[PRCo] Fwd: PRCo Armed Motormen

Fred Schneider fwschneider at comcast.net
Sun Aug 4 08:49:02 EDT 2013 

Can you imagine a guy used to looking out over a hood to position himself in the street … and suddenly he comes to work and has no reference points to tell him where he is except looking backwards in his mirrors?   And his front wheels are now behind him instead of in front of him so it doesn't turn corners like the old school bus.   Talk about baptism under fire.  There are those cases that simply having a drivers license doesn't give us the experience to handle!   The guy or gal who cannot think has a real problem.

Sort of reminds me of my days teaching school when I was also a relief school bus driver (great way to get out of my homeroom at the end of the day).   Every bus was a little different the worst memory was the bus with defective brakes … and a fully non-synchromesh transmission.   Fortunately I understood double clutching.   When the brake pedal went to the floor I could gear down and use the hand brake and didn't kill a bunch of kids.   But the embarrassing moment was the one with the lousy steering radius … worst in the fleet … and I wasn't expecting it.   Can you imagine having to back up and take a new swing at an intersection when the bus is loaded with junior high school brats?   



On Aug 3, 2013, at 8:00 PM, Dwight Long wrote:

> 
> John
> 
> I remember one of Dave Hamley’s stories about one of the one horse bus lines taken over by PAT at the outset.  It concerned a driver who routinely wore bib overalls to drive the school bus type bus that company used for transit service.  One day he showed up for work, dressed as usual (for him) but instead of the school bus he was presented a brand new gray and red PAT bus.  Talk about contrasts!
> 
> But the story as Dave told it was much better to hear than it is for me to try to write it.
> 
> Dwight
> 
> From: John Swindler 
> Sent: Saturday, 03 August, 2013 14:51
> To: Western PA Trolley discussion 
> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Fwd: PRCo Armed Motormen
> 
> Included are two of Fred's "school buses".  
> 
> First pix is Beaver County Transit Auth. local bus in Aliquippa.  Parlor coaches are used for Pgh. service. 
> 
> Mid Mon Valley only has 4-5 employees.  They subcontract with First Transit for operators and maintenance.  
> 
> I'm suggesting costs will go up to 'equalize' with Div. 85 rates, just as the independent operators rates went up in 1964 to equalize with PRC rates.  That's what the pamphlet says.  
> 
> As for school buses, they are useful if you want to charter a vehicle to follow West Penn rights of way.   But GG&C does not use school buses on fixed route service.  Gillig transit buses are used for Pgh service, and accessible vans are used for Washington local service.  
> 
> John
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
>> Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 14:16:31 -0400
>> To: pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org
>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Fwd: PRCo Armed Motormen
>> 
>> You suggesting costs will go down, John, because wages are lower in the private sector or because you can pack more people in a school bus?   :<)  
>> 
>> 
>> On Aug 3, 2013, at 1:17 PM, John Swindler wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Agreed.  Interesting how that plays out on the list, but others receiving the pamphlets might not understand.  
>>> 
>>> Speaking of the pamphlets, the PAT news has a first year review of PAT - and attributes the deficit largely to "wage equalization program which raised the wage rates of all employees to the level of the highest of the 33 acquired companies."   Guess what is going to happen if the PAT service area is expanded to the surrounding counties as currently proposed???  Some of those surrounding transit systems contract with private operators to provide service, such as Mid Mon Valley, Washington Co., and Westmoreland County.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> From: hrbran at cavtel.net
>>>> Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 11:17:21 -0400
>>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org
>>>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Fwd: PRCo Armed Motormen
>>>> 
>>>> All emails on The List play out that way.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 11:02 AM, John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com>wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> This email started with a discussion of an Oct.1931 robbery on Pittsburgh
>>>>> Rys, then digressed to transition to exact fare around 1970, an assault on
>>>>> a PAT bus driver during 1970s, to comments about PTC abandoning parts of rt
>>>>> 36 near airport.  Separately, there was a recent for a PAT smiley face.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The Pgh transit list gets the two flyers found during recent purging of
>>>>> transit stuff.  One mentions PATman; the other about Philly route 36.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Others might find the news article plus transit flyers of some interest.
>>>>> 
>>>>> With apology for not tailoring as separate emails, but getting lazy in my
>>>>> old age.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Article dated October 1931.
>>>>>> 
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>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -- 
>>>> Herb Brannon
>>>> *In Pittsburgh...The Paris of
>>>> Appalachia<http://www.arc.gov/appalachian_region/TheAppalachianRegion.asp>
>>>> *
>>>> Let's Go Bucs
>>>> 
>>>> 
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