[PRCo] 1948 1.>--Allegheny__County__Fair__Service 2.>--Radio__Telephones 3.>--Track__Renewal 4.>--New__Bridge

[Jim Holland]

Good Morning!


	The following information comes from Dennis Linsky and is
something that Tom Phillips has described for us in some detail
in the past:::::::


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       It was 55 years ago [1948] over the Labor Day weekend when
Pittsburgh Railways Co. had a minimun one-minute headway during
the peak hours to handle crowds to the Allegheny County Fair at
South Park.  Cars were turned at the W.Library loop.
	All inbound cars used the regular route (#37-Shannon)  *-but all
outbound cars-*  ran over route #38 to Mt. Lebanon, thence via
#38A shuttle track to Castle Shannon and regular route from that
point to W. Library.
	All road crossings were protected by flagmen.    Inspectors were
stationed along the way to keep cars spaced and signals from
Castle Shannon to W. Library were covered to permit close
headways.
	To avoid outbound South Park cars, #38A was temporarily made
bus.
	No outbound service was given on the single track from South
Hills Jct. to Oak Stop but double-end cars ran both directions on
the outbound track from Oak Stop to Castle Shannon but hauling no
passengers inbound.    The special outbound routing was also used
by regular interurbans.
	The Castle Shannon crossover was reversed to permit excess cars
to get into the barn, then turn on a new switch and back into the
storage tracks.    This new switch, plus a new facing point
switch from the outbound track, became a new permanent loop for
route #37 which had previously wyed.

       Radio telephones were being installed on interurban cars
to replace the wayside call boxes.    At present, 7 to 10 minutes
per run were spent in getting orders from the boxes.    Signals
were being replaced with new ones on the outer part of the
Charleroi line.....

	Routes #27-Carnegie and #28-Heidelberg have new track on both
sides, as has route #7-Charles along Strauss Street.....

	The new bridge over the Monongahela River, planned for the foot
of Liberty Street, would carry 6 lanes of auto traffic with a
recessed lane in the center for 2-way trolley traffic.

       From ERA HEADLIGHTS, December, 1948, page B-8, left side.

       Very Sincerely,

       Dennis M. Linsky
       1350 East 5th Street, Apt. 3P
       Brooklyn, NY   11230-4686
       11/2/03

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Waiting for a bus is as thrilling as fishing,
    with the similar tantalisation that something,
        sometime, somehow, will turn up. 
            George Courtauld

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James B. Holland

• Holland  Electric  Railway  Operation....... 
  "O"--Scale St.-Petersburg Trams Company (SPTC)
        Trolleycars and "O"--Scale  Parts
                including Q-Car
        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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