1800s

[Fred W. Schneider III]

The sad thing about the concocted story about the 1800s is that someone
out there no doubt won't realize the humor and it will circulate as
gospel for years and years and years.  But it was funny.  Even at o'dark
30 in the morning. 

The Reading (Pa) Eagle always has an April 1st spectacular on the front
page, and believe me it catches quite a few people.  Can you imagine
what it will do to the historians reading those newspapers 50 years from
now and trying to figure out what happened to a bridge or a building???

At any rate, I liked the tale about the 1800s.  Just what Pittsburgh
needed ... another batch of stinking hot cars with no opening windows in
the summer.  

The reality is, St. Louis was more than happy to build more PCC cars and
many companies did check out prices.  Pittsburgh did know into the
middle 1950s what they would have cost had they bought them.  It seemed
that $20,000 40 foot GM buses always won out over a $40,000 steetcar. 
The argument was that those buses would not last long, but old look
buses managed to run 20 years or into the public agency era too.  Some
of the 1,000 coaches that Philly bought in 1955-57 were still around in
the early 1980s, I rode them that late.