[PRCo] Re: derail

Fri Apr 24 19:31:34 EDT 2009

The following is from the Pennsylvania Antique Motor Bus Society:

Shafer Coach Lines (SCL) can trace its roots back to May of 1928 when
a small bus line was started by a Mr. Helsley to connect the
Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo) streetcar line 23 in Coraopolis to
Clinton which was 10 miles away. This two bus operation had its rights
renewed for this feeder type service in 1930 but were not renewed
after that so it is assumed that the service was abandoned between
1930 and 1932.

The next attempt at a bus line in the Coraopolis area was made in 1937
by William A. Shafer, an operator of a trucking line. Applications
were filed for 4 routes, one of which was Mr. Helsley's old route.
Three of the routes were granted quickly by the PSC and by August of
1937, operations commenced on the original route, a
Coraopolis-Imperial feeder, and a line from Coraopolis to Aliquippa
via Broadhead Road. The 4th route was held up as the application was
considered competitive to the PRCo 23 streetcar route as well as the
fact that the Ohio River Motor Coach Company also applied for a
similar route at the same time.

The SCL was ultimately awarded the rights to the line over Ohio River
Motor Coach in the summer of 1938 and service was started on this line
after 5 new Beaver Coaches were delivered in August of 1938. This 4th
line was considered the backbone of the SCL operation and ran from
Aliquippa to Pittsburgh via Neville Island, McKees Rocks and the West
End (similar to the 21A Coraopolis to Aliquippa route of PAT today).

An additional line was added in November of 1938 and went from McKees
Rocks to Coraopolis and Sewickley via Kenmawr. The Coraopolis-Clinton
line was also extended to Groveton at this time to provide extra
service on a portion of the new line.

The next major service changes for SCL occurred in 1943 when 2 of the
feeder routes were cut back from their original termination points and
a new route in October of 1943 was instituted from Coraopolis to the
Mooncrest housing project.

Although the PSC (later the PUC) tended to restrict local traffic on
certain carriers if competition would result, the PRCo streetcar line
23 and SCL had no such restriction outside of the City of Pittsburgh.
PRCo and SCL had what many would call a competition war, primarily in
the Coraopolis area. SCL had similar headways and fares during the
1940's and 50's as the PRCo 23 line did. Based on events that
occurred, it appeared that SCL had its buses scheduled just ahead of
the PRCo streetcars and to counter the loss of ridership, PRCo
increased service on the line. SCL filed a complaint with the PUC
claiming that PRCo was engaging in unfair competition by increasing
service on its line and the PUC upheld the complaint.

The action by the PUC, as well as losing passengers, revenue and the
fact that there was yet another application for a competitive bus
service along its route (which was later denied by the PUC), made PRCo
cut back the 23 line to Graham Loop on Neville Island and later to
Fleming Park Loop in West Park. A short lived bus feeder was run from
1953 to August 15, 1955 by PRCo from Fleming Park Loop to Graham Loop
after the second cutback but was abandoned due to declining ridership.
After the PRCo feeder was abandoned, SCL had exclusive service on
Neville Island as well as Coraopolis.

No major changes in service occurred for SCL for almost 20 years
except for adjustments to accommodate changing traffic patterns,
primarily the opening of the Fort Pitt Bridge in 1959. The only other
notable event was a deviation on the Pittsburgh-Coraopolis-Airport
line to serve Sharon Hill Manor in Moon Township in 1963.

It needs to be noted that the Airport service that SCL ran was heavily
restricted as Airlines Transportation Company held rights to haul
passengers to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. SCL ran trips intended
only for airline employees to get to and from work.

SCL's equipment was in good shape and maintained exceptionally well.
They were one of the few Pittsburgh independents that exclusively
operated transit buses without center doors which some call muzzle
loaders. At takeover the SCL turned over 29 buses and 5 routes to PAT.

________________________________
Acquired Equipment (with PAT number if re-numbered)
Shafer NumberMakeModelYearPAT Number
59BrillC-311951186
61-62BrillC-311951194,197
63-64BrillC-311951195,196
65BrillC-311951198
67BrillC-311951199
69-71BeaverB-35-PT1952686-688
72BeaverB-40-PT1953689
73-78GMTDH37141954760-765
79-80GMTDH45121955401-402
81-82GMTDH45121956403-404
83-84GMTDH45121957405-406
85-86GMTDH45171960571-572
87GMTDH45121955407
88-89GMTDH45121953408-409
90GMTDH45121955410

Note: Coaches 88-90 were second hand.

________________________________
Routes (shown with PAT numbers)
21A Coraopolis
21B Kenmawr
25A Sewickley - Groveton
25B Broadhead Road
38A Airport Express

On Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 3:58 PM, Phillip Clark Campbell
<pcc_sr at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Mr.Barry;
>
>
> You always come up with very interesting photos don't you.
>
> It will take some time to study this photo;  only the one overhead wire curves
> onto the bridge.  The other wire could curve out of the picture to allow for
> overhang of car ends.  I have the collection of bus articles on Pittsburgh;
> now I need to find them and see if 'Shafer' routes can be identified.  Can we
> deduce that trolleys are 4 times heavier than 'heavy' trucks?
>
> It is now very tricky to save huge files isn't it since one can't right click.  It
> is necessary to save parts and do a photo merge.  Must be an easier way.
>
> This is a favorite of mine:
> http://tinyurl.com/1515on50SmithfieldWater
>
>
> Phil
>
>
>
>
>
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: "Barry, Matthew R" <mrb190 at pitt.edu>
> > To: "pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
> > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 6:50:58 AM
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: derail
> >
> > I got the photo from the Historic Pittsburgh site.   There's a couple more
> > interesting ones on there, such as this one...   anyone know the bridge?
> > Here is the link to the new set on Historic Pittsburgh:
> > http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?c=ascgen&g=imls&page=index
> >
> >
> > Matt
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
> > [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of Phillip
> > Clark Campbell
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 2:51 PM
> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: derail
> >
> >
> > Mr.Barry;
> >
> > Great photo isn't it; where did you find it?
> >
> >
> > -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
> > -- Type: image/jpeg
> > -- Desc: bridge_restriction.jpg
> > -- Size: 354k (362513 bytes)
> > -- URL :
> > http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/bridge_restriction.jpg
>
>
>
>
>
>

--
Herb Brannon
On America's North Coast
Where It Was 85-degrees Today --- The First 80+ Degree Day In 222 Days