Odd Truck

Phillyrube · Jul 10, 2018

Picture is of an old Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) streetcar work truck. The upper platform is wood, so electricians can work on the 600 volt wires live. Notice the siren? I posted another picture a long time ago of a similar truck, with the siren clearly noticeable. Got some inquiries out on some railfan sites to see what the logic is.
My guess, it's a Federal 78. Philly Fire used these a lot in the 50s and 60s.

FiremanSketch · Jul 10, 2018

There's a great group/page on Facebook, Old Images of Philadelphia. Might return some answers there.

My guess is that the Mack chassis was probably used by PFD in its previous life & they never bothered to remove the siren.

Phillyrube · Jul 19, 2018

Found another one. Guy on railroad.net said the PTC had a couple of these, sort of like fire trucks, that responded to power emergencies.

(Looks like a Sireno?)

FiremanSketch · Jul 19, 2018

Interesting! Probably had a better response time than PECO

Phillyrube · Oct 23, 2018

Toured the Baltimore Streetcar Museum. They restored a BTC work truck similar to these, that also had a siren. Theirs is missing, so I refered them here to see if they could locate one. I also took photos of old photos showing a couple. I'll post them up when I get home, still on the road.

Phillyrube · Nov 17, 2018

Photos of Baltimore streetcar maintenance vehicles, with sirens. One of the tour guides at the museum said there was a firehouse like building under the church in the background, where one of these trucks responded from.