[PRCo] Re: Sagging__Low--Floors

[Fred Schneider]

So what's your point?   They may have been rebuilt.   They did that.

"James B. Holland" wrote:

> > Fred Schneider wrote:
> >
> >> Don't know if you ever saw the Osgood-Bradley builders photo of 5200.
> >> If you have one, observe that the front platform was already sagging
> >> before it was loaded onto a flatcar for shipment to Pittsburgh ... in
> >> that case the design change for the double front door left a platform
> >> too long to be properly supported and the side panel under the first
> >> window on the right side already had a crease in it. Of course the
> >> 5200 had all the extra weight of the coupler on the front.
> >
>
> > James B. Holland wrote:
> >
> > Yes, this has been mentioned here before and pictures of same *may* be
> > at the dementia website. .......BUT....... where is the official
> > documentation from PRCo files that says that the low-floors suffered
> > from hanging platforms? Doesn't seem to have been a problem for PRCo.
>
> The cars in these photos don't seem to be suffering from sag.
>
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/wvp050.htm
>
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/wvp048.htm
>
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/wvp047.htm
>
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/wvp051.htm
>
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/wvp057.htm
>
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/wvp330.htm
>
> > Interesting observation from the photo which may be an abberation of
> > the photography. The low-floors served for 30++ some years and seemed
> > to perform their job as well as any other trolleycar. Even photos of
> > 3756 at certain angles give the *appearance* of a sag of the front
> > platform.
> >
> > The length of the front platform is not unlike the length of same on
> > many other trolleycars that have double front doors -- even many
> > descriptions of the PCC divide the car into *Body* and
> > *End--Platforms* and the PCC has double doors and the truck king pin
> > is about as far back from the ends of the car as it is on the
> > low-floors. Believe the length of the platform remained the same as
> > for the single door car.
> >
> > Have seen photos and even other trolleycar equipment where the
> > platform *appeared* to be sagging. Have seen homes // businesses //
> > buildings with Bay Windows that have tremendous sags! And Most Of Us
> > Sag considerably with age as well.
> >
> >> I may be assuming a little too much. A lot of the structural problems
> >> with those cars may also be related to atmospheric pollution in
> >> Pittsburgh. There was a lot of sulfur dioxide in the air which
> >> coverts very nicely to sulfuric acid when it rains.
> >
> >
> >
> > Of course -- anything can have an affect. Aging is something that
> > happens to everything -- Animal, Veetable, Even Mineral -- witness the
> > window sag above. Why does this surprize us?
> >
> > As to the under cariage of 3756 it is not dissimilar to that of 1138
> > as noted by our Distinguished PCC Expert when he visited -- aging and
> > the way it is dealt with in the good ol U.S.A. -- bondo, patches,
> > bandaids, but by all means Never Preventive Maintenance nor true
> > repair -- just ain't American! Not trying to disparage -- just another
> > way of saying that America is a Maintenance Free Society. As Dennis
> > noted, 3756 is 80-years old -- aging is taking its toll.
> >
> > Jim__Holland