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<DIV><FONT size=4>Ed</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Not only would the write down have been deleterious to their
stock values, it would in a much more practical sense have removed their ability
to run their power plants at an efficient level. The railways provided the
base load needed for efficient operation of them. It was not until the
boom times (in electricity consumption, <EM>inter alia)</EM> after WW II that
power demand in WP territory became high enough to take up a sufficient amount
of installed capacity to make elimination of the rail demand an attractive
thing.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Also, I doubt that the railways, on a true net/net cash basis,
lost money at least until the post war period. (individual lines were hopeless
losers and got axed early on.) Of course an enterprise cannot sustain
itself in the long run if it does not make a profit that includes not only
positive cash flow but also coverage of depreciation, amortization, taxes and
interest. So you are correct, the handwriting was on the proverbial wall
not long after the Great War, and I believe WP management was fully aware of
that. The way they executed gradual rundown of the transit assets was,
IMHO, rather clever.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Dwight</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=trams2@comcast.net
href="mailto:trams2@comcast.net">Edward H. Lybarger</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, 20 May, 2014 14:38</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] Reading - Pgh. Press - March 1 thru
9.</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>Peak
year for coal and coke was 1916. Clairton opened full time in
1918.<BR>Last year West Penn paid the bond interest out of the fare box was
1920. It<BR>all fits very precisely. The terminals were joint
ventures with the power<BR>company, which eased the burden a bit. The 830s
were part of a $400,000<BR>upgrade of AV Street Ry and were needed to convert to
one-man operation.<BR><BR>They didn't exactly know when they finished the system
in 1914 what loomed<BR>on the horizon. And if they had dumped the railway
company as soon as it<BR>became unprofitable in the fullest sense of the word,
it would have killed<BR>the power company...the organization simply couldn't
have taken that big a<BR>write-down and still been viable. But since
Railways owned (in 1916) 100%<BR>of Power, it wasn't an issue to subsidize one
from the other.<BR><BR>Ed<BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From:
pittsburgh-railways-bounces@mailman.dementix.org<BR>[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounces@mailman.dementix.org]
On Behalf Of Fred<BR>Schneider<BR>Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 11:01 AM<BR>To:
Western PA Trolley discussion<BR>Subject: Re: [PRCo] Reading - Pgh. Press -
March 1 thru 9.<BR><BR>Yup. I chuckled two about Mitchell making it
one of the most modern<BR>transportation companies in the country. Maybe
up to the early 1920s until<BR>the public quit riding. <BR><BR>But
we also know that the mines were already fading in 1910 when West Penn<BR>built
their last routes. If memory is working, it was about 1910 that
the<BR>Clairton by-product recovery plant was built and that killed a lot of
the<BR>beehive coke ovens along the West Penn.<BR><BR>The last investment was
around 1927-1930 . the new terminals in<BR>Connellsville, Uniontown and
Greensburg and the attempt to get the cars off<BR>some of the busiest downtown
streets in Uniontown. The 800 series cars for<BR>the Allegheny Valley were
quasi-modern, meaning sealed gear boxes and 300<BR>volt motors but the brake and
control package was anything but modern. <BR><BR><BR>On May 19,
2014, at 8:40 PM, Dwight Long wrote:<BR><BR>> <BR>> Fred<BR>> <BR>>
I love the part about Mitchell helping to make West Penn one of the
most<BR>modern transportation companies in the country!<BR>> <BR>> I think
Federal pre-emption of local ordnances came as a result of lots of<BR>similar
things to the McKeesport fiasco.<BR>> <BR>> Dwight<BR>> -----
Original Message ----- <BR>> From: Fred Schneider <BR>> To:
Western PA Trolley discussion <BR>> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 8:07
PM<BR>> Subject: [PRCo] Reading - Pgh. Press - March 1 thru 9.<BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> The Pittsburgh and West Virginia Terminal fire .. look
in March 22, 1946.<BR>The fire happened over night Mar. 21-22.<BR>>
<BR>> Philadelphia Company wins delay<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3000%<BR>2C15764<BR>>
<BR>> No page forward to page two, same edition. Bottom of column
one. Look<BR>at that picture at the bottom of the first column
of<BR>> the clothing department in Albert J. Mannsmann's department
store in East<BR>Liberty. Hard to believe a neighborhood department
store when we don't<BR>even have them downtown in our cities any longer.<BR>>
<BR>> The next link is two columns over to the right . same page.
