[PRCo] Re: Maintenance

[James B. Holland]

Fred Schneider wrote:
.

> You used the word "today" in your response Jim.     The topic was 
> about Pittsburgh Railways.      In effect you have changed the subject 
> by adding that one word.
>
> Today I would radio in, tell them a light bulb burnt out, and sit on 
> my duppa and wait for the trouble truck.      It's a different world 
> out there today.
>
> FWS

.
Yes And No to change.       It may be PRCo that we Were and  ARE  
supposed to talk about but    *-What--Ifs-*    or    
*-What--Would--*One*--Do--IF...???-*    can cross  *-Platforms-*  and  
Ages  as well  (to use a word!!)
.
And My Today can be 30-years ago  (for personal eggsperience!!!)       
Additionally, I did a little more  Then  And  Now  type comparisons.
.
I also showed how, by 1953, even PRCo had removed the spare trolleypoles 
on the Interurbans so it was necessary to call in for a change  --  
doubt ops were allowed on the roof from that time forward  --  Never saw 
an op on the roof and there were Not A Few trolleypoles in the overhead 
at the 42-wye  --  all the ops stayed on the ground and waited for a 
truck  --  1950s!!!!       What  *-I-*  would have done is to get ahold 
of the trolley rope  (for a pole jammed in the overhead on a backup move 
on the 42-wye,)  pull the rope so the pole would rest against a live 
wire and then have the motorman pull the trolleycar forward until the 
pole could be retrieved from the overhead, placed back on the correct 
overhead wire, and then the car could move on  --  HAVE  down that on 
SF-Muni and it  IS  applicable to PRCo  --  Today  And  Yesterday!!!
.
Had an ETI coach go down on me tonight.       On my 7.02 trip inbound I 
was at Post // Powell  (Onion--Square)  when I got an audible // visual  
EPU--Temp  alarm  (Emergency Propulsion Unit Temperature  --  Translate  
--  Emergency Propulsion Battery  HOT!!)       It came on for a few 
seconds and then spontaneously reset - did this several times and that 
was it.
.
Exactly 2-hours later at The Same Identical Spot I got the same but it 
was on and reset again multiples of times in 10-minutes then it stopped.
.
Within 20-min it came on and stayed on  --  NOW  I Am concerned  --  
only know of one of these batteries actually catching fire and that was 
during the testing of the demo units.       I stopped on Jackson at 
Fillmore in my bus stop and got out to check the battery compartments  
--  air temp on both sides  (nothing but propulsion battery under the 
floor behind the rear axle  --  sliding tray on both sides of the coach 
for access to same.)       One block behind me the 24-Divis Trolley 
Coach lays over and a truck pulls from behind it  --  Lo And Behold it 
was My Presidio Shop so I flagged them down and we checked the actual 
batteries  --  air temp but possibly low on water.       My line is pull 
in  (pull out also) for a number of lines and along came a pull-in, I 
switched coaches, and they sent the coach I had back to the barn and it 
is on hold for inspection Monday.       I was delayed about 7-min 
outbound but this was absorbed by my layover at the terminal and I was 
back on time inbound.
.
Because the alarm was steadily sounding and because of a fear of fire 
and Much More Damage, I would have tied the coach up here and called for 
help  --  had the alarm been intermittent I would have taken it directly 
to the barn  (just 4-blocks from the outer end of my line,)  gotten 
another coach, come back out, and then call Central to let them know  
--  have done this a multitude of times over the years.       Much with 
TCs can be fixed on the road but if the coach is workable with the 
defect and since the yard is so close to my line that Much More Time is 
saved if I work the line and take the coach to the barn and come back 
out rather than wait for the availability of the road crew to reach me  
--  they may be on a call somewhere else!
.
On the demo coach they did a test using the battery up the steepest hill 
on the system on Sacramento from Montgomery to Snob Hill  --  the coach 
made it.       They then put it back on the overhead 600 and continued 
to the end of the 1-California line  --  trouble truck following  --  
takes about 1-hour to completely recharge the battery  --  FAST!       
They were coming back in on the 1-Calif when flames shot out from the 
battery  --  good thing the trouble truck was there to spot it  --  
flames extinguished rather quickly but still fair amount of damage to 
the battery.       Had to have a new one flown in from Germany!
.
.
.
.
Jim__Holland
.
.
I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!
.
down with pantographs ---- UP___WITH___TROLLEYPOLES!!!!!!!