Pgh. Mail List -- 40-Mt..Washington Revival

[brathke at juno.com]

This may seem like an impossible dream, but I wouldn't let it die.  Who
woulda thought that real trolleys would return to the streets of Dallas
30+ years after the rail was covered with asphalt.  See <www.mata.org>. 
The trick in Dallas was getting the local businesses along McKinney
Avenue to support (and help finance) the line which would help bring
visitors (customers) to their establishments.  A big does of "Dallas
Can-Do" spirit - and a smaller amount of politics - also helped.

At least one of the MATA motormen is originally from the Pittsburgh area.

Bob 3/15

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For the English majors: I put commas and periods outside my quotation
marks when I think it makes more sense or makes the sentence easier
to read (adapted from Dr. Ed Friedlander, <www.pathguy.com>)
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On Wed, 15 Mar 2000 10:51:33 -0500 mrb190 <mrb190+ at pitt.edu> writes:
>It sure is worth a try!  Who do I write first?  City Council?  County?
>
>Jim Holland wrote:
>> 
>> Greetings!
>> 
>>         This can be a very serious matter which takes root right 
>here!
>> 
>>         Market Street Railway in San Francisco is a reincarnation of 
>the actual
>> railway by that name and was anathema to the Muni, or vice-versa!
>> 
>>         At any rate, one might consider the reincarnated MSR 
>anathema to Muni
>> for they actually forced (and forced may be an extremely mild term)
>> Muni's hand to get the Trolley Festivals going which in turn led to 
>the
>> F-MARKET.  The latter probably would not exist today were it not for
>> MSR.
>>         MSR had some well-heeled participants who had power in such 
>places as
>> Bechtel which also helped.
>>         There may be people on this list who have the contacts, 
>expertise,
>> time, information, experience,  --  all the above, any one of the 
>above,
>> or a combination of the above or know people with such  --  and all 
>it
>> takes is someone with organizational skills to get something going.  
>It
>> is definitely within the realm of possibility  --  whether or not it 
>is
>> probable depends more on a positive attitude to face the multitude 
>of
>> challenges such a project would bring.
>>         Organization is needed with a definite detailed plan so 
>something
>> concrete could be offered to the public.  And with the internet, 
>getting
>> support might be relatively easy.
>> 
>>         San Francisco was fortunate in that much of the track was in 
>place but
>> a major rebuilding was necessary.  With Arlington double tracked and
>> possibly the connection to Carson and Smithfield still available, 
>Pgh
>> has a very good start.  Still think it would be a good idea to have 
>a
>> viaduct over the current SHJ to avoid conflict with regular 
>operations
>> but it would be much cheaper just to cut into the current tracks to 
>go
>> to Mt.-Washington.  The whole line needn't be rebuilt; just the key
>> inner part.  Cars could be based at a small yard near SHJ.
>>         San Francisco had the fortune of being standard gauge so 
>cars from
>> around the world could be brought in.  Any historic operation in 
>Pgh.
>> would need to be PA-broad gauge to use Arlington.
>>         So just in this short space we can pick up some of the 
>challenges that
>> will need to be faced and also realize that for every person who
>> supports this, there could be several who will oppose it.
>>         Community support is needed - certainly the business 
>association of
>> Mt.-Washington could see the advantages; understand that is a very 
>nice
>> *gas-light* district with horse and buggy.  Need some trolleycars to
>> complement those carriages.
>>         Don't dismiss this as a pipe-dream - anything is possible - 
>it will be
>> made more probable as people participate.
>> 
>> 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/

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