Engines of SEPTA: J.G Brill Bullets

The long awaited 5th episode of Engines of SEPTA. This was a pain to edit due to how much info I had to research but here it is finally! All that hard work was worth it for my favorite episode of the series so far! Yes you hear classic music from the 30s because why not, thought I'd show you a genre I like you never knew.
Chapters
Intro: 0:00
A Revolutionary Design: 1:30
Horns: 3:21
Grandads of High Speed Trains: 4:04
Brief History on the P&W: 4:47
High Speed Travel: 5:40
Great Depression & Shared Service: 6:14
Change of Owners: 7:03
Smooth Ride: 8:04
60 Years of Service: 8:49
Replacement and Final Run: 10:02
Preservation: 11:00
Legacy: 12:05
Ending: 12:41

[@TheTrainChasingPoet1999]

"OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE! NOT ANOTHER ONE!"

[@nigtcreature1837]

Trust me. I had the same reaction when I first found out about it.

[@TheTrainChasingPoet1999]

@@nigtcreature1837 Norristown must be the Pennsylvania equivalent of Chicago.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

No the Chicago of Pennsylvania is Upper Darby (Upper Dump) or Kensington. Chester is like Detroit.

[@TheTrainChasingPoet1999]

I suppose Norristown is more like Peoria, then? Peoria has a couple shootings here and there.

[@JasontheFolf]

I died of laughter!

[@Poisson4147]

To fill out the 1989-93 history a bit: When the Bullets and Strafford cars started to fail SEPTA had to shut the line down for a while. They tried special shuttle buses which of course were much slower and less reliable. There was serious talk of turning the line into BRT, but that idea was scrapped due to legal issues regarding the ROW and funding that was specific to maintaining rail service. As a stopgap SEPTA acquired six pairs of castoff CTA 6000-series cars which only needed minor modifications to run on the P&W tracks. They also took 5 (?) single M3 cars from the Market-Frankford El, regauged them using trucks from scrapped PATH cars. The CTAs were used for Norristown service, while the M3s were generally restricted to 69th St - Bryn Mawr locals. That continued until the mid-90s when the N-5 fleet was large enough to take over full service. SEPTA's not normally known for innovation but they deserve props for cobbling together a fix that worked for over half a decade. I admit I was never fond of the CTAs - they were slow, noisy, drafty, and poorly-lit - but they saved the line.

[@Kmaster2007]

1:15 I get the reference

[@michaelpham8368]

Kmaster2007 T1E2H3 reference, right?

[@muhammadfadhiil3430]

fun fact: the Wabco AA2's were used on The NJT Arrows and the indonesian locomotives cc 201 cc 203 and cc 204 which were ge u18c and u20c's were rebuilt and re classified

[@stevennicholas9337]

well yeah. cause indonesian trains are from america

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

The Kawasaki Subway cars on the Broad Street line use them too. They were definitely a popular horn

[@muhammadfadhiil3430]

they were even the nyc subways use them well few of them

[@jediraptor07]

My very first memories are of watching the Bullets (and the CTA 6000 cars) from my bedroom window and from the Lowry's Lane Bridge as they headed in and out of Garrett Hill Station. Thanks for letting me relive a very small but very much missed part of my childhood.

[@paulmishler402]

1:15 thats what she said 9 months later

[@kunjufari]

Further evidence that it was the US, not Japan nor France, that pioneered high speed rail technology which other industrialized countries have since used to start their own rail lines. Thank you for presenting an informative and entertaining narrarive.

[@nathanielgenthner3272]

1:31 we have 2 phillidelphia & western streetcars here in operation with septa equipment in them at the museum i volenteer in

[@jrugg338]

Great video. So cool you included the FJ&G Baby Bullets. My great grandfather worked for FJ&G.

