[PRCo] Re: Trolley Pole Dewirements

[John Swindler]

There was a fantrip during which the pole was bent into an interesting 90 
degree angle trying to reverse at the "wye" at west end of Castle Shannon 
training loop.  And yes, Jim, I remember that dewirement while inbound on 
Shannon.  Was that the one in which the pole exhibited some properties of a 
'sine' wave?

John

>From: Jim Holland <pghpcc at pacbell.net>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: "-->- PRCo -- WP -- JTC -- The Big *3* -<--" 
><pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>Subject: [PRCo] Trolley  Pole  Dewirements
>Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2001 07:13:27 -0700
>
>
>Rich Wagner of  *Wagner Car Company*  and  *Trolley Talk*  always said
>that the flanged wheel and trolley pole//harp are the symbols of the
>traction community.
>
>	I was always fascinated with both as well and the symmetry of the
>overhead and the way the trolleypole tracked always fascinated me!
>Dewirements were a fascination as well but seemed very few and far
>between!
>
>	Don't remember any dewirements on Drake except possibly outbound thru
>the turnout at Wash. Jct once.  Drake used directional frogs at the
>sidings.  And only one dewirement on Library inbound leaving Simmons
>loop.
>
>	And NO dewirements between Wash. Jct and Castle Shannon as well as NO
>dewirements on the single track gauntlet wire on Overbrook.
>
>	Remember one dewirement inbound near Poplar with an operator in
>training.  Also one inbound near Overbrook Blvd. or Inglewood inbound,
>South Park special with mostly *foreign* riders coming home from the
>Fair who only rode the interurban on this occasion.  It was at night and
>Walther was operating the car; people got dead quiet when the lights
>went out.  One other time in the daytime Walther was operating about the
>same location and we had a dewirement; John Swindler took a movie of me
>replacing the pole!
>
>	And I only remember 2-dewirements outbound on Overbrook, both the same
>day, both the same trip, and obviously the same car - 1710.  Pole spring
>might have been weak and trolley retriever was bad as Charlie (who
>else?!(:=>))  had a terrible time resetting it!  The pole dewired
>crossing the Elwyn trestle at just average speed - we had taken it much
>faster before - and we coasted to the grade crossing at Cretestone to
>replace the pole.  Then as we crossed CS Blvd into Castle Shannon the
>pole came off again.
>
>	Don't remember any dewirements at SHJ - absolutely amazing considering
>the web of overhead.  Charlie dewired once entering a yard track, but
>that is it!
>
>	Never saw nor experienced any dewirements at Smithfield and Carson but
>the interurban inbound turning from the bridge onto the ramp was going
>thru a spiral easement which is a tricky location for the pole to follow
>correctly and remember a dewirement or two here.  NEVER  saw a
>dewirement from Grant to Liberty nor Liberty to Wood nor Wood to Water
>and the cars used to whip thru the latter turn!
>
>	Those are the only dewirements I remember on the interurbans and I was
>on them as often or more than my hometown 42-Dormont!
>
>	And on my hometown line, dewirements were extremely few.  If the spring
>switch failed and a car backed out of the 42-line wye the wrong way the
>pole would dewire.  Also, outbound, the frog leading into the wye saw
>tremendous use and the runners wore to that direction and sometimes
>caused the owl going straight thru to MtLebanon at 1.25-AM to dewire -
>the flashing could be seen from my window!
>	Outbound between Hillsdale and Alabama was a gentle banked curve to the
>left.  At one point the banking leveled out and the wire was out of
>alignment so it caused a sharp angle in the overhead and would sometimes
>throw poles.  The line car was out one day and I mentioned where I saw
>the pole dewire; they then tapped that hanger toward the inside of the
>curve to remove the angle and it was fine after that.
>	And outbound where the 42 split from the 38//39 was a shallow angle
>turnout where my father and I experienced a dewirement on 1454 coming
>home from a baseball game.  Remember the number because it was the
>number of the house across the street from ours!
>	And inbound thru the yard once, possibly on the 38-line, a hanger was
>broken with the ear perpendicular to and below the contact wire which
>caused us to dewire.  Isadore Reichert didn't believe me but when we
>were heading outbound an inbound 39-line car hit that at tremendous
>speed and went about 5-6 car lengths before getting his car stopped.
>Izzy saw the hanger then and called it in!
>	Saw a dewirement at Clearview loop - wire seemed higher here and this
>might have contributed and we dewired outbound once on a city 17 with
>mushy springs at the 38//39 junction.
>	Never experienced a dewirement downtown on the 38//39//42 lines -
>Never!
>
>	There was a trailing turnout from Stanwix at Fort Duquesne (connection
>from the West End lines) and only 1000--series cars would dewire thru
>this frog - no others!  Watched it for several hours!
>	And inbound on Federal passing thru the underpass of the RR on a
>17-city car the pole dewired 3-times - probably a badly worn wheel with
>a groove which could snag the wire!
>	Saw an 88-line dewire outbound on Liberty thru the first turn after
>Butler - too fast around the turn!
>
>	Don't remember any dewirements on 56-McKeesport, very popular
>Sunday--pass ride; none on 87, don't remember any in East Liberty near
>where grandparents lived!  And off-hand, don't remember any others.
>
>	Quite amazing for the amount of riding I did there!
>
>--
>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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