PRCo Car Houses

Mon Oct 11 14:57:02 EDT 1999

Greetings!

Carl Zager wrote:
> 
> Jim Holland comes through again. Thank you, kind sir, especially for the
> references to Schneider's book. I hope the <grin> was enough to convey
> that I am greatly impressed with your memories and was only teasing that
> there was something you didn't know.

	Awwwww, shucks, Carl - you're too kind  ::>) <grin>

	Actually, it is NOT a matter of knowing - I just happen to have a 
reference book which gives a little of this information.  There is mucho more 
information about the Car Houses available as Ed has mentioned, too; he has 
alot in the archives at the PT Museum.

> Must be the Homewood-Green connection (he to Greenwood in
> Dormont, me to Scott Twp. on Greentree Rd.). <more grins).

	Actually, it is *Greenmount* in Dormont (interesting that this 
two-block-long street had it spelled *Greenmont* on one of the signs - it 
wasn't only Pittsburg-H that had trouble spelling).  And the connection is 
closer than that  --  many of the kids from Greentree attended Prestigious 
Dormont High :>) as did the roughnecks from Castle Shannon!  Actually, 
Greentree was the upscale community - but if you were in Scott township, kids 
there probably went to another school.

> 
> On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Jim Holland wrote:
> 
> > Greetings!
> >
> > Carl Zager wrote:
> > >
> > > Jim Holland mentioned that there was a car house standard for car
> > > numbers (I won't attempt to repeat his conjecture since he admitedly was
> > > hard pressed to follow the reasoning <grin>).
> >
> >       PRCo had a system for assigning cars to Car Houses - I just don't
> > know what that system was.  When the 17s arrived, I know that 1763-1769
> > were at South Hills - 1949-1950.  But there were several Car House
> > closings shortly after that and a few more into the late 50s, early 60s.
> > Sometime during these closings, 1763-1769 were shifted out of South Hills
> > and eventually ended up at Craft - don't know if they visited other Car
> > Houses in between.  But they eventually came back to South Hills!
> >
> > > Is there a record of PRCo car
> > > houses (built, abandoned, destroyed, etc.)? Is there even just a list
> > > (name, location)?
> >
> >       I have a partial listing:
> > SOUTH
> >        1)--* Charleroi, closed June of 1953 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >        2)--* Tylerdale, just north of Little Washington, closed August
> >               1953 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >        3)--  Castle Shannon Car House
> >        4)--* Suburban Car House, Brownsville outer end, closed in 1954
> >               - Westinghouse PCCs
> >        5)--  Hilltop - near 44 / 53 junction
> >        6)--* South Hills - Westinghouse PCCs
> >        7)--  Thirtieth St Car House (50)
> >
> > WEST
> >        8)--  Carnegie Car House (27, 28)
> >        9)--  West Park Car House (26)
> >       10)--* Ingram, closed 1959 - Westinghouse - GE PCCs
> >       11)--  Coraopolis  (23)
> >       12)--  West End  near the old Point Bridge
> > NORTH
> >       13)--* Manchester, closed 1959 - Westinghouse - GE PCCs
> >       14)--  Taggart
> >       15)--  Charles Street
> >       16)--  Emsworth
> >       17)--* Keating, closed 1965, - GE PCCs
> >       18)--  Chestnut Street
> >       19)--  Lowrie
> >       20)--* Millvale, closed 1952 - GE PCCs
> > EAST
> >       21)--* Herron Hill, closed 1951 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >       22)--  Forbes
> >       23)--* Craft Avenue, closed 1967 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >       24)--* Plummer Street, closed 1954 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >       25)--  Butler Street
> >       26)--* Highland, closed 1954 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >       27)--* Homewood, closed 1960 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >       28)--* Glenwood, closed 1961 - Westinghouse PCCs
> >       29)--  Homestead
> >       30)--* Rankin - used for dead storage until 1967.
> >       31)--  Braddock
> >       32)--  Wilmerding
> >       33)--  McKeesport
> >
> >       According to Schneider in *PCC From Coast to Coast* page 169, the
> > ones with an asterisk housed PCC cars from 1943-1951 - other Car Houses
> > may have been in use for low floor cars.
> >       Sooooo, in 1950 there were at least 15 operating Car Houses
> > (including Rankin which might have been dead storage only and not
> > operating); in 1955 there were 8 which includes Rankin; at the end of 1960
> > there were 5; and at the end of 1965 there were three - Craft, Rankin, and
> > South Hills.  Within 2 years only South Hills was an operating Car House
> > and the dead storage of Rankin was closed - and I believe that this
> > remained PRCo to the end!  Someone will have to fill in the closings on
> > the others.
> >       Much of the above information on Car Houses was from *Pittsburg's
> > Car Barns 1900-1909* by Ben Rohrbeck (mailto:Rohrbeck at juno.com).  The
> > spelling of Pgh with the *H* was permissible in those days.  Ben may be
> > lurking on this list - he was invited to join!
> >       Before Cousin KEN nit-picks me for location ::>) - Routes 1-21
> > were Northside - on the other side of that River; route 22 was Crosstown;
> > routes 23-34 were West End; routes 35-53 or 54 were South; the rest of the
> > routes were East.  While Butler and Plummer St - even Highland - Car
> > Houses are north of downtown, they are east of that there River and in the
> > numbering system for the eastern region!
> >
> >       Interestingly, PCC 1630 - the air car with fans from the builder -
> > was initially stationed at Highland.  But I definitely remember it at
> > South Hills and it may have come to SHJ in 1954 when Highland closed.  It
> > remained at South Hills then and was completely overhauled when it had its
> > fans removed by PRCo in the early 60s and a very nice operating car.  But
> > PAT rejected it apparently because the trolley base had an 1100 or 1000
> > series cowl installed when the fans and roof monitor were removed instead
> > of the standard 1600 series variety.
> >
> > > My childhood (rug rat to yard ape years) was spent in a house on
> > > Frankstown Avenue within sight (I think) of that car barn (as my great
> > > uncle used to call it).
> >
> >       My rug-rat days were at Homewood as well - Race Street - and my
> > Grandparents remained there when we moved to Greenmount in Dormont.

>  Carl Zager
>  KB9RVB
>  czager at bloomington.in.us
>  http://www.mccsc.edu/~czager/

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