I put this<BR>in for Ed Lybarger. AFL and CIO are battling over who
should represent the<BR>employees at Champion Stores, the company store for
Pittsburgh Consolidation<BR>Coal Company. So when "I owe my soul to
the company store" and it is shut<BR>down and I have no money, do I
starve? Or do I stick my shot gun in<BR>someone's face to get money
to eat? <BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3639%<BR>2C25910<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FlMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2188%<BR>2C938893<BR>>
<BR>> It is hard to believe how primitive aviation was back
then. This is<BR>also for Ed but the rest of you might get a kick
out of "Moon Township<BR>Airport Due to Get Funds." <BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3707%<BR>2C83272<BR>>
<BR>> Personnel action at Pittsburgh Railways<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3707%<BR>2C8327<BR>>
<BR>> We won't give up harassing the power company<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FFMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1579%<BR>2C291182<BR>>
<BR>> The Pittsburgh, Shawmut and Northern Railway was sold in March
for 1.5<BR>million dollars. Doesn't say so here but the last trains
ran about 27 days<BR>later.<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FVMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3055%<BR>2C650711<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FlMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2557%<BR>2C905732<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GVMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1940%<BR>2C2206355<BR>>
<BR>> Pittsburgh Railways unhappy that Montour Bus Company wants to
serve<BR>Spring Hill<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FlMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2136%<BR>2C940320<BR>>
<BR>> This link is about eight hurt on a Greensburg-Blairsville bus
when an oil<BR>truck slid into it on the Lincoln Highway west of
Latrobe. But the story<BR>to it's right is a real winner
too.<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FlMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5161%<BR>2C1032106<BR>>
<BR>> Baldwin Locomotive Company shut down temporarily because they
could not<BR>get steel. There were peripheral stories that I did not
send about coal<BR>strikes and a lack of gas that also affected steel
mills. The second link<BR>comes a few days later when the United
Mine Workers and John L. Lewis lost<BR>in the Supreme Court for breaching a
contract with the government. The<BR>entire page of the paper
in the third link gives some idea about what was<BR>going on in the coal fields
in 1947.<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FlMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1546%<BR>2C1062045<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GFMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5426%<BR>2C1466133<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GVMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1945%<BR>2C2013973<BR>>
<BR>> This guy must have loved his work. H. L. Mitchell of
West Penn achieves<BR>45 years in harness.<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FlMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5121%<BR>2C1062595<BR>>
<BR>> Philadelphia Company's hearing is recessed<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5770%<BR>2C1287583<BR>>
<BR>> Same old - same old. I love this. They
had clean coal back in 1947<BR>except that they were unable to find
it. Coal industry accused of<BR>attempting to sabotage Pittsburgh's
smoke control program. I find the<BR>whole thing rather
amusing. This is the only item I have posted so far but<BR>the papers have
been filled with it. One of the better items prior to this<BR>was an
editorial cartoon showing Harrisburg aiming a canon at Pittsburgh's<BR>attempts
to clean up the city because the coal companies were buying
the<BR>legislators.<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6205%<BR>2C1324122
<BR>> <BR>> Sounds like this chap employed the law firm of Dewey,
Cheetum and Howe to<BR>sue Pittsburgh Railways. <BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GFMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2250%<BR>2C1494659<BR>>
<BR>> Fantastic article about all the rules McKeesport inflicted on the
B&O.<BR>I can only wonder when the ICC or the FRA told the city to go pound
sand.<BR>I know of similar cases where cities were told that they had no control
over<BR>railroads.<BR>>
<BR>><BR>http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G1MbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4302%<BR>2C2502871<BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
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