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

[Fred Schneider]

ED LYBARGER PLEASE ANSWER:

Linsky claims radio telephones were being installed.  Were these only used
on the Washington line?  Was the installation limited to Washington and
Tunnel based cars?  Is my memory correct that Charleroi continued to use
wayside phones?

Why would seven to ten minutes be spent getting orders from phones?  I only
saw a phone used once and that was on a fantrip.  I don't recall that
regular cars used them ... I only recalled that signals were used to handle
meets.  Of course I'm talking 1953 and not in the days before US&S signals
... I suspect timetable authority was used prior to 1929.

fws

Jim Holland wrote:

> 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:::::::
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>        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
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> Waiting for a bus is as thrilling as fishing,
>     with the similar tantalisation that something,
>         sometime, somehow, will turn up.
>             George Courtauld
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> James B. Holland
>
> • Holland  Electric  Railway  Operation.......
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>                 including Q-Car
>         mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
>
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>         http://www.pa-trolley.org/
> • Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),
>         1930  --  1950
> • N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190;
>         http://www.nmra.org
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>