Philadelphia PCC retriever for sale on Ebay

[Jim Holland]

Greetings!

brathke at juno.com wrote:
 
> A Philadelphia PCC trolley retirever is for sale on Ebay.  See:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=488798257

	Philadelphia PCC cars  NEVER  had  RETRIEVERS  --  they used  CATCHERS 
to take up the trolley rope.  There is a  BIG  difference between the
two.

	A catcher stops the upward movement of a trolley pole; a retriever not
only stops the upward movement of a trolley pole but has a mechanism to
*retrieve* the pole - to pull it down clear of the wires.

	Even the description is suspect - the *retriever* is in the *original*
orange but underneath is the PTC green?!?!?!?!?!?!  A quote of the
description follows:::::::

	"This is an original 1947 PCC Philadelphia Trolley car RETRIEVER. It is
still in its original color (Orange).  There are some minor chips in the
paint and underneath is the original PTC (GREEN) paint. SEPTA had
experimented with many paint schemes before The red white and blue was
standered. This retriever was salvaged from an orange PCC at LUZERNE
Trolley Barn years ago. I got it from a freind, it is in good condition.
A RETRIEVER's function was to yank the pole in a downward position when
the pole dewired. the retreiver prevented the pole from getting hung up
in the wires or tearing down the overhead. A GREAT PEICE OF HISTORY AND
A GOOD CONVERSATION PIECE. I hate to let it go but I have to sell it for
financial reasons. GOOD LUCK! Buyer pays shipping."

James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  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/