1960 Budd Cars Farewell - 1999 Fantrip in Philadelphia

Farewell fantrip 7-4-99 for the Market-Frankford Subway Elevated cars SEPTA (ex PTC) chartered by the NYD ERA. These BUDD Company of Philadelphia cars had the nickname Almond Joy due to the 4 humps on the roof that housed the ventilation fan motors. They were the cars that replaced the original el cars from the teens and twenties. The had lightweight trucks, and the first application of stainless steel for rapid transit car bodies. Fast, comfortable and colorful inside with picture windows, the el cars were ahead of their time and provided reliable service for 39 years. As modern as they were, the doors were air operated, there was no air-conditioning and the end door windows were drop sash, much like school bus windows. This made for some very exciting rides for rail fans. Notice the rare use of under running thiid raiI (600 VDC). I am very surprised that no other videos of these beloved cars exist on YouTube. If you have additional information about the performance and history of the Almond Joys, please post them in the section.