[PRCo] Re: AnyOne Here Like West Penn~?~!~?~!~?

[Fred Schneider]

No argument.   But when we go back into the 1930s we still had a lot  
of cars on the road with oil cups to lubricate front-end lube  
points.   They had to be filled daily and the oil simply ran out on  
the road just as the oil on steam locomotives used to lubricate  
crosshead guides, valve linkage, and air pumps dripped all over the  
right-of-way.

I can remember going out during evenings in the middle 1960s to  
photograph electric trains on the Pennsylvania Railroad.  This area  
was usually hazy by evening ... smoggy would be a better term but we  
didn't use it.   However, once we went to PCV systems on cars and  
exhaust emission controls on motor vehicles, the haze (smog) largely  
disappeared on summer evenings.

Bruce, Josh and I had some long conversations on our trip through  
Austria regarding how inventions migrate back and forth across the  
pond.   You need to travel frequently to realize where an idea began  
its migratory process.   The illuminated letters on buildings, made  
of plastic with fluorescent tubes inside, that replaced neon or argon  
signs, first appeared in Europe.   They were there when I arrived in  
1959, and then I saw them in the U. S. when I got home in 1961.    
Road edge markings also started first in Europe.   The double  
corrugated highway guard rails started I think on this side of the  
puddle and are now universal over there.   Unleaded gasoline and  
catalytic converters started in the United States, then moved to  
Europe.   Laminated safety glass started here and moved there.    
Conductorless streetcars started there and moved to the U. S.   Then  
Holland restored on-board fare collection because fare evasion had  
become a national sport.    Shopping centers started in the U. S. and  
moved to Europe but mercifully only the French and the former East  
Germany emulated our idea of suburban malls.

International or universal highway signs started over there and sadly  
we have chosen to adopt only some of them and not all and then we  
complain that the Mexicans come here and have accidents.   The  
International Highway Signs have one neat little sign that you find  
in Europe that isn't used here.  It is an orange sign labeled B-3 in  
the humongous document below.  It is a sign that gives you the right  
of way in an intersection.   All intersections have one.  Even those  
with traffic lights.   Intersections will have stop or yield signs in  
one direction and the right of way sign in the other.   Intersections  
with traffic lights also have the other signs to tell you who has  
priority if the lights fail.   Great idea.   They also post signs  
showing when any restriction ends ... a circular sign with dashes  
diagonally through it.   The dashes can go through the previous  
restriction or just through a blank meaning all bets are off.   If  
you have no left turn on red, it will be a red arrow to the left.


http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/i7/0.741.20.de.pdf

We've become a lot more environmental conscious.

On Nov 4, 2007, at 11:06 AM, Ken & Tracie wrote:

> Fred,
>
> Another reason for the oil stains disappearing was that the open  
> road draft
> systems were replaced with Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PVC)  
> systems
> starting in the 1960s.
>
> At road speed, the pressure in a gasoline engine's crankcase is  
> very high.
> Those older engines' road draft tubes, pointing down at the highway,
> certainly contributed to soiling the pavement, especially as ring  
> and valve
> guide wear caused increased "blow-by."
>
> The PCV system recirculates the oil fumes into the combustion  
> chamber to
> burn it off and its check valve releases cranckcase pressure. In  
> addition to
> reducing air pollution, a PCV system also extends the life of the  
> engine's
> oil.
>
> Now back to West Penn..... ;-)
>
> K.
>
> P.S.- PCV systems were around before the 1960s. They were originally
> installed on gasoline engines used in dusty conditions to keep dirt
> particles and sand out of the engine's crankcase.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 4:40 PM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: AnyOne Here Like West Penn~?~!~?~!~?
>
>
>> Russ Schramm's picture is interesting for a variety of reasons.
>> Remember the oil stains in the middle of the lanes from dripping
>> oil?   It was especially bad in the 1930s.    Lubrication gradually
>> became better to the point in the 1970s or 1980s when they  
>> disappeared
>> altogether.
>>
>> Sometime in the 1960s the mowed grass between the eastbound and
>> westbound lanes of the turnpike was replaced with a guard rail
>> because of crossover head-on collisions.     The 1952 scene looks to
>> bucolic with very little traffic on the Super Highway.
>
>