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

8:42 If only they were steam powered, then I could call them Grandpuff. Hahaha

[@nyshortline]

A few clarifications. The P&W Bullets were numbered 200-209. The 11th Bullet was the second 203, built in 1933 to replace the original 203 which was consumed by a fire. The FJ&G cars were numbered 125-129. The P&W cars weighed 26 tons. No. 204 was quietly scrapped by the National Museum of Transportation in June of 2018, and No. 206 is preserved by the ELECTRIC CITY Trolley Museum. Loved this video, VERY well done.

[@SeanBodine]

This will always be my favorite episode.

[@jhill590]

Thanks for adding I remember riding these when I was a kid they could fly.

[@Ih8kone]

One of them is used for excursions at the Rockhill Trolley Museum.

[@emteaay2477]

The JG bullets lasted longer than the R32 subway cars in NYC which those cars lasted 56 years from 1964-2020

[@Maunico0809]

Over 60 yrs of service wow!

[@RRansomSmith]

They didn't lend SEPTA 2308 It was given as a reward for the late delivery.

[@interstate1335]

11:49 I’ve been there! Never saw 208 though. But it was still fun.

[@physetermacrocephalus9986]

The Budd R32 for the MTA New York City Subway system ran from 1964 - present day, not quite there with the bullets, but getting close.

[@TheMNrailfan227]

2:06 *_SHTËÀMŁÎÑĒD_*

[@RRansomSmith]

No It was classified as a Class 1 as it was intended to connect to other railroads further west to create a transcontinental line that never came to be.

[@nicopavvi8494]

I think that, if in the 30s there were high speed rail lines like the ones of today, probably the trains would have been very similar to those railcars.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

Awesome video!

[@daleearnhardtjr8673]

LOL I DIED WHEN SEPTA GOT MAD AT ABB FOR BEING LATE

[@RRansomSmith]

LVT ended 69th St to Norristown service in 1949 and continued Allentown to Norristown until LVT was dissolved in 1951.

[@therealawgm]

Hey thunderbolt I like your videos even your train crash videos I still like him because you’re entertaining fun enjoyable and you make the same videos as Amtrak guy 365 but that doesn’t stop me from watching your videos keep up the good work from Andrew Gentry Mace to thunderbolt keep up the hard work

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Thank you

[@therealawgm]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren your weckmiil

[@RRansomSmith]

206 is not at Rockhill Its at Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton

[@user-vn8uu2xu9n]

1:14 Thunderbolt 1000 siren productions 2018

[@Sf_sholder]

I would love to ride those cars

[@Ih8kone]

You can at the Rockhill Trolley Museum.

[@Wes8761]

Wabco aa2s are a personal favorite

[@josephdurning656]

The first day septa tool over the P & w a inspector for septa ask me way i was running late i knew from that day on the history of the red arrow was over. :(

[@himbourbanist]

These are very cool looking. the NHSL is such a strange line. I'm genuinely curious what the future holds for it since speeds have been cut back, and I've heard that the current cars on the route acquired in the 90's (I think?) are starting to experience mechanical failures that regularly cause delays on the line. I'd love to one day see the line re-tooled as an extension of the L with frequent through-running service from Norristown all the way to Frankford TC. I'm kind of afraid that once the cars go, SEPTA will put the line out of service and it will sit abandoned.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Abandonment is certainly not gonna happen. The line is a crucial connection from Norristown, toward the "main line" suburbs of Philadelphia, all the way to the dumpster fire called 69th st. They did try a branch extension to King of Prussia but the project stalled from cost overruns and NIMBYs. The replacement cars the N5s are indeed big rolling piles of junk being top heavy, unreliable, and a pain in the ass to run. SEPTA hasn't drafted any replacement cars for the NHSL yet but abandonment? cmon now.

[@TheMNrailfan227]

Could you possibly do the Septa street cars?

[@anasiacameronelijahedcpndc4324]

This year I'm gonna see a septa bullet

[@Ih8kone]

At what museum?

[@ItzBIULDmusic]

Poor train... It didn't deserve to be scrapped

[@Ih8kone]

Agreed.

