G.E. Equipped PCCs

[Kenneth and Tracie Josephson]

Why wasn't Pittsburgh Railways able to order all their PCCs as Westinghouse
cars? Or for that matter, why couldn't Philadelphia or Boston order all GE
equipped cars?

The current discussion about seating material and the issues of durability
versus patron comfort versus upkeep indicates practical research.

But why would a company with the potential to purchase 600 to 700  new
streetcars (or even more under different circumstances) be forced to take 25%
of each order with mechanical equipment they really didn't want?  At this late
date, the thought of this going on in the private sector during the 1930s and
'40s seems strange to my uninformed mind. I wonder what sort of cost savings
might have been realized had all the cars been Westinghouse equipped. And I am
aware that other components and systems such as trucks, brakes, etc. were
constantly evolving with each new order.

I am also aware of other systems (both streetcar and trolley coach) where
management preferred one or the other supplier (GE or Westinghouse) yet
continued to purchase a certain percentage of rolling stock with the less
preferred equipment.

The scrapping of 1775-1799 long before the rest of the 1700s due to their
equipment wasn't a unique situation. Milwaukee, which preferred GE over
Westinghouse, retired some of its newest trackless trolleys and retained older
equipment to the end of operations because the former had Westinghouse and the
latter GE equipment.

Ken J.