JTC (also J&S and Southern Cambria)

[Edward H. Lybarger]

While you were on the Southern Cambria R/W, you likely went right past the
carbarn, but may not have been aware of it, since it sits on the other side
of a row of trees on the east/south side of the right of way.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
[mailto:owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org]On Behalf Of Derrick J
Brashear
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2000 1:18 AM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: Re: JTC (also J&S and Southern Cambria)


On Tue, 3 Oct 2000, John Swindler wrote:

> In addition to newspapers, JTC was regulated by PUC.

JTC was regulated by newspapers? (sorry, couldn't resist)

> Therefore, there will
> be petitions to convert to trackless, then to bus.  It might be
interesting
> to see what testimony was provided by Glenn Reitz during PUC hearings.
> Available on microfilm in basement of North Office Building in Harrisburg.
>
> However, would suspect local employment situation was significant
> cause/effect.  You mentioned economic downturn in 1957.  Vague
recollection
> of a Cambria County Planning study from mid-1970s showing that almost half
> of remaining riders disappeared around 1967.

Well, there was a steel strike in 1959, that I know. Beyond that I don't
know a whole lot.

> On May 1, 1947, JTC's equipment included 85 buses and 70 streetcars
>
> In Dec. 1965 JTC fleet included 40 buses, 25 trackless, 16 school buses
and
> 6 coaches for charters.
>
> As of August 1971, JTC fleet included 32 transit buses, 49 school buses
and
> 4 coaches for charters.

What as I recall is a 400-series-numbered old look GMC bus still wearing
JTC colors was in a scrapyard along the route out of Johnstown which *was*
route 53 before the revisionists removed that designation back to just shy
of South Fork. And in 1989 Harold Jenkins (at the time the GM of CCTA) let
me go out to the barn and take a look at another JTC bus they still had,
serviceable for parades and such.

Not a streetcar or a trolleybus, but the only vehicles outside what's at
PTM and RTY that I've seen of Johnstown.

For what it's worth earlier today some work was going on on the Maple
Avenue bridge (which had paving work done not long ago; this looked to be
repainting), and the short bridge across the Little Conemaugh to get into
Woodvale from downtown was also being replaced (the old concrete span was
totally gone and traffic was using a temporary span)

When I was making the turn into Franklin Boro the pavement was so worn
that I could see bricks in what appeared to be a radial pattern, but... it
looked like where the track was had a just-wider-than-track-width section
of concrete.

I headed north, and decided randomly to head back down to the river at the
village of "Echo", and realized at the bottom that I was presumably on the
Southern Cambria right of way.

On the way into Johnstown I had gone through Jerome, and as you head
inbound what I assume is a pretty obvious trace of the Johnstown and
Somerset is visible (as I thought I remembered) parallel to the road.

I was pressed for time, and indeed I barely got back to Somerset in time
for dinner with my wife's cousin and her husband. Maybe I'll have some
time to go poke around the J&S and the Southern Cambria lines over the
winter. Maybe I'll even take useful maps with me.

-D