[PRCo] West End- Part 1

[Matt Barry]

Pittsburgh Press, May 27, 1959
Railways Denies Ruse on Bus Shift
Palmer Quizzed About Permit for West End Routes


CD Palmer, president of the Pittsburgh Railways Company, denied to day 
that his company will use a temporary permit to operate buses in the 
West End as a ruse to win approval for permanent bus lines.

 Mr. Palmer took the stand today at the Public Utilities Commission 
hearing on whether the firm should be granted a temporary permit to 
operate buses in place of street cars on its West End routes.

 The company, which eventually wants to convert its West End routes to 
buses, must win support of affected communities to pull up tracks 
without paying for track removal and repaving involved. 

 Mr. Palmer was subjected to intense questioning by Gilbert Morecroft, 
solicitor of Crafton Borough and spokesman for the communities involved 
- Crafton, Ingram, Stowe, McKees Rocks, Carnegie, Scott Twp., and 
Heidelberg.

 Pittsburgh Railways has reached an agreement with the State Highways 
Department under which the State will pay Pittsburgh Railways $300,000 
for removal of tracks on State-owned rights of way.

 The agreement, however, is contingent on the company's reaching an 
agreement with the municipalities involved regarding track removal and 
repaving.

 "If the agreement (with the State) is voided, Mr. Palmer said, "we will 
go back to trolley service."

 He said the firm has a tentative agreement with Scott Twp., and sees 
eye-to-eye with Pittsburgh and the County on matters involving those 
governmental bodies.

 None of the communities dislikes the idea of getting buses instead of 
streetcars, but most are concerned with who will pay for removing tracks 
and restoring the torn up rights-of-way.

 Under its franchise, the trolley company is responsible for this work, 
but they would like someone else to pay the bills.

 But Crafton, Carnegie, Ingram, Stowe and McKees Rocks have money 
worries, and Heidelberg doesn't like the proposed bus route going along 
its "congested" Washington Street.

 Scott with a little more than a mile of track to contend with has 
agreed to pay its own way.

 Led by Mr. Morecroft, attorneys for the money-conscious communities 
told PUC Examiner Maurice Claster the railways company doesn't want to 
pay as previously agreed.

 But Mr. Claster agreed to continue the hearing at the request of the 
lawyers for the affected communities after Mr. Palmer stepped from the 
stand.

 Norman A. Groudine, McKees Rocks solicitor, said he wanted John R. 
Razzolla to "clarify some misstatements" made at the opening of the case 
yesterday.  Mr. Razolla, of the State Highways Department legal staff, 
was absent from the second day's proceedings.  Although not sworn in as 
a witness, he took part in the first day's hearing.

 Other attorneys said they would present evidence against the trolley 
firm's request for a temporary approval on bus operations.  They pointed 
out that there was insufficient time to prepare the material since 
Pittsburgh Railways filed its petition only last Thursday.

 
NOTE from Matt:   I noted in the Pgh Press article written the day after 
the last service car pulled into Ingram carhouse in June, 1959, that Pgh 
Railways workmen were there to take the cars to other car houses on the 
system.  So, that would indicate that active cars didn't stay on the 
property until the final PUC-approved abandonment of the West End system.