[@dr.huskivlogs3350]

I’ve seen that bullet in ST. LOUIS because I live Missouri

[@AMT1345]

10:18 got me laughing

[@Strasburg_Railfaner611]

I’ve seen 205 on September 24th at east broad top for a test run since it hasn’t ran since 2018 it was a good moment video on my channel

[@TruenoD12]

The horn uses the aa2 air horn is also being used in Indonesia

[@doggerbendrailway6002]

Any idear when next one is or is it still on hold ?

[@PercyfanJamestheredcollector]

Nice

[@nyshortline]

More specific and detailed info, from "P&W Bullet cars, the World's First Bullet Trains" Facebook page: facebook.com/422891974476332/posts/767234333375426/

[@kyleb06]

Sounds like a remix of Quantic's "Time is the Enemy"

[@muhammadfadhiil3430]

can you re upload this with better and louder audio

[@tameek1842]

Do the market frankford line trains history

[@PercyfanJamestheredcollector]

One of the fastest trains

[@TheMNrailfan227]

Percy fan 2000 James the red collector, uhh no. Not even on septa

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

They certainly were. They're the ancestors of all high speed rail

[@emperorpalpatine2531]

Video on the mp54s?

[@Ih8kone]

12:01 So depressing to see.

[@courtemanche437]

I was waiting for a joke about a bucket of ice at 4:33 but I guess the one picture gag per episode was wasted at the beginning with the "bullet" thing

[@hotmomc1665]

Music at the begining pls?

[@4bfb704]

Good

[@kwydir7362]

didn't even remember this because of the n5s

[@elicarter6508]

and the old broad street line cars there are still some at fern rock

[@EstCrossings]

2:18 Anoher design that the soviets ripped off. The cab on this looks very similar to the ER1 and ER2 Electric Multiple Units.

[@p3n1_85]

intro song?

[@katerinaroberts5850]

Hey thunderbolt, um, I've been to the Utah state railroad museum, and the bullet is not there at all, just adding some clarification.

[@GoldenOne131]

The Flying Hamburger now I'm hungry for one rigth now

[@AndrewTheRocketCityRailfan4014]

I’ve seen the one at the NMT

[@Benthetrainkid]

11:22 That's Electric City Trolley Museum, not Rockhill

[@elicarter6508]

how about the budd cars for the mkl

[@Ih8kone]

7 have been preserved.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Glad because these things made the NHSL possible!

[@Ih8kone]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren Rockhill Trolley Museum has an operating bullet trolley that was modified with a pole for excursions.

[@Ih8kone]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren I believe there is also one at the Seashore Trolley Museum.

[@nyshortline]

6 are preserved. 203, 207, and 208 are at the Seashore Trolley Museum; 205 is at the Rockhill Trolley Museum and runs every Member's Day which is around Memorial Day and every first Saturday of October during the Fall Spectacular; 206 is at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton PA; and 209 is preserved at the PA Trolley Museum in Washington PA.

[@Lorsterthe34st]

No, noo, Nooo, gettin close, stil- *what Noah WhiteHouse said*

[@sonic23233]

You need to go to the Pennsylvania trolley museum

[@amjkodaz]

Engines of SEPTA, SEPTA AEM-7s

[@Thatgamingdiary]

Do Kawasaki B-IV on the Broad Street Subway or Adtranz M-4 on the El

[@aydenkendlick]

Hey they have 209 at the pennsylvania trolley museum

[@penkagenova7073]

1:10 is that supposed to refer to Thomas1Edward2Henry3 NWR origins with Donald and Douglas? I literally watched it

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Yes. I just had to

[@collinromeo641]

i get the opening refrence

[@patrykplayz7]

Wabcos are on the nyc subway work trains

[@theshortsguy8685]

OH FOR GODS SAKE NOT ANOTHER ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

[@closed9446]

11:02 NOTE: septa bullet trolley 207 almost collided with bullet trolley 202 in 1/26/1987

[@nyshortline]

Contrary to very popular belief the Bullets are NOT trolleys. They were never called trolleys until SEPTA took the line over in 1970. Without any more on line freight, SEPTA isolated the line and only then did it become a trolley operation. The Bullets are electric MU cars just like MP-54's only lighter and a lot faster.😊

[@bmteastern256]

Wait, so the NHSL ran subway style cars?

