Pittsburgh Rys 101--Addendums

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

Charlie Brown wrote::

> 5)  The block signaling system on the single track segments impresses
> me.

	The South Hills Trolley Tunnel was strictly line of sight - no signals. 
 The SF Twin Peaks tunnel had signals during PCC days.  On board signals are 
used with SF LRVs in Twin Peaks Tunnel.
	The 42 Dormont was signal controlled from the Palm Garden Trestle to the 
street running in Beechview, but the portion from Potomac to the wye on prw, 
with a blind curve between Hillsdale and Alabama, was never block signal 
controlled!
	In street single track, like on 40 MtWASHINGTON, 65 LINCOLN PLACE, outer 
end of 94 SHARPSBURG, the 98 GLASSPORT, and other lines using single track were 
controlled by signals from trolley wire contactors.
	The 67 SWISSVALE had clearance problems on some curves because the devil 
strip was reduced to a couple inches so trolley wire contactors were used for 
signals at these locations.
	A derail switch was located on each inbound track to the Mt. Washington 
streetcar tunnel and was part of the interlocking system there.  The motorman 
had to set the switch properly to get a clearance light.
	Even the double track portions of the interurban lines were block signal 
controlled - Overbrook, Library, Charleroi.

	ANECDOTE:  Liked to ride Charlie Diehl's Library car (he is the motorman 
replacing the pole and having trouble with the retriever on 1710 in the video!) 
 It was a dark dismal winter day as we left downtown Pgh about 1961 with a 17 
interurban bound for Library with a squash load of commuters.  We were held up 
downtown so there was no interurban immediately in front of us.  Several 42s, 
38s, 40s, 48s, or 44s got ahead of us across the bridge and up through the 
tunnel.  We got caught by inbound traffic at one of the sidings with another 
Library car immediately behind us but sailed once back onto double track.  As we 
left Hillcrest outbound, the power pedal was on the floor.  We lost the power 
rounding the curve into the downgrade and never got it back until just short of 
the trestle up the other side!  We made it to the end of the line and back past 
88 before we met our follower.  As we left Hillcrest inbound we descend a very 
long grade of 5-7% and can see approaching Drake cars inbound toward Washington 
Jct at the bottom of the hill, esp in winter since the overhead lights are on.  
Charlie floored it because this Drake was usually a slow guy dragging him back 
to the barn.  But another operator was on the car and I thought it might be a 
collision at the junction!  The Drake car was running our red block signals all 
the way back to the barn (he was supposed to wye at Shannon and go in on the 38 
line.)  And at Bon Air, an outbound car jumped our pre-empt - we got a clear 
green signal but the board went blank; the operator who jumped our light never 
looked at us as he cleared the single track - he kept his head down all the way. 
 His signal had probably gone blank indicating the preempt but he ran the light 
anyway!

	Later in this same section I said::

> Several of the 1700 series PCC cars had brushes mounted in the track
> brake to sweep the rails clean of debris, especially sand, 

but I should have said:::::::

**Several of the 1700 series PCC *interurban* cars had brushes mounted in the 
track brake to sweep the rails clean of debris, especially sand,**

	Cars 1700, 1706, 1723, 1724 come to mind as having these brushes; there 
were others.

Much later I said:::::::

>The ({[PAT gray]}) paint scheme is symbolic of everything evil in PAT

	Kenny J. can give good insight into the early PAT days!

-- 
James B. Holland
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              PITTSBURGH RAILWAYS COMPANY (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
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