high speed..

No, unfortunately I do not. I will not be able to either because SEPTA territory does not extend into the Baltimore area. However, Pentrex Videos has produced a video from the 80's or 90's of a cab ride from Washington D.C. all the way to Philly. That should have what you are looking for.

NJ Transit gets up to 110 on the Hamilton to Princeton stretch.

Nice video! Thanks for your posting. By the way, is the camera zoomed in?

Thanks.

American trains are very comfortable. Much more than french trains. But slower apparently.

they justy rebuilt Levittown Station not to long ago.

We did not have overhead powered trains until much later. We still had steam in the 60's this was when you were on the moon. the reason being is that we are built on coal and we were bankrupt because of the two world wars. Dis you know it was an American who introduced electricity to the London underground. Thanks for your time in answering my questions. kind regards James

Of course.

Those trains are fast

Thnx

You have some neat videos! I'm from Alabama and wish we had passenger trains available like you guys in the Northeast do. I recently visited NYC and rode the Acela to Boston. The nearest Amtrak where I live is 65 miles away and one train east and one train west daily..