Riding this Air Car PCC trolley Route 6 to Willow Grove Park..brings back good memories..It had to be around 1956..I lived in North Philly..Took the Route 20 trolley up to Broad and Olney and then got on the Route 6 Trolley heading north to Willow Grove Park..What fond memories...
Grew up in Hatboro. Remember my grandparents putting me on the RT 6 off Ogontz Ave, for a ride home. I was about 5. Sat behind the motorman. Dad met the trolley at Willow Grove Park. Imagine doing that scenario today.
Thankyou SOOOOOOO VERY MUCH FOR THIS TIME CAPSULES OF TROLLEY CARS AN FASHIONS AN OLD CLASSIC AUTOS 🚗 WOOW WHAT A TRIP😁!! I car just about 👂 HEAR the TROLLEY coming NOW....
Nicely edited journey from Willow Grove to Olney. This illustrates efficient use of streetcar routing combining private ROW with suburban street trackage to minimize travel time. It easy to see how Route 6 was the busiest feeder route to the BSS. (The Media and Sharon Hill Trolleys follow very similar routes) Shame on National City Lines for killing the Route 6 Trolley..
Wow! Before 309 Expwy., Cheltenham HS in Wyncote this was a scenic journey. Most recognizable is crossing Church Rd. and eastbound at Keswick and Parkside.
Our elementary school use to have school year end picnics in the Willow Grove amusement park. I guess that is no longer there now. Great fun and the trolley ride was even fun.
The signs at Wayne Ave. & Edge Hill Rd. in Roslyn look exactly like today's street signs in Cheltenham Twp. I guess Abington's street signs started out the same blue as Cheltenham, but were changed to the current red as seen in my earlier post.
The Trolley is a heartbeat from stopping at Church Rd after coming out of the woods at the Power Station Building (still there) coming south towards what is now Panther Rd !
I've traced out the route on several visits to the area. Best as I can figure out: No idea where Rt 6 crossed the Reading. Cannot match up the old houses seen in the photo on the Rt 6 bookface site. Trolley then ran down Rockwell Ave to Edge Hill Road, where it ran on the west side of the road. There was some rail in there about 10 years ago. Bear right onto Tyson Ave, rail was in the center. There was a turn around loop near Bradfield Rd. The route continued to Jenkintown Rd, where it ran along the northside, then crossed and ran on Keswick Ave. Old right of very easy to see. The route continued on N. Keswick Ave, under the Reading, and S. Keswick Ave. The route then went on it's own right of way, easily seen from the air, although heavily treed, on the west side of Bishop McDevitt HS. The route continued to Church Road. The large building on the northwest corner was the old power plant, and had several rotary converters to provide DC voltage. From here the line continued through the "woods" where Cheltenham HS now stands. At the time Rt 309 was not built, so Limekiln Pike merged with Easton Road. Limekiln Pike then split off to the left at what was then Beaver College (now Arcadia). Where RT 6 crossed the northbound lane of Limekiln Pike, there was a warning sign with flashing blue lights. Rt 6 continued down the median of Limekiln Pike to the loop at Cheltenham Ave. and then onto Ogontz Ave. One weekend, I stayed with my grandparents in Germantown (Walnut Lane, near the Washington Lane Reading station). My grandfather took me on the bus to Ogontz, and put me on the trolley going to Willow Grove Park (we lived in Hatboro). I sat behind the motorman, all of about 4 years old, and vividly remember my first real adventure. My parents picked me at Willow Grove. There was also a powerhouse there, near where Aldis now stands. Times have changed. Anyone here put their 4 year old on a bu by themselves?
On second thought, the houses at Old Welsh and Rockwell look like those in the facebook photo. The current bridge looks like it was rail only at the time.
@@Wingnutcaseman - They just announced the closure of one of the last 25 Sears stores in America in January 2022. The old JCPenney is being turned into an amusement center.
My Dad worked for PRT and PTC. Trollies have always fascinated me! Thanks for sharing!!
Riding this Air Car PCC trolley Route 6 to Willow Grove Park..brings back good memories..It had to be around 1956..I lived in North Philly..Took the Route 20 trolley up to Broad and Olney and then got on the Route 6 Trolley heading north to Willow Grove Park..What fond memories...
Grew up in Hatboro. Remember my grandparents putting me on the RT 6 off Ogontz Ave, for a ride home. I was about 5. Sat behind the motorman. Dad met the trolley at Willow Grove Park. Imagine doing that scenario today.
I grew up in the 70's i remember the 60 trolly that ran on Allegheny ave in Richmond Kensington section.
Thankyou SOOOOOOO VERY MUCH FOR THIS TIME CAPSULES OF TROLLEY CARS AN FASHIONS AN OLD CLASSIC AUTOS 🚗 WOOW WHAT A TRIP😁!! I car just about 👂 HEAR the TROLLEY coming NOW....
