Abandoned Amtrak locomotive and baggage car in North Philadelphia

[edjbox]

If you are traveling by train between 30th Street Station and Frankford Junction (NJ Transit turn-off to Atlantic City) you will notice an abandoned and graffiti-laden locomotive and baggage car in either an Amtrak Phase I or II paint scheme sitting adjacent to a building that was or is a factory.

Traveling north this would be on your right side, while traveling south this would be on your left.

Engine appears to be either an E or F unit and baggage car looks like it hasn't been used since the 1980s.

Anyone notice this before or know the full story??? Is it still there (it was as of 2013)???

 

[PRR 60]

That equipment is at Juniata Terminal, a privately owned firm that restores and maintains a small fleet of locomotives and cars painted in original Pennsylvania Railroad colors for private use. Over the years, they have accumulated surplus equipment. Some is stored for future restoration and use and some for parts to maintain the restored fleet.

 

[jis]

Right. Those are not abandoned. Just stored not very securely, mainly because the internal storage is full. There was more equipment on that track, and some were moved to their facility in Altoona for storage too as I understand it.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[Acela150]

I wasn't aware that Bennett Levin had storage in Altoona..

 

[The Whistler]

Funny you should mention. After seeing Ben Levin's private "Broadway Limited" train at NTD in PHL and the quality of restoration, I was taken back by the sight . Here is a man that not only has three beautiful private historic railcars, he even owns the beautifully restored E8 engine that pulls the train. Mr. Levin has taken private train car ownership to the next level. It must be nice being rich and owning your own train.

 

[PRR 60]

Funny you should mention. After seeing Ben Levin's private "Broadway Limited" train at NTD in PHL and the quality of restoration, I was taken back by the sight . Here is a man that not only has three beautiful private historic railcars, he even owns the beautifully restored E8 engine that pulls the train. Mr. Levin has taken private train car ownership to the next level. It must be nice being rich and owning your own train.

I once had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Levin and he specifically mentioned the image of private car owners as being rich and pampered. He said he aways thinks of that image when he underneath PRR120 at 30th Street Station in single-diget weather trying to clear frozen sewage from pipes using a coat hanger.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Funny you should mention. After seeing Ben Levin's private "Broadway Limited" train at NTD in PHL and the quality of restoration, I was taken back by the sight . Here is a man that not only has three beautiful private historic railcars, he even owns the beautifully restored E8 engine that pulls the train. Mr. Levin has taken private train car ownership to the next level. It must be nice being rich and owning your own train.

I once had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Levin and he specifically mentioned the image of private car owners as being rich and pampered. He said he aways thinks of that image when he underneath PRR120 at 30th Street Station in single-diget weather trying to clear frozen sewage from pipes using a coat hanger.

Poor guy. It's so unfortunate that private train owners still aren't receiving the respect they deserve. Must suck to be rich and grumpy.

 

[PRR 60]

Funny you should mention. After seeing Ben Levin's private "Broadway Limited" train at NTD in PHL and the quality of restoration, I was taken back by the sight . Here is a man that not only has three beautiful private historic railcars, he even owns the beautifully restored E8 engine that pulls the train. Mr. Levin has taken private train car ownership to the next level. It must be nice being rich and owning your own train.

I once had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Levin and he specifically mentioned the image of private car owners as being rich and pampered. He said he aways thinks of that image when he underneath PRR120 at 30th Street Station in single-diget weather trying to clear frozen sewage from pipes using a coat hanger.

Poor guy. It's so unfortunate that private train owners still aren't receiving the respect they deserve. Must suck to be rich and grumpy.

He's actually not grumpy at all. He's quite funny, and that story was told in that manner. He said his was literally laying on his back under the car and started laughing thinking of the absurdness of it. Some of his stories about dealing with Amtrak were hilarious.

As for rich, yes he is, but the the extent one might think. Juanita Terminal is his splurge. PRR120, once the Pennsylvania Railroad Presidents Car and the car that carried the body of Bobby Kennedy from New York to Washington after his assassination in 1968, was derelict and heading for the scrap heap when he bought it for scrap value. He felt it was a part of history that should not be lost. Restoring it was a much bigger job than he imagined at the start, and he and his son did much of the work themselves scrounging parts and coercing friends to help. He learned to weld and mix and spray paint, not a classic hobby of the rich. Even with that, restoration still cost a fortune, but he said that if he paid others to do the work he could not have afforded the project. That job led to others and resulted in the small fleet of cars and locomotives at Juanita Terminal.

With private car ownership, rich people don't stay as rich as when they started. It is not a business someone gets into to make lots of money.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Owing Private Rail Cars is in the same category as Owning Race Horses and Yachts! The old joke of how do you turn a large fortune into a small one applies here!

JP Morgan, the King of the Robber Baron Financiers said it best: "If you have to ask how much something costs you can't afford it!"

 

[andersone]

the last king of Egypt. deposed by the British in 1956 complained of poverty. when questioned by the press why he found it so difficult to live on his one million pounds a year, he replied "poverty is living on less than you are used to." I myself have never had that problem.

 

[PRR 60]

"The best way to become a millionaire? Start with a billion dollars and launch an airline."

Richard Branson