[PRCo] Re: Roll signs Interurbans

[Herb Brannon]

PATransit was always experimenting with buses and PCCs during the time I
worked there. I know they (PAT) amazed the General Motors Truck &
Coach technical staff by changing out the 6-cylinder engine in an 1100series
bus to an 8-cylinder engine. GMC said it couldn't be done. PAT did it and
the bus ran for years with no problems. It just ran faster. Several of the
35 footers were given nicely appointed interiors with "club" seating. Some
seats faced each other and had tables in between. The rear seat became a
wrap-around sofa-type seat. These buses were normally placed on feeder lines
in more affluent areas to keep them in one piece. Others were just
overhauled but had new and better seating installed. Of course we all
know of the various experiments to make the PCCs more advanced. Ah, the
"glory days" of Port Authority Transit.
On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 19:47, John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Thanks, Herb
>
> PAT seemed to get rid of buses somewhat early - the 1100s being an
> exception.  Didn't they get sent out for major overhaul to get a few more
> years of use?
>
> to change topic, somewhat, was on a GG&C bus in Washington last week, and
> two passengers commented about waiting for the trolleys.  One women said she
> was on the last car, and knew it was 1711.  Said that Clarence Brill was a
> neighbor (thought his name was Charles) and that he loved his job as a PRC
> motorman.
>
> Cheers
> John
>
>
>
> > From: hrbran at cavtel.net
> > Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 21:35:56 -0400
>  > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Roll signs Interurbans
> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >
> > Yes, the 35foot models were the 1000s and 1100s. The 35footers had,
> pretty
> > much, the standard GMC 'New Look' seating arrangement. However, the
> 2100s,
> > 2200s, and even the 2300s had the PCC "air car" seating arrangement. The
> > 2300s had longitudinal seats on both sides of the aisle from the front to
> > the center doors. However, the 2100s and 2200s only had the longitudinal
> > seats on the "closed" (behind operators seat) side of the bus. These
> buses
> > also had (and I presume it was not a planned thing) an air compressor
> which
> > was very audible to persons standing along either side of the bus. They
> > sounded like a streetcar when standing at an idle. The air compressor
> would
> > go on and off, with a clicking and puffing sound, like something on a
> > conventional streetcar. These buses were for the Craft Avenue
> conversions. I
> > worked out of East Liberty division for several years. East Liberty was
> the
> > largest garage in the PAT system and housed all the routes from the
> former
> > Homewood, Herron Hill, Highland Park, and Craft Avenue car houses plus
> > several former independent bus operations.
> > On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 19:40, John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > The first purchase were the 2000 series and 1000 series, 102 inch wide
> in
> > > 40 and 35 foot length.  It was the 1100 series that came with the 2100
> and
> > > 2200 series.  The 11s were 35 foot, 96 in width and I would frequently
> ride
> > > them on 41A.  They lasted a long time.
> > >
> > > What about the seats in front half of the 2100 and 2200 group.  Were
> there
> > > not some longitudinal seats?  I thought these were intended for Craft
> Ave.
> > > conversions.  But my memory is very foggy trying to go back that far.
> > >
> > >
> > > > From: hrbran at cavtel.net
> > > > Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 21:16:14 -0400
> > > > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Roll signs Interurbans
> > >  > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > > >
> > > > Speaking of destination signs. One interesting group of PATransit
> > > vehicles
> > > > were the 2100- and 2200-series GMC 40foot buses and their
> counterparts of
> > > > the 35foot model which I don't remember the fleet series numbers. I
> > > operated
> > > > these buses at East Liberty division. They came equipped with split
> > > > destination signs. These signs had the *route number and name* on the
> > > > curbside sign and all the *destinations* on the streetside sign.
> Also,
> > > the
> > > > curbside signs had the route numbers in both 'plain' and 'red
> diagonal
> > > > striped'. Very rarely could an operator use the 'red diagonal
> striped'
> > > > number/route name curtain unless a short-turn was ordered by the
> Traffic
> > > > Controller or a Route Foreman. These vehicles had extremely long
> > > curtains.
> > > > This was the first time I ever saw the designations for 71A Negley,
> 71B
> > > > Highland Pk, 71C Wilkinsburg, and 71D Hamilton. The signs also had
> the
> > > > 71/73/75/76 aspects. Interestingly, these buses were manufactured in
> the
> > > > late 1960s/early 1970s. Just a bit of Pgh transit trivia.   :-)
> > > > On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 13:06, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > A number of PCC operators had split front destination signs.  The
> one
> > > > > (typically) on the left (as one faces the car) had the route name
> and
> > > the
> > > > > one on the right had the destination.  This was a better system for
> > > > > companies with a lot of cutbacks and alternate routings.  PRC tried
> to
> > > > > handle these by establishing separate route numbers, i.e. 43, 69,
> 55B,
> > > etc.
> > > > >  Not nearly as elegant a system as split signs!
> > > > >
> > > > > And, of course, it did not work on the interurban lines where,
> prior to
> > > > > 1953, there were no route numbers, just destinations--and they were
> not
> > > > > always properly displayed!
> > > > >
> > > > > Dwight
> > > > >
> > > > >  ----- Original Message -----
> > > > >  From: Fred Schneider
> > > > >  To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > > > >   Sent: Sunday, 31 October, 2010 11:12
> > > > >  Subject: [PRCo] Re: Roll signs Interurbans
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Herb Brannon
> > > > > In Cuyahoga Valley National Park
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Herb Brannon
> > In Cuyahoga Valley National Park
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>


-- 
Herb Brannon
In Cuyahoga Valley National Park