PATCO RFW Camden to Lindenwold to Center City Philadelphia. 4/10/24

It seems I have largely ignored the system the last 15 years so I thought today I would check it out.  This has always been an exciting system and happily it still is.  Although the Railfan Window is not what it once was, it is still quite acceptable. We get on our train at Broadway, Camden and speed out to Lindenwold and then take a complete ride back to 16th and Locust in downtown Philadelphia. Stations are identified and there are plenty of infographics to provide some historical perspective on this route. Enjoy.  Once back in Philadelphia, I enjoyed this lovely Spring day and strolled about the city

[@stephenrichmond917]

Welcome to South Jersey! I've been riding PATCO, also known as the Hi-Speed Line, since June 1969, when I was 12. I'm currently 67 and I use a Freedom Card, which gives me a reduced fare between any two stations during off-peak hours. Mostly I ride to 15th/16th and Locust on Sundays to get to church.

[@jimpern]

Woodcrest is a significant station because it has a direct exit from I-295, making it handy for commuters.

[@stephenrichmond917]

It was an afterthought. I sometimes board there.

[@JohnL2112]

Ok, you know your content is good when I see a video about a transit line I don't care about at all, but its from you, and I'm like "Oh yeah, pump it directly into my veins!"

[@VincentPearson]

I can’t begin to count how many times I have been taken PATCO from Haddonfield to Philadelphia! I grew up in nearby Lawnside! Great stuff!

[@rainbowbill531]

I was a Trainmen for the PATCO Line in the 80's. You had the option of operating them Manually or Automatically. Always enjoyed going over the Ben Franklin Bridge. Never got old.

[@3985uprr]

I guess to make the engineers job more interesting they might’ve decided to operate it manually

[@rainbowbill531]

@@3985uprr Back then also, we had a green curtain that went around the Engineers operating space, no keyed door entrance.

[@jquas1965]

I would love to ride a PATCO train over the Ben Franklin Bridge.

[@philnaegely]

@@3985uprrthey operate them manually during rain storms and during leaf season too

[@luislaplume8261]

​@@3985uprrPersonally I beleive operating a subway train or electric commuter train manually is what makes a motorman a skilled worker. In this way he knows how fast and slow he could go an know how the motors responded to the voltage it gets in running the train. I am old fashioned and I am a Baby Boomer. 😊

[@barrykrebs8180]

I started riding this in 1974. I remember getting on at Haddonfield and Collingswood Stations to Philly. Best part of ride was over Ben Franklin Bridge. It pays to have family in Metro Philly. Drawbacks though include going through Camden. I recall the stations there were dark. Often saw security with German Sheppards. Went with family and late wife.

[@3985uprr]

Camden raised my BP a bit.

[@marcmercuri2003]

I like PATCO alot, everytime I go to Philly I always take the train, parking in Philly sucks. I work at the RiverLINE light rail

[@rickschell7874]

Very good video. I rode the line many times. I rode it when it first opened. I still have the booklet they were giving out. The ride over the Delaware river on a bright, sunny day was awesome.

[@luislaplume8261]

The Ben Franklin Bridge is similar to the Manhattan Bridge in having subway tracks on bothe sides of the bridge.

[@choptanktuxent2]

Thanks for the ride! I rode PATCO one time (twice counting the return trip) - 8th & Market to Broadway on a day trip to Philly in 2004.

[@jquas1965]

Thank you for filming and posting your ride on PATCO. You were in a great position to see everything. I love the Ben Franklin Bridge, it has everything train tracks, pedestrian walkways and of course the road deck.

[@3985uprr]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dlxinfinite7098]

I love all these front window views. Feels like Im driving. I grew up in Lawnside, NJ. Ashland Station is where I got on. Lived right up the street. I still ride this line for a bit of nostalgia and laughs. Thanks.

[@luislaplume8261]

Wait til they build a replica of the 1936 subway train that ran on the bridge.

[@dominicfrancesconi1656]

as someone who lives in Haddon Twp (westmont) and went to rowan (Glassboro), a line down there would be amazing for commuters going to the school and also med/nursing students studying at Cooper in Camden. Even if it was a join Patco/NJT Venture it would be beneficial for the area and also divert from south jerseys reliance on Buses other than for commuting into Philly or going to AC.

[@drakeistherichestusakoreac2094]

I grew up in first station lindewold where i live i go there from lindenwold to philly

[@alanlesitsky1300]

Thank you for this video on my favorite commuter train. I grew up in this area and remember sitting in the rail fan window when these trains still moved at 75mph. I bird hit the window and was demolished in seconds.

