[PRCo] Pittsburgh__1200s

Sat Jan 13 16:49:21 EST 2007

Good Morning!
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                A private discussion of the PRCo 1200s covered a number 
of topics and dusted off some old photos which reveal a few things about 
these cars, and also about Pittsburgh.
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.......01.>--The First Foto is from the Historical Society of W-PA and 
is possibly already in the archives for this list.
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.......02.>--The Second Foto is from Trolley Talk and may also already 
be on the list.
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.......03.>--The Third Foto shows the trolley pole base on a 14xx car, 
similar on 15xx as well as 1601s  --  it could be in Noah's Arkives for 
this list, too!!!!!!!
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                First of All,  Please__NOTE  the color of the canvas and 
trolley cowl in the  First__2__Fotos.       While B&W, the Consistent 
Shading of the canvas  'suggests'  far more than simple coal dust / 
steel mill comicals affecting these items!!!       The John Prophet  
COLOR  Video  recently mentioned by Bill Robb is made from  Color 16mm 
Movies and contains about 5-minutes of Pittsburgh When the 1200s were 
brand new!!!       This video clearly shows a Tan Color to the canvas 
and trolley cowl of the 1200s that is  'assumed__to__be'  wartime 
camouflage    ----    believe  MBTA  also painted the roof of their PCCs 
tan during WW2.       The 16mm color movies were shot on beautifully 
sunny Pittsburgh days as well!!       If you don't have this video 
already it comes  Highly  Recommended  (after my signature is 4-URLs, 
first two refer to DVD / VHS formats of this PCC movie, the third is 
another movie which includes Pittsburgh, and the 4th is the homepage for 
the website  --  do searches as there are a number of Pittsburgh videos.)
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                PRCo  PCCs  100,  1000--1099,  1100--1199   
'could__be__considered'  rubber stamp production models that were  
'essentially'  the same but still contained  'subtle'  
differences.       The  PRCo  1200s  were the first PCC models to have 
eye catching differences    ----    full width anticlimber,  absence of 
air intakes for motor cooling above the trucks,  and change to the 
trolley cowl which pulled in air from a  'Cleaner__Source'  for motor 
cooling  (at truck level, air would contain much more road dust  --  
look at early photos of new PCCs and there is a distinctive layering of 
dust to about a foot or two above the floor line on PCCs!!!    
http://www.davesrailpix.com/pitts/htm/pitt156.htm    reveals some dust 
and PCC Interurban 1716 is just Months Old near Memorial Day of 1949  
--  often the dust shows just forward of the front truck and is a 
distinct line a foot or two above the floor line for the length of the 
car and looks as if a  'modeler'  painted it there to make a beautifully 
weathered TrolleyCar!!)
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                The  PRCo  1200--1299  trolley cowl:::    01.>--Retained 
the Original Trolley Cowl as on  PCCs  100,  1000--1199    ----    the  
'bubble'  mounted on top of the dual board catwalk to which the boards 
for mounting the trolley pole base were attached    ----    02.>--but 
added a wider section in front of this trolley cowl to pull in air for 
motor cooling;  a transition section blended the two trolley cowls 
together.       This is distinctly shown in the first two photos.       
These  100  cars  were the only  PRCo  PCCs  to use this arrangement for 
the trolley cowl and did so their entire life.
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                We discussed  ALL  this a number of years back on this list.
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                ALL   of this is faithfully reproduced in the 1.48 
St.-Petersburg Trams Collection  (SPTC)  PRCo 1200--1299 models with the 
option of a tan roof and trolley cowl or all cream roof!!
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                Washington DC 1234-1267 series PCCs had the same cowl as 
the PRCo 1200s as apparently did the TTC's 4150-4199 as well.
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                At least one other system had this trolley cowl and also 
for 100-cars which were the 1500--1599 cars of the St. Louis Public 
Service  (SLPS.)       Except for the front end, the  SLPS  15s were 
identical to PRCo 12s, even to the paint and paint scheme!!!
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                The third photo reveals how the trolley cowl was 
streamlined for  PRCo  1400s  forward.       01.>--The original bubble 
mounted on the wood catwalk was eliminated and   02.>--stamped sheet 
metal the width of the trolley cowl used for scooping in air was formed 
around the trolley pole base with strap metal anchoring this part of the 
cowl to the catwalk  --  note the bottom edge of this section is an inch 
or two above the roof line.
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                Going back to the first Foto in this collection, note 
the 10 or 11 in the near distance    ----    canvas and trolley cowl 
appear darker than the rest of the car.       The Prophet Video reveals 
that these cars had a black canvas roof painted on after delivery,  
'apparently'  for wartime camouflage.       The 12xx in the foreground 
is a West End car turning onto Liberty to head outbound, so this dates 
the photo to very early 1950s or earlier!!       This  black canvas 
option is also available on the 1.48  SPTC  models,  with 1100s in their 
paint shop now, and this option may be offered for the 1000 series to 
follow!!!       This  will  probably  be  the   ONLY   time  this series 
of 1100s will be run    ----    once completed the cars may not be 
available again!
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                Someone has said it would be fun to drive that bus in 
the first foto, but personally, I would forgo the bus in favor of   
ANY   &   ALL   PRCo   PCCs     ----    even the Jones Cars    ----    
ANYTHING____TROLLEYCAR____in  Pittsburgh__in__1950!!!!!!!
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Jim___Holland
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PS    ----    We have  'apparently'  annexed Cleveland as a part of WP  
(West--of--Pennsylvania)  for traction discussion purposes;  seems  WP  
had affiliates south of Pittsburgh, too, and that might include 
Washington, DC, for discussion purposes!!!!!!!
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http://www.train-video.com/rvp190d.html
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http://www.train-video.com/rvp190vhs.html
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http://store.train-video.com/rvp47-107d.html
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http://store.train-video.com/index.html

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