Carhouses, Dave's, Etc.

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

Fred W. Schneider III wrote:

> I love taking the opposition view point.  You point out that peoples faces light up
> with they see a PCC because they remember them?

	THAT is a misquote - *I* did not say that peoples faces lit up upon
seeing a familiar car - DAVE HAMLEY said that peoples faces lit up opon
seeing a familiar car.  He said that in his May-June 1992 *Trolley Fare*
article called "Department of Hindsights."  He took that from his
experience as a docent.

> Jim Holland wrote:
> 
> > Greetings!

> >         Well, I managed to download 22 of 65 emails when the download aborted
> > --  which means I get the pleasure of going thru these 22 again if I am
> > able to download any more!
> >         At any rate, I responded to a previous email that I felt PCC 100 should
> > have been saved and indicated that Dave Hamley had said the same.
> >         From the May-June--1992 issue of *Trolley Fare* on page-8 is the
> > article entitled "Department of Hindsignt" by David H. Hamley.

> >         Dave starts:::   "The following represents the personal opinions of the
> > author.  It is not intended to point a finger . . .  We pretty well know
> > what *did* happen at Arden over the years . . .  But we have also at
> > times failed to make acquisitions that, in the opinion of the author,
> > would have enbled us to present an even more impressive and useful
> > collection . . ."
> >         "This 1960 document is titled, 'A Policy and Program for Car
> > Acquisition,' . . . it is repeated here in its entirety [the opening
> > paragraph]:"
> >         "'General Policy: The statements on acquiring specific car types
> > contained in this report are based on two principles.  One is tht of
> > obtaining a representative collection of cars that have operated on the
> > street and interurban railways of the Pittsburgh area particularly, and
> > more generally of Western Pennsylvania and the Upper Ohio Valley.  The
> > second important principle is that the collection should as much as
> > possible depict the complete history of electric railway equipment.
> > Within these principles, cars to be acquired should be considered on the
> > basis of availability, cost, condition, as well as other relevant
> > factors.'"
> >         "We acquired several pieces of standard gauge RR equipment. . . Having
> > been personally involved in all 3 acquisitions, I certainly can't point
> > a finger . . .  I now see these - with the possible exception of the
> > combine, which has served as our Museum Store - as basic errors in
> > judgment.  They diverted some of our time, money and talent into what is
> > now clearly seen as a dead end.  WE  BEGAN  AS  A  TROLLEY  MUSEUM,
> > AND  WE  SHOULD  END  AS  A  TROLLEY  MUSEUM,  AND  A  TROLLEY  MUSEUM
> > O-N-L-Y  [most emphasis added.]"
> >         "My personal feeling is that this 'only one PCC' policy was
> > shortsighted, even in 1960.  Among those in our membership, and trolley
> > fans in general, there has always been a degree of anti-PCC sentiment.
> > The holders of this opinion are perfectly welcome to feel as they choose
> > about any particular era of cars, but I feel that the inevitable march
> > of time must also be recognized. . ."
> >         "While serving as a carshops tour guide during our annual Trolley Fare
> > each June, I have observed that the level of interest shown by visitors
> > in PRCo 3487 (1905), 4140 (1911), and even 4398 (1916) in *no way*
> > compares with that shown in our 1937 PCC car 1138.  People just plain
> > light up upon seeing a *familiar* car, . . ."
> >         "One woman pulled from her purse a dog-eared notebook and found that
> > she had ridden 1138 19 times between 1951 and 1955 [Roberta?]. . .  I
> > should also mention that cars from other cities elicited very much less
> > attention than did any car from Pittsburgh, and work cars that much less
> > again. . ."
> >         "So what did happen since 1960's 'conditional recommendation' of just
> > one air car PCC?  Happily, we have done better than this, but at the
> > same time I feel we blew the chance to preserve one particularly
> > historic PCC car." [PCC-100.]

> >         All the above elicit the following observations - but the list is
> > n-o-t  exhaustive:

> >         1)--What was the purpose and general policy of the museum as expressed
> > by the founding fathers in the very late 1940s when the Pittsburgh
> > Electric Railway Club (PERC) was formed?
> >         2)--Note how *trolleycars* are emphasized by Dave as well as in the
> > three various names for the museum:  A)-in #-1 above;  B)--Pennsylvania
> > Railway Museum Association (PRMA  --  yes, I know *Railway* can refer to
> > mainline railroad but it was obvious that the group is referring to
> > trolleycars);  C)--Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM  --  and yes,
> > *trolley* can refer to *trolley-coach* but trolley was a shortened form
> > of trolleycar long before trolley-coaches came on the market;
> > additionally, *trolley* in Pgh referred to trolleycars in spite of the
> > two *demon*--strations with TCs.)
> >         3)--Not listed in the quotes above is a statement that the one
> > air-car-PCC be from PRCo, Baltimore, or Philly with PRCo favored.  So
> > the 1960 recommendation for PCCs violates the 1960 General Policy of
> > *Western PA and the Upper Ohio Valley.*
> >         4)--*Western PA and the Upper Ohio Valley* as listed in the 1960
> > General Policy would certainly be PRCo, JTC, and WP as well as the
> > Pgh-Butler interurbans, Beaver Falls, Steubenville, and Wheeling.  I
> > understand *Upper Ohio Valley* as "Upper Ohio  RIVER  Valley."  Thus,
> > the Shaker Pullman PCC is in violation of policy as well as the Philly
> > equipment.
> >         5)--While Dave admits to being a part of the decision making when the
> > mainline RR equipment was purchased, he must have forgotten about
> > writing this 1992 article when he recommended that they acquire another
> > SEPTA (Phlipadelphia) ALL-Electric PCC and have it modified for multiple
> > wheelchair use.

> > James B. Holland

> >         Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
> >     To e-mail privately, please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
> > N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/

James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
    To e-mail privately, please click here: mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.mcs.net:80/~weyand/nmra/