[@fredredmon5828]

When my lady friend was a child she grew up in Croydon and Levittown then move to Florida in 1966 1972 went back up there lived in haddonfield and rode the PATCO to work at the PSFS building. She still remembers the stops lol

[@bartonbauers5028]

Great video, RRHG. Hope you will do the Vermonter north of NHV, perhaps in segments, NHV to SPG with engine change in NH, SPG to maybe Brattleboro, then north to the end. Enjoy all your videos. Maybe you could give the followers a heads up so some can make it into a fan trip!

[@fredrickfarmer3762]

FINALLY you do PATCO! Thank you.......

[@3985uprr]

Long overdue considering how often I go to the Philadelphia area.

[@alancutler6453]

I was a Center City resident and used that line to visit relatives in NJ as well go to Atlantic City.

[@nickcef]

I know they're thinking about connecting Camden to Glassboro, but I don't think they'll be using a connection off the PATCO line. Would be great if they could eventually connect all of South Jersey, including the shore towns, to Philly. There's a lot of abandoned ex-PRSL trackage left in South Jersey.

[@scottyerkes1867]

Great ride! My parents and I took a test ride to Ashland to visit Echelon Mall. Our first experience with TVMs. Thanks for the nostalgia.💚🖖

[@robby062]

Thanks for the great ride. I used to ride this from Collingswood to 12th and Locust to transfer to the Broad St Subway and (I think via one more change I can’t remember) go to 30th street to ride Amtrak to Newark as an 11-12 year old back in 1974. My parents used to let me travel to North Jersey alone to go see my grandfather. I have to get back to ride that again one of these days.

[@stuartaaron613]

Thank you for a nice ride on a different rail line. I've never been on PATCO, so this was new to me.

[@3985uprr]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@railbug6281]

grew up a few miles from Westmont, NJ station. The only way to travel to center city Philadelphia

[@andrewpalm2103]

Thanks for this ride, RRHG. I've heard of but never seen this line. Cheers from Wisconsin!

[@yourmothertrebek]

Oh man you were right down the road from me! The patco brings back so many memories. Used to ride it from Center City to Westmont to visit my grandmother back when i was a kid (and it was called the high-speed line). Now that I'm in Jersey, it's my go-to for getting into the city. Sure beats driving and paying an arm and a leg to park! Love your vids!

[@isleman9473]

Another great video Tim! Seems the Alstom rebuilds worked out pretty well.

[@3985uprr]

Sounded good

[@BURRITO44]

Awesome video

[@JCVACCARO]

Thank you. I've always wanted to ride this branch over the Ben Franklin bridge but I have since relocated to the MS gulf coast and will probably never get the chance. If I get back to AC I will surely try.🇺🇸

[@fredrickfarmer3762]

That horn, very nostalgic to my youth!

[@3985uprr]

Not much of a horn

[@VincentPearson]

The original horns were much better!

[@johnburke1317]

Nice video

[@RadioNJ1948]

As RRHG pointed out the traction motors sound great because PATCO decided to retain the DC motors when the cars were rebuilt a few years ago. No inverter IGBT whine and silent AC motors. The DC motors are a headache especially in the snow. I heard that PATCO bought some traction motors from the LIRR which apparently used the same ones in the M1 cars which are now all scrapped. Don’t know if that’s true or not. Excellent video btw.

[@3985uprr]

It is true about the M1’s. When they were traveling at a high rate of speed, the motors sounded similar.

[@YouTubeDave]

That is true about the LIRR motors.

[@toy4x4nj]

I have used PATCO many times to into Philadelphia. Only wish it wound end Near 30th St Station. I keep my thoughts about after you go through the turnstile in Philadelphia to exit the street.

[@fredrickfarmer3762]

I know what you mean. I lived in the area all My life and I rode the line plenty of times and it WOULD be a great thing if it extended to 30th Street Station. It would cut out that dirty transfer to the Market Street Subway AND would make sense to do so. Come on DRPA AND GET ON THE STICK HERE!

[@philnaegely]

@@fredrickfarmer3762before they even debate that project they have to open Franklin sq station first :) which is on schedule for fall I believe

[@stephenrichmond917]

NJT AC line is a one-seat ride from Lindenwold to 30th Street. No need to ride the El.

