[PRCo] Re: Dormont Junction Wye

[HRBran99 at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/14/01 9:53:47 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
j_swindler at hotmail.com writes:


> Cars turning short at Dormont wye 
> could pull into siding and allow through 42/38 cars to Clearview Loop to 
> pass.  Siding had space for about two - maybe three cars, but I'll defer 
> that vague impression to anyone else with a better recollection.
> 
> 

Yes, service to the wye was fairly intense during the afternoon peak period. 
Sometimes on my outbound 42-DORMONT trip I would have to pull into the siding 
and wait for a leading 42 car to leave the wye before I could pull in. I 
really did not like the construction of that wye. The holding track was very 
short and you had to pull the car almost onto the sidewalk of W. Liberty 
Avenue in order to clear the switch at the mouth of the wye. Several times 
the rear two wheels would actually be off the end of the rail leaving on the 
front two wheels of the rear truck on the rail. About one more foot of length 
would have made the wye operation less nerve racking. Most times the trolley 
pole would not clear the overhead wire switch and would require manual 
changing of the pole from the wye entrance wire to the wye exit wire. If you 
were running late all this manual work made you even later. However, it was 
nice to know that you were using one of the last streetcar wyes in the US.

HrB