<html><body><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><DIV aria-label="Compose body">A bar of hand soap was the rail grease of choice in some neighborhoods around Halloween time.<BR></DIV>
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<DIV aria-label="Compose body">On the least night - and early next morning - of East End trolleys in January, 1967 I rode as many of the last runs as possible, and I remember numerous "jumpers" waiting for us, especially in the East Pittsburgh area. Maybe it was an organized effort. :-)</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000; FONT-STYLE: normal" data-mce-style="color: #000; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><B>From: </B>"PC" <pcc_sr@yahoo.com><BR><B>To: </B>"Western PA Trolley discussion" <pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org><BR><B>Sent: </B>Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:42:01 AM<BR><B>Subject: </B>Re: [PRCo] Streetcar pranks<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Another interesting find. It seems these 'jumpers' just disabled the trolley; they did not board for rides. Pranks for sure Mr.Cramer.<BR>I was onboard a Charleroi car, one of the 3800s, when the pole dewired; the retriever did its job. The motorman allowed the car to coast<BR>a considerable distance before resetting the pole. After this was done he told us why. Apparently a group of 'boys' were tugging strongly<BR>on a guy support for the line pole which caused the overhead to gyrate and dewire the pole. As he was not able to stop fast enough to<BR>prevent this he coasted until out of sight. He hoped this would confuse the boys who would assume the car could not travel without<BR>connection to the overhead.<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV>He then told us this is why the PCCs have their catcher above the rear windows. Yet there is a picture on the university site of a PCC in<BR>Oakland who climbed on the rear of the PCC (in stopped traffic apparently) to pull the pole from the overhead. We have seen it here<BR>before. The operator also told us the old yellow cars had their catcher located on a vertical window sill which made it high but reachable by<BR>the average operator but not younger boys. Still, boys would ride the coupler then pull the pole when the car stopped and they departed.<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Interurbans could not put the retriever above the windows because of the tug of war necessary to reset it. Operators never mentioned boys<BR>pulling the pole by hand on interurban cars; they would certainly risk fingers if not the whole hand wouldn't they.<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV>I have heard 'rumors' about grease on rails, but this in the 1960s or 1970s in other cities.<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR>PC<BR>
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<DIV><BR></DIV>--------------------------------------------<BR>On Tue, 1/28/14, DF Cramer <alto_trombone@hotmail.com> wrote:<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV> Subject: [PRCo] Streetcar pranks<BR> To: "pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org" <pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org><BR> Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2014, 3:35 AM<BR> <BR> I can imagine this happening everywhere.<BR> http://www.myjournalcourier.com/article/20140127/news/301279984<BR> <BR> Dennis F. Cramer <BR> http://home.windstream.net/dfc1/<BR>
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