[PRCo] Re: PCC2s

[Ken & Tracie]

Dan Holohan is a guru in the art of steam heating. He is pretty well known 
to the people of NYC and is also known nationwide for his ability to repair 
and fine tune ancient heating systems. He does a great job with hot water 
heating systems, too.

Dan says one of the secrets to his success to "listen" to what the "dead old 
men" of previous generations HAVE to say. He does this by reading old 
engineering manuals written by designers and service people of past 
generations.

It's too bad Dan isn't a transit vehicle design engineer instead of a 
heating contractor.

His philosophy is spot on.

Every failed attempt to re-invent the streetcar, trackless trolley or rapid 
transit car is another nail in the coffin of North America's traction 
future.

The most modern and efficient propulsion, electrical, heating, cooling and 
braking systems mean nothing if the basic structure of the vehicle can't 
handle the normal stresses of daily operation.

Imagine what would happen if Toyota, Ford or GM invented an automobile that 
got sixty miles per gallon, could do zero to sixty in four seconds and 
seated nine obese people in total comfort..................if the frames, 
body mounts, axles or driveshafts broke on a weekly basis.

I wonder how long they could get away with selling those new "wonder cars" 
based on their fuel efficiency, comfort and performance if the major 
components failed on a regular basis?

K.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Holland" <prcopcc at p-r-co.com>
To: "- 1714 PRCo__WP__JTC (WP-Cleveland;__DCT) -" 
<pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>; "- 1717 PRCo__WP__JTC 
(WP-Cleveland;__DCT) -" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>; "- > PRCo--  
Cefer, Boris Geo-Westinghouse Original <-* -" <westinghouse at iol.cz>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 4:02 AM
Subject: [PRCo] PCC2s


> This Just In From Philly  --  seems  More  Like  'Speculation'  so
> far:::::::
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> 2a. Route 15 is down!
>
> Date: Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:06 am ((PST))
>
> I `ve told by Bill M via e-mail and telephone that Route 15 is currently
> being served by buses only. Apparently, the PCC II's have suffered
> cracks in the torque arms and, since this has been an on-going problem,
> all but two of the cars have been moved to Elmwood, apparently for
> repairs. Bill thought that two cars remained at Callowhill.
>
> The saga began in earnest last Friday. A car had broken down and PCC II
> 2336 was hooked up to the disabled car to tow or push it in. Apparently,
> the torque arm on 2336, which holds the motor in place, came loose. The
> drive shaft then hit the ground and derailed the car some two feet off
> the rail.
>
> Bill has gotten all of these data second hand, and so he could offer no
> prognosis. The change to bus-only operation, in other words, is
> apparently for the foreseeable future until the torque arms can be
> repaired or replaced.
>
> The danger, of course, is that SEPTA could decide to throw in the towel
> and return Route 15 to a permanent bus-only operation. Bill thought that
> was unlikely; SEPTA, he felt, has too much money invested in Route 15 to
> give up that easily.
>
> I'm planning a trip to Philadelphia tomorrow to do some riding and will
> sniff around to see what I can see or find oiut. Naturally, other list
> members should pass along whatever information they come across. Let's
> hope the repairs are done with some degree of dispatch so that Route 15
> can soon return to a rail operation.
>
> D
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> 2b. Re: Route 15 is down!
>
> Date: Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:57 am ((PST))
>
>
> You would think that if this is an issue that it could have been
> addressed while they were out of service for the water main break. On
> another issue, is this a design problem for Brookville? Strange that one
> year in the fleet is seeing problems. Hope it is not a Grumman Flixible
> thing.
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> 2d. Re: Route 15 is down!
>
> Date: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:25 am ((PST))
>
> I rode the 15 bus today looking for my operator friend , Roro Garrett.
> The 8:20 AM bus from 63- Girard was not her. I found out form the
> driver, Rodney, that she was sitting at Richmond & Westmoreland with bus
> 5130 and a bad oil leak. I rode with Rodney up to Richmond &
> Westmoreland and sure enough she was there. They had a mechanic drive a
> frankford bus down for a bus change and they brought 3443, a Neoplan, so
> Roro used that for her 9:45 trip after they figured out how to put up
> 63rd & Girard on the sign. About 10 minutes into the trip, the center
> doors would not close unless you recycled the bus (restart), so she
> called it in. We were met by a supervisor at 63rd St. who gave her 5057
> to drive, all set up with the talking announcements.
>
> Roro said the trolleys are in for inspection, I think you guys feel it's
> more than that. If it's a torque arm problem, we have a long road ahead
> of us.
>
> So it looks like neither the trolleys or buses are doing well on the 15.
>
>
>
>