[PRCo] Re: PRC 4398

[dfc1 at alltel.net]

It also does not help that the handbrake pulls the front platform down every time it is set.  We train our operators to only take a minimal amount of air and then set the handbrake to alleviate the pull of the chain on the front platform.

DF Cramer
> 
> From: Fred Schneider <fschnei at supernet.com>
> Date: 2004/12/01 Wed AM 09:53:55 CST
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: PRC 4398
> 
> Common, Jim.  Get real.  If it wasn't a problem, why did the Railways
> Company spend money to cut out the twisted steel panels, jack the cars up
> again, and install new steel?   They must have done that because they simply
> wanted to spend money they didn't have.    And we have pictures of that
> being done.  Sarcasm acknowledged.  fws
> 
> "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.
> >
> > 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.       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
> >
> > > "Dennis F. Cramer" wrote:
> > >
> > >> Fred wrote: "It scares me what 3756 must look like under the skin."
> > >>
> > >> Do not accelerate too fast with 3756. You might just leave the body
> > >> behind!     A few summers ago a battery blew up on the car as I was
> > >> giving an operator a training run. Looking under the car, there is
> > >> not much there to hold it together. Just hope 4398 gets finished
> > >> before 3756 falls apart (or the pole comes crashing through the
> > >> roof). It is a great car to operate and still has a lot of kick for
> > >> closin g in on 80 years of age.
> > >
> 
> 
> 
>