More on Drake

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

Edward H. Lybarger wrote:
> 
> The City Paper piece misses a few points, too.
> 
> 1.  but it wasn't 1947 as the article says.

	Missed the date - read the article rather fast.

> 3.  The ventilating fans do not run from the traction motors!

	I questioned that but let it slide - don't know what ({[PAT]}) did when they wired the 
car.  PRCo operators were pretty firm about the fact that they were not allowed to turn the 
fans off so I just *assumed* that the answer given by Shawn was to assuage the questioner 
while indicating that he had not control - just to get him off the hook.  But it was obviously 
bogus information, at least for PRCo days!

> 4.  Sleet does not constitute a "mechanical failure."  If PCCs were so prone
> to mechanical failure, how did the design stay in service for 63 years?

	Nothing else available, but also, why were so many successful overseas as well?  It is 
common practice to say the *old* technology is problem plagued - and it was with the PCCs in 
their latter years, years of most recent memory; something *new* is *never* problem plagued, 
it is just experiencing *teething* problems!  They will say the same of the LRVs when they are 
replaced with whatevers!

> 5.  PCCs can "out-maneuver" buses?  They miss Smith's point about fixed
> guideway transit.

	Well, live and learn, Ed!

> At least the writer didn't misquote me, even though he failed to credit some
> of what I told him (like Dan Bell's patent).

	Agree with your findings, but this article is so much better and more cohesively 
written than the Post Gazette article that it was very refreshing.

	OK - we are holding *your article* (y-o-u  made that claim in a previous post!!!) in 
the Washington Observer-Reporter to a higher degree of excellence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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