Roofs or Rooves or Woofs -- oh heck -- the Opposite Side of the Ceiling !!!!!!

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

	Borrowed a little of your wit, Charles, for the subject line!

	Just re-watching the Strayner *PCC Trilogy* produced in Ontario.  The
main part of the video is from color 16mm film about 1940--1945 of PCCs
across North America.  The video is amazingly bright, clear and sharp.

	What really stood out is the roof on the various cars  --  or what
could be seen of the roof.

	It appears that the trolley cowl, and possibly the canvas roof portion,
is painted tan on the 1200s.

	On the 10s and 11s the trolley cowl appears cream, the same as used on
the sides of the car, but the canvas roof looks more like black
tar-paper.

	These factors may figure into the decrepit roof conditions in some
photos of the cars in later years - the roof on some seemed black and
badly cracked.  Additionally, the sooty air probably contributed to the
mottled look and the acid probably promoted cracking of the canvas.

	My grandmother said that you never had to wash the window curtains in
the 1940s  --  they just disintegrated on the curtain rods and you put
up new ones!  That attests to the acid in the air.  Probably not all
*that* bad, but there would be much acid in the air with all the coal
burning furnaces in the homes.  They *claim* that it was the home coal
furnaces that caused the Pgh. pollution, not the steel mills, but at
least the pollution here is now history!

	And for the 17s and that gray look to the fan monitor - even this is
evident in some of the videos.  Most of these photos seem to be in
winter and I am wondering if some effect of the cold could cause that
discoloration.  That fan monitor would be relatively thin and even
though at the ceiling where the heat collects, it is separated from the
car itself and the wind-chill could affect its color.  Just a thought!

James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1940  --  1950
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