[PRCo] "Runaway PCC Crashes at Station Square" --- Revisited

[Jim Holland]

"Runaway PCC Crashes at Station Square"   ---   Revisited


	The following is copied from
		<*>--Trolley  Fare--<*>
			November--December--1987


"'Pittsburgh Points'  by Edward H. Lybarger and Lawrence G. Lovejoy"


		Editor's note:  The writers wish to thank
	Member John C. Swindler of Harrisburg for supplying
	copies of the 1917 newspaper articles which provided
	much of the historic data which follows.  John's
	efforts in digging it out of the State Library were
	of great help in the preparation of this month's column.


	Without Question, this issue's lead story is the wreck of PCC car 1727
in a runaway through the Mt. Washington Tunnel on October 28.  Operating
as a 47S inbound A.M. rush tripper, the car lost all dynamic braking,
and the friction and track brakes were unable to slow the car as it
accelerated down the 6-percent, 3600-foot tunnel grade.  It derailed at
the curve at the north portal, struck (but inflicted only minor damage
to) a substantial catenary portal frame, demolished a traffic signal
controller cabinet, skidded across Carson Street through an incredible
gap in rush-hour traffic, and crashed into the Station Square Gatehouse
Building (see Déjà Vu, below).
	Of the 45 passengers aboard, 37 were injured, and nine were admitted to
area hospitals.  The operator was given high praise for preventing more
serious injuries.  Once he realized that he would not be able to stop
the car, he directed all of the passengers to the rear of the vehicle. 
One woman, who was frozen in fear, was carried to the back of the car by
the motorman.  Since the front of the car was demolished, the trainman's
quick thinking doubtless saved lives.
	The root cause of the brake failure was a severed motor lead cable. 
The cable was rubbing against the motor axle shaft, and once the
insulation wore through, the cable shorted to ground resulting in a loss
of both motors on that truck and a complete loss of the dynamic braking
system.
	But why was the cable rubbing?  It has been determined that the car was
retrucked the previous day.  Apparently the motor lead cables were not
properly routed and restrained when one truck was wired into the car
body.  This situation was not discovered prior to the car's being put on
the road the following morning, as the Port Authority apparently did not
have a formalized repair inspection or road testing procedure.
	A number of passengers stated that they smelled burning rubber as far
south as Washington Junction.  It was also reported that the car slid
past several stops, and had to back up when it overran a siding signal
along the Overbrook single track.  In short, the evidence was
substantial that, in accordance with standard PAT operating policy, car
1727 should have been taken out of service at South Hills Junction. 
Instead, the run continued into the tunnel.
	The motorman, while a 16-year PAT veteran, had been on trolleys for
only six months.  When he left the barn that morning, he was cautioned
that the car had newly trued wheels and that it might have a tendency to
slide and spin until the lathe grooves wore away.  In addition, it was a
"black rail" morning, the term used when the rails are wet and
slippery.  Thus, when the car slid through stops (because the dynamic
brakes were gone and only the friction brakes were functional), the
operator apparently assumed that this was due to the other conditions
noted above.  Likewise, when the wheels spun when pulling away from
stops (because only one truck was powered), it was thought to be due to
the "black rail."  By the time 1727 entered the tunnel, the friction
brakes were so overheated that they were useless, and by the time the
motorman realized he could not stop, he was going 30-35-mph, a speed at
which the magnetic track brakes have no effect.
	The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident
immediately, but their findings and recommendations will not be released
for several months.  It would appear, though, that PAT needs to take the
following actions:
	•  Adopt a rigorous policy for inspecting and road-testing
electro-mechanical repair work prior to releasing cars for service.
	•  Adopt an operator training program that includes even more
conservative criteria for judging when cars should be taken out of
service.
	•  Consider installing a warning light that will indicate any loss of
dynamic braking capability (LRVs already have such a device).
	Car 1727 is damaged beyond repair, but will probably not be scrapped
until all of the certain litigation is concluded (in today's
environment, that could be years).  In the meantime, the car has been
stored under wraps.
	Not reported elsewhere, but relayed to this writer is a rumor that
