Car stops

[Fred W. Schneider III]

1.  Pittsburgh Railways used black on a white background for normal car stops.
There were also Sunday only, which I think were white on red (usually placed at
churches and cemeteries).  I think they might have also used a white a green
background but cannot remember.

2.  West Penn Railways used a sign virtually identical to Pittsburgh Railways
except that the letters were in white superimposed on a black field.  Pittsburgh
Railways did not use white on black ... guaranteed.

3.  I know someone out there is going to tell me that they have a picture of a
Pittsburgh car under a white on black sign and I'm sure they do.  I do too.  But
the car was not on PRC track.   Much of the trackage eastward from Duquesne to
McKeesport, and on the loop that route 68 used in McKeesport was owned by West
Penn Railways Company.  Both companies ran joint service from Duquesne into
McKeesport into the 1920s ... to busy to look the date up tonight.  They
accepted each others transfers at certain times, particularly between PRC cars
on route 68 and West Penn routes to Jenny Lind, Walnut Street and Boston
Bridge,  and the other area WP routes after WP quit operating their own cars to
Duquesne.  For what it's worth, there are pictures that survive of Walter Widows
and his helper and the West Penn truck welding rail on the new bridge over the
Monongahela to Duquesne in 1928 before the concrete was poured.  And West Penn
had long since given up running that service and would, to the best of my
knowledge, never run a car over the new bridge.  But they were installing their
rail for Pittsburgh Railways route 68.

4.  West Penn continued to maintain their track in McKeesport for many years
after they abandoned all service in that city.  The last West Penn cars ran in
1938.  Pittsburgh Railways bought the track they needed for routes 56, 68, and
98-99 in 1951.  The 1950 West Penn report to the state Department of Internal
Affairs indicated an expenditure for track repairs in McKeesport which WP hadn't
assigned to a particular catagory and would not until the sale of the track was
consumated.

5.  So all you PCC types out there ... Holland included ... West Penn built and
maintained track for PCC cars they never owned or operated!  And as a sidebar,
in the abandonment petition for the McKeesport lines in 1938, West Penn actually
included the cost of 13 PCC cars they felt they would need to buy to compete
with Pittsburgh Railways in that market if they were to stay in business.  Can
we imagine an orange and cream PCC with red doors and the West Penn triangular
herald ... perhaps numbered 1000-1012?  (Couldn't use the 900s because they were
in Wheeling.)



Fredbruhn at aol.com wrote:

> A photo of Buttermilk Hollow on the McKeesport line shows a car stop sign
> that must be white letters on either a red or black background.  What is the
> background color and what is the significance?
>
> How many variations of the black letters on white background were there in
> Pittsburgh.
>
> Any help will be most appreciated.
>
> Fred Bruhn