[PRCo] Re: Wheels__&__Shoes

[Fred Schneider]

One of the first things that PAT did was to dismantle all the engineering staff.
Bus operators don't need engineers ... they buy parts from the manufacturer.
Trolley companies used them to design changes in equipment, track, inclines,
buildings, overhead.   Oh yes, I did say buildings.  Transit companies can
support the local politicians by farming out building changes to local architects
who will contribute to someone's reelection campaign.  Cynical?  Yes.

I had a boss who retired in 1974 and died about 2000.  When he left state service
we said he was going to write a book about his experiences in government.  A year
later he told me he abandoned the project "because no one would believe what he
wrote."   The truth is, no one would believe how corrupt government can be unless
you are lecturing to the choir.

"James B. Holland" wrote:

> ktjosephson at earthlink.net wrote:
>
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "James B. Holland" <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
> >
> >   And with the waning of trolleycars and
> >
> >
> >>({[pats]})  hell-bent attitude to rid the city of trolleycars why would
> >>they even consider the change and why would they be considered as a
> >>source of information on such data  --  they didn't care!
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It was during Harold Geissenheimer's regime when the "Traction and Models"
> >discussion of wheels versus shoes was published. I believe the article noted
> >that Philadelphia was completing its change-over to shoes and that
> >Pittsburgh was the only remaining U.S. system to use wheels exclusively.
> >
> >K.
> >
>              But the preceding decade was dominated by TrolleyCar Haters
> so any good information passed forward by PRCo was probably buried /
> lost / burned / destroyed / etc. / etc. / etc....... by  ({[pat]})..
>
> Jim Holland