[PRCo] Re: Real Tales--No. 1/Unscheduled Meet

[Jim Holland]

hrbran99 at adelphia.net wrote:
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>> Now I knew what had happened. Daria Washington had come to the single 
>> track, got a 'good' light and proceeded down the hill. The wind was 
>> heavy with gusts. A hard gust of wind came along and made the 
>> overhead wires bounce. They bounced so much that the old, well worn 
>> contactor made contact with itself (You need to know exactly how 
>> these contactors worked to understand what happened) and counted her 
>> car out even though she was still coming down the hill. I approached 
>> the single track at the bottom and came upon a dark light. When my 
>> trolley pole ran through the contactors the signal came to life and 
>> counted me in as it should. Do to the curves in Arlington Avenue I 
>> could not see Daria until after I got in the single track and she 
>> rounded the last curve near McArtle Roadway.
>>
>> Needless to say the signal crew came right out and began replacing 
>> all the contactors. They were probably replaced with equally as old 
>> hardware but at least rebuilt with new springs to keep the running 
>> wire and the copper slide contactor apart.
>>
>> So that was my only meet on single track and it turned out OK. Could 
>> have been different if I were 300 feet further up the hill!
>>
>> Herb
>> HrB
>
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I have a photo of one of these somewhere and shall try to post it some 
time later.       Hanger fore and aft attaches the contactor to the 
overhead that has a metal sheaf on each side of the Overhead Contact 
Wire and insulated from same.       Trolley wheel passing between the 
two would make contact with the sheaves and pass current from the 
overhead to the sheaves to operate   *_Whatever_*    ----    in this 
case, the Nachods.       PCC Car Fought Back pg.196 shows PCC Interurban 
1707 just below one of these contactors in Allenport.       Pg.189 top 
shows a variation of this type contactor.
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In PCC Coast to Coast is a similar contactor pg.153 top right.
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http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/bvp140.htm  --  at the siding on the 49 
on Climax these contactors are in evidence.
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http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/bvp082.htm  --  on the Dinky Track at 
Castle Shannon!!
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It Would Seem that the contactor that failed was the Count Out Contactor 
near Carson  --  failure at the Count In Contactor where it keeps 
touching the overhead would continually count cars into the single 
track.       Failure at the Exit Contactor near Carson would count the 
cars out.
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These contactors were common on lines where single track was in the 
street  --  1, 4, 5, 6, and others on the North Side and on the 10/15 at 
the terminal where the 3-crossovers existed.       Some of the West End 
single track would probably use Nachods and overhead contactors as 
well.       Parts of the outer portions of the Charleroi and washington 
Interurbans used Nachod but Overbrook was US&S from the time it was 
first introduced to PRCo and Drake and Library post-1953 were US&S 
exclusively.       38 already mentioned; 39- single track near the loop, 
40-single track on Mt.Washington,  65 line as well as Non Clearance 
curves like on 64 and 67.       Trafford used Nachods as well.
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Jim___Holland