[PRCo] Re: Heat at PRCo 1700 Series Cars

[Dietrich, Robert J.]

One thing we have to remember is that we are spoiled with air
conditioning.  I know Pittsburgh nights were brutal in the summer.  But
I can remember only a few nights I couldn't sleep.  Now if we loose
power we lay awake all night and sweat.  Open windows was the only
available cooling device in our transportation vehicles.  I never saw AC
in a car owned by my dad, we opened the windows.  So sealing up
something as large as a PCC and blowing lots of air into it wasn't such
a bad deal. Sure it was hot and stuffy, but so was everything else -
your house, the barber shop, the streets of downtown.  The middle of the
Smithfield Street Bridge was a haven of coolness until you realized that
there was no shade out there.  When it was hot you were hot - that's
life (or was).

I still remember a motorman telling me that the 1700 windows didn't open
because the car was air conditioned.  Not one to dispute my elders I did
not ask him why it wasn't working.

Bob 

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of
Edward H. Lybarger
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 2:14 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Heat at PRCo 1700 Series Cars

They ran 'em all!

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of Bill
Robb
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 1:43 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Heat at PRCo 1700 Series Cars


How could Pittsburgh Railways or PAT not run 100 cars out of 666 cars???

  I've been in Pittsburgh on a very hot August day.  The best seat in a
1700
was near the driver's open window. :)  Catch the breeze.

  In those days air conditioning was far less common.  It was just plain
hot. GM didn't develop a/c for buses until the late 50s. Even then it
took
time to catch on.

  Bill Robb
mtoytrain at bellsouth.net wrote:
    Mark Mcguire often speaks of the problem with the 1700 series cars
and
the heat!
must have been terrible riding in them during Heat spells or did the
PRCo
not run them
on HOT days!


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