Pittsburgh Rys 101

[Robert E. Rathke]

Amen, Ken.

I was there during that era too, and I have the newpaper clippings,
meeting notes and photos to back up your statements.

Bob Rathke 7/11

On Sun, 11 Jul 1999 16:34:41 +0000 Kenneth and Tracie Josephson
<kjosephson at sprintmail.com> writes:
>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.

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