[PRCo] Fwd: Re: Pa Trolley Museum on KDKA

[bill937ca]

--- In LRPPro at yahoogroups.com, Edson Tennyson <etennyson at ...> wrote:

IT  WAS  NOT  THE  BEST  IN  1925.:
   In that KDKA Trolley Museum news report they stated that the now  
old orange low fioor 375? car was the BEST of the art in 1925
for service on the Charleroi and Washington lines.  They were  
multiple unit and that is what the were bought for BUT they
were lousy for that service, even though they had high backed rattan  
forward facing seats, and a smoking compartment.
Thomas Fitzgerald was General Manager, Vice President  and Trustee  
from 1925 to 1950 and he told me himself
"those cars were the worst mistake I ever made."
   By 1928, they had been replaced by the 3800 series Saint Louis Car  
Co. interurbans which were also lemons of a different flavor.
One car was so bad it never ran but sat at Homewood shop to be  
cannibalized for parts.  I think the body was too weak for the iength  
and
stresses on bad track at high speed.  The other 14   3800's served  
pretty well from 1928 to 1949 when their very poor condition required
replacement by PCC cars equipped with B-3 trucks for use on bad  
track.  The 3750's of 1925 were sent to Route #23 Sewickley for service
on that suburban run which required doors be cut in the left side  
front for passengers to get on and off on Neville Island
where the track was too close to the road to permit boarding on the  
street side of the car.  The 3750's lasted longer than the newer 3800's
as P.Ry.Co liked  them for Library rush hour tripper service and  
sometimes Canonsburg and Finleyville trippers.  There was no loop at
Finleyville so they were really New Eagle (Riverview) trippers that  
dead-headed back to South Hills Junction to balance crews between
Charleroi and South Hills.  As a commuter on the Charleroi line 1947  
to 1949, I often rode both 1925 and 1928 model cars. The 3750's
were stripped of their interurban seats and were little different  
from  city cars but one had kept its interurban interior.
  			                                                                 
																E d  T  e n n y s o n


On Aug 19, 2009, at 11:26 PM, John Swindler wrote:
> Pennsylvania trolley museum made KDKA news - On link below, click  
> on horsecar for video.  Dial up might have problems with video due  
> to possible file size.
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> John
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> Subject: KDKA
> Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:56:43 -0400
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> http://kdka.com/kdcountry/Pennsylvania.trolley.museum.2.1129569.html
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