[@MauriceCarson-ve7rt]

Excellent.., information, history, music, enjoyed everything. Thanks

[@KofCFrank06511]

Thanks for the ride Tim

[@ryanconnelly3685]

I never realized how much PATCO feels like the Babylon Branch

[@3985uprr]

It does

[@villanp]

Okay, thanks for the information

[@Jeff-uj8xi]

Engineer function? There is no engine, thus no engineer. The position on PATCO is "operator" but motorman could be used. I was the first passenger on the first train on PATCO. I was given the honor of cutting the 50th Anniversary cake and the first slice at the ceremony. I'd love to send you PATCO photos of me cutting the cake, but I have no E-Mail contact info for you. There is no way of posting photos here. That paralleling track from Lindenwold to Haddonfield was abandoned when when Amtrak abandoned Atlantic City service. Atlantic City trains only operated local to Lindenwold, where passengers had to transfer to PATCO. When I 'pulled strings' to get the Atlantic City Rail Line built, with everybody saying I could "never" do it and it "can't be done" it was the best I could come up with. The naysayers said "nobody" would ever ride on trains to Atlantic City again !! The words "never" and "can't" are not in my vocabulary. I fought to get the Atlantic City Rail Line extended to 30th Street Station in Philly when Amtrak pulled out of Atlantic City service. I was told it would "never" happen and PATCO would "never" allow it. I went to my friend and admitted rail fan N. J. Governor Jim Florio who made it happen. I rode on the Inaugural Special with Florio and the VIP's in NJT's open platform observation car from Atlantic City to Philadelphia. And by the way, I got the Cherry Hill stop built. Another thing I was told would "never" happen was when I got the Pennsauken Transfer Station built between The RiverLINE and the Atlantic City Rail Line. That's my pride and joy. I was told that the adjacent homeowners would never permit it and there was no money to build it. I applied for Obama Stimulus funds to get it built. I saw too it that all preliminary engineering was done, even with "no hope" of ever getting it built. And speaking of the RiverLINE, I convinced N. J. Governor Whitman to get the line built when I was told "nobody" would ride it and that it was a boondoggle and total waste of money. I could go on and on...........

[@luislaplume8261]

Any rapid transit system should be run by rail fans and train operators not career goverment bureaucrats!

[@Heyme232]

Around 41:10 you can hear cab code system over speed alerts and trains begins to slow down as it nears the portal

[@stephenrichmond917]

That's where the speed limit drops from 40 to 30.

[@georgeronn1263]

Used to travel into the city on PATCO back in the late 80’s and into the 90’s. I remember the trains being much faster, it seems like they rarely passed 45 or 50 mph in the video. Also, is the drivers compartment still only a half wall on the aisle-side? Used to love sitting in the front seat and chatting with the engineer.

[@toy4x4nj]

The drivers compartment now is fully enclosed. so the second row is now the best seat to get the drivers view

[@luislaplume8261]

It is called a motorman's cab.

[@iweezy2020]

Have you ever taken NJT River LINE? That's a nice little trip.

[@3985uprr]

I took it to get to Camden to get on the Patco

[@joscallinet6260]

Very nicely done, thank you! Great to have you cover Patco's Lindenwold Line - our country's first fully-automated rapid transit line. The cars on this line are living testimony to the enduring quality of the rolling stock that the Budd Company of Philadelphia produced. Because of their nearly identical appearance to the Budd-built cars, the Canadian-Vickers-built cars must have been given the Budd Company's blueprints and asked to replicate them. Why was Canadian Vickers asked to build more cars for the Lindenwold Line? Was it because by then Budd was already out of business? Also, could you tell which cars were which when you rode the line? Builder's plates for example? Other identifying features? Again thanks for this lovely early-spring 2024 video. Great that you ended your video in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square - truly an urban oasis.

[@3985uprr]

The Patco 2 cars are mainly different with the engineer cab area. Something different about the flooring and the shroud behind the engineer

[@michaelquinones-lx6ks]

Reminds me of the LIRR.

[@anthonyguinan4906]

Patco is unusual in that it runs 24 hours.

[@stephenrichmond917]

Trains run hourly late at night. Ride at your own risk.

[@jackchen7003]

I plan to go PATCO next weekend. Is the seating at that window a 2 seater?

[@3985uprr]

Yes it is.

[@bradfordtownley9363]

What is the purpose of the stanchions between the tracks? They'll not stop a train nor really impede a person.

[@Bowfinger10]

Between the tracks? Are you looking at the third rail covers?

[@bradfordtownley9363]

@@Bowfinger10 No, there are metal fences of a sort - i.e. vertical - which would not stop a train nor impede a person

[@3985uprr]

I guess to prevent a train if there was a derailment,from going too far into the opposite main

[@stephenrichmond917]

They're there to prevent a derailed train from falling off a bridge.

[@villanp]

Here’s no signal lights

[@3985uprr]

They use cab signals from track circuits, and there are only signals at switches

[@captainkeyboard1007]

What does PATCO stand for?

[@3985uprr]

Port Authority Transit Corp

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@3985uprr I should have known that from rote. Thank you for typing to me.

[@TheSmyrnaman]

I don't think there is any audio.

[@3985uprr]

Wait a minute