[@Ih8kone]

At one point, yes.

[@aydenkendlick]

Im a member there

[@Lobblobb]

looks like a x7 railcar / rälsbuss inswedish (railbuss)

[@kalm_k5549]

No-O FOR GOD SAKES NOT ANOTHER ONE

[@Sf_sholder]

I saw a jb bullet car on lots and lots of trains 2

[@KaaimanProductions]

They look like mat 40 trains from the netherlands

[@nathanielgenthner3272]

I think we have one of those cars but its in new jersey transit paint... so is it one of them or is it not?

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I doubt it.

[@nathanielgenthner3272]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren go to the new york museum of transportations website there a photo of it

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I think you mixed it up with a PCC trolley

[@nathanielgenthner3272]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren yeah sorry about that i did mix it up with a PCC

[@atsfrailfan5367]

pls make the mp54

[@nothisispatrick6180]

But 201 didnt get preserved makes sence :p

[@nyshortline]

200 was scrapped after a crash, 201 and 202 both scrapped due to fires. 204 scrapped by the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.

[@bmteastern256]

It's not Slow speed. The correct term is Low speed.

[@spdaylight1]

he's right.

[@farahismail13]

Pffft Everybody knows theres basically *no speed*

[@imnothere3107]

It's Odakyu not Udakyu

[@number9-sk921]

60 years of service? Pche, that is nothing at Slovakia are beeing dispatched 88 years old locos to normal service, but they are also getting out slowly out of service.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Union Pacific 844 isn't far from that. 77 years of service without an official retirement, and she's a big 1944 built steamer.

[@stockportcountyfc7272]

Can you focus one topic one ☝️. Because u do train crashes the funny moments

[@alishamcdonald7316]

1:14

[@dannyh.s.1936]

What does ABB stand for?

[@stephenlaarkamp7344]

Asea Brown Bovari

[@Poisson4147]

@@stephenlaarkamp7344 *Boveri. It's a Swiss-Swedish firm.

[@RRansomSmith]

Um no, There were only 10 cars, 200-209 (displayed as 0-9 on the roof above each air scoop on each end).

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Thanks for the correction.

[@Poisson4147]

The original order was for 10 cars. One was destroyed and Brill built a replacement. Technically 11, but only 10 ever ran at one time.

[@Straffordcar]

Also, the 11th car, the replacement 203 had steel under frame with aluminium skin. It was heavier as a result, and the difference could be felt in the ride.

[@Random.Channel_]

Lol the roblox anger

[@The4905]

4:45 😋

[@robloxgrbhrg2034]

Flying hamburger lol

[@Poisson4147]

It went to the city of Hamburg !

[@nyshortline]

In other words, the "Hamburg Flyer." Built some 3 years after the Bullets and borrowed heavily from their design. Holds the world speed record for diesel-powered trains at 150 MPH.

[@battleshipfan3435]

Not hamburger flyer its hamburg flyer.

[@xokyoto9045]

Thomas1edward2henry3 Reference

[@joimartin4133]

4:16 Not trying to be a grammar nazi here, but its pronounced o-da-kyu

[@Boypogikami132]

1:10-1:20 "morristown bullets" *pic of shinkansen* "nooooo" *pic of rounds from a gun* "nooooo" *pic of silver bullet movie* "still no" *pic of Amtrak Acela* "getting close" *pic of news saying that another shooting happened* "FOR GOD SAKES NOT ANOTHER ONE" *pic of morristown bullets* "there you go thank you" me: lol

[@Sf_sholder]

101 comment

[@pacman3279]

Doo a blooper vid

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

The cars that replaced them were ugly.

[@Ih8kone]

Agreed.