Brill Interurbans 3700--3714

[Fred W. Schneider III]

Regarding the 3700s, I'm surprised that the weight of motors is one ton higher
than one would get with the comparable Westinghouse 514 design.  I have no
weight data on the GE 247 machine.  The surviving car record cars don't show
weights.

The height over roof in Pittsburgh Railways records was given as 11'-5,"
significantly higher than given in Jim's note.  I have no third source.  I
pulled the microfilms of the Street Railway Journal out and found there was
nothing indexed for Pittsburgh Railways under new cars from the middle of 1915
through the middle of 1917.  Company record cars who a contract date in 1916.

Interestingly, the three surviving car cars (cars 3700, 3707, 3712) show no
alternation from the original P. N. Jones control but they do show that the cars
were modified in July 1930 for one-man operation, and that those changes include
replacing the M-18 brake valves with M-20AS, replacing the Peter Smith hot water
furnances with resistance heaters, and adding safety car control.  I don't know
their definition of the latter.  Mine would entail adding a deadman head to the
controller, adding an emergency relay valve, and possibly incorporating the door
balancing into the relay valve.  Your guess is as good as mine.

I was hoping I could find an early interior picture that would show which end
had the finer seat fabric, which would answer where the smoker was.  Logic would
put it in the rear if the partition was behind the rear door, or vice versa.  I
would be curious to know if those cars had toilets.  The 3750s from 1926 did
feature toilets as built.

Jim Holland wrote:

> Greetings!
>
>         A friend just sent me this information claiming it comes from Brill
> literature.  This information is very hard to come by and I hope it is
> accurate.
>
>         These 15-Brill interurbans (3700--3714) were 52-feet 8-inches long,
> 11-feet 3-3/8-inches high over the trolley boards, and weighed a total
> of 49,270-pounds.  This weight includes:
>
>         1)--Car Body only  --  25,000-pounds
>         2)--Electrical equipment  --  3,500-pounds
>         3)--Air Brake equipment  --  2,300-pounds
>         4)--Trucks  --  9,330-pounds
>         5)--Motors  --  9,140-pounds
>
>         Apparently the floor ramped down between the trucks to allow for one
> less step into the car - center entrance - which allows for smooth
> traffic flow.  These cars were apparently identified as "center entrance
> and *smoking* (I wonder if that refers to their speed!::>>]]) interurban
> cars."  He said that the back of the car was the main passenger
> compartment and that the *ladies* do not have to pass thru the smoking
> compartment so I assume that was near the front end - keeping the
> motor-person hazy!
>
>         The back seats faced the rear to form an observation platform!  The
> motorman had his own compartment, and there was a biffy on board!
>
> James B. Holland
>
>         Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1940  --  1950
>     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/