[PRCo] Re: "West Pittsburgh" - Cleveland ETB's

[Dwight Long]

John

Do you recall the date of your 1958 trip in Johnstown?  If it were a PERC-run deal, I probably was on it as well.

As to taking additional depreciation, I don't think that entered much into the decision.  If they scrapped the whole thing, they would get a tax deduction equal to any remaining depreciation and they would get it all at once instead of spread out over the years.  I think you are on the right track, but that the companies which did this did it because there was actual use, not just accounting legerdemain, left in the electrical assets, and the managers of the companies wanted to get some use out of them.  Back in those days these enterprises WERE run with a goal of making a profit-----------------

Dwight
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Swindler 
  To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
  Sent: Monday, 14 March, 2011 12:45
  Subject: [PRCo] Re: "West Pittsburgh" - Cleveland ETB's



   
  Likewise it was early teen years, but still recall that it was Horner St. around 1958.  This was on first trip to Johnstown with John Baxter.  Couple years later rode a Cleveland trackless.  And then around age 21-22 drove Marmons and Brills in Chicago.  Yes, the acceleration was great, but it still helped to start forward as light was changing from yellow.  Most motorists don't pay any attention to cross street traffic signals.
   
  Most recent rides were in Philadelphia on one of their ASV.  And yes, they do get an electric vehicle state inspection sticker. 
   
  In some cases the trackless were installed to take advantage of additional depreciation on the electrical fixed assets.   
   
  Cheers
  John
   

   
  > Subject: [PRCo] Re: "West Pittsburgh" - Cleveland ETB's
  > From: fwschneider at comcast.net
  > Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:42:33 -0400
  > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
  > 
  > Fred isn't sure where he first saw and rode on a TC? Philadelphia or Baltimore or Columbus. One of those foggy things in the early teens. Just saw ... well add Cincinnati or Cleveland or Chicago or Montreal or Boston? I'm sure I rode them in San Francisco but that wasn't early. 
  > 
  > They sure had impressive acceleration compared to diesel or gas buses. I remember a New Orleans operator pushing the pedal to the metal on Saint Claude in 1958. Damn that Marmon took off. I had to admit that rubber tires on dry pavement had a lot more traction that steel wheels on steel rails under a PCC, especially when climbing up Perrysville Avenue. 
  > 
  > The problem for a private sector business was that we installed trolley coaches after it was in a declining market when it was no longer profitable to run streetcars and it rapidly became just as uneconomical to run the TCs. General Electric used to a publish a brochure showing that their effective operating window for a TC was when headways were between 5 and 8 minutes. Well, it didn't take long after the war for headways to drop from 5 to 6 to 7 to 10 to 20 minutes. 
  > 
  > I think Pittsburgh Railways' good fortune was that they never did put trolley coaches out in the west end. Hindsight is pretty clear. 
  > 
  > 
  > On Mar 14, 2011, at 10:37 AM, Dwight Long wrote:
  > 
  > > Bob
  > > 
  > > Ha! I also grew up in Pgh area in 40s and 50s, but my first TC sighting was in Kansas City, Mo., in 1945. I had a choice of riding on one or on a KC tram (which even could have been a Birney then--I saw some in service--and since I had never ever seen such a thing as a TC I opted to ride it. Big mistake--I never rode a KC tram (at least not in KC).
  > > 
  > > Dwight
  > > 
  > > ---
  > 
  >