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<DIV><FONT size=4>Fred</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Two points.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>1) Add Paris</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>2) Not just cost of fuel, but operational performance on
those SF hills. Somewhat similar situation in Seattle. But who can
explain Dayton?</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Dwight</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=fwschneider@comcast.net
href="mailto:fwschneider@comcast.net">Fred Schneider</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, 13 December, 2013 12:34</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Western PA Trolley
discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PRCo] visual pollution or work of
art</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>I
think there is a basic premise that if you put two people in a room, Dennis, you
have a potential argument. Politicians have learned to use
them to their advantage.<BR><BR>As Phillip pointed out, the long lens can be
deliberately used to make the trolley wires look ugly. The telephoto
lens can also be used in hilly cities like San Francisco and Pittsburgh to
enhance the view, make the streets look steeper, and make the distant objects
seem closer. If we used a 28 mm lens to take the slide (or 15
mm on digital) many of us would never find the wires objectionable.
But there will always be those who will see the ugly … otherwise New York,
Washington and London would have never been forced to invest fortunes in
underground conduit to power their trolley lines.<BR><BR>But I see nothing more
than a San Francisco Chronicle photographer who was asked to make it look ugly
to support the visual pollution theme in the article. He was sent
out to prove a point. Very little journalism today is
unbiased. You get readers, then advertisers, and make money if you
jump into the middle of a debate. <BR><BR>In the 1940s, General
Electric published a booklet in which they aimed, of course, to sell their
hardware. They explained that if you could fill your vehicle, on
average, every five minutes, then buy PCC cars. If the traffic
required service every 5 to 7 minutes, use trolley buses. Over 7
minutes, use diesel buses. If the service was erratic, then use
gasoline buses. Of course those were average economics in the
1940s. That window for trolley buses vanished as we bought cars after the
war and most cities which bought them found they had made a huge mistake by the
early 1950s. San Francisco was the exception because the city owned
its own hydro-electric plant in the Sierra Nevada mountains … except for paying
Pacific Gas and Electric a transmission charge, the power was almost
free. So while most cities got rid of their trackless trolleys, Muni
kept theirs. I guess if Muni has any sense, they will keep the
electric network because the price of fossil fuels can only go up as the global
supply diminishes. <BR><BR>Wouldn't you like to see a survey showing
how many of the complainers about the visual pollution from the wires ride
transit and how many drive their own cars? And perhaps also how many
realize how much their taxes might go up if they had to pay for fossil fuels to
run the network and how many of the protesters are clueless?
<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>On Dec 13, 2013, at 6:44 AM, DF Cramer wrote:<BR><BR>>
Not Pennsylvania-----but some of us consider wire work an integral part of the
electric transit experience and some do not. You decide----I think the
photographer was leaning towards art.<BR>>
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Muni-trolley-wire-visual-pollution-electrifies-5056671.php<BR>>
<BR>> Dennis F. Cramer <BR>>
http://home.windstream.net/dfc1/ <BR>> <BR>>
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