America’s largest cities employ subways and elevated railways to get transit vehicles off the streets and provide true rapid transit. Philadelphia’s Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated line was such a facility, built in stages between 1903 and 1922.
Car 606 is one of the single unit stainless steel cars built in 1960 to replace all of the original equipment on the wide gauge Market-Frankford line. The fleet consisted of over 200 cars with the 600 series being built to run as single units and the 700 and 800 series in permanently coupled pairs. The cars were owned throughout its service life by the City of Philadelphia, which donated 606 to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 1998 when the “Almond Joys” (nicknamed because of lumps on the roof) were replaced by new cars featuring air conditioning.
view next roster entry
return to Roster of Collection page
Car Number | 606 | Car Builder | The Budd Company |
Year Built | 1960 | Type | DE Rapid Transit |
Length | 55’0″ | Width | 9’1″ |
Height | 12’1″ | Weight | 51,500 lbs. (26 tons) |
Seats | 54 | Motors | WH 1454 (4@) |
Year Acquired | 1998 | Status | Trolley Display Building Exhibit |