[PRCo] Re: WHAT IS Your Favorite Mod PAT Scheme???????

[Kenneth Josephson]

Greg King wrote:

> I thought it borrowed a lot from the Boeing car in design, in fact, I know
> it heresy but, I rather liked it, would have been better if they had done
> some similar treatment to the rear to balance the car out.

I agree on both counts. A squared off roof cowl would have helped, too. The
1600s were better for this treatment, at least in my opinion, since the standee
windows on the 1700s would have looked a bit out of place on "light rail" theme
car.

> Am I correct in
> thinking there was two of these cars?

Yep. There was one running when I visited in late 1976 while the second car to
receive the treatment was sitting on the "hillside siding" (the ex-Route 40
tracks)  with its smashed-in original front end wrapped up. I have a photo of
it on Dave's. There was almost a third, according to a young motorman I spoke
to that same day. He stated he was approaching Carson Street on a southbound
42/38 run when an automobile pulled out in front of him. He said sand, brakes
and prayer were all that stopped him from providing another client for the
"Tunnel Carhouse Face Lift Crew."  He also said some guys liked the new front
end treatment because it offered a larger window and didn't have a leaking dash
vent to freeze their knees. Jim Holland and I both photographed the 1781 (I
think) the following day. That car had tape around the dash air door.

Incidently, I didn't catch this motorman's name. Herb may know him. He was
African-American, had short hair (remember, this was the mid-'70s, when we
youngsters all had long hair) and a neatly trimmed beard. Virtually all the
riders made it a point to greet him or tell him goodbye. He wore a traditional
transit operator's hat and his uniform was crisp. The sort of chap you'd ask to
pose with a car for a photo. He seemed to have quite a following among his
patrons.

> Did either get saved???

I believe one is in a private collection. Incidently, when I first saw one, I
thought of those old 1940s animated cartoons and the 1960s illustrations (in
MAD Magazine) where a substantial-looking false front was installed over an old
shack. :-)

Ken J.