[PRCo] Re: QUESTIONS FROM HOLLAND AND MIKE

[Fred Schneider]

Personal thought is that no one in any hurry would have used the 63 car all
the way from Trafford to Pittsburgh even if the fare was lower.  Trolleys
were mostly a local service even if the line served 100 local
neighborhoods.   I suspect that even with high speed service such as the
Indiana Railroad, the Big Four trains from Terre Haute to Indianapolis would
have been a whole lot nicer than the interurban.   I remember a program by a
man (I think it might have been Jerry Cunningham), who had been working his
way across New York and Ohio on interurbans.  Then he telephoned home, was
informed of a family emergency, and took the train home overnight.

fws

Harold Geissenheimer wrote:

> Greetings to all
>
> 63 Trafford Express by PRC:  How did it compare with the PRR commuter
> train if you were going downtown or East Liberty.  Runningtime?  Fare?
>
> PRR commuter trains were important from Carnegie & Crafton, from
> Aspinwall, Oakmont and AV Valley, from Wilkinsburg, Edgewood
> and the T Creek valley.  Was the Trafford Express really a good
> alternative.?
>
> Jitneys in New Jersey always left in front of the streetcar.  Nothing new
> there  Traffoird bus had a shorter and faster route to downtown..
> It also served Oakland.  Did not go to East Liberty.
>
> When evaluating PRC service, take a look at PRR when it was infull bloom.
>
> Harold Geissenheimer
>
> Fred Schneider wrote:
>
> > I've tried three times, Jim, to "reply" to your question about the
> > Trafford line, and each time I push send, Microsoft goes into its
> > "Crash-o-matic" mode.  I'm drying a new message instead of a reply this
> > time.
> >
> > 1.  Route 63 Trafford Express, which operated variously by way of North
> > Braddock or Ardmore Boulevard to Wilkinsburg, and then through Oakland
> > to downtown, ran from 1911 to 1931.  The tale that Bob Brown told me
> > that 4100s lasted until 1940 for route 63 because they needed a
> > conductor in Wilkinsburg to help back the car a block, was obviously
> > just a tale.  I'm assuming the route cards were correct.
> >
> > 2.  There was an earlier question about what barn 77/54 ran from.
> > Answer is Carrick until it closed, and then over to Craft.