[PRCo] PAT Train passengers

[Bob Rathke]

I rode the PATrain at least twice a year back then, and it was a cheap 
Saturday rail trip especially since the weekend pass included PAT trolleys 
(I'd take the 36-Drake trolley from home to the B&O station downtown). 
METRA in Chicago still has a $5 weekend pass that allows traveling over 
hundreds of miles of rail and electric commuter lines here - the problem is 
that it's impossible to ride them all in 48 hours.

I don't remember the PATrain having any noisy or unsupervised kids, although 
that could happen at any time when a school group or Cub Scout Pack boarded 
the train.  On my trips, the PATrain was patronized mostly by commuters, 
including the guy who commuted from McKeesport to downtown Pittsburgh 
everyday with his large sign containing hundreds of words complaining about 
his treatment when he worked at U.S. Steel.  He had a disability gripe, and 
he wore a bandage around his head as he walked up and down Firth Avenue 
showing the sign to passersby.

Does anyone on the list remember him?  One day in the late 1970's I took a 
photo of him with his sign at Fifth and Smithfield.  I'll try to find the 
photo.  The sign and its 6 ft. pole were quite large, and occupied two seats 
on the PATrain, but the conductor didn't charge him for the extra space.

Bob 3/26/06

-----------------------------
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 5:23 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Mod PAT Train


>I recall riding it once in the early 70s.   PAT had a weekend pass
> which was valid, not just on buses and streetcars but on the trains
> too.   And parents had this nasty habit of givings the little
> darlings money to get rid of them.   The trainmen were all huddled
> out in the vestibules while the kids ran around like little savages
> inside the coaches.   A very pleasant experience.    The nice part
> about it was its brevity ... a much shorter return to Pittsburgh than
> the replacement bus for the 56 or 68 car.
>
> Had the ratio been more like the Silverton train (4 hours train
> versus 90 minutes on the bus between Silverton and Durango), I'd have
> taken the bus back to Pittsburgh.
>
> On Mar 26, 2006, at 6:02 PM, Bob Rathke wrote:
>
>> The locomotive in the photo attached by Mark is a B&O passenger GP7
>> - it was
>> previously used on the B&O's Pittsburgh-Connellsville commuter
>> train until
>> it was discontinued in April, 1965 (I rode the last trip).  The GP7
>> came
>> back in the 1970's (painted Chessie yellow) for use on the PAT
>> train, and
>> later it was replaced by an F7 that was painted orange and brown.
>>
>> When PAT discontinued the PATrain train,  I believe that the
>> locomotive and
>> cars went to another transit system.
>>
>> Bob 3/26/06
>>
>> -----------------------------
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mark McGuire" <macmarka at netzero.net>
>> To: <Pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 4:20 PM
>> Subject: [PRCo] Mod PAT Train
>>
>>
>>>  I never realized that PAT painted the trains in the mod schemes
>>> also. URL at bottom shows a PAT train in McKeesport dated 9-76.
>>>                           Mark
>>>
>>> -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
>>> -- Type: image/pjpeg
>>> -- Desc: PAT Train 9-76 McKeesport.jpg
>>> -- Size: 17k (17409 bytes)
>>> -- URL :
>>> http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/PAT%20Train%
>>> 209-76%20McKeesport.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>