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THIS SOUNDS MORE LIKE CALL US WHEN YOU PASS THROUGH. AS I UNDERSTAND
THE MAILING LIST, ONLY DERRICK AND ED LIVE IN THE PITTSBURGH AREA AND THE
OTHERS ARE SCATTERED FROM NEW JERSEY TO SAN FRANCISCO.
<p>SO I'LL START WITH AN INVITE. IF ANY OF YOU HAVE AN INTEREST <b><u>EASTERN
PENNSYLVANIA</u></b> SYSTEMS, AND YOU ARE PASSING THROUGH LANCASTER, CALL
ME. For the uninitiated, Lancaster is 228 miles east of Pittsburgh,
67 miles west of Philadelphia, about 25 miles north of the Maryland state
line. We're about an hour and a half by train from Philly.
By car from Baltimore is about 100 minutes. Phone number (unlisted)
is 717 569-6791. I'll me more than delighted to show you the state's
6th largest property, which had 165 cars and 165 miles of track, and radiated
from Lancaster city like the spokes of a wagon wheel. We also had two smaller
companies, whose actual operation totally defies logic but both lasted
until 1929 and 1931. You'll understand when you see that, even
today, nobody lives there. If the phase of the moon is correct and
its custodian is available, we can probably pull the Conestoga Traction
Co. Birney out of its home in Manheim. You can actually achive mental
overload if you just do the Lancaster properties, and it will take two
full days to cover it all. Even more time would be needed to ride
the Strasburg Railroad, the Toy Train museum, or the state railroad museum
at Strasburg. Staying in the Lancaster area is not a problem
... we have more than 100 motels / hotels in the county and over 500 restaurants
of almost any description. We are a tourist trap so ask first before
booking rooms or eating somewhere ... I'd hate to see a friend ripped off.
<p>The Lancaster - York - Harrisburg region is home to nearly 2 million
people. It is the most active industrial area in the state today
there is still a lot of room for agriculture. These are the regions
in the state with the greatest prosperity. Given two or three extra
days, we can do Harrisburg Railways, Valley Railways, York Railways, Hanover
and McSherrystown, and Hershey Transit. John Swindler is the best
expert on where the suburban Reading lines were situated; I know the RT&L
Lebanon Division. Bill Watts may have been the last survivor who knew the
RT&L lines east of Pottstown and into Chestnut Hill ... anything I
do there would be exploratory. Stan Bowman in Thorndale knows West
Chester Street Railway and the West Chester, Kennett and Wilmington.
I've done Southern Penn and DEPCO in Wilmington, Delaware. Rich Allman
knows what PST tore up. I know most of Lehigh Valley Transit.
<b>I do not know Philly or Bucks County.</b><b></b>
<p>Even though retired, I do have other commitments with the church, with
the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, with PTM, my wife, and with my doctor.
Best to give me a heads up early. But if I'm free and some one from
this group shows up, we'll go for the gusto.
<p><b><u>IN THE PITTSBURGH AREA</u></b>, you really want to twist Ed Lybarger's
arm. He has had me over all West Penn so many times that we've both
memorized it and I've forgotten a lot. Ed has also shown me the Harmony
Route, the Mars line, the Southern Cambria. We did Johnstown's Windber
interurban together. We both know every inch of the Pittsburgh interurbans.
But both of us are weak on Pittsburgh Railways ... Ed has admitted that
he really does not know the West End and I never even rode all of it.
If the group wants to do Pittsburgh or West Penn, sounds like doing it
by automobile is the best possible way because it is illogical to expect
more than two or three people at once. If a whole gaggle showed up
at once, there is no reason why I couldn't drive across the state to host
a second car. Unless a group of new PTM members is interested, I
suspect that a bus is not logical. It would mean that we would need
to get all of the list together at once and I hardly believe that will
happen.
<p>Ed and I both have USGS maps marked to show everything we have traced,
which makes it very easy to go back and revisit some of the lines we may
have forgotten.
<p>Charles Brown wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Okay guys, having read so much about past excursions
and the tracing of
<br>old right of ways and stuff, I was wondering what the chances are of
you
<br>guys (ie those of you who live in Pittsburgh) sponsoring an excursion
<br>for those of us (ie those of us who don't live in Pittsburgh) who would
<br>like to visit your fine city and see all of your fine traction sites.
<br>I'm thinking of either an excursion on PAT covering all of the LRT
<br>system and/or a charter bus covering some of the more significant
<br>abandoned lines. Oh, and maybe a side trip to Forbes Field where
they
<br>played real baseball (I understand that some remnants are still there).
<br>Oh oh, and the inclines too. Gosh, visiting all of the incline
sites
<br>could take a whole weekend in iteself.
<p>So whaddaya say, any interest in this???
<p>Charlie
<p>Charlesebrown@webtv.net</blockquote>
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