This Last Week

[Carl Zager]

Absolutely, Fred! In fact, our address WAS Bennett Street. And it came in
in past Brushton. I think it turned back into Frankston somewhere around
the railroad or Washington. I just remember Frankstown Road because that's
how we always drove back into Homewood to visit Grandma who lived at 7019
Hamilton Avenue on the 76 route. I think the business district was
Homewood Avenue. 

Sometimes we would take a bus from Laketon Road (we lived on Parkway, near
Black Ridge), up over the hill and down into Wilkinsburg. There we'd pick
up a trolley that I thought ran down Hamilton through Homewood, through
East Liberty and into Pittsburgh. Any thoughts on what route that would've
been?

The first elementary school I attended was near the intersection of
Laketon, Frankstown, and Beulah roads. As more and more folks moved out of
the city, the schools couldn't keep up. I went to another Penn Twp. school
that was on the road out to Verona.

I know it was families like ours that moved out of the PRy service area by
the droves that eventually led to the PAT reorganization. But even we only
had one car (not like folks today). So, any trips to Pittsburgh were
always part way on a trolley.

Oh, how I loved the action at the Homewood shops! By the time I was old
enough to stop at the Craft Avenue shops, I believe all the low-floors had
been replaced by PCC's. Yes, I love the PCC's now, but my fondest memories
are of the old orange double-ended low-floors. I really want to find some
dimensions so that I can have at least one on my Fort Pitt model line.

The whole drama of stopping the car, getting down and cranking the pole
down, going to the other end and cranking that one up, guiding it into
contact, getting back on and moving the coin box, all the paraphenalia,
and the (?) control arm (?) to the other seat in the car. Gosh, that was
fascinating to a child. The low-floors were my pre-school years, the PCC's
my elementary school years.




On Thu, 2 Mar 2000, Fred Schneider wrote:

> My Mom and Dad built a house in Crescent Hills in Penn Township in 1937; we
> lived there until 1949 when a move was made to the east end of the state.
> 
> I think you will find that Frankstown Road became Bennett Street when it
> entered the city in Homewood or Brushton.  Bennett Street was parallel to
> and between Hamilton, on which the 76 cars ran, and Frankstown (???) on
> which the 87 and 88 cars ran.  I think that there was a very much unused
> branch of Frankstown Road that aimed for the 87-88 tracks but the majority
> of the traffic used Bennett Street.  Back when you and I lived there,
> Homewood was a very sedate, blue collar neighborhood.  
> 
> We lived in Lancaster when the fire consumed the barn in 1955.  I do
> remember looking off the Manchester Bridge in 1956 and seeing the burnt
> remains of a few cars ... mostly high 1600s and 1700s but not 1600 itself.
> 
> 
> 		-----Original Message-----
> 		From:	Carl Zager [mailto:czager at bloomington.in.us]
> 		Sent:	Wednesday, March 01, 2000 5:17 PM
> 		To:	Jim Holland
> 		Cc:	pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> 		Subject:	Re: This Last Week
> 
> 		Oh, Jim!
> 
> 		Thank you for the suggestion. I have been jotting down some
> memories and
> 		am winding up the courage to jump in here. I know in my
> heart that any and
> 		all is appreciated (I certainly have appreciated every
> little tidbit
> 		shared in this marvelous group!), but I still want to get my
> facts
> 		straight and make sure I know of what I speak.
> 
> 		Here's an example of my dilemma: During WWII, while Dad was
> in the
> 		Pacific, we lived with my great uncle, who worked for the
> Great Western
> 		Fuse Company in, I think, Brushton, where I was born. Right
> after the war,
> 		when Dad came home, we all moved to a house on Frankstown
> Road very near
> 		the car barn. I have these vivid memories of walking out the
> back of the
> 		house with "Pop" (my mother's uncle) and down the alley to
> watch the
> 		motormen jockeying the double-ended, low-floor cars. I
> especially loved
> 		watching them raise and lower the poles when they changed
> direction.
> 
> 		We moved out to the Penn Township suburbs in the late 40's.
> When the car
> 		barn burned (1955 (?)), destroying the original 1700(?), Pop
> and I took a
> 		bus into Wilkinsburg and a streetcar into Homewood to take a
> look. Boy!
> 		Was I turned around! The car barn was south and west (?) of
> Frankstown
> 		when I remembered it being behind our house (north and
> west). Or do I
> 		still have it all wrong? <grin>
> 
> 		After that, though, my favorite place to see streetcars
> became the car
> 		barn in Oakland. We would get off in Oakland and walk down
> to watch for
> 		awhile and then board another car to get to Wilkinsburg.
> 
> 		Anyhow, you may be sensing some of my confusions.
> 
> 		Keep it up, guys! I'm having a ball.
> 
> 		On Wed, 1 Mar 2000, Jim Holland wrote:
> 
> 		> Greetings!
> 		> 
> 		> Carl Zager wrote:
> 		> 
> 		> > My mailbox has been so interesting for the past week.
> 		> > What wonderful memories and wonderful discussions.
> 		> > This has to be a high point for my short tenure on the
> list.
> 		> > Thank you all so much! Keep it up.
> 		> 
> 		> 	How about sharing more of your memories?!!
> 		> 
> 		> James B. Holland
> 		> ------- -- ---------
> 		>         Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949
> -- June of 1953
> 		>     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/
> 		> 
> 
> 		 Carl Zager
> KB9RVB
> 		 czager at bloomington.in.us
> http://www.mccsc.edu/~czager
> 

 Carl Zager						KB9RVB
 czager at bloomington.in.us         http://www.mccsc.edu/~czager