[PRCo] Re: Rankin Car House

[Fred Schneider]

Interesting testimony.   What do the old timers say when comparing Market
Street Railway with Muni operations, service, schedule keeping, etc?   I
remember your comments in Trolley Fare back in the 1970s ... particularly about
how bad the PCCs were and how often they broken down.  Actually when did Muni
service become less than tolorable.
And yes, I know that Harold was there for a while but I also recognize that it
had been a tax supported entitity about 60 years by the time he got there, so
if it had already reached bottom, I don't know if there was a whole lot any man
could do.   I'm thinking back to how the Southern Railway people related to
Grayham Claytor under private ownership ... he sat at the left hand of God.
But I think he found that Amtrak was beyond the capability of a mere mortal.

Jim Holland wrote:

> Good Morning!
>
> > John Swindler wrote:
>
> > And the availability of owl service was the norm.
> > Even into the 60s, route 88 Frankstown had
> > half-hourly owl service.
>
> 42/38-Owl has Hourly.
>
> Library Interurban had only 1-car on the Owl so it
> was Hourly-Plus-A-Half between vehicles.
>
> Encouraging summary, John, of transit usage.
>
> I avoid rail here in San Francisco because of reliability
> problems.     Live right on Judah line and only need for
> it is to go downtown but when I have used it there were
> always problems.     M-U-C-H    E-A-S-I-E-R  And  Faster
> to drive to a bus line north of Golden Gate Park to go
> downtown.
>
> > 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.
>
>         I take my car because it is 12-minutes direct
> to work.     I would need to take minimum of 2-buses,
> 3-buses would actually be fastest.
>
>         Judah to 9th where I take the 43-line direct to
> work but the 43 usually gets to 9th earlier to drop people
> for the 43 so I have to wait for another.     And lrv
> service only 10-12--minutes (PCCs were 6-minutes).
> 43-line goes thru Hate district, not exactly pretty part
> of town.
>
>         Take lrv to 19th, 28-line across GG-Park is like
> express, and 38- or 1-line to relief point is much faster
> than above although I usually walk to 19th because of
> infrequent lrv service.     Best in summer.
>
> > 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.
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> Waiting for a bus is as thrilling as fishing,
>     with the similar tantalisation that something,
>         sometime, somehow, will turn up.
>             George Courtauld
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> James B. Holland
>
> • Holland  Electric  Railway  Operation.......
>   "O"--Scale St.-Petersburg Trams Company (SPTC)
>         Trolleycars and "O"--Scale  Parts
>                 including Q-Car
>         mailto:pghpcc at pacbell.net
>
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>         http://www.pa-trolley.org/
> • Pittsburgh  Railways  Company  (PRCo),
>         1930  --  1950
> • N.M.R.A.  Life member #2190;
>         http://www.nmra.org
>
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