[PRCo] Re: Horns__and__Gang__Switches

[Boris Cefer]

You must have a very good memory, Jim :-)

B

----- Original Message -----
From: "James B. Holland" <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 12:41 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Horns__and__Gang__Switches


> 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
>
>
>