[PRCo] Re: derail

Fri Apr 24 19:40:58 EDT 2009

Then the bridge in the photo is likely the old one at the east end of
Neville Island. 

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of Herb
Brannon
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 7:32 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: derail

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_restricti
> > on.jpg
>
>
>
>
>
>

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