[PRCo] Standards?!?!?!?!-__-Double__Points

[Jim Holland]

Fred Schneider wrote:
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> .......I've also spent about three and a half years of my life looking 
> at how the Europeans do it.       Hey guys, there is a 
> difference.       I've seen the Swiss in Zurich tear up the same 
> special work in an intersection within five years because the rail had 
> worn beyond their standards ... it was no longer good enough to go
> thrashing through switches at 40 km/h!

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I know other people who have studied the European system(s) as well and 
they say that a High Percentage of their approach  is  *_Make__Work_*.
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I-F  the rail had worn beyond their standards in just 5-years, then they 
had defective rail, bad maintenance on the equipment, Other?       
Something was seriously lacking somewhere that wear exceeded the set 
limits.       Tremendous waste of materials, labor, etc.
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America is a  *_Maintenance__Free_*  even Throw--Away society    ----    
Europe is  Maintenance__Intensive    ----    these are  Strictly  
Observations,  Not  Criticisms.       These are simply two different 
approaches among many to the same situations.       As mentioned above, 
some have called this maintenance approach in Europe a Make-Work situation.
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> .......And some of you guys also need to go to the Hague and find out 
> what it's like to sit in the last seat of a PCC articulated car as it 
> comes out of a curve in an intersection ... you would think you are 
> cracking the whip in Kennywood Park.

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Sounds like a great way to Cause a Fall On Board  --  FOB  --  did you 
report that Operator for reckless operations?
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American TrolleyCars    ----    PCCs and antecedents    ----    had 
TrolleyCar profile wheels and flanges  --  they pick very nicely at 
double point RR style turnouts.       On Overbrook, PRCo bolted a plate 
on the  *_Inside_*  of the running rail where the RR point meets the 
rail to push the flange away from the point to prevent picking.       I 
have related this story before right here on the list    ----    I was 
onboard 1723 Drake outbound 2.14-PM, Mother's Day in early 1960s,  Bon 
Air siding when the car suddenly made weird noises and stopped on a dime 
throwing all out of their seats.       Front truck made it through the 
turnout into the siding but rear truck went on the ground and back axle 
mounted the track brake which caused the instantaneous stop.       Seems 
the RR point had expanded well over the bump plate making the Point Ripe 
For Picking.
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Donut know what kind of wheel and flange profile Europe uses but would 
suspect that the dimensions are larger than American which allows them 
to negotiate RR style points more easily    ----    North American lrv 
systems built from scratch use RR profile wheels but those like SF which 
were built on top of a TrolleyCar system that needed to keep the 
TrolleyCars in operation keep the rail and wheel profile the same as the 
TrolleyCars.       Those slim European RR points aren't much to begin 
with and will wear much faster and need replacement more often.       
SF-Muni tried some of the European double Point RR switches on the Judah 
line  --  ALL  have been replaced with standard point and mate  --  
European double points lasted only about a decade  --  if that.
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Kummler & Matter  (K&M)  --  Swiss  --  makes Very Innovative Floating 
Suspension Overhead which San Francisco used on its 1-California trolley 
coach line when it was rerouted over the former diseaseal 55-Sacramento, 
so only a part of the line was K&M.        Ultra Serious Horrendous 
Problems with the K&M here  --  reportedly works well in Europe.       
Difference is approach to maintenance, not the system.       K&M is Not 
Bad Overhead, but it is bad where maintenance is low.       Standard OB  
*_Here_*  works Much Much Better and needs Much Much less attention  --  
same schedule speeds with either.
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Jim___Holland