1700 Series PCC's

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

Edward G Skuchas wrote:

> My questions:  Did the 1700 series PCC's operate on specific routes?

	Except for the interurban cars, none of the PCC cars were specifically
assigned to certain routes but some may have been barred for one reason
or another.
	But PRCo had a policy of assigning the newest cars to the most affluent
routes apparently to attract *discretionary* riders.
	From one source I have heard that operations barred the 1200s from
40-Mt.Washington because they were spring applied, air released brakes
which were difficult to release in the event of a breakdown.  But a very
influential person within PERC knew the President, Mr. Palmer, very well
and during a mid-1950s NMRA meet in the Burgh, he got permission from
Mr. Palmer to have one car from each series on a charter which included
a trip to Mt. Washington.
	And apparently the 17s were barred from running in service on the
21-Fineview because the spring applied drums had difficulty holding the
cars on the hills.  So one might assume that the 1200s would be barred
from there as well.  But many photos proliferate of 1700s on charters on
21-Fineview, pg.108 of *PA Trolleys in Color* by Volkmer is just one of
many examples.  Additionally, I was told by John Swindler in the 1960s
that he had heard that 1680-1689 had brakes modified specifically for
service on 21-Fineview but Fred Schneider most recently told us here on
the list that it was 1690-1699 which had the brakes modified (but can't
find anything to confirm this in the detailed fold-outs in the back of
*PCC The Car That Fought Back.*)
	And there were probably other holds on equipment for various reasons.
	I can confirm that 1763--1769 were originally assigned to South Hills
upon delivery (in addition to the interurban-17s) but these cars were
shifted to other barns over time as barns and routes closed in the
1950s.

> Obviously, the interurbans operated on the interurban routes to the 
> south.  Were they pressed into operation on any city routes?

	On very rare occasion!  The interurban cars were strictly used on the
interurban lines thru the end of PRCo and even into the early ({[pat]})
days!  I remember riding a 17-interurban on my line, the 42-DORMONT, in
a heavy snow storm in the very late 1950s and the motorman told me that
as the interurbans came in off the line after the rush hour that they
were put out on other lines because they were heavier and tracked
better.  They *may* have tracked better, but they were 521-pounds
lighter than the City Cars equipped with Clark B-2B trucks according to
the foldout "Equipment Variations . . ." in the back of *PCC The Car
That Fought Back.*
	Because of the congestion surrounding the single track sections just
south of SHJ, some PM rush hour cars returned to the barn over the
38-Mt.Lebanon line by either backing across to the 38A-line from the
37-SHANNON loop or by taking the crossover inbound from Drake or Library
(just south of the yard) and then picking up the 38A from this point. 
When going to PERC meetings downtown, I walked to the end of the 42-line
and watched to see if an interurban was going back to the barn on the
38A so I might ride one!
	And on Mother's Day of 1960 (I believe that is correct - I have the
Sunday Pass I used but it eludes me at the moment) I was on board 1723
OB toward Drake when the rear trucks split the RR switch at Bon Air with
the back wheels of the back axle climbing up onto the track brake which
instantly stopped the car.  I walked back to SHJ and boarded another
Drake car sent out to sub for the derailed car which had just exited the
tunnel OB after looping downtown.  They sent us out over the
38-Mt.Lebanon on truck route 19, down the dinky track, and straight out
to Drake.  By the time we got back to Castle Shannon IB, we were on time
for the derailed car.  You can bet that was one very fast ride,
especially going express up Route 19!
	The 1600-series-interurbans saw even less service.  They were relegated
to rush-hour tripper service only and as interurbans were only used on
the interurban lines.  It could have happened before this and probably
did, but the very first time I saw a 16-interurban in service outside of
rush hour was just after 1616 was converted to 1776.  I had driven home
to Pgh overnight and arrived there about 5 AM to find 1616--1776 in
service on Library at Simmons.  Hastily parked the car and jumped on
board for a ride, never noticing the outside, but immediately impressed
with the refurbished condition of the interior.  Rode very nicely, too!
	Motormen were not at all fond of 1613, the original PCC interurban from
reports I heard from the mid-1950s and later.  When it first entered
service on the Washington line in January of 1946, it had a pilot and
interurban retriever (not Earll) and possibly some other gear.  The
Clark B-2 trucks had some weight added to them (according to the ERA
Headlights 1952 reprint available at PTM http://www.pa-trolley.org/.) 
Later on, 1613 and 1614 (which entered interurban service in May of
1946) had the experimental B-3 trucks (pgs.132--133, *PCC The Car That
Fought Back* - note the old standard interurban retriever which was
later replaced by an Earll retriever) which originally went under 1230
and 1278 applied.  But like one-of-a-kind-equipment, these early B-3s
did not last and both 1613 and 1614 had regular B-2 trucks reapplied to
them.  Car 1613 might have gotten its original trucks back with the
extra weight and the rough riding characteristics which the motormen
claimed might have been for this reason.

> Did the city cars have specific route assignments?  I have searched 
> books, videos and pictures that I have, and I have noted those routes. 
> I was not in Pgh then and don't know if they were to fill a specific 
> need.  Like, all electrics on flatter routes, and air cars on hilly 
> routes.

	Very probably was many restrictions for various reasons, but other than
the ones mentioned above, I am not aware of them.  And time has a
tendency to over ride those restrictions.  Again, cars were assigned to
barns and assignments were made from that barn to routes operated by
that barn on a daily basis as to which cars operated which routes. 
While there were some restrictions barring cars from certain routes,
there were no guidelines for assigning specific types of cars to a
route--except for the interurbans.

	Here in San Francisco, the Baby Tens  --  1016--1040  --  were the only
cars allowed on the J-CHURCH line until the 1970s (these cars were
all-electrics not unlike the 17s with B-3 trucks.)  But from the 1970s
on, anything that could operate was sent out there - including the
50-foot long torpedoes!

James B. Holland
------- -- ---------
        Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949 -- June of 1953
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