Pittsburgh Rys 101

[Kenneth and Tracie Josephson]

Jim Holland wrote:
> 
> Greetings!

    Don't you remember the bitter battle of the skybus?  Don't you
realize
> that  N-O  rail transit would exist in Pgh today had the Feds not intervened?
> Don't you remember that streetcars were scheduled for abandonment before buses
> were on hand for replacement - so eager was PAT to get rid of the streetcars?

While I do not believe everything in print, I have read that John
Dameron personally did not like streetcars. His publicist, Ed Jensen,
ridiculed both rail enthusiasts and transit riders (i.e., the fare
payers and tax payers paying his salary) by calling them "Trolley
Jolleys." The issue of getting the big new GMC coaches up hills and
around tight turns into neighborhoods where transit ridership was high,
but where roadways for buses weren't available, was not resolved prior
to, or since abandonment. 

Few things anger (or terrify) me as much as an elected or appointed
official telling me that he/she will do what he/she thinks is best for
me and my community. I want representation, not someone else's personal
beliefs becoming citywide policy.

Yes, the PCCs were wearing out, yes the rail in Pittsburgh was never the
best, but I possess a large photo collection dating between 1962 and
1972 which documents the deliberate lack of maintenance of the cars and
infrastructure by early PAT management. PRCo. really tried (with limited
resources) to maintain a good operation. And I firmly believe no other
city in North America presented a harsher operating environment for the
trolley car. Yet the PCCs held up well. Had PAT been willing to work out
a compromise which would have retained rail on the heaviest lines where
rail was still practical, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia could have joined
forces with Toronto, Boston and Muni in fleet renewal projects. Skybus
has evolved into a nice, automated airport shuttle. That is all it is
good for. No way could Skybus take the place of high capacity PCCs on
the South Hills or North Side lines during the rush hour.

I seriously doubt all rail lines in Pittsburgh had a long term future.
But it seems that PAT wanted to sweep the entire network away before
anyone could give the issue any thought. Ken J.