[PRCo] Re: Snow

[Fred Schneider]

If I answer it might result in an accusation that he is doing so just  
to hear himself speak.  But maybe I can give some background philosophy.

Let me give you a more or less general answer.   Every car house had  
assigned sweepers.    There was equipment to take care of the snow.

The basic rule prior to public ownership was simple:   it was a  
privately owned company that earned its money through fares.   If it  
failed to operate its vehicles, it made no money.   Because it had  
fixed costs, it actually lost money if it shut down in a snow  
storm.   Private companies made every attempt possible to keep  
running.    Second point:   Most companies operated under franchises  
which stipulated monetary and hidden taxes that they would pay.   A  
very common and almost universal hidden tax was that they would plow  
the streets after a snow.

I know of one instance where a company defied the city and refused to  
bring out the sweepers.   In the last snow in Scranton, Pennsylvania,  
Scranton Transit simply ignored the snow.   There was one route left  
that was rail.  The city was now plowing all the other streets.    
Scranton Transit simply waited for the city to clean the streets that  
were used by trolleys, and then they ran the cars again.   They had  
nothing to loose because they were planning to abandon the last route  
anyway.

There were snow storms that Pittsburgh Railways was unable to take  
care of ... the Thanksgiving weekend storm in 1950 comes to mind.    
They either didn't have the equipment or the manpower to handle it  
and it was several days before every route was opened.   There were  
cars stuck for several days in the snow.  But that was an exception  
and not the rule.   If memory serves, the depth was several feet and  
that sort of snow can immobilize any city because there is no place  
to put the white stuff.

My own next question would be, would there have been a general plan  
written up that listed routes in order that you plow snow.   Toward  
that end maybe we should ask Tony DiSensi at PTM what he  
remembers.    If I were part of a Keating supervisory team, for  
example, routes 12 and 21 would probably be the last two routes I  
would want my sweeper crews to worry about.    I think I would want  
them to do 8 first because it generates the most revenue, followed by  
perhaps 13 and 6 and then 10/15.   And maybe they had such a plan.    
Sadly, the last Pittsburgh Railways snow was in March 1964.  And most  
people who worked for the company then are six feet under today.    
It's hard to find anyone to ask.

On Jan 6, 2006, at 2:50 PM, raymond at nauticom.net wrote:

> Hello. I was looking at the PTM calendar January 2006 photo and  
> wondering
> if any one on this list knows how much snow fall it would take to  
> close a
> route like 21 Fineview or say 40 Mt. Washington?  Did the sweepers  
> clear
> snow on these routes? I cant recall seeing any pictures of sweepers on
> these routes.
>
> Thanks
> Ray
>
>