[PRCo] Re: Munhall 1965

[Fred Schneider]

Nice picture.  Strangely, when I think of yellow cars I think of low-floor cars in spite
of the truth that some or maybe even all (I'm too lazy to get out the paint book) of the
4000s and 4100s ran out their days as passenger cars in orange paint.  The change to
orange did not necessarily come with the alteration to snow plows or tow cars.
Theoretically the high floor cars remained around to pull trailers, perhaps on 13 and
42, until the delivery of the ten and eleven hundred series PCCs.  One would expect to
find pictures, then, of trailers pulled by orange motor cars.  I've never seen any.  The
closest it comes is a black and white print I have from Steve Maguire of a 4100 in
orange with a route 42 sign hanging on the dash.

Why no pictures?  Perhaps because the organization of railfan clubs in the Pittsburgh
lagged by many years that of similar groups in other areas.   The formation of the
National Railway Historical Society in 1935 came about by merger of two clubs, one in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the other was the Interstate Trolley Club in northern New
Jersey / New York City.  I think the immediate affect was the creation of NRHS chapters
in New York, North Jersey and Lancaster.   The simple fact that one fan could mellow out
with another hobbyist and trade pictures, resulted in much greater coverage of trolleys
in the east.  There were at least four and perhaps more young men in Boys High School in
Lancaster in the early 1930s pointing cameras at trolleys (one still lives).   There
were also fans in Chicago back then.  But I think the NRHS Pittsburgh Chapter wasn't
formed until 1940ish and then in almost immediately fell apart as its members were
drafted for the war.   So we have hundreds of pictures from Lancaster, thousands from
Public Service of New Jersey, hundreds of the Washington Baltimore and Annapolis but
almost nothing from Pittsburgh, unless a eastern fan went west.  And I've seen only one
railfan picture on the West Penn line through New Stanton (taken by Steve Maguire on a
visit).  And nothing at all from McKeesport, which was West Penn's busiest territory.
There was an exception in Pittsburgh ... Charlie Dengler's close up pictures of cars and
yes, he did get to McKeesport.

Thanks Matt.

fws

Matt Barry wrote:

> Joe Testagrose has put some great 1960s jpegs on
> alt.binaries.pictures.rail, including this one of 2 cars on the Munhall
> route.
> I believe this may have been the final day of streetcar service to the
> area.    This particular location is in front of the Munhall Borough
> building between Homestead, where the "yellow car" is, and Munhall.
> The line when it crossed into Homestead became double-tracked.
>
> I know that parts of Main Street in Munhall to Lincoln Place was narrow,
> however, I always thought it would have been far more practical to
> double-track most of the line through Munhall.
>
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