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Classic Railroad Quiz (at least 50 years old).

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Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 3:19 PM

I just got in to Chicago.

No, neither one was listed in 1945.

One is entirely in S.C.; the other was in both S.C. and N.C.

Johnny

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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 3:59 PM

I'm running out of resources.  I come up with the Lockhart Railroad (South Carolina) and maybe the Blue Ridge Railway (S. Car, N Car and Tenn)

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Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 5:24 PM

The Blue Ridge Ry (Belton-Walhalla, S.C.) is one of the five.

The others are: Carolina & Northwestern Ry, Danville & Western Ry, Yadkin RR, and High Point Thomasville and Denton RR.

All five were listed on the same page in my 1945 Guide, and shared the top officials with the Southern Railway System. Each had its own treasurer and other officials whose positions made it desirable that they be local people. Some are still inexistence, at least in part, as part of the NS.

Did you sweat much during your research?Smile

 

 

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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 5:34 PM

I did look at the HPT&D but the sources I had didn't list it as SR affiliated. It showed up as connected to the Winston-Salem Southbound.  Nonetheless it was a fun search.

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, April 7, 2016 7:01 PM

I'll throw another OG question out.  Until the Wabash was leased by the N&W in 1964, these were the easternmost and westernmost cities listed in its timetables.

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, April 7, 2016 7:07 PM

The Wabash served Omaha and Detroit. I am working strictly from memory. At one time, I believe that it did have passenger serice into Buffalo, but I am not sure.

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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, April 8, 2016 6:24 AM

The western city I'm looking for is a lot further west than Omaha.  Buffalo is correct for the eastern end.  If it helps the train the western city is listed for only ran on the Wabash for part of the trip.

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, April 8, 2016 7:31 AM

Wabash passenger timetable showed all through .service from St. Louis via Kansas Citiy and the UP to the Pacific coast, and showed the UP connecting trains to Los Angelels, Oakland/Sann Francisco, and Portlalnd with the connections to Seattle.  Possibly the showed connecting steamer service to Ancorage, Alaska.

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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, April 8, 2016 9:42 AM

At least in the 60s they didn't show the Alaska steamships, but they did show all of the West Coast ports.  You guys decide who gets the next turn.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, April 10, 2016 2:49 AM

I should point out that at least on some Wabash timetables the times for through Pullmