[PRCo] Re: Unattended trolleys

[Jim Holland]

> Bob Rathke wrote:

> In the late 1940's and early 50's I hung around the 5-Spring Hill loop at Rhine
> and Buente Streets..  Most cars had a layover there, and if it was mid-day and
> the motorman had 8-10 minutes, he would go across the street to Eichelmann's
> Store for a pop or snack.  Most of the motormen consumed their purchases in the
> store.......

> I also remember the ritual before the motorman left his car - check the padlock
> on the money box locked to the dash, and remove the coin changer from the
> transfer pedestal

	I was at the 42-wye daily in the mid 1950s to early 1960s.  There was
an Isaly's directly across from the wye.   NEVER  did I see an operator
go over there!   I was the  *go-fer*  to fetch sodas and ice cream and
got a roundtrip ride from the deal as well as the duty of punching the
time-schedule clock inbound and outbound!
	From the pictures, the store on the 5-line loop was almost a part of
the loop  --  could see an operator going in there.
	My Sundays in the summer saw me on the cars at 6-AM with a Sunday Pass
(and that after I had already delivered the Sunday Morning Paper) and I
wasn't home again until almost midnight in the summer (except for lunch
and supper freebies!)  Was often on the 56-, 87-, 88-, Drake, Library,
10-15--lines and others and never saw an operator leave the car except
to go to the restroom.

>>> HRBran99 at aol.com wrote:

>>> . . . [if] a car had to be
>>> left unattended the reverser handle should have been placed in the 'locked'
>>> or forward position and removed to prevent moving of the car. Again, sounds
>>> like urban legend to me. If it did happen, the operator most likely was
>>> unemployed after that.

>> Jim Holland wrote:

>>         In all my travellings on PRCo, I can't remember a car without an
>> operator in it.  *One--time*  on Library the operator had to use the
>> rest room and he did exactly as you mentioned  --  put the reverser into
>> the forward position, removed it, and took it with him!
>>         One time on  ({[pat]})  --  and Paul may have been there at the time
>> --  the 49-line was operating to SHJ and looping at Palm Garden.  The
>> motorman brought the car back to SHJ  --  1600-series city car  --  and
>> made the turn onto the outbound 44-48.  He allowed us to board and then
>> the operator left.  We were sitting in the back.  There was a loud bang
>> and when the motorman returned he blamed us for fooling with his car -
>> the hand brake had apparently released.  We never touched the car but he
>> repeatedly accused us!
>>         The time frame was probably the late 1960s, very early 1970s.

-- 
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/