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Some Lehigh Valley Transit Pictures

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Posted by daveklepper on Saturday, August 22, 2020 3:51 PM

Ex-Indiana 1030 is ahead of one of the ex-C&LE cars in a line-up in Fairview Yard, 1948, and note the slighty higher roof, ;etterboard,and front windows:

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Posted by rcdrye on Saturday, August 22, 2020 7:06 PM
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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, August 23, 2020 10:39 AM

More pictures at Fairview Yard in 1948:

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, August 23, 2020 10:43 AM

I avoid Facebook.  If I use them for anything they then bother me.

Perhaps if the furniture arrngement is not per my photo, it should changed to suit for accuracy.  (It's only my photo, not my furniture arrangement!)

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, August 23, 2020 11:06 AM

The 8th St. and Hamilton Ave. downtown Allentlown terminal had just a trailing crossover and no way to turn the single-end cars.  After each run from Philadelphia (1949-1953 from Norristown) a run in reverse to Fairview Yard and back to 8th and Hamilton was normal.  The car interior was usually cleaned at the yard.

Note in the first photo at 8th and Hamilton, the operator has yet to pull the front pole down.

 

 

 

 and one more at the Yard:

 

 

 

 

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, August 31, 2020 11:00 AM

Regarding the 1030's interior seating, I got this message regarding the arrangement at Seashore:

No.  The car has all perimeter seating - facing each other.    Perhaps the Museum opted to restore the car to original seating configuration.

 

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 7:22 AM

The first time I visited Lehigh Valley Transit was the only time I rode Easton Limited in regular service.  LVT denied me the privilege of riding in one of the beautiful Cincinnsati curved-side ex-Dayton and Troy interurban cars and sent a regular streetcar to fill-in for the run.  But I did photograph a meet with one of the interurbzn cars.

Here is  better view of freight equipment at the Allentown Fineview Yard.  Both purpose build equipment and a car converted from passenger equipment.

 

 

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 7:58 AM

LVT 1030 is in the Seashore shop, or at least it was last Thursday.  Most of the required work at this point is cosmetic, but some control-related work also remains.

The chairs inside are all singles, so they can be rearranged as necessary.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, September 9, 2020 11:18 AM

So, it is not a really authentic restoration?

Some more pictures:

 Easton again

 

 

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 3:28 AM

My first visit to LVT had me (and John Stern and Bill Watson), April. 1947, arriving at Easton on the Lehigh Valley RR from NY. I took these two photos at Flemington Junction, where I remember a connection to and from Flemington, NJ.

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 7:34 AM

According to the car sponsors, the chairs in LVT 1030 are identical to the ones it had at LVT.  The car had bench seats installed when it came to Seashore.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 9:27 AM

My picture says otherwise!

Taken 1948 before conversion coach ("bench"?) seating

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 5:18 AM

Combined the tco photographs.   Any comments?

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 8:47 AM

Importnt detail missing frum the combined photo, here restored:

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 8:25 AM

LVT 1030:  The body change was the rear end, and again parts off the damaaged car were used.  The energency door was in the center of the rear, and was required because of the Norristown Bridge, which did not have any side-of-single-track walkway.  The C&LE cars and the 1030 on LVT had a flatter rear-end than the IR cars.

I think this much-damaged but hopefully repaired photo was taken in Bethlehem:

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, October 4, 2020 2:35 PM

LVT 1030's seats at Seashore are reproductions built from the original specs, except for a couple which were used as patterns.  When the car came to Seashore the bucket (bench) seats were removed, and later re-used in CRANDIC 118, which came from the C&LE. Info from Ron Rudell, who with his brother Tom has been involved with 1030 its entire time at Seashore.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, October 5, 2020 1:00 AM

Apparently, only a fraction of the seats got to Seashore.  Possibly during the period when the coach seats were used, 1949  -  1953, the double seats were re-purposed by LVT and/or one or more of its employees, thus preventing the Seashore restoration from being truly authentic.

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, October 5, 2020 2:15 AM

daveklepper
I took these two photos at Flemington Junction, where I remember a connection to and from Flemington, NJ.

That is where that motorcar will be going.  I believe it would only last another year in this service; I don't know whether it was replaced by an RDC.  Service to Flemington (even today a shopper's and antiquer's paradise!) was bustituted in 1952, and even that did not last...

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, October 5, 2020 2:29 AM

The doodlebug photo itself and the combined photo in its second appearance have a bit of the "F" of the Flemington Junction station sign showing at the right edge.

I did not remember that I had taken the two pictures until I had what I thought were only LVT negatives scanned.

