[PRCo] Re: Derail

[Bob Dietrich]

It was normally switched to the derail.  Each car had to stop at the
(normally red) signal to have the derail switch to normal position.  This
assured that the brakes worked.  There is a similar derail on the Knoxville
side.  Here is an overhead shot showing both derails.

If course operators cheated this feature, but not Herb.  I have a video from
Bill Vigrass showing card slowly rolling through this mechanism without a
full stop.  I can bring it along in November.

Bob 

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of ROBERT R
ROCKWELL
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 2:08 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Derail

I see it, how did it work ?

Robert Rockwell
w3syt1 at msn.com<mailto:w3syt1 at msn.com>
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: fwschneider at comcast.net<mailto:fwschneider at comcast.net> 
  To:
Pittsburgh-Railways at dementia.org<mailto:Pittsburgh-Railways at dementia.org> 
  Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 10:26 PM
  Subject: [PRCo] Derail


  I particularly liked this image from Phil of 1200 at South Hills Junction
because it shows the derail at the top of the hill which might was installed
after one of the tunnel runaways ... perhaps after the infamous 1917
debacle.   Perhaps it might have prevented the PCC from slamming into the
P&LE station in the 1980s had PAT, in its never ending wisdom, removed it.
  I was tempted at the time to send a photo of the derail to the Post
Gazette and the "Supress" and ask if they could explain why PAT had removed
a devise installed by Pittsburgh Railways engineers to prevent disabled cars
from going through the tunnel out of control.   Then I thought better of it
and decided it would only make enemies for the railfans.

 
http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/1200-42-ob-shj-09-04-195
1.jpg<http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/1200-42-ob-shj-09-
04-1951.jpg>