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<DIV><FONT size=4>Fred</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>No doubt the authors of this report felt that the travelers
could go faster in buses or autos—hence the name.</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> Tuesday, 15 April, 2014 11:46</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] Ahh-nothing better than a good
conspiracy</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'>Yes.
We need that conspiracy. It is better to blame it on NCL, GM, Ford,
Dodge, Nash, etc., than on ourselves. Heaven forbid that we should
ever blame ourselves for loving automobiles. <BR><BR>There is also a
conspiracy because it cost just as much to put the whole family in the
automobile as it did to put one in the car? But the trolley company
charged four fares for the family if they were all over age five.
(In the middle 1950s, the IRS mileage rate was about a nickel a
mile. That would mean it would cost about 20 cents to drive a car
from our home into Lancaster or 18 cents if we took the bus. But if
we went together … it was still 20 cents in the car but 72 cents on the
bus. That was not lost on my father. My grandpa made the
kids walk. <BR><BR>It was also a conspiracy because the family auto
left home when we wanted to go, not when the trolley schedule
dictated. And you didn't have to walk two blocks in the rain to the
streetcar stop? <BR><BR>My mother remembered that my father had two
desires (other than what all guys want) when they met. One was a car
of his own and the other was a vacuum tube radio (better than putting his ear
next to a crystal set). He built the radio himself. He
bought the Model A Ford as soon as he graduated from college and got a job in
1930. After that he no longer had to put up with the B&O, the
PRR and Pittsburgh Railways. <BR><BR>Well, until World War II when
gas rationing put him back on the train for business trips. <BR><BR>One of the
larger business firms in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania was
Follmer-Clogg. They owned a five story high building with a foot
print covering an entire city block. They also had a second building
across town. The main building is now an apartment. What
did they make? Umbrellas. An acquaintance who
worked for them and who later worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, explained
that the factory was driven out of business by the automobile. Once
we could get into our car right outside our own home instead of standing in the
rain at the car stop, we no longer needed bumbershoots. This is not
to imply that we don't still use umbrellas, but that the number out there has
greatly declined because of automobiles.
<BR><BR>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follmer,_Clogg_and_Company_Umbrella_Factory<BR><BR>You
might find the same thing to be true of raincoats. <BR><BR>But if we try to
correct Wikipedia, those who want a conspiracy will recorrect it within
hours. <BR><BR>On Apr 15, 2014, at 6:23 AM, DF Cramer
wrote:<BR><BR>> The Snell Report has surfaced again as corporate conspiracy.
What else is new? This page has links to the report in PD format.<BR>>
http://evworld.com/blogs.cfm?blogid=1243<BR>> Even Wikipedia (not one of
their biggest fans) offers a more enlightened insight.<BR>> <BR>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy<BR>>
<BR>> Dennis F. Cramer <BR>>
http://home.windstream.net/dfc1/ <BR>> <BR>>
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