[PRCo] Re: F Market GPS

[Herb Brannon]

At PRCo and PATransit it was/is termed "Car On Time or Coach On Time
depending as to streetcar or bus. Times when I worked the extra board I
always enjoyed a "COT Car". At Library we would pull into the spur and at
Drake we would pull into the short piece of track just before the beginning
of the old bridge over Drake Road. There was just enough room to put a car
into the former main line at Drake. When a Library car was running late I
would pull back onto the main (loop) track, reset and plug the switch for
the curve, then leave on the late cars time. I knew what car to look for as
did the operator of the late car. When we met we stopped and exchanged cars.
Then I took the late car to Library Loop, discharged the passengers, backed
north again to clear the switch, set the switch for the old main, now a
spur, reset and plugged the switch and waited for the next late car. Drake
operated the same way using the old mainline spur to hold the COT car until
needed. Resetting and plugging the switches had to be done properly to
prevent a derailment at both locations. At Clearview Loop if it was during
the times that the 42/38A (Shannon extension) was NOT running then I would
set the COT car on the 38A track just clear of the switch at the car stop.
If it was during the operating hours of the 38A then I waited at the "back"
of Clearview Loop. As ON TIME cars arrived I just let the on time operator
take the COT car and I took his/her car. I would keep trading cars until a
LATE arrival was reported. Then I left on the late cars time and met up and
exchanged cars again then back to Clearview Loop to exchange and wait for
another late car. Buses were done in the same manner only without the track
work involved with the streetcars.
When I worked at Capital Metro in Austin I suggested the COT system and they
started a version (similar to the Harrisburg plan) where a couple buses were
held at S. Lamar Blvd & Barton Springs Road, downtown, and then sent to
start the outbound trips of late buses. The driver exchange occured and the
COT driver brought the late bus into downtown Austin then went back to the
waiting area for another assignment.

COT systems work nicely.

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 15:40, John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> That's why PRC had 'put on time' cars.  (is that official name???)  One
> location was Jane St. loop for route 76 in pm peak.
>
> CAT in Harrisburg is considering stationing an extra driver and bus at 7th
> and Dock St. in pm peak.  This has been discussed with Tom Collins, which is
> a name Fred will recognize from high school.
>
> Cheers
> John
>
>
>
>
> > From: dwightlong at verizon.net
> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: F Market GPS
> > Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2011 10:34:16 -0400
> >
> > Fred
> >
> > It's an old Pittsburgh expression regarding PRC service disruptions.
> David H. Hamley ought to remember it--he used it often enough. So should
> Rick Hannegan.
> >
> > Dwight
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Fred Schneider
> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > Sent: Saturday, 09 July, 2011 22:25
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: F Market GPS
> >
> >
> > I never thought of grapes also coming in bunches. :<)
> >
> > Years ago it was Boston that had such lax supervision that a friend of
> mine coined the term banana dispatching.
> >
> >
> > On Jul 9, 2011, at 9:18 PM, Dwight Long wrote:
> >
> > > Fred
> > >
> > > Is that a tropical version of the grape method?
> > >
> > > Dwight
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Fred Schneider
> > > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> > > Sent: Saturday, 09 July, 2011 13:45
> > > Subject: [PRCo] Re: F Market GPS
> > >
> > >
> > > I see that today, just like the last time I looked at this, Muni is
> still using that ever dependable banana system of dispatching.
> > >
> > >
> > > On Jul 9, 2011, at 1:29 PM, Ray wrote:
> > >
> > >>
> > >> http://www.nextmuni.com/googleMap/googleMap.jsp?a=sf-muni&r=F#
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> One of the wonders of GPS.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>


-- 
Herb Brannon
In Cuyahoga Valley National Park