[PRCo] Re: eBay item#740628858: 1939 Westinghouse "PCC" STREET CARS Surveys

[Jim Holland]

Good Morning!

> macmarka at cs.com wrote:

> Interesting book.    Anyone interested?

http://cgi.compuserve.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=740628858

> Title of item:
>	1939 Westinghouse "PCC" STREET CARS Surveys

> This piece is an original publication from
> WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY
> of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
> makers of the "PCC" Line of Electric Street
> Trolleys for Municipal Use throughout the country.

	Just learned something   ---   Westinghouse made the PCCs in
Pittsburgh   ---   and I always thought it was St.LouisCarCompany!

	I have this but in trypewriter format   ---   no pictures.    At any
rate, if it is not this particular text, I do have a copy of performance
levels for PCCs   ---   it is dated 1938.10.18 so it is very possibly
the rough draft for this tome.    In reality, though, the Westinghouse
study would include only 75% of the PRCo PCC fleet, so it may be
different.

	Eight pages are dedicated to PRCo alone  --  single-spaced typing.  
Interesting tidbits:::::::

	"""In assigning the P.C.C. cars, the plan of equipping base schedules
with the new cars and filling in the peaks with speeded-up, old-standard
cars was followed.    This plan was decided upon because it makes
possible a greater coverage of the system and it keeps the new cars in
service the maximum amount of time.    It also provides greater
opportunity for stimulating off-peak riding and permits utilization of
spare capacity which is available during this period."""

	"""With the first 100 cars which were placed in service during the
period from February 04, 1937 to May 26, 1937, the base schedules of 10
routes were equipped.    The second 100 cars which went into service
between October 26, 1937 and March 15, 1938 were used to equip the base
service on 13-routes."""

	"""The 23 routes on which P.C.C. cars are now operated include
practically every type of urban route on the system.    Their round-trip
lengths vary from about 6-miles to about 30-miles.    Their total car
mileage represents about 54% of the urban system car mileage and they
account for about 58% of the urban system revenue."""

	"""Route No.38 - Mt.Lebanon::	The first P.C.C. cars were installed on
Route No.38-Mt.Lebanon - a route which required 7-base and 21-peak
cars."""
	""".......The Mt.Lebanon [Pittsburgh Motor Coach Company through] bus
route competes with Route No.38 throughout praactically its entire
length.   In November-1937, the bus line carried 23,000 more passengers
than in November-1936."""
	"""Summarizing the results on Route No.38, it is shown that with only
partial new car operation, no increase in speed, and in the fact of new
bus competition, riding during the first nine full months of operation
improved 4.5% to 5% as related to the urban system trend."""

	"""Fifth Avenue Routes::	The second installation of P.C.C.
cars.......    Forty-one P.C.C. cars were installed for 18-hour base
service and 53 speeded-up, old-standard cars were used to fill out the
peak."""    (NOTE::   Same for 38-line above  --  speeded up old cars
for peak trippers, thus the reason for No Increase in speed!)
	""".......These routes were about 9.4% above the urban system......."""

	"""Overall Results on First 100 P.C.C. cars::	Taking as a whole the
routes on which the first 100 cars were installed, and making no
adjustments for robbing of other routes - or, on the other hand for fare
concessions or losses to competing bus lines - riding on the new car
routes was up 9.7% for the four-month period (June to September 1937)
over the same period of 1936.    These four months of 1937 cover the
interval between the last installation with the first 100 cars and the
first installation with the second 100 cars."""

	Under:::	"""Routes Equipped with Second 100 P.C.C. cars:"""   the only
route that is mentioned is 82-Lincoln.    But this paragraph gives an
extremely small capsule of the business climate in The City as a PerCent
of Normal but doesn't state what is considered normal!    Here are the
figures:::::::

	January-1937	120%
	March-1937	125%
	June--1937	115%
	September-1937	113%
	December-1937	072%
	April-1938	062.8%
	May---1938	057.8%

	"""Route No.82-Lincoln::	However, the revenue results on Route No.82
should be mentioned because in this case P.C.C. cars and speeded-up,
old-standard cars were installed on a route operated with slower-speed
cars.    Ten P.C.C. cars and 10-speeded-up, old-standard cars were
installed in the latter part of December-1937.    Prior to the change,
riding on this route was approximately 4% to 6%  BELOW  the trend of the
urban system, while after the change the trend on Route No.82 has been
from 3% to 11% above the urban system - an improvement of 7% to 18%."""

	Accident reduction with PCCs was about 14.5% based on #-of accidents
per 10,000-car miles.

	"""Measurements made with kw-hr. meters indicate that the operation of
the P.C.C. cars requires slightly less energy per car mile than the PRCo
speeded-up, old-standard cars.    The parallel control on the P.C.C.
cars has greater power losses than the control on the old cars, but this
is more than compensated for by the lighter weight of the P.C.C.
cars.    However, operation of the P.C.C. cars reequires about 25% more
power than is required for slower speed, ols-standard cars.    The
increase in operating power of the P.C.C. cars over that of the slower
speed cars which went out of service when new cars were purchased is
partly offset by a saving during the winter months in power for car
heating......."""

	"""The ultimate maintenance cost for the new cars is not known at this
time.    The shop has had to make many small changes in such equipment
as torque arms, brake tube bearings, hand brake mechanisms, wiring, and
thermostats, which have been unusual......."""

	So even though tens were not assigned to South Hills in the latter
days, PCCs actually began operations in the South Hills!    And with
Tens!    A photo of 1000 at SHJ IB in 1937 or 1938 by Richard Wagner was
printed in his publication of  *Trolley--Talk.*

	And the assignment of PCCs to base with low-floor cars for peak
trippers would make a good modeling scenario!

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James B. Holland

Holland  Electric  Railway  Operation....... 
___"O"--Scale St.-Petersburg Trams Company Trolleycars and...
______"O"--Scale  Parts  mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net

______Pennsylvania Trolley Museum http://www.pa-trolley.org/
___Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),   1930  --  1950
N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190; http://www.nmra.org

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