Philadelphia PCC retriever for sale on Ebay

[Greg King]

Hi Harold, 

I have photos but need car plans, any ideas anybody???

Greg
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Harold Geissenheimer 
  To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
  Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 3:20 PM
  Subject: Re: Philadelphia PCC retriever for sale on Ebay


  Greetings 
  No photos available but these cars have an interesting history.  LVT purchased them but apparently did not realize they were Pa trolley gauge (LVT was std).  Thats why they were sold to Norfolk which was wide gauge.  VEPCO like LVT purchased many second hand cars just before World War II which allowed them to carry very heavy loads.  Norfolk was a navy and ship building center. 
  Birmingham, Ala was another system that purchased many second hand cars.  I rode the VEPCO Norfolk routes which had long sections of PRW as well as Birney cars on the close in routes.  Quite a place. 

  Best wishes to all. 

  Harold Geissenheimer 

  Greg King wrote: 

    Hi Jim, 
    It's interesting that someone is trying to sell a PCC catcher, I have about 
    twenty of them sitting beside my garage, they are genuine Earl type PCC 
    catchers, but they were made for us, we used them on our Z3 and A class cars 
    till we went to pantographs and I rescued these and their mounting rings, 
    been meaning to write to Gemaco to see if they need any. 

    By the way, do you or anyone else on the list know wher I might get some 
    plans of the VEPCO (Norfolk) cars 700-702. Thes were built by Kuhlman in 
    1926 for the "Westside Electric Street Railway and the Webster, Monsessen, 
    Belle Vernon and Fayette City Street Railway out of Charleroi, Penn. 
    Apparently PRC operated the lines from 1929 to 33 selling them to Lehigh 
    Valley who in turn sold them to VEPCO. These were particularly hansome cars 
    and I would love to build one for myself. 

    Cheers 
    Greg 
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Jim Holland <pghpcc at pacbell.net> 
    To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> 
    Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 3:17 AM 
    Subject: Re: Philadelphia PCC retriever for sale on Ebay 

    > 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/ 
    >

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