Wonder what other useful suprises I'll find as I have more negatices scanned. 

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Posted by daveklepper on Saturday, February 20, 2021 8:41 PM

Riochard Allman yells me this is on ST. John's Street. where a n umber of LVT motormen lived. and we are trailing a Liberty Bell car on its every-roung-trip cleaning-and-maintenance movement from the Allentoen 8th-&-Hamilton downtown station to the Fairview yard, shops, and carhouse.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 4:48 AM

My 1st visit to LVT was at age  15 with older friends John Stern and Bill Watson, met through my having joined the ERA shortly before this trip, April 1947, my 1st railfan excursion outside the NYCity area.  We took the morning Lehigh Valley train, (Black Diamond?) to Easton, and my photos at the stop at Flemington Jc. are posted above earlier

At Easton, we expected to board a comfortable ex-Dayton & Troy Cincinnati Lightweight Curveside like one photographed later in life on a fan-trip in a differfent car, possibly a repeated posting:

But we were dissapointed when a regular city car showed, which I duly attempted to photograph before boarding, only to find on developing that I only got part of the car:

I never printed this photo nor used it for anything.

But now, I want to use it, since it was first LVT car I rode, the first trolley car I rode away from NYCity on a railfan excursion, and the first I rode on a genuine interurban line, even theugh a city car.  So here is my repair job:

 The added backgound buildings were adapted from the ex-D&T lighweight photo at the same location, and the added underbody details from a photo of an LVT car of the same series.

 

And the only time I ever did ride a Cincinnati Curve-side was on the West Penn local Connosville-South Connolsville line in June 1949, a car preserved at Arden.  Is it the only Cincinnati Curve-side preserved?

 

 

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 5:27 AM

John and Bill had the day planned.  We left the car from Easton at the Bethlehem Grand Union, rode the South Bethlahem line to Atllentown, then went to Northhampton and back, then to the Fairview car house and back, all with photos posted earlier.  We then boarded a Liberty Bell ex-C&LE car, grabbed parler seats at the rear, and I was amazed and thrilled with the speed, acceleration, smooth riding qualities on what was the 1st of several enjoyable trips on this line.  I would have been content to enjoy this comfort and speed all the way 69th Street, but we left at Norristown to sample a P&W "Bullet" to Ardmore Junction, then downstairs to a two-car Brill Center-entrance Red Arrow train to 69th Street, before riding the Market Street Elevated to 32nd Street Elevated Station, a walk to 30th Street, and dinner-in-the-diner on the PRR back to Manhattan.

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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 6:05 AM

Wheeling 639 (Cincinnati 1924) is preserved at Seashore, where it is part of the regular operating fleet.

https://collection.trolleymuseum.org/browse.php?id=00639SWV

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, March 11, 2021 5:52 AM

Thanks for the good news.  A beautiful car and restoration.

My spot removals had taken out the front retriever rope. Also, the operating pole needed strengthening.

Herewith

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, March 11, 2021 6:04 AM

I think the standard Cincinnati Curve-side, and the LVT's Easton Limited Dayton and Troy cars where similar, were the most beautiful of all steel lighteweight, non-Peter Witt street and interurban cars.  The West Penn's front variation may improve operator vision, but it detracts a slight bit from the overall artistic effect.

Obviously, I like the appearance of Third Avenue home-built lightweights.  But only the Broadway double-end Peter Witts surpass the Curve-sides in looks in my opinion.

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, March 12, 2021 3:34 AM

My error:  LVT 219 was an 11=windw car, not 12.

Herewith the correction:

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 19, 2021 4:12 AM

Anyone know the exact location of this grade crossing?

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, April 23, 2021 2:28 AM

Richard Allmsan told me that it is probably Coopersburg, and he also improved the photo:

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 9:26 AM

1.     Photo further improved.  Look above.

2,     It's Coopersburg, not Cooperstown.

 

3.    Richsrd Allman sent a map. edited version attached.  The road  crossings cannot be the photo, unless the destination sign is  wrong and the interurban is southbound to 69th St., Philadesphia, not northbound to Allentown.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, May 2, 2021 2:38 AM

After re viewing more efidence, Richard tld me the crossing must be in Sellersville.  GThis makes sense, b ecause I rode LVT to-and-from Sellersvfille to visit the Pittman factory to buy a permanent magnet designed specifically to fit inside the boiler of an American Flyer HO Hudson to coonvert it to polarity reversal, and I always had my Leica with me.  The Pittman factpry was adjacent to the LVT track but a distance from the station.

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