[PRCo] Re: PTM__Equipment__Acquisition

[mtoytrain at bellsouth.net]

PTM is a memory restorer!  

 Sitting here in the "Sunshine" state awaiting the movement of yet another hurricane, I can only think back in the late 1940s and snow storm hitting the Monongahela Valley and Donora in particular.  I was in the 3rd grade looking out the window at all the snow coming down and the teacher yelling at us to sit down when a "Noisey" snow sweeper Street Car was heading down Mckean Avenue in Donora. 

   There have been some somewhat harsh comments about my old hometown of Donora, but I would not trade the memorys I have of the old hometown for nothing, riding the streetcar to church and to go shopping, yes Donora at one time had every major department store around, and on Friday and Monday evenings the stores and sidewalks were packed and yes people riding the street car from on end of town to the other.

   Even more fascinating was riding the old Jones low floor car down to a family friends house in
Monongahela and then on to New Eagle,  many of you reading this never rode that car, BUT  I DID!
Yes PTM is not just wonderfully preserved equipment it is memories for me and countless hundred s of other folk who rode those wonderful cars and soon most of us will be gone.
 
   As I promised Mark Mcguire I would be coming back to pick him up in a "Heavenly 1711" one day
PTM is fantastic and can't wait to go back and visit and restore some memory!

Jerry Matsick
> 
> From: "DF Cramer" <dfc1 at alltel.net>
> Date: 2005/10/20 Thu PM 06:55:37 EDT
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: PTM__Equipment__Acquisition
> 
> We are not just preserving trolley cars at PTM.  Through the activities of
> the various departments we are preserving a slice of life from the past.
> What was life like?  Where did they work?  How did they get around?  A
> comparison of then till now.
> 
> Sure, the trolleys and the overhead and the rails and the restoration shop
> and the images and the other ephemera help to illustrate the story, but it
> is the verbal presentation that pulls it all together and makes PTM
> successful.  We are educating the public about the Electric Era.
> 
> The props help, but it starts with people wanting to teach, not just
> collect.  I think that is why PTM will continue to lead, there are enough of
> us out there who believe in telling the story.
> 
> Each and every one of you wants to tell that story.  By what I read on a
> daily basis, you all have something worthwhile to offer.  Do not forget to
> continue sharing this material of a fascinating time in our history.
> 
> 
> DF Cramer   Teacher-Trombonist-Historian-Conductor
> 
> www.geocities.com/armconband
> www.geocities.com/df_cramer
> 
> 
> 
>