Pittsburgh Rys 101

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

EDWARD H. LYBARGER wrote:

> As one who was actively (but necessarily quietly) opposing the Sky Bus
> proposal, I'm all too familiar with what was going down at the time.  But
> that's what life is all about...money and power.  I don't have to like it to
> recognize it.

	Exactamente!!!  I recognize the same and call it as I see it, and then get 
called names for stating such - and *that* I don't like!!!!!!!

> But if the job of the guys there was to attack you in order to get their job
> done, so be it.

	Sorry  --  money, power, business at any cost  --  e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y  bad 
ethics whether on the business, government, charitable, or museum level and I don't 
want any part of it.  Colleges and universities have instituted new ethics classes for 
their MBA students because of the lack of the same.

> . . . Instead we ride a slow,
> inefficient, extremely costly country trolley line that features dirty
> cars...largely because the government's in charge and no one gives a damn.

	None of us are perfect and we all recognize that we will have friends with 
imperfections; we learn to accept that.  As a railfan, the streetcars are friends, and 
in particular, the Pittsburgh Railways streetcars (for myself).  But you want to talk 
dirty cars on ({[PAT]}) LRVs?  Every summer in the 1950s when people visited on 
vacation they would  a-l-w-a-y-s  comment about how dirty the inside of the streetcars 
were - a-l-w-a-y-s.  Let me quote again from the Sept-Oct 1984 *ERA Headlights* - "The 
Great Circle Tour" by J. William Vigrass, pg 15:
	". . . The 3750s were similar to PRC's standard city cars, and arch bar trucks, 
and seats that were intended to be luxurious.  They weren't, and were not merely dirty, 
but filthy."
	One can retort:  "This is the steel, coke, and coal city - that's why the cars 
are dirty."  I say:  "EXCUSE - not a reason.  Clean the cars."

	Track was terrible too; again, from the same article above, page 15:
	". . .we saw what appeared to be an abandoned streetcar body in a nearby field. 
 After alighting from the train at a flagstop shelter, we were able to discern a 
Pittsburgh Railways 3750-type deck roof car in Roscoe Loop.  It wasn't a car body.  
Weeds merely grew up to the windows."
	And the same article, page 3:
	". . . our PCC car entered Ardmore Boulevard, with its private right-of-way 
median strip.  We had heard about this line, and anticipated a rapid transit type ride. 
 However, we were disappointed.  The track was awful . . . Because of the poor track, 
the motorman often had to slow down.  The ride was anything but comfortable. . ."
	The above could describe prw anywhere on the PRCo system.  The same was true on 
the interurbans - they often had to slow almost to a stop because the ride became so 
rough.
	PRW looked abandoned because of the weeds and the ride quality was such that it 
should have been condemned.  I liked the rough ride but for those who are not fans and 
who have to commute daily, I can understand if they complain.
	ALL the lines were very slow.  The motorman would hit the power pedal for all 
of 2 seconds and coast for ten and again 2 seconds of power and ten of coast and then 
the dynamic governor slowed the car.  My mother often complained about the slow ride 
and I noticed that other cities put the pedal to the metal OFTEN - but  n-e-v-e-r  PRCo 
on a normal schedule.  I spent my Sundays on an all-day-pass, and the rides were very 
slow.  Exceptions were rush hours during the week - especially if there were delays and 
the motorman was heading back to the barn after his trip!
	And if one retorts that a PCC ride can't be smooth, what about Shaker, Newark, 
and Boston which ran high speed and were infinitely smoother?!?!  Even with the ugly 
and hard, solid wheels on the MBTA, the ride at speed was smoother than PRCo.

	Body work was anything but exemplary; from *PCC From Coast to Coast,* pg 166:
	"Even though carbody maintenance in Pittsburgh was legendary for its 
shortcomings, electrical and mechanical work was top notch."

	PRCo was a private-for-profit company that ran "filthy" streetcars, operated 
over bone-shattering trackwork, and had abysmal carbody maintenance.  A pattern of 
benign (maybe malignant) neglect was already in place; no amount of money could change 
these bad habits.  Indeed, in light of this, I question the electro-mechanical 
maintenance being "top-notch."  The 1700 city cars rattled and clanked in the late 50s 
early 60s like an early air car with wheel tread brakes; I don't understand to this day 
what caused those rattles.
	And before we make excuses for PRCo seeing the light at the end of the tunnel 
and letting the equipment go, LAMTA trolleys were in impeccable shape in 1963 when they 
abandoned streetcar service.  Newark did a well above average job as did Shaker in 
maintaining their equipment; why not PRCo?

	*-*-  But PRCo and the streetcars in particular are my friends.  I liked them 
and enjoyed them and looked forward to riding on them.  I now miss them.  -*-*

> But more to the point...no one could have made an economic case for
> retaining any but the South Hills car lines.  Replacement cost was
> prohibitive, and patronage was/is too low.

	I have mentioned many times that I could see the handwriting on the wall - the 
cost of rebuilding the fixed plant for streetcars in addition to ordering new equipment 
is prohibitive for the miniscule ridership and return.  The streetcars were on their 
way out.  THIS  IS  A  GIVEN  --  NO  ARGUMENT.  Streetcars have served their purpose; 
they are now taking their place in history.
	A-N-D  --  if "patronage was/is too low, it won't be difficult (especially on 
the *net*) to get people to band together and write their congress people stating that 
ridership on public transit in Pittsburgh, PA, is below acceptable norms and such 
transit should be totally discontinued.

-- 
James B. Holland
       To e-mail *off-list,* please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
              PITTSBURGH RAILWAYS COMPANY (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
      Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) member #273; http://www.pa-trolley.org/
N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/