[PRCo] Last car on 6/14 Avalon

Mon Apr 8 19:45:40 EDT 2013

Bob

No photo was attached.  No doubt the dreaded ecartis ate it, as it is wont 
to do.

At about the time quoted, we were in the bar cursing Dameron.

Dwight

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Rathke" <bobrathke at comcast.net>
To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" 
<pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 7:05 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Last car on 6/14 Avalon

>
>
> The last trip on 6/14-Avalon was very crowded. At the Avalon loop, 
> passengers left the trolley (1799) for brief remarks by Avalon officials, 
> and then we re-boarded for the ( need I say "quiet"?) tri p back downtown.
>
>
>
> I took the attached photo as the riders were starting to re-board 1799 in 
> Avalon. I believe that's John Dameron in the black coat talking to the 
> motorman. Time was around 1:00 am on Sunday, May 1, 1966.
>
>
>
> Bob
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
> From: "Dwight Long" <dwightlong at verizon.net>
> To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" 
> <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 8, 2013 4:19:13 PM
> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of 
> oldandabandonedbuildings in Western Pa.
>
>
> Bob
>
> Thanks for that clarification.
>
> I did not ride any trip on 6/14 on that day. Went right to the Brass Rail
> upon return of the last 21 trip, then split for Hoosierland.
>
> Dwight
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bob Rathke" <bobrathke at comcast.net>
> To: "Western PA Trolley discussion"
> <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 4:58 PM
> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of
> oldandabandonedbuildings in Western Pa.
>
>
>>
>>
>> Dwight,
>>
>>
>>
>> "The second half of the last trolley day" referred to the last regularly
>> scheduled trip on 6/14-Avalon which occured immediately following the 
>> last
>> regularly scheduled trip on 21-Fineview..
>>
>>
>>
>> The last regular service day for 21 and 14/6 was Saturday, April 30, 
>> 1966.
>> The last car on 21 arrived back downtown from Fineview a little before
>> Midnight, and then went to Tunnel CH. A few minutes later the last 
>> regular
>> service car on 14/6 left downtown for Avalon, and returned back downtown
>> around 2am on Sunday, May 1.
>>
>>
>>
>> I was on the last regular service trips on both 21 and 6/14. I 've heard
>> that there was a charter that ran on Finview after the last regular
>> service trip there, but I don't know when that occured . I'm not sure if
>> there was also an after-service charter on 6/14.
>>
>>
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>
>>
>> From: "Dwight Long" <dwightlong at verizon.net>
>> To: "Western PA Trolley discussion"
>> <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
>> Sent: Monday, April 8, 2013 2:32:30 PM
>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of old
>> andabandonedbuildings in Western Pa.
>>
>>
>> Bob
>>
>> Not sure to what you refer. I was on the last trip of Rt. 21 and then a
>> few
>> of us retired to a Brass Rail in the Triangle (on Liberty or Penn??) to
>> cry
>> in our beer over the loss. What was the "last trolley day?" Some
>> enthusiast tour?
>>
>> I'm sending this from my portable and don't have my records at hand or
>> could
>> tell you the exact date. It was in 1966 for sure.
>>
>> Dwight
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Bob Rathke" <bobrathke at comcast.net>
>> To: "Western PA Trolley discussion"
>> <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
>> Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 1:17 PM
>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of old
>> andabandonedbuildings in Western Pa.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dwight,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> There was a Brass Rail on E. Ohio St. Did you skip the se cond half of
>>> the
>>> "last trolley day" on 4/3 0/66?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> That night I rode the last 21-Fine view car out to Fineview and back to
>>> downtown, then caught the last 6/14 trolley and rode out to Avalon and
>>> back. I took the attached photo as a group of fans on Penn Ave. made the
>>> dash to board 1799.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>
>>>
>>> From: "Dwight Long" <dwightlong at verizon.net>
>>> To: "Western PA Trolley discussion"
>>> <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
>>> Sent: Monday, April 8, 2013 11:43:33 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of old and
>>> abandonedbuildings in Western Pa.
>>>
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>> My last (somewhat faint) memory of the Brass Rail is consuming mass
>>> quantities of beer in one of their outlets after I had ridden the last
>>> ever Rt. 21 Fineview car,
>>>
>>> Dwight
>>>
>>> From: Bob Rathke
>>> Sent: Monday, 08 April, 2013 12:23
>>> To: Western PA Trolley discussion
>>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of old and
>>> abandonedbuildings in Western Pa.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fred,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> While you're remembering Fifth and Liberty Avenues, don't forget Frank &
>>> Seder, Spear and May Stern department/furniture stores. Also 5&10's G.C.
>>> Murphy and Grants; the Brass Rail and Bards (similar to Isaly's, but 
>>> Bard
>>> stores were in the neighborhoods, not downtown ).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My grandmother worked at Rosenbaums before she was married. The 
>>> Rosenbaum
>>> building was a solid structure , and it took months to dem olish it
>>> before
>>> they could start building the parking garage that's on the site now. My
>>> grandfather worked at Boggs & Buhl and was an office boy for R.H. Boggs,
>>> but his family encouraged him to leave the store and learn a trade. The
>>> R.H. Boggs home on the Mexican War Streets is now a B&B.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My paternal great grandfather was fire engineer at the City of Allegheny
>>> fire station No. 2 on Concord St. from 1868 to the early 1900's (see
>>> attached photo). I also have a photo of him working in Johnstown after
>>> the
>>> 1889 flood (I assume that Allegheny sent fireman to Johnstown to help
>>> out). And I have copies of his Civil War records and pension.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> About the Brass Rail: the restaurants had a large (probably 5 'X10 ')
>>> copy
>>> of a painting behi nd the bar. The painting depicted a 1930-style bus,
>>> but
>>> the bus was five stories tall and looked like a cruise ship on wheels.
>>> The
>>> title of the painting was, "A bus salesman's dream in 1960". I wonder if
>>> that painting survived the restaurants.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>
>>>
>>> From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
>>> To: "Western PA Trolley discussion"
>>> <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
>>> Sent: Monday, April 8, 2013 10:43:23 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Facebook page for posting photos of old and 
>>> abandoned
>>> buildings in Western Pa.
>>>
>>> You know you are old, Bob, when someone asks "What's a McCrorys?" Think
>>> of
>>> all those old store names that are no longer there. I will confine 
>>> myself
>>> to western Pennsylvania … Woolworths, Gimbels, Kaufmans, Joseph Horne,
>>> Rosenbaums, Boggs and Buhl, Isalys.
>>>
>>> Yup…. And you now have to be in your 40s to understand what communism 
>>> was
>>> like in eastern Europe. In a way, I guess I am rather glad that I
>>> vacationed in East Germany before the wall came down and saw it. I 
>>> guess,
>>> as ugly as history can be, I guess it was also good for me that I
>>> experienced the segregated southern states … black and white drinking
>>> fountains, toilets, restaurants, etc.
>>>
>>> Now, how the hell do I explain to my granddaughter and her husband, who
>>> is
>>> of African descent, what it would have been like living in this country
>>> 60
>>> or more years ago?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Apr 4, 2013, at 1:19 PM, Bob Rathke wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here's a Facebook page containing photos of old and abondoned 
>>>> structures
>>>> in Western Pa. It contains a few rail photos. I've posted some of my
>>>> 1956-82 photos in the section for, "Recent posts by others".
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> See:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Abandoned-Old-Interesting-Places-Western-PA/237114536307967?sk=photos#!/pages/Abandoned-Old-Interesting-Places-Western-PA/237114536307967
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
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