[PRCo] Last car on 6/14 Avalon

Bob Rathke bobrathke at comcast.net
Mon Apr 8 19:55:53 EDT 2013


The photo was attached to my outgoing e-mail, but it wasn't there when I received my copy from the List. Let's try again. 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Bob Rathke" <bobrathke at comcast.net> 
To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org> 
Sent: Monday, April 8, 2013 6:05:40 PM 
Subject: 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"?) trip 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 


----- Forwarded 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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