[PRCo] Re: Government Corruption (was Wheels__&__Shoes)

[Harold Geissenheimer]

Greetings
When Col Swift was still at Harrisburg Rys (late 50's) he made
 a test puchase of 10 Whites. ACF's, GMC's which eventually l
resulted in purchase of GMC's

Harold Geissenheimer

Fred Schneider wrote:

>Not quite Ken.  Remember that PAT took over in 1964 and the PCCs quit running
>about 1998.  That's 34 years, much longer than the normal worker holds a job.
>PAT started with excellent people.  One motorman at the end of the PCC era
>confided that the people they had then didn't have a clue how to fix those
>cars.   Maybe true.  Maybe they simply didn't order parts in time or didn't want
>to order new parts at all or didn't want to pay to keep them running in the last
>year or two.  We also need to understand that governments' purposes are not
>necessarily to serve the public so it doesn't matter if the cars work or don't
>work.
>
>Twelve years?  Interesting.  My VW Passat is half way there and I only have
>121,000 on it now.  The dealer tells me that 200,000 is a given but 242,000?   I
>wonder.
>
>Remember that the bus companies were just as starved for cash as the railways
>before them.  I remember Charlie Nissley showing me a GM that Conestoga
>Transportation had repainted and spruced up in the early 1970s.  It looked
>really nice.  I asked him if it would start on compression or if he needed
>ether.  The response was, "We don't have the money to fix engines.  We can't
>even keep the affirmative action people happy because we don't have the money to
>instal a toilet for women."  I think the reason Fitzjohn, Brill, Ford, Marmon,
>and all the rest of those builders of 27, 28 and 30 foot buses went out of
>business in the 1950s was simple ... The market place for their product existed
>only once after World War II.  Once they sold a bus to Henry's Bus Co., that was
>it.  If Mr. Henry needed another bus, he would find a used one from some other
>company that went out of business.  And that would hold Mr. Henry until he too
>went out of business.  The life of the little transit companies was essentially
>the life of the bus.  Places like Baltimore and Pittsburgh sometimes managed two
>orders for the same service ... we have GMC TDH 4506-0001 (immediate post war)
>in our collection at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum ... it lasted, I think,
>right up until Maryland MTA bought the property from NCL.  Some of those
>1955-1958 GMCs from Philly were still running on SEPTA in the 1980s ... NCL
>didn't have the money to buy new ones from GM.
>
>I expect to receive some hate mail on this one ... someone will provide more
>detail on companies that did keep coaches longer.  And there were some.  There
>were some like Harrisburg Railways that bought new fishbowls, ran them for a
>year or so, and then moved them off to another ATA property that needed them
>more ... Cincincinnati, Newport and Covington.  But they did buy GMs in the
>1960s to replace Whites from the 1950s.
>
>I expect to receive some hate mail on this one ... someone will provide more
>detail on companies that did keep coaches longer.  And there were some.
>
>fws
>
>ktjosephson at earthlink.net wrote:
>
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>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "Fred Schneider" <fschnei at supernet.com>
>>
>>    
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>>>......  When he left state service
>>>we said he was going to write a book about his experiences in government.
>>>      
>>>
>>A year
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>>>later he told me he abandoned the project "because no one would believe
>>>      
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>>what he
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>>>wrote."   The truth is, no one would believe how corrupt government can be
>>>      
>>>
>>unless
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>>>you are lecturing to the choir.
>>>      
>>>
>>So true. Many of us (public employees) know of some awful situations and
>>incidents going on where we work. We also know if we revealed them, we would
>>not only get framed and fired, but we would forced to leave town, looking
>>over our shoulders. I am serious. The "whistle blower" laws are a big joke.
>>
>>I know of one public entity which has a former newspaper reporter employed
>>as their public relations official. His real job is to use his connections
>>with the local media to keep that entity's mis-steps and dirty dealings out
>>of the press and off the T.V. news.
>>
>>It's funny how local politicians and their cronies in the press hammered
>>PRCo for years when it was an "evil" (read PRIVATE) profit-seeking company.
>>I wonder if today's politicians keep some of PAT's affairs (read total
>>screw-ups with TAXPAYERS' money) from the media. That is, unless they have
>>an axe to grind with an appointed transit offical and want to pressure or
>>embarrass him/her enough to leave.
>>
>>As I understand it, transit buses currently purchased with federal funds
>>(formerly local money that has been hijacked to D.C. for the "general
>>welfare" of the masses) have to be retained for about twelve years.
>>Therefore, instead of the dependable beasts of burden from a generation ago
>>(and before), we wind up with buses that are worn out and not worth
>>rebuilding after just over a decade of use. Love 'em or hate 'em, most of
>>those old Macks, GMCs, Brills, Flxibles, etc. could last long after they
>>were fully depriciated. And of course, struggling transit companies would
>>give them the necessary TLC to keep them useable for many years.
>>
>>I don't know how long today's rail cars are designed to last, but I wonder
>>if they will be able to haul loads as long and as reliably as Chicago's "Old
>>Pullmans" (1907-1954) or as most PCCs did. Fred will point out that
>>Pittsburgh had to make their remaining PCCs last as long as they did since
>>they had nothing else to put on the rails prior to the Steel City's "light
>>rail" era. But PAT did have knowlegeable and skilled shop crews that did
>>their jobs well. And many of them stuck around long after the former PRCo
>>engineering staff was given the boot.
>>
>>K.
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