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Greetings
<p>No photos available but these cars have an interesting history.
LVT purchased them but apparently did not realize they were Pa trolley
gauge (LVT was std). Thats why they were sold to Norfolk which was
wide gauge. VEPCO like LVT purchased many second hand cars just before
World War II which allowed them to carry very heavy loads. Norfolk
was a navy and ship building center.
<br>Birmingham, Ala was another system that purchased many second hand
cars. I rode the VEPCO Norfolk routes which had long sections of
PRW as well as Birney cars on the close in routes. Quite a place.
<p>Best wishes to all.
<p>Harold Geissenheimer
<p>Greg King wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Hi Jim,
<p>It's interesting that someone is trying to sell a PCC catcher, I have
about
<br>twenty of them sitting beside my garage, they are genuine Earl type
PCC
<br>catchers, but they were made for us, we used them on our Z3 and A class
cars
<br>till we went to pantographs and I rescued these and their mounting
rings,
<br>been meaning to write to Gemaco to see if they need any.
<p>By the way, do you or anyone else on the list know wher I might get
some
<br>plans of the VEPCO (Norfolk) cars 700-702. Thes were built by Kuhlman
in
<br>1926 for the "Westside Electric Street Railway and the Webster, Monsessen,
<br>Belle Vernon and Fayette City Street Railway out of Charleroi, Penn.
<br>Apparently PRC operated the lines from 1929 to 33 selling them to Lehigh
<br>Valley who in turn sold them to VEPCO. These were particularly hansome
cars
<br>and I would love to build one for myself.
<p>Cheers
<br>Greg
<br>----- Original Message -----
<br>From: Jim Holland <pghpcc@pacbell.net>
<br>To: <pittsburgh-railways@dementia.org>
<br>Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 3:17 AM
<br>Subject: Re: Philadelphia PCC retriever for sale on Ebay
<p>> Greetings!
<br>>
<br>> brathke@juno.com wrote:
<br>>
<br>> > A Philadelphia PCC trolley retirever is for sale on Ebay.
See:
<br>> > <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=488798257">http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=488798257</a>
<br>>
<br>> Philadelphia PCC cars NEVER had RETRIEVERS
-- they used CATCHERS
<br>> to take up the trolley rope. There is a BIG difference
between the
<br>> two.
<br>>
<br>> A catcher stops the upward movement of a trolley pole; a retriever
not
<br>> only stops the upward movement of a trolley pole but has a mechanism
to
<br>> *retrieve* the pole - to pull it down clear of the wires.
<br>>
<br>> Even the description is suspect - the *retriever* is in the *original*
<br>> orange but underneath is the PTC green?!?!?!?!?!?! A quote
of the
<br>> description follows:::::::
<br>>
<br>> "This is an original 1947 PCC Philadelphia Trolley car RETRIEVER.
It is
<br>> still in its original color (Orange). There are some minor
chips in the
<br>> paint and underneath is the original PTC (GREEN) paint. SEPTA had
<br>> experimented with many paint schemes before The red white and blue
was
<br>> standered. This retriever was salvaged from an orange PCC at LUZERNE
<br>> Trolley Barn years ago. I got it from a freind, it is in good condition.
<br>> A RETRIEVER's function was to yank the pole in a downward position
when
<br>> the pole dewired. the retreiver prevented the pole from getting hung
up
<br>> in the wires or tearing down the overhead. A GREAT PEICE OF HISTORY
AND
<br>> A GOOD CONVERSATION PIECE. I hate to let it go but I have to sell
it for
<br>> financial reasons. GOOD LUCK! Buyer pays shipping."
<br>>
<br>> James B. Holland
<br>>
<br>> Pittsburgh
Railways Company (PRCo), 1930 -- 1950
<br>> To e-mail privately, please click here: <a href="mailto:pghpcc@pacbell.net">mailto:pghpcc@pacbell.net</a>
<br>> N.M.R.A. Life member #2190; <a href="http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/">http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/</a>
<br>></blockquote>
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