[PRCo] Re: Rankin Car House

[John Swindler]

Fred, you've been living in the suburbs for too long. (:>)

Why use an automobile when the company will provide free transportation?

It was a time of frequent service, and the barns tended to be located where 
there was much service.  Craft, for instance, had one vehicle commutes from 
E. Liberty, Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Squirrel Hill, etc.  Likewise, just 
about any home on a car line in the South Hills would be a one vehicle ride 
to Tunnel.  And the availability of owl service was the norm.  Even into the 
60s, route 88 Frankstown had half-hourly owl service.

In summers of 1968 and 1969, I had a two vehicle commute to work in Chicago. 
  Even a 4am or 5am start was not a problem due to existance of half-hourly 
owl service on most routes.  Likewise a pm run that would pull in around 
midnight did not create any problem commuting back to where I stayed.

In 50s and 60s my father used a 64 car, then either 60 or 68 to commute to 
Homestead Works.  In 70s, he would use PAT for day shift, but usually drove 
his car for night shift and 4-12 shift.  The reason:  reduction in transit 
service in late evenings.

It was a different world then.  Today I would not be surprised if most bus 
drivers drive their cars to work.

John



>From: Fred Schneider <fschnei at supernet.com>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: [PRCo] Rankin Car House
>Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 18:51:30 -0500
>
>Follow up on previous e-mails:
>
>Rankin Bridge collapsed June 26, 1937 and was reopened November 25,
>1937.  A sidewalk opened in August.
>
>On July 10, 1937 Rankin Car House closed as an operating facility.
>Routes 55, 60 and 61 were moved to Homewood.  Route 59 went to
>Glenwood.  Routes 67 and 68 went Craft.  The route cards for each route
>began with, "Because of the collapse of the Rankin Bridge, ....."
>
>Unfortunately, we have no information on the factors PRC used in their
>decision to move the routes out of Rankin in 1937, or for the failure to
>return those routes to Rankin later in the same year.  Perhaps the
>company had been wanting to close it for sometime and the collapse
>simply made shifting of jobs easier.  Apparently the other barns now had
>sufficient capacity for all the routes, and they continued to have
>adequate capacity throughout World War II.
>
>Thirty years earlier most operators would have lived in the neighborhood
>where they worked ... generally within walking distance.  Perhaps mostly
>within one-half mile.  If you moved men to another division, you might
>have had to move them to a new home.  West Penn Railways did that when
>the Iron Bridge Carbarn was closed; the company moved the men to new
>houses at Greensburg or Connellsville.  But this was 1937 and most
>families in the state had an automobile (ownership was lower in urban
>areas like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia).  Moving men may have been more
>of an annoyance than major problem.  My recollection is that most
>carbarns in Pittsburgh did not have an abundance of parking for
>employees.  This may not have been a problem at Homewood because there
>would have been five blocks or more of street spaces beside the company
>facility.  Glenwood may have had some space in the 1950s but I don't
>know about 1930s.   Space was probably at a premium around Craft Avenue
>... certainly the presence of Magee Woman's Hospital next door would
>have put a premium on street space.   I would love to see what the rest
>of you are thinking.
>
>
>
>
>

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