[PRCo] Re: Fw: A streetcar named Superburger

Thu Sep 2 10:26:38 EDT 2004

Greetings
Where and when did this policeman work?

I remember "whistles" in the l950 and 60's.  He
worked at Grant & 7th.  He was such a cop.

Harold

Ken & Tracie wrote:

>Please view the attached article. Too bad they didn't have John Bromley
>proof read it.
>
>An interesting take on a well known streetcar design. I never realized that
>the TTC operated 744 of these for "much the last century." ;-)
>
>Not Pittsburgh related, but how long did the TTC PCC fleet remain at its
>peak of 745 cars?
>
>Also, note that the TTC cars that went to Cleveland (SHRT, which had one of
>its original PCCs wind up at PTM, which operates Pittsburgh trolleys over a
>portion of a PRCO interurban right of way...back on topic!) started out as
>Cleveland cars on the city's street railway system. ;-) ;-)
>
>I would think, but I really don't know, that the CLRVs don't weigh any more
>than some of the TTC's old deck roof cars. Also, I'm not sure which weighed
>more, the Peter Witts or the PCCs. I used to know all this stuff.
>
>I remember an article about a Pittsburgh traffic cop retiring. The author
>tried to color the story by saying this officer was an icon to motorists,
>along with the city's "multitude of springtime pot holes and creaking
>trolleys." I never heard a Pittsburgh PCC "creak", though I suppose the
>Smithfield Street bridge may have creaked when streetcar traffic was backed
>up across it...
>
>K.
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Ken Wuschke" <wuschke at telus.net>
>To: <wuschke at telus.net>
>Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 8:40 AM
>Subject: A streetcar named Superburger
>
>
>  
>
>>The TTC's old trolleys have ended up in some unlikely places, from a diner
>>    
>>
>in
>  
>
>>Shelburne, Ont., to the streets of Egypt
>>
>>THE GLOBE AND MAIL | TORONTO, ONTARIO | By JEFF GRAY
>>
>>Saturday, Aug 21, 2004 | UPDATED AT 11:28 AM EDT
>>
>>Some people stop at Superburger for the food. But others go to the popular
>>burger joint near Shelburne, Ont., to step into a bit of Toronto transit
>>history: an old streetcar that now serves as a dining room for the
>>    
>>
>roadside
>  
>
>>restaurant.
>>
>>"A lot of people stop just to see the streetcar," according to assistant
>>manager Debbie Crawford, who says the previous owner of the restaurant
>>    
>>
>picked
>  
>
>>up the old vehicle for $1,000 after it went out of service, likely around
>>1990. "We've had lots of people tell us they rode the streetcar, they
>>    
>>
>drove
>  
>
>>the streetcar. They take pictures of it."
>>
>>Shelburne isn't the only unlikely place that these old Toronto Transit
>>Commission streetcars have ended up. Designed during the Depression and
>>    
>>
>known
>  
>
>>as PCCs (short for Presidents' Conference Committee), the old cars were
>>    
>>
>first
>  
>
>>introduced in 1938 and have turned up in places as far-flung as Tampico,
>>Mexico, and Alexandria, Egypt, which bought more than 100 PCCs from
>>    
>>
>Toronto in
>  
>
>>the mid-1960s, running them hitched in pairs before a good portion of them
>>were reportedly destroyed during the Six Days War with Israel in 1967.
>>
>>Others have gone to Cleveland, Philadelphia and San Francisco -- which now
>>operates a popular vintage streetcar line -- as well as transit museums
>>scattered across North America, including the Halton County Radial Railway
>>Museum in Milton, Ont.
>>
>>Fort Edmonton Park also has a Toronto PCC, which was a gift to the
>>    
>>
>Edmonton
>  
>
>>Radial Railway Society from the TTC.
>>
>>And in Kenosha, Wis., visiting Torontonians might be taken aback when a
>>vintage TTC streetcar -- in the old maroon and cream colours -- pulls up
>>    
>>
>at a
>  
>
>>stop, one of five Toronto PCCs running in the town of 91,000 on the shores
>>    
>>
>of
>  
>
>>Lake Michigan.
>>
>>Developed in the 1930s by a group of transit-system presidents and
>>    
>>
>streetcar
>  
>
>>makers from across North America, the PCC streetcar was smoother and
>>    
>>
>faster
>  
>
>>than the standard public-transit vehicles of the time. It was meant to
>>    
>>
>take on
>  
>
>>the upstart private automobile.
>>
>>The TTC put its first PCCs on the St. Clair Avenue line, and hung onto
>>    
>>
>them
>  
>
>>even as car-crazed transportation planners in the postwar United States
