Speed

[Vigrass, Bill]

Yeah that's a good point about the subway under Mt. Lebanon's main street,
with no stations.  I recall riding an LRV in the rear cab with another APTA
member (also a fan, Gordon Thompson of Buffalo) and we noted that the
speedometer never went above 22 mph.  This is not rapid transit!  And there
seemed to be no impediment preventing us from going faster.   Bill V.

> ----------
> From: 	Jim Holland[SMTP:pghpcc at pacbell.net]
> Reply To: 	pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Sent: 	Thursday, October 14, 1999 6:56 PM
> To: 	pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: 	Re: Speed
> 
> Greetings!
> 
> Vigrass, Bill wrote:
> > 
> > Several years ago I wrote Bill Millar then at PAT comparing running
> times
> > from Mt Wash Jct to downtown via PRC 1951 timetable that I copied
> compared
> > to 1994 or 95 or thereabouts via LRT via Mt. Lebanon & Beechview. After
> > spending a half billion dollars, running time was exactly the same (in
> part
> > because of circuity).
> 
> 	But this also includes a tunnel of almost a mile under Mt. Lebanon 
> which also eliminates several stops and much surface traffic.  And this
> also 
> eliminates the downtown loop on surface streets and the number of stops is
> 
> probably cut to 1/4 or better than the surface PCCs.  So there is a sense
> to 
> which the LRV line is even slower than its predecessor.  I am rather
> surprized 
> that the amount of time for the LRV is not greater.
> 	Castle Shannon to downtown was 30 minutes in 1951.  This went to 25 
> minutes after the interurbans were truncated within Allegheny County.
> While 
> this is in part due to lower ridership, it is mostly because of the two
> extra 
> sidings and peppier operation of the PCCs.  Five minutes savings in seven 
> miles is very significant!
> 
> 	I remember seeing a news article many years back where the authority
> 
> was complaining that only 6 minutes would be saved by upgrading the
> Overbrook 
> line - one way!  Twelve minutes roundtrip is one headway - a very
> significant 
> reduction.  If Library is made straight through Overbrook, bet many people
> 
> from the Village line will transfer!  Then they might want to terminate
> that 
> line at Castle Shannon and leave the Village line a shuttle!  Of course, a
> 
> trip to the Village might be much more popular by transit now.
> 
> > I used that argument to stimulate rebuilding of the
> > 47 Overbrook to provide fast direct service to Library.  I dunno if it
> had
> > any effect, but perhaps it lent one more stimulus to the decision
> eventually
> > made.
> 
> 	The Overbrook line is being rebuilt - MANY  THANKS  for the good
> input 
> to the authorities to help justify its use!
> 
> > > From:         Kenneth and Tracie
> Josephson[SMTP:kjosephson at sprintmail.com]
> 
> > > To get back on topic, when I was in Pittsburgh last month, the buzz
> was
> > > the governors on the LRVs were reset to 31 mph. . . Scott Davis showed
> > > me signalling hardware which indicated that some sections of the
> system
> > > *could* support 70 mph operation. I see no reason why the line isn't
> > > operated in the 40-60 mph range.
> 
> 	W-H-E-R-E-?-?-?-!-!-!  Forget it thru Dormont and Beechview.  Too
> many 
> curves on the prw from Palm Garden to Beechview Streets.  The only section
> for 
> any speed is between Mt. Lebanon and the Village, and that is severely 
> limited.  Maybe 40 mph, but I have an extremely difficult time visioning
> 70 
> mph.  Outer Library if upgrade for maybe one second!  There isn't any
> light 
> rail today running that fast.  Most new systems held top speed to 50 mph; 
> Portland was the first with 55 mph - don't know if others have followed!
> 
> > > Seriously, I would like a comparison of present running times between
> > > Downtown and Mt. Lebanon and the best schedule of the 42/38 before
> > > rebuilding. I have PAT schedules of the line from 1972, 1975, 1979 &
> > > 1982. What I need is the current schedule. Ken J.
> > >
> 
> James B. Holland
> ------- -- ---------
>         Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
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