[PRCo] Re: And Speaking of Rejected Cars.....

[Kenneth Josephson]

HRBran99 at aol.com wrote:

> Provisions in the Federal antitrust laws was the main reason. I was told by
> many people in the PATransit organization during the 1970s that Westinghouse
> controls were far superior. However, US law prevented purchase of controls
> (by PRCo) from only one supplier.

I've read and heard this, too. But there were a number of companies (North Shore
Line and Milwaukee Electric come to mind, as well as several of the operators in
the NYC area) that swore by GE. Milwaukee dumped their newest Pullman-Standard
trackless trolleys in favor of a mixed fleet of Marmon-Herringtons and
Pullman-Standards for the last several years, when all the Pullmans were
sufficient to cover all runs. Why? Because the newest Pullmans from the order
were Westinghouse equipped and the Transport Company wanted an all GE fleet
until the new diesel coaches arrived in 1965.   Paul Ward noted on another
discussion list that many trackless trolley operators seemed to like GE equipped
coaches over Westinghouse units when all other things were equal.

I have heard and read that Westinghouse controls needed more frequent "tuning"
than GE, but that Westinghouse equipment was much easier to overhaul than GE's
when major repairs were necessary.

Do we have any "shop jocks" on this list? :-) I'd like to hear from the front
line people on this debate. Ken J.