>>    
>>
>began
>  
>
>>to abandon streetcars.
>>
>>At one time, Toronto had the world's largest fleet of PCCs -- which were
>>    
>>
>used
>  
>
>>by transit systems across North America -- with 744 in active service for
>>    
>>
>much
>  
>
>>of the past century.
>>
>>In 1979, the PCC's successor, the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, first
>>    
>>
>appeared,
>  
>
>>built by the Ontario-government-created company, UTDC Inc. The reviews
>>    
>>
>were
>  
>
>>negative from the get-go: The new wheels were too noisy, and had to be
>>changed. The windows didn't open, and had to be retrofitted.
>>
>>But they gradually replaced the PCCs, almost all of which were sold off at
>>fire-sale prices when they were decommissioned.
>>
>>The last regular-service PCC rolled out of the station in 1995.
>>
>>The TTC's two remaining PCCs, now restored, sit in a far corner of the
>>    
>>
>transit
>  
>
>>authority's east-end streetcar yard looking flamboyantly retro, like '57
>>Chevys on rails, all maroon-and-cream curves. This last pair is barely
>>    
>>
>used
>  
>
>>now, hauled out occasionally for private charters -- stag parties,
>>    
>>
>weddings,
>  
>
>>bar-hops, movie shoots -- at about $130 an hour.
>>
>>Some critics still think the PCC is superior to its replacement. Former
>>    
>>
>city
>  
>
>>councillor Howard Levine argues that we are now paying for the extra
>>    
>>
>weight of
>  
>
>>the newer CLRV, which comes in at 25 tonnes, five tonnes heavier than its
>>forebear.
>>
>>The 20-per-cent increase has given the streetcar tracks a pounding they
>>weren't designed to handle, he says, and the results have become clear
>>    
>>
>over
>  
>
>>the past few summers, with major downtown arteries clogged for massive
>>    
>>
>track-
>  
>
>>repair projects.
>>
>>"Everybody knows this; the TTC knows this," says Mr. Levine, who was part
>>    
>>
>of
>  
>
>>the Streetcars for Toronto Committee that fought TTC plans to scrap the
>>streetcar system in the early 1970s.
>>
>>But the TTC's general superintendent of streetcar maintenance, Orest
>>Kobylansky, says the city's streetcar tracks lasted longer than the
>>    
>>
>15-year
>  
>
>>life that was budgeted, despite being almost completely neglected during
>>    
>>
>the
>  
>
>>belt-tightening 1990s.
>>
>>And Stephen Lam, the TTC's superintendent of vehicle engineering, says the
>>newer streetcars have a much more sophisticated air-suspension system,
>>    
>>
>which
>  
>
>>greatly reduces the amount of stress put on the tracks. Also, the newer
>>streetcars' axles are farther apart, better distributing the weight.
>>
>>Whatever the merits of the current streetcars, they don't seem to inspire
>>    
>>
>the
>  
>
>>same loyalty among transit enthusiasts that the PCCs still do.
>>
>>A group of American transit fans travels to Toronto almost yearly,
>>    
>>
>chartering
>  
>
>>a PCC to take them on a tour of the city. And a local entrepreneur, called
>>Time is Ticking, is now hocking a commemorative TTC watch, emblazoned with
>>    
>>
>a
>  
>
>>PCC on its face.
>>
>>While the TTC had once planned to refurbish 21 PCCs at around $200,000 a
>>    
>>
>pop
>  
>
>>and run them along the Harbourfront line, the scheme was abandoned in
>>    
>>
>1995.
>  
>
>>There are a now a dwindling number of drivers on the TTC staff who learned
>>    
>>
>on
>  
>
>>the PCC. And while the vintage streetcars always draw smiles when they are
>>    
>>
>put
>  
>
>>on the streets for charters, they had their flaws.
>>
>>One afternoon in 1980, just before rush hour, streetcar driver Harold
>>    
>>
>Jenken --
>  
>
>> now a supervisor at the TTC's Russell streetcar yard -- lost the brakes
>>    
>>
>on a
>  
>
>>PCC, heading east on Queen Street West, toward Yonge Street. His emergency
>>brakes didn't stop him until Victoria Street, forcing pedestrians to dive
>>    
>>
>out
>  
>
>>of the way.
>>
>>"They were fun to drive," Mr. Jenken says, laughing. "But they were hell
>>    
>>
>to
>  
>
>>stop."
>>
>>Jeff Gray writes The Globe and Mail's Dr. Gridlock column, which appears
>>    
>>
>on
>  
>
>>Mondays.
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPPrint/LAC/20040821/STREETC
>  
>
>>ARS21/TPEntertainment/
>>
>>© 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
>>
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