[PRCo] Re: PCC Rehabilitation

[Edward H. Lybarger]

I'm not sure I said it had rusting stepwells while it was in service, but
rather that it had been out of service long enough before PTM got it to have
developed that condition.  This does not contradict what Ken says, but
merely clarifies the thought.

The rebuilds were pretty thorough.  I have slides (on Kodachrome 25, no
less) of one of the cars being done in the shop in the mid-1970s and it
shows the thing pretty much disassembled.  The stepwells were changed from
the original design to a simple safety tread steel sheet...in other words, a
throwaway item that was easy to replace if need be.  But I think everyone
thought these would last the remaining life of the cars, and I believe they
in fact did.

Harold G. could likely give a better picture of the time frame in the
streetcar rehab program than I can.  Yes, I was around, but I didn't work
there.  And it's been a quarter-century, so some things are a bit fuzzy.

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of
ktjosephson at earthlink.net
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 2:14 AM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] PCC Rehabilitation


A couple of questions pertaining to the repainting, etc. of the remaining
Pittsburgh PCCs between 1972 and 1979.
I remember Ed mentioning that 1799(II) (formerly 1613) had rusting
stairwells when it was stricken from PAT's roster.

How much work actually went into rehabbing these cars, starting with "Early
Action"? When was it officially determined that the remaining South Hills
car lines would be retained? Was the decision to "upgrade" to "light rail
standards" made at the same time, or some time after retention became
official?

I seem to recall, after a 1974 visit to Boston, that PAT's "Early Action"
repaints and/or rehabs seemed to reflect more careful bodywork and paint
application than some of the initial MBTA green and white repaints. People
tell me subsequent Boston PCC repaints/rehabs were more detailed and that
the final rebuilding of the dozen or so cars for Mattapan-Ashmont service
was the most thorough reconditioning of any Boston PCCs.

I've heard varying opinions concerning SEPTA's "in-house" PCC
reconditioning. I remember seeing photos of the cars emerging from the shops
minus their safety fenders and wondering how effective those items really
were. Plus it seems SEPTA was determined to see how small they could made
the windshields without impairing the motormen's view. :-)

I suppose the untarping of 1799(II) this coming July for "the big move" will
allow somebody to look it over and determine once and for all if it's really
1613....

K.

P.S.- I hope the Museum orders a tanker car full of insecticide before July.
That upcoming more is going to anger more than few paper wasp colonies.