[PRCo] Re: B-3 and Tatra PCC

[Fred Schneider]

If someone with a scanner out there wants to scan the pictures of B3 trucks from
my book and post it for Boris, you have my permission.  I have no scanner.   I
would suggest pages 134 and 135 of PCC - The Car That Fought Back

There were very few examples of B3 trucks, Boris.  Unlike the majority of rail car
trucks which were spring equalized, the B-3 was a frame equalized truck, i.e. the
frame would twist to put equal weight on each wheel.  At diagonal corners, the
side rails were rigidly bolted to the axle housings.  And at the two opposite
corners, the side rails and axle houses were connected through rubber, allowing
them to flex.  The truck bolster then rested on coil springs on the side rails.
The design transmitted more jolts whereas the B2 was softer riding.  However, the
purpose of the B3 was an ability to run over rough track and we all know that
Pittsburgh had a goodly share of that.  The book that Bob Deitrick cited details
the efforts by St. Louis Car Co. and Pittsburgh Railways to create the B-3 design,
which included several prototypes, then the trucks for the 1600s, and finally a
slightly different design for the 1700s.

I'm astonished by how much I've forgotten over the years.  While the design of the
B3 was a joint Pittsburgh - St. Louis Car endeavor, the largest user of B3 trucks
was Chicago, which had them on the 300 postwar PCCs from St. Louis Car.  The
Illinois Terminal System specified B3s for their eight cars ... not a bad idea
considering how much of that route was on private right-of-way.  All of Detroit's
1945 order of 78 cars had B3 trucks ... again, they had a lot of open track.

A frame equalized truck was not a new endeavor for St. Louis Car as their EIB
series of trucks in the 1920s used that concept ... the Johnstown car destroyed in
the fire in Washington over the weekend was one of those.

Derrick J Brashear wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Sep 2003, Pepa Kalousek wrote:
>
> > I suppose, or rather I am sure that somebody had to take some photos in
> > carbarns and shops during 60 years of PCC path in Pittsburgh and some of
> > them must show also trucks and other PCC components - accelerators, MG sets,
> > contactors etc. I'd like to take several photos of B-3 myself, but it's too
> > far to Washington, Pa... and in addition, it's not easy to get a visa for
> > entering the US. So I have only one option - to bug railfans...
>
> I thought tourist visas were ~easy to obtain. Would having a delegate go
> to Washington and take pictures be helpful? I probably wouldn't be able to
> deal soon but I'm willing.

fwqs