PRCo 1700 series City Cars

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

Vigrass, Bill wrote:
> 
> Message to Jim Holland from Bill Vigrass:
> The comment on the smooth ride of the 1700's was
> especially interesting since I am a techno-nut (retired Supt.of Lindenwold
> Car Shop).

	Glad you enjoyed the article!
	It seems that very few people realize that the 1725-1799 series cars 
were mounted on Clark B-2B trucks - even PRCo railfans!  The ride was super - 
would have loved to ride one of them to Washington or Charleroi on long 
stretches of open T rail.  The cars really floated and responded to dips in 
slow motion.  This was even noticeable from the outside.  In heavy traffic when 
the motormen would use the power only for a couple seconds at a time, the car 
would gently lift and settle down as the power was applied and released.
	I think it was late 1958 or 1959 when I was going to the PRMA meeting 
in downtown on Wood Street.  I walked from Greenmount to the wye to see if a 38 
might come first, and possibly an interurban car which used the 38 to return to 
the barn after the evening rush to alleviate congestion on the single track on 
Overbrook.  A 17 city car cam inbound on the 38 but as it hit the switch work 
from the 42 line connection, there was no familiar slow motion bounce and sway. 
 I rode the car and the ride was hard.  I couldn't see what was changed and 
didn't know the construction of the trucks at that time.  No one at PRMA was 
able to tell me anything!
	In 1960 after I got my license, I drove to Toronto with my Grandfather 
for the Shriner's Convention there.  Needless to say, I was in heaven!  And I 
saw a PCC there respond exactly like the PRCo city 17s and my heart stopped and 
jumped into my throat.  When I went back in 1967 and took a shop tour, a 
4500-4549 series car with B-2B trucks was on the pits.  I asked why they had 
tightened up the suspension and the inspector told me the trucks were the same 
as the other PCCs.  I heartily disagreed and he went under to look.  His face 
radiated astonishment as he told me that the trucks were different!
	It was from Cox' book on the PCCs that I learned that only PRCo and 
Toronto used the B-2B trucks - 125 cars in all - and both tightened up the 
suspension as the springs on the bolster wore out.  I had also written to both 
St. Louis and Clark while in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club and received plans for all 
the PCC's and trucks used under PRCo cars - drawn to 1/4 scale!

> During preliminary studies of upgrading that route (I was PMO for FTA,
> jargon for Project Management Oversight Consultant for the Federal Transit
> Administration), we learned that in several locations that PAT could not
> attain environmental standards.  There is so much coal still in the ground
> (in non-commercial quantities) that it gives off methane and other
> hydrocarbon gases all the time so that the ambient condition exceeds EPA
> standards.  There is no way that PAT could ever attain EPA standards.  I
> think they got a waiver.  This came up at some station excavations around
> the Castle Shannon area.  That route is very interesting for a variety of
> reasons.   And it is now being rebuilt.  John von Briesen of DMJM is project
> manager, a very good professional engineer who is also a railfan.  He did
> the New Orleans St. Charles St. reconstruction project.  The project is in
> good hands.

	Glad to hear that Overbrook got the exemption to be rebuilt.  While I 
am not *enameled* with LRVs, I would like to ride that line again!

> Best wishes.  Bill Vigrass.
> 
> > ----------
> > From:         Jim Holland[SMTP:pghpcc at pacbell.net]
> > Reply To:     pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > Sent:         Thursday, October 07, 1999 11:15 PM
> > To:   Brashear, Derrick J.
> > Cc:   pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > Subject:      PRCo  List
> >
> > Greetings!
> >
> >       Earlier this evening I sent a roster of all PRCo PCCs, the
> > 3750-3769 low-floor cars briefly used as Charleroi interurbans, and the
> > 3700-3714 and 3800-3814 interurbans in addition to 3556 and showed
> > arrival date, in service date, disposition date, and notes.  That was a
> > large file and the mail software may have set it aside - don't remember
> > it showing up!

James B. Holland
------- -- ---------
        Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
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