[PRCo] Re: Fineview Line - Did Streetcars Scrape Bottom?

[Phillip Clark Campbell]

The lifeguard apparatus is often the culprit Mr.Barry.  This is the lowest
item on the Pcc cars isn't it.  The lifeguard up front is 9-inches above the
rail while the body is 12" most likely tare weight; a load would narrow
both figures wouldn't it.  The scoop behind the guard is mounted lower
but I have not seen figures for height above the rails.
Comments about grades on Fineview were forwarded some time within
the last year.  It seems the steepest grade was short in length where
the line turned off Federal onto Henderson.  Cars generally do not
scrape between trucks which house electrical gear so cresting grades
is not a problem; it is generally entering grades.  Compound curves where
a grade change is experienced on a turn may increase the chance of the
lifeguard 'scraping.'

It is nothing sensational like automobiles going airborne, then bottoming
when they return to earth is it.  It is a minor phenomenom with the trolleys.


Phil






>________________________________
> From: "Barry, Matthew R" <mrb190 at pitt.edu>
>To: "pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org" <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org> 
>Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 3:28 PM
>Subject: [PRCo] Fineview Line - Did Streetcars Scrape Bottom?
> 
>I have a March 1966 issue of Traction Models, in which the Fineview line is profiled.  The writer details the many facets of the unusual route, and at one point mentions that the streetcar "scraped bottom" going along a certain part of the route.    This may have been jest on the writer's part; I am not sure.   Some of the tone of the piece is light, which is why I say "jest."    So, did the cars scrape bottom at any point?  Perhaps at the highest point, on Lanark?
>The writer also asks the readers, and members of the Arden Trolley Museum to petition to keep the Fineview line intact, as a tourist attraction for Pittsburgh.  He notes San Francisco's cable cars, and New Orleans.  He doesn't mention the St. Charles line, but probably is referring to that if mentioning Orleans.
>
>I should scan this article and share with you guys.  It's way, way, way out-of-print.
>
>Matt
>