[PRCo] Re: PRCo Routes 1-99

[Fred Schneider]

You are asking for blood.  Organized railfanning in Pittsburgh didn't begin until
about 1940 and those few people generally took only car yard pictures.  They
didn't understand scenic pictures until after other people were doing it in
1950.  Most Pittsburghers got out of the city on vacation, so you need to find
someone who came into the city for vacation.  In those days of dirt and smoke,
most people considered a vacation in Pittsburgh right up there with a holiday in
Camden or Secacus NJ or East St. Louis, or Watts, CA.  A lot of what you want,
even I've never seen in a half century of collecting.

Believe that 71 NEGLEY and 71 Negley Highland are one and the same.  There was
room on a PCC front sign for the second word but not on an older car.  Both ended
at Bunkerhill Car House.

Route 56B was a unique route that resulted from routing the 56 cars over the new
Dravosburg bridge and the placement of PCCs on 99 Glassport.  That left a little
bit of 56 in McKeesports 10th Ward potentially without service, so it was
operated briefly in conjunction with Evans Avenue.  Not for long.  I've never
seen a picture.

One of the recent PTC calendars has a picture of a 4800 in downtown Pittsburgh
with an 81 Atwood sign.  Bob Brown took a couple of pictures of double end cars
at Atwood and Forbes.  I've never seen anything else on Atwood.

Pictures on 32 are a dime a dozen.  It ran into the early 1950s and railfans were
always around the P&LE station.

84-Larimer isn't something you are apt to find.  I would have to look at the
route cards, but I know it died an early death, I think due to the extension of
96 over its tracks.

59 is common.  I think Bromley is placeing several good pictures that Bill
Vigrass took onto a web site.

78 Laketon.  I saw cars on that every time we drove into Wilkinsburg to shop in
the 40s.  But I've NEVER seen a picture.  Wilkinsburg wasn't really a destination
if you get my drift.

52 E Carson St. Shuttle was a remnant of the old line from Hays that stayed to
serve the Johnes and Laughlin steel mill.  Photographers really were not welcome
around steel mills.  A camera near a steel mill would flush out a copy like
driving 130 on the turnpike.

Route 9 was a weekday rush hour only proposition in the last years.  Again,
Vigrass has a picture.

Even though 63 Corey was the second to last shuttle route in the system, again
I've never seen a picture.  You mean people actually went to Braddock?

31 Sheridan Ingram should be very easy.  Just keep looking.  I'm sure even I have
some.

33 Mount Washbington.  Would you settle for Allegheny County pictures that show
how bad the track was?  I've seen one picture of a car at Homewood Shop with a 33
sign turned up, and the photographer probably spun up the sign.

Routes 2 and 3 should be relatively easy.  They ran until 1952.  There are some
Brown negatives in the PTM library but you may have to talk EHL into printing
them.

Macmarka at cs.com wrote:

>   I'm wondering if anyone can help me here with this project I've been
> working on. I have many photo albums filled with PRCo/PAT 8X10 photos. I have
> dedicated one particular album to routes 1-99 from the 1959 map available at
> PTM. I am missing 18 of the 99 routes. Through my searches, I have come up
> with many variations of some of these. I would prefer to have photos with the
> sign visible and/or on that particular route. If some of you have some pix
> that you could scan and send me, I would love to make an 8X10 out of it and
> add it to my 1-99 album. I will not send these to anyone or any website. If
> you can help, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
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