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

[mtoytrain at bellsouth.net]

Loved reading this great street car story, hope others can share some tstories too!

Jerry M

> From: Jim Holland <prcopcc at p-r-co.com>
> Date: 2006/09/05 Tue PM 04:53:36 EDT
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Real Tales--No. 1/Unscheduled Meet
> 
> hrbran99 at adelphia.net wrote:
> .
> 
> >> 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
> >
> .
> 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.
> .
> In PCC Coast to Coast is a similar contactor pg.153 top right.
> .
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/bvp140.htm  --  at the siding on the 49 
> on Climax these contactors are in evidence.
> .
> http://206.103.49.193/pitts/htm/bvp082.htm  --  on the Dinky Track at 
> Castle Shannon!!
> .
> 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.
> .
> 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.
> .
> .
> .
> Jim___Holland
> 
> 
> 
>