[PRCo] Re: PRCo___1600__--__Queen--Mary

[Edward H. Lybarger]

Without the fire, car 1600 wouldn't have been scrapped until the car trust
bonds for the 1600-series had been paid, which coincidentally would have
been sometime in 1955.  Its loss in the fire meant insurance reimbursement
in whatever amount, since there was likely ten years of depreciation left,
but a fire loss and recovery payment wouldn't have interfered with the car
trust.

The 10s and 11s as groups still had a couple years' depreciation on them, so
it was unlikely that they would have been disposed of that early under
ordinary circumstances, whether or not there was work for them.

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of
Holland Electric Rwy. Op. H.E.R.O. -- Import SPTC 1.48 Models // James
B. Holland
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 12:24 AM
To: - 1714 PRCo__WP__JTC -
Subject: [PRCo] PRCo___1600__--__Queen--Mary


Good Morning!
.
.
It has been reported that  The  1600  was sitting on shop trucks at the
time of the Homewood fire and it was Thus  <Possible>  that the Queen
Mary was a candidate for scrapping.
.
.
It Is Also  <Possible>  that the car was having its trucks
overhauled.       Although a Full-Fledged PCC, it is possible that The
Queen was unique enough that PRCo didn't want to use other All-Electric
trucks under this vehicle.       ((-- Bob Rathke related a story about
how  <Finicky>  PRCo was about car assignments and that 1200s were
generally not allowed on the 40-line  <Until>  PERC organized a charter
in the latter 1950s for an NMRA convention with at least one car from
each grouping  --  the Organizer went directly to Palmer for permission
thus ticking off the maintenance crews!--))       I state this to show
the  <possible>  thinking of PRCo in using trucks other than the
originals under The Queen.
.
Also consider that PCCs had been operating in Pgh. since 1936 - 1937
and Not One PCC had been scrapped nor was even a candidate for
scrapping  --  not until the Homewood fire.       The 10s and 11s saw
scrapping commence in 1959 through 1961  --  not a few of these cars
were first placed into storage and may have sat there a while before
scrapping  (even the last of the low-floor cars were held in storage
Just In Case  --  WW2 had definitely increased demand for rail equipment
and the Korean War broke out just before // about the same time as the
last low-floors were withdrawn  --  hold the cars in storage for a time
before scrapping Just To Be Sure!)
.
The three experimental 6000s didn't last long on PRCo  --  but these
were Very Unique Cars  --  Not Old TrolleyCar and Not PCC  --   these
experimentals would be a big maintenance burden going forward  --  these
cars were on the property for only 12 years.       This could be an
argument for scrapping The Queen, but hardly a convincing one.       The
Queen was still a Full-Fledged PCC and PRCo would want to get a return
on its investment  --  yes, there is a time to cut the losses and move
forward, but not enough information is available to make that determination!
.
The only thing we know about The Queen is that it was  <apparently>
shunned by operators and maintenance crews    ----    this is quite
common when something is unique  --  it needs special attention!
.
Do  We  Actually  Know  More  About  The  Queen?       It takes a
Preponderance Of  Evidence to make a determination  --  all we have is
One  Piece  Of  Evidence  --  The Queen sitting on shop trucks  --  and
HearSay Evidence that it was shunned.       We need more.
.
Until more evidence is forth-coming,  ALL  we can say is that  The
Queen  was sitting on shop trucks at the time of the Homewood Fire.
.
.
.
.
Jim__Holland
.
.
I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!
.
down with pantographs ---- UP___WITH___TROLLEYPOLES!!!!!!!