[PRCo] Re: OT Boston

[Fred Schneider]

Sorry Boris but you fail to understand the American legal system.  It  
is better to make sure windows don't open so public must keep arms,  
hands and all body parts inside.   Otherwise they would get knocked  
off by tree limbs and passing cars and then the victims or their  
parents or other family members would sue the MBTA for damages rather  
than accept the fact that they are stupid for hanging out the  
windows.  I don't think you were here long enough to observe the  
timing of legal advertisements on television ... they are generally  
broadcast during daytime hours when the indigent (lazy) are sitting  
around doing nothing but watching television.   It is generally a we  
will make you rich scheme.   If you were offended, see us and we will  
sue.   If you took the wrong medicine, see us and we will get a cash  
settlement for you.   If your doctor didn't make you better, come see  
the law offices of Catchem, Screwem, Twistem and Bindem.  It has made  
a lot of lawyers rich.   (And I know one member of this list is going  
to take offense at this.   I also know I'm planning a high school  
class reunion and we have one doctor who will not come if a certain  
lawyer, who makes his living suing doctors, does come.)     It is  
simpler for the transit agencies to seal the windows and air- 
condition the cars.   As a sidebar, I'm reminded of a suit in New  
Orleans that went against the New Orleans RTA about a year ago ... a  
kid fell out the window of a streetcar because the mother let him sit  
next to the window and climb out ... then she sued the RTA for  
allowing it to happen.    Come on now, who is negligent, the RTA for  
not putting safety bars on the window (converting the car into a  
jail) or the woman for not controlling her brat?   Well, we know the  
court sided with the woman.   She got big bucks.

I would probably agree with you on the field shunting.  Boston had a  
lot of trouble in the 1960s and 1970s with resilient wheels on PCCs  
working loose.   One friend of mine suggested that they didn't have a  
clue how to torque the bolts.   The problem started after the  
Riverside line opened and cars began running much faster than they  
had previously.   I could research this through channels with friends  
but I suspect I would find out that the cutting down on the speed  
might have had a lot to do with not knowing, in the first place, how  
to keep resilient wheels tight.

On Apr 27, 2007, at 10:06 AM, Boris Cefer wrote:

> It would be far better to install windows which open and  
> reestablish correct
> field shunt connections.
>
> B
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 2:12 PM
> Subject: [PRCo]
>
>
>> Boris will like this item from the Boston Globe because it's about
>> PCCs that outlasted the Boeing cars!
>>
>> Mattapan trolleys get cool update
>> MBTA installing air conditioning
>> April 26, 2007
>> The trolleys on the MBTA's Mattapan line, among the oldest working
>> transit vehicles in the nation, are getting cool.
>>
>> MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas announced yesterday that
>> the T would spend up to $1.1 million to outfit the 1940-era vehicles
>> with something they've never had before: air conditioning.
>> The trolleys are the only cars in the Massachusetts Bay
>> Transportation Authority's 2,340 vehicle fleet without air  
>> conditioning.
>> The small fleet, which runs between Mattapan and Ashmont stations on
>> a separate spur of the Red Line, is currently being refurbished.
>> There has been no service on the line since last June.
>> All 10 trolleys are scheduled to go back to work in November.
>> The air conditioning will probably be installed over the winter and
>> will debut in the summer of 2008.
>> The trolleys make 300 trips a day on the 2.55-mile line, carrying
>> about 7,000 riders per day.
>> "We don't want to lose the charm of the old [trolleys], and we'll
>> maintain that,," Grabauskas said in an interview.
>> "But clearly on a hot summer day, air conditioning becomes something
>> that our customers expect."
>> MAC DANIEL
>>
>