[PRCo] Re: Horns__and__Gang__Switches

[James B. Holland]

Hi Ed!


Believe this is true.       When I speak // write, I do so purely in 
terms of PRCo unless otherwise specified    ----    1970s is under  
({[pat]})  and ethics by that time had changed considerably.

I believe it was PRCo policy for minimal use of  BOTH  Bell and Horn 
from personal observations  --  it was extremely rare that either was 
used.       When the bell was used it was to identify that the 
trolleycar was in the vicinity to an individual // motorist who may have 
been unaware of such.       This is the conservative approach and one 
that is actually still recommended by transit agencies but hardly 
enforced.       (By Contrast, my first visit to SF in 1963 saw constant 
uninterrupted use of the bell like it was signaling to Get Out Of My 
Way---Or Else!!!!!!!)

Lived on the 42-Dormont next to last stop and was on this line 
frequently as well as Interurbans Constantly.       Would go downtown 
after school, out on the interurban, and either dinky to Mt.Lebanon or 
SHJ to 42-line and back home.       Was out EVERY Sunday in the summer 
on a Sunday pass from 6-AM  (after delivering morning papers)  until 
mudnight and  MANY  Sundays in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.       The 
bulk of my time would be spent on the interurbans.

The  ONLY  time I can distinctly remember the horn being used was 
inbound on the Mt.Lebanon line.       It was PRMA meeting night and I 
walked up to W.Liberty at Dormont Jct. to catch an interurban car 
returning to the barn.      I caught a 17 returning from Library.       
It was either at the street that was spanned by the 42-Dormont curved 
trestle or the previous street where a service station was located at 
the intersection on the outbound side.       A  BIG  cadillac was 
pulling away from this station to cross in front of us.       The 
motorman hit the bell and the caddy kept coming.       The motorman hit 
the Horn and the caddy instantly stopped.

Sorry  --  remember another time.       It was Sunday, Mother's Day, 
14-May-1961 at 2.14-PM when Drake PCC Interurban 1723 split the switch 
at BonAir outbound with the back truck going on the ground.       Car 
stopped instantly when the back axle climbed up onto track brake which 
had lodged against a tie at the other end.       I walked back to the 
barn and caught another Drake car already sent around town and we were 
sent out the 38-line.       When the light turned green at Crosby 
outbound the motorman floored it and kept it there into the long 
sweeping right turn which seemed to cause the bolster to dip all the way 
to the left at which point the motorman released the power.       The 
car then seemed to rock all the way to the right at which point the 
motorman floored it again and we leaned all the way to the left the rest 
of the way around the curve.       It was one speedy trip to Brookline 
Jct.!!!!!!!       At Clearview loop someone was parked on the tracks 
since they weren't used to Castle Shannon on weekends.       The 
motorman hit the bell and horn repeatedly and a Chinese man came running 
out of the laundry simply flabbergasted that he was holding us up.       
He moved and we proceeded.       Incidentally, the motorman on this trip 
was the same one on 16xx interurban which had the cornfield meet on the 
dinky track with 1261 a number of years later under  ({[pat.]})       
This motorman avoided speed runs and was very casual about operations 
but certainly met the challenge this one Sunday!!!!!!!

There were probably one or two other times that the horn was used.       
Isadore Reichert told me about the  *Whistle*  signs along the prw on 
the interurbans and believe he demonstrated using the horn  --  2-longs, 
a short, and a long ala railroads  --  but this was a demonstration as 
opposed to a need.       And as I mentioned even use of the bell was 
quite unusual.       Going into emergency was verboten as well and I saw 
several near misses where the motorman applied strong braking, but not 
emergency!

Each time I returned home after  ({[pat]})  took over I saw distinct 
changes in style of operation considerably more liberal than what was 
apparently allowed by PRCo.       And the way motormen whipped the cars 
around curves after installation of pantographs was definitely wreckless 
in not a few cases and borderline wreckless the rest of the time  --  
believe this strongly contributed to the trailing switch derailments on 
the loop at Wash Jct.       The discipline of the trolley pole made for 
much smoother curve negotiations.


Jim__Holland




Edward H. Lybarger wrote:

> I rode pretty regularly during the 1970s and recall a LOT of horn use 
> on 1700s! Especially at suburban grade crossings.
>
> The part we need for 1711 is the Ohmer register...anyone know where 
> one might be?
>
> Ed
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of James
> B. Holland
> Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 5:49 AM
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Horns__and__Gang__Switches
>
>
> Bob Rathke wrote:
>
>> I also bought a motorman's dashboard switch panel with labels for the 
>> switches - "Fare Reg.," "Gong," "Sander," etc. I think it came from a 
>> 1200 PCC, but it also has a label for a "Horn" switch - which 
>> low-series PCC had horns? However, I still use it as a (very large) 
>> paperweight.
>>
>> Bob 2/23/05
>
>
> NONE of the PCCs used the standard gang switch for the horn. On 
> 1700--1724 it was a small button mounted on top of the dash; on 
> 1613--1619, 1645--1648 it was an actual air horn in PRCo days so an 
> air valve was mounted approx. under the transfer stand on the far 
> right.     Most of the air horns were in pretty sad shape by the end 
> of PRCo days; 16s only saw rush hour service so maintenance on the 
> horns was probably a very low priority. Ultra rare that a motorman 
> ever used the horn, even on the 17s.
>
> ({[pat]}) overhauled cars all had electric horns and thus 16s retained 
> by ({[pat]}) which had horns (don't honestly know if any 16s did have 
> horns under ({[pat]}), even the interurbans) would use a switch of 
> some sort.
>
> Fare Reg on the gang switches would be 1200s; 1100s also had electric 
> fare registers originally but these were replaced by the standard hand 
> pull.
>
> I have one of the hand-pull fare registers with Pittsburgh Railways 
> emblazoned on it in gold leaf -- believe I got it from Pat Healy about 
> 20-years ago.
>
> Also have the PRCo transfer stand, several sets of gang switches, 
> voltmeter and air gauge, switch iron, complete 3-pedal PCC foot pedal 
> system, reverser, fare box, retriever, catcher, variety of destination 
> signs and other misc. paraphernalia I can't remember off hand.
>
> I built a crude set of foot pedals out of piping and used it with my 
> own design of Transistor Throttle which beautifully mimicked the 
> acceleration of a PCC and braking as well. REALLY enjoyed operating 
> models this way!!
>
>
> Jim__Holland