[PRCo] Re: Interurban Route Speeds

[Jim Holland]

All that Jostling helps the motorman identify location while he is 
reading his newspaper  --  Sorry, Bob  --  couldn't resist, but it could 
be read that way~!~!~!     I love a ride like that~!~!~!     On the 
M-Ocean View in SF we had about a mile of center of the highway prw  --  
SF State was a stop on this portion and it was The Roughest Track in SF  
--  but would be Equivalent to the Smoothest Track in 
Pizzaburger~!~!~!     I enjoyed winding it up full throttle down here 
with a Sardine Can of jam packed students  --  I wouldn't hit the brake 
until Absolutely Necessary  --  Dead Quiet car when we got to State~!~!~!~!
.
Had a Halloween Charter for a Railfan Historian living in San Diego  --  
brought young couples and friends with him, Not Transit RailFans.     
Had a Double Ended Torpedo PCC and I made All The Traffic Lights here on 
the M prw, passed traffic adjacent to me in 35-mph zone but We All Know 
that most people are 10 to 15-mph over the limit, and the crowd said 
they Never would have believe this if they hadn't experienced 
it~!~!~!     Coming back in we tipped the Huge Coffee Urn  --  Larger 
than Restaurant style  --  filled with Lemonade and Ice.     When I 
pulled into the barn and opened the door, a river of lemonade poured 
out~!~!~!
.
Perception is not reality  --  perceptions are most usually false.     
This is what I said in my original email  --  sounds, noises, jostling 
all give the Perception of a speed That Is  "Faster"  than the vehicle 
is actually traveling  --  Reality being the true speed.
.
Lack of sound, noise, rail joints, jostling gives a Perception that the 
vehicle is traveling slower than it actually is  --  thus the motormen 
going into emergency all the time to get the vehicle stopped.     
Reality again Is The Actual Speed of the Vehicle, not the Perceived speed.



>   
>
> ----- Forwarded Message ----
>
> From: Bob Dietrich <bdietrich at comcast.net>
>
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 11:25:25 AM
>
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Interurban Route Speeds
>
>
> For a time I commuted on the PCCs from Bethel Park into town. For my 
> own safety I always got into the center of the car, even if it meant 
> standing when seats were available. The motormen would wind those cars 
> up between Castle Shannon and Overbrook to the point where I thought 
> they would shake apart. The oscillation was tremendous; I wondered how 
> anyone could sit and read a paper during such a ride, let alone the 
> motorman. It was all in the track.
>
>
> Bob
>
> -------------- Original message from fwschneider at comcast.net: 
> --------------
>
>
>> Remember too that "perception is reality." Excessive noise causes one 
>> to believe they are going faster than they really are. When you are 
>> accustomed to riding in an automobile on rubber tires on an asphalt 
>> highway and you are morphed into an interurban car riding on poorly 
>> maintained track, suddenly it seems like you have been placed on a 
>> rocket sled.
>> There is a document in the PTM library that establishes speed limits 
>> for  different portions of the PTM system. Most were because of track 
>> conditions.
>>
>> I do not have access to any of my files now but I do recall that 
>> motormen were told not to exceed 50 mph between Eldora Summit and 
>> Black Diamond Junction because of "passenger complaints." That 
>> document was issued in the days of 3700s and 3800s. The PCCs simply 
>> would not run that fast because, if memory serves, they had overspeed 
>> relays and would cut out.
>>
>
> fws3
>

-- 

*Jim Holland*

Studying *Pittsburgh Railways Company*

....................From 1930 -- 1950

*Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM)*

http://www.pa-trolley.org/

*N.M.R.A.*

http://www.nmra.org/