[PRCo] Re: Westside Cars

[Jerry "Matt" Matsick]

Special Thanks to John and Fred!    thanks for the info, as a small kid of 10 in the mid l940s seeing a Jones Low Floor Car on McKean Ave  was a big thrill to me, today in the town of Donora, the memory of Street Cars probably is all but gone except for the wye track at the old Donora Station which still stands
Jerry Matsick

----- Original Message -----
From: John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com>
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
Sent: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:00:05 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Westside Cars



I was always amused by the editorial in a July 1, 1863 Pittsburgh paper from a reporter 'in the field' dated June 30th.  "the armies are on the move, but there is no possibility of a battle for at least a week."

As for Mon Valley newspapers, we have already read the Mon Valley Republician from around 1890 to 1908.  That should give Jerry a start.

Cheers
John




> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Westside Cars
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:06:28 -0500
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
> 
> Probably because they planned to go there and never did. Webster is north of the bridge where they crossed. Monessen actually became the important town over that way. Across from Donora and then south. The answer to that might also lie in the state charter file in Harrisburg. Often they submitted maps showing they planned to lay down rails to every community within 20 miles in any direction.
> 
> Why was the trolley company in Lancaster Pennsylvania in 1890-1900 called the Pennsylvania Traction Company? Answer: They had grandiose delusions. We have found one map to show that they planned to link every city and town between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. As it was, before they went bankrupt in 1899, they had about 30 miles of track in Lancaster County. What developed out of it? Part of Edison Electric Illuminating Company became part of Pennsylvania Power and Light Co., today's PPL Electric Utilities. 
> 
> Why was the Boston and Maine Railroad running into New York state? Why wasn't Boston in the corporate name of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad? Why did the Pennsylvania Railroad go all the way to Chicago and St. Louis? (Because the Pennsy started out as a railroad to absorb the canal and ended up absorbing everything it could get its claws on.) 
> 
> Why did the Illinois Traction System change its name to Illinois Terminal? Terminal? A disease maybe?
> 
> When you retire, Jerry, you need to come north and read all those newspapers in the Charleroi area and maybe you will get a clue. But you may also find that reading one newspaper is insufficient.
> 
> I can tell you some neat stories from trying to dig the Conestoga Traction Company history out of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania newspapers. One newspaper hated the trolleys (or horse cars) and the other liked them. Therefore you had to read both papers because one printed all the accidents in full gory detail and the other told us whenever they bought a new car or painted an old one. My favorite story was how the one which hated the system wrote of the "5:30 express thundering up George Street in Millersville ran over and killed Mr. Berkehiser's pet dog." Or whatever the guy's name ways. Then it went on to describe how important the dog was. The thundering express was a horse car clip-clopping along at all of five miles per hour! 
> 
> The two newspapers also differed on their opinions of the War Between the States. One reported all the details while the other apparently felt it would go away if they ignored it. The second one only mentioned it once in five years and that was about two column inches to tell us that the north won the Battle of Gettysburg, 37 miles from here. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Dec 22, 2011, at 10:06 AM, Jerry Matt Matsick wrote:
> 
> > Why was the town name of "Webster" used in the name: > Webster, Monessen, Belle Vernon and Fayette City. I had the privilege of tracing the route of this line back in 2006 with Derrick, Mark and Fred and found it most interesting, however don't remember going to Webster, was that a future stop for the line?
> > Jerry Matsick
> > 
> > 
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Dwight Long 
> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
> > Sent: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:53:37 -0000 (UTC)
> > Subject: [PRCo] Westside Cars
> > 
> > 
> > Fred
> > 
> > The impetus for LVT not using the Westside cars, which in addition to 
> > regauging, would have required substantial rebuilding and upgrading to make 
> > them acceptable as Liberty Bell Route tripper cars, was the availability of 
> > six of the SEL&BVT Kuhlmans of 1926, which required virtually NO rework for 
> > LVT's purposes. LVT did do some sheet metal changes and other mainly 
> > cosmetic work on the "Steubenvilles." They lasted a year longer than the 
> > Bell, but all, regrettably, went to their demise at Bethlehem Steel in 1952.
> > 
> > Dwight
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Fred Schneider" 
> > To: 
> > Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 9:26 PM
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Will wonders never cease?
> > 
> > 
> >> Webster, Monessen, Belle Vernon and Fayette City. It shared carbarn and 
> >> officers with Westside. In 1926 they both bought three identical Kuhlman 
> >> lightweight cars. For all intents, the two companies were one and the 
> >> same. The both quit in 1933 and their six newer cars found their way to 
> >> Allentown, PA after about five years sitting idle in the barn in 
> >> Charleroi. Lehigh Valley Transit then changed its mind about spending the 
> >> money to regauge them and sold them instead to Virginia Electric and 
> >> Power. VE&P had a dual gauge operation in Norfolk ... South Norfolk was 
> >> broad gauge. I think the line through to the Naval Base might also have 
> >> been wide gauge. I don't remember all the numbers in Norfolk but 703 was 
> >> of the Charleroi cars.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> On Dec 21, 2011, at 8:39 PM, Phillip Clark Campbell wrote:
> >> 
> >>> :-D)
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> Phil
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> ________________________________
> >>> From: Derrick Brashear 
> >>> To: "pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org" 
> >>> Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 8:26 PM
> >>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Will wonders never cease?
> >>> 
> >>> Monessen belle vernon webster and east bumf*ck. I don't remember but it's 
> >>> something ludicrous
> >>> 
> >>> Derrick
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
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