[PRCo] Re: SEPTA Route 15 PCC2 Service

[Fred Schneider]

I only rode for 40 feet or so while a motorman pulled a car up in the  
loop.

Remember that these men are on their second day.  They have no  
experience with the cars.  If they worked on Kawasaki cars, they got  
4 hours to play with a Brookville car.  If they had only bus  
experience, God only knows how little experience they had.  The only  
man I spoke to admitted he was uncomfortable.  I would be too.  I  
have a commercial drivers license.  I have driven buses on streets.   
But put me on something I can't steer with unfamiliar brakes and I'd  
be uncomfortable for a few days.   Time to find out what it is like  
is six months from now ... after the wheels wear into to the rail  
head and so forth and the motormen wear in to the cars.

These cars contain fragments of the original PCCs.  Things that were  
difficult to refabricate like compound curves on the end are  
original.  Sides are new.  Roofs are new.  Battery boxes are new.   
The side post caps are new.  Motors, trucks, controls, seats, step  
wells, window glazing, floors , wiring are new.  Heating and AC are  
new.  They look something like a PCC.

Overhead is largely original.  Rail is largely new now or new not  
long before route 15 was abandoned.  There is some relatively new  
girder rail; most is new T rail.  The wheel and rail profile do not  
match.

fws

On Sep 5, 2005, at 11:35 PM, Ken & Tracie wrote:

> Fred,
>
> Comparison time.
>
> What were your impressions of ride quality, acceleration, braking,  
> noise,
> comfort level etc.? How do these regutted body shells compare with  
> the tried
> and true PCCs?
>
> Man, if Scott Davis saw this droopy overhead, he'd raise all sorts  
> Hell with
> SEPTA's line department...or shake his head in disgust:
>
> http://www.transitspot.com/gallery/Bobs-SEPTA-pix/05_09_05_06
>
> K.
>
>
>
>