another recently retrucked PCC suffered similar brake failure while
operating on the Library line a few days before the crash.  The incident
did not receive any attention since the car was in a sag between two
hills.  It is reported to have rolled back and forth in Toonerville
Trolley style until it came to rest [only 2-places this could happen:: 
1)--between Lindemer & Brightwood;  2)--between Brightwood and Lytle.] 
If true, this story suggests that PAT's maintenance practices are
getting sloppy at best and negligent at worst.
	Remember that Pittsburgh has traditionally had a reputation for the
best PCC mechanical maintenance, even if body and paint condition were,
at times, abysmal.  Has the introduction of LRVs and the emphasis on
repaintings changed that situation?  One hopes not.  The accident also
raises the question of whether the Port Authority can hope to maintain
the immensely complex electro-mechanical systems on an LRV.  PAT and its
union have only recently (after four years of negotiation) reached an
agreement providing for the training of PAT mechanics on LRV systems. 
This sounds like a good start for establishing a dedicated rail division
staff.  Let's hope it pays off.
	déjà vu.  French.  Already seen; unoriginal.
	It is probably inescapable that a rail system featuring a
3600-foot-long 6-percent grade will experience runaways.  Fortunately,
this does not occur often, and occasionally luck will be on the public's
side.
	The events of October 28 marked the third occurrence of a tunnel
runaway since Mt.Washington was pierced in 1904.  The first resulted in
the imposition of a 4-minute minimum running time speed restriction, but
apparently was not a major catastrophe.
	On Christmas Eve, 1917, however, car 4236 got loose and rolled on its
side before coming to rest at the P&LE Terminal Annex, killing 21 and
injuring 80 more.  Circumstances were quite different 70 years ago, and
a review of contemporary news accounts yielded a wholly different method
of operating the streetcar company:
	•  The operator had been one for just six months, having formerly been
a cowpuncher in Texas.
	•  The operator was apparently intoxicated, or recovering therefrom, at
the time of the accident.  He testified that he spent the day before
(Sunday) at his brother's, where he helped trim the tree and had a "few
drinks."  Then, he journeyed to a night club on Second Avenue where he
drank until 1 a.m.  Returning to his rooming house for 40 winks, he
arose at 5 a.m. for an early run which ended at 9 a.m.  His whereabouts
between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., when he boarded the "Death Car," were not
reported.
	•  Apparently the trolley pole dewired as he started down the tunnel,
and he stopped the car inside the tunnel.  There ensued considerable and
incredible controversy about that stop.  The motorman flatly denied
making the stop, stating that no dewirement had occurred.  His
conductor's version differed, in that he couldn't move through the 134
(plus transferees) passengers to put the pole back on, and that when he
requested help from the operator, was ignored.  Other witnesses said
they heard the motorman angrily say something about replacing poles not
being his business.  The operator of an inbound Charleroi car [a 3600 or
brand-spanking-new 3700-Brill?] immediately behind the 4236 testified
that he, in fact, replaced 4236's pole on the wire.
	Accepting the testimony of the conductor and the Charleroi motorman as
evidence of confusion and incapacitation on the part of 4236's motorman,
officials charged him with manslaughter.  Citizens of then-independent
Knoxville Borough (where the run had originated) were properly outraged
and devoted considerable effort trying to exact some sort of revenge
from the railways company, including an ordinance giving their health
inspectors the right to "wash, scrub and disinfect" dirty streetcars
entering the Borough.  In a letter to the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Borough
Council called for "drastic action and open war upon this monopolistic
and vicious corporation," threatening confiscation of PRCo property
(just why this letter went to the Mayor rather than the company remains
unexplained.)
	As a result of the 1917 tunnel disaster, PRCo entered its first
bankruptcy reorganization in the face of the multiplicity of claims
arising out of the accident.
	Seventy years later, it is by merest chance that:  a)--car 1727
remained upright after it left the rails and  b)--Carson Street happened
to be devoid of traffic at 8.13 a.m.  Otherwise, there could easily have
been a repeat of 1917, but with fewer victims.

-- 
James B. Holland

        Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
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