Well-documented, clear, tripod-mounted with views of long-gone lines, this is an outstanding video.
Nicely edited journey from Willow Grove to Olney. This illustrates efficient use of streetcar routing combining private ROW with suburban street trackage to minimize travel time. It easy to see how Route 6 was the busiest feeder route to the BSS. (The Media and Sharon Hill Trolleys follow very similar routes) Shame on National City Lines for killing the Route 6 Trolley..
Wow! Before 309 Expwy., Cheltenham HS in Wyncote this was a scenic journey. Most recognizable is crossing Church Rd. and eastbound at Keswick and Parkside.
Grew up on 400 block of Keswick. Knew this Trolley well! Great video! Need to copy some how!
Our elementary school use to have school year end picnics in the Willow Grove amusement park. I guess that is no longer there now. Great fun and the trolley ride was even fun.
SlimJim My dad worked for Boeing and they had a "Boeing Day" at Willow Grove once a year. All free and it was wonderful!! (late 60s)
Willow Grove Park closed in 1975. Here in 2022, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the ghost town mall that replaced it.
Love the video! And man...they weren't afraid to fly with those trolleys back then..lol
This was taken in 1956. The cars had blue license plates, which were the color used that year, and I spied a '55 Oldsmobile.
The signs at Wayne Ave. & Edge Hill Rd. in Roslyn look exactly like today's street signs in Cheltenham Twp. I guess Abington's street signs started out the same blue as Cheltenham, but were changed to the current red as seen in my earlier post.
Damn they need to do some track maintenance some of those lines look dicey.
Those tracks were ripped up more than 60 years ago.
good video; audio is DC's rt. 20 car.
🥰🥰🥰🥰
Great film ! Where, on Keswick Ave, is the location, at 2:42 minutes into the film ?
The Trolley is a heartbeat from stopping at Church Rd after coming out of the woods at the Power Station Building (still there) coming south towards what is now Panther Rd !
A time when Olney n Logan was nice
+Mr._. Minecraft lived @ 5725 no. twelvth st. had to move the spooks & I did not get along ! They started calling me RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE !
Olney was such a vital community in the fifties and sixties. Now it has been subsumed into the slums of Philly. Even Cardinal Dougherty High is gone.
@@undulrundul7929 - "Who are you calling 'spook,' peckerwood?"
(From "Back to the Future")
Would like to know where some of these locations are, so I can Google Earth them and see if any traces of the line is left.
I've traced out the route on several visits to the area. Best as I can figure out:
No idea where Rt 6 crossed the Reading. Cannot match up the old houses seen in the photo on the Rt 6 bookface site.
Trolley then ran down Rockwell Ave to Edge Hill Road, where it ran on the west side of the road. There was some rail in there about 10 years ago.
Bear right onto Tyson Ave, rail was in the center. There was a turn around loop near Bradfield Rd.
The route continued to Jenkintown Rd, where it ran along the northside, then crossed and ran on Keswick Ave. Old right of very easy to see.
The route continued on N. Keswick Ave, under the Reading, and S. Keswick Ave. The route then went on it's own right of way, easily seen from the air, although heavily treed, on the west side of Bishop McDevitt HS. The route continued to Church Road. The large building on the northwest corner was the old power plant, and had several rotary converters to provide DC voltage.
From here the line continued through the "woods" where Cheltenham HS now stands. At the time Rt 309 was not built, so Limekiln Pike merged with Easton Road. Limekiln Pike then split off to the left at what was then Beaver College (now Arcadia). Where RT 6 crossed the northbound lane of Limekiln Pike, there was a warning sign with flashing blue lights.
Rt 6 continued down the median of Limekiln Pike to the loop at Cheltenham Ave. and then onto Ogontz Ave.
One weekend, I stayed with my grandparents in Germantown (Walnut Lane, near the Washington Lane Reading station). My grandfather took me on the bus to Ogontz, and put me on the trolley going to Willow Grove Park (we lived in Hatboro). I sat behind the motorman, all of about 4 years old, and vividly remember my first real adventure. My parents picked me at Willow Grove. There was also a powerhouse there, near where Aldis now stands.
Times have changed. Anyone here put their 4 year old on a bu by themselves?
On second thought, the houses at Old Welsh and Rockwell look like those in the facebook photo. The current bridge looks like it was rail only at the time.
@@phillyrube5232 - The trolley went under the Old Welsh Rd. bridge, but over the RDG just south of the bridge on its own bridge.
@@OldsVistaCruiser Thnx
willow grove park is gone. In the 80's they built a shopping mall. It is the American Way. Shopping Mall's
And now shopping malls are going away although Willow Grove is still thriving.
Yes and a park that featured the music of John Philip Sousa was razed for a shopping mall. That’s what we live in.
@@Wingnutcaseman - They just announced the closure of one of the last 25 Sears stores in America in January 2022. The old JCPenney is being turned into an amusement center.