[PRCo] Re: Vicinal's PCC

[John Swindler]

Besides the coastal line, the tiny bit that remains of the Vicinal also includes four lines in Charleroi.  Charleroi is a good lesson on what not to do.  A ton of money was wasted.

 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MetroCharleroi.jpg

 

There are also some websites with pix of the almost completed, but unopened sections of the Charleroi attempt to upgrade the Vicinal network to light rail.  Somewhat along the lines of the Cincinnati subway, except that rail and catenary had been installed.  Suspecting that the politicians in the Wallon area got jealous of the Flemish politicians in Antwerp.  The decline of the steel industry base didn't help.  A lot of similarities to Pittsburgh.

 

Beyond that, how about a trip report, Fred???

 

Cheers

John

 

 

 
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> Subject: [PRCo] Vicinal's PCC
> Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:19:06 -0400
> 
> Let us hope that Derrick's system property strips this and puts the 
> picture into a link.
> 
> I found the picture, unattributed, in a message from Dan Joseph in 
> Chicago. Whether or not he took it is unknown. It is listed as 
> Charleroi, Belgium.
> 
> The car is the one St. Louis Car Company vehicle that was built for 
> the Vicinal interurban system in Belgium. I do not have my notes or 
> my books. Seems that the car went second hand to a Yugoslavian 
> property and then must have been brought back home to the museum. 
> Vicinal (including the tiny bit along the coast that remains) was 
> meter gauge.
> 
> Essentially you are looking at a narrow-bodied Johnstown PCC on 
> something resembling Los Angeles trucks.
> 
> By the way, the interpreted traveller is back home after having 
> looked at Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, construction in Los Angeles, 
> the Escondido-Oceanside Sprinter, the Albuquerque commuter rail, New 
> Orleans, Galveston (in spite of what the agency's web site said ... 
> it ain't running since the flood), Savannah and Charlotte plus a lot 
> of national parks (Death Valley, Organ Pipe Cactus, Big Bend, Grand 
> Canyon (five times more visitors in a year than when I was there in 
> the 1970s), and some pretty remote places like old US route 90 across 
> Texas. I was doing my very best to find roads I had never driven 
> over before and it is getting difficult to do so ... car got pretty 
> dusty on those dirt roads! Found a few strange restaurants too ... 
> one would not really expect Indian in Yuma, AZ would they? Or 
> Korean in Charlotte, NC? Found a great English pub in Phoenix ... 
> the steak and kidney pie was really authentic.
> 
> The ultimate in strange was the place in Sanderson, Texas that 
> advertised fish and chips. Now that is a British dish. One would 
> expect cod or plaice with a touch of vinegar on the fries. This 
> place had hot chile peppers ground up in the batter on the catfish. 
> Just about as authentic as the "Mexican restaurant" I ventured into 
> in Brighton, England, that served me a burrito stuffed with peas and 
> carrots. But Sanderson had 3000 people before the Interstate was 
> built 60 miles north of town. Then the UP wiped out the division 
> point there when they took over the SP. Today there are about 70 
> families left, three struggling motels, two gas stations, one 
> convenience store, one restaurant ... I was just lucky I ate. The 
> people who still live there have to drive hundreds of miles just to 
> find a Family Dollar store. The nearest city of any consequence? 
> El Paso, Austin or San Antonio would be a 600 mile round trip. 
> That's what you do to buy a new truck or a suit of clothes or go to a 
> good hospital.
> 
> Speaking of hospitals. On the way home I stopped to see an old 
> friend who is scheduled for surgery on April 28 for a broken back. 
> To complicate matters worse, his wife of 53 years died one day after 
> their anniversary on April 1st. I've known this man for 46 
> years. If any of you know Bill Middleton ... sympathy and get well 
> cards are in order.
> 
> Now I need to get to hospital for blood work for my own surgery on 
> Friday ... routine stent. I'm tired of the angina pains at 7000 
> feet above sea level.
> 
> Perfesser Fred
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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