[PRCo] Re: PCC 1720 derailment

[Bob Rathke]

Back in the days when I lived in Bethel Park (1972-83), I rode the Drake
trolley to/from downtown every day. PCC reliability got worse in the
mid-70's, and at least once a week I was on a car that was greatly delayed
or didn't run at all.
I was treated to many tows and pushes, shuttle bus substitutions, and even a
few hikes along the Overbrook PRW.  Eventually, I started to carry a camera
on my commutes, and I took photos of some of the breakdowns, although in the
winter about half of the breakdowns happened at night.

Much of this happened in the low-maintenance days when PAT was pushing ahead
its plans for Skybus.

Bob 1/1/02

------------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: <Macmarka at cs.com>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 12:56 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: PCC 1720 derailment


>
> Thanks Bob! For some reason your name and Fred Bruhn's kept jumping up at
me.
> Sorry. Didn't want to offend the person who took those shots, so I
included
> both names. Now I know for sure who took those remarkable pictures. If
anyone
> on this list hasn't checked them out, please do. I'm just glad we had an
> "unharmed" railfan on board when it happened. Awesome!
>
Mark
> McGuire
>