[PRCo] Re: M454

[Fred Schneider]

If you read the older Pittsburgh Railways rule books, and study their training
processes, you find that there was a time when motormen and conductors were expected
to do simple things to get a car running.  I remember watching a motorman climb on
the roof of a PCC on Liberty Avenue near 7th St., untangle the pole from all the
overhead wires, hook it down, then retie both ends of the broken rope together, put
the pole on the wire, restore the ladder to the battery box, and be on his way.
This was probably about 1953 or 1954.
I have printed PRC (company taken) negatives used to show motormen how to climb on
the roof of a car, how to stand, how to put a pole up, even how to remove a piece of
broken glass.   Remember too that interurban cars had tool kits so that they could
replace a pole out in the woods where no one could easily get to them.  Quite
frankly, even in my youth, I don't think I would want to climb on the roof of an
interurban car in the middle of Charleroi #2 viaduct to replace a pole.  That is bad
enough for me on the Birney in Manheim, with a ladder.

HRBran99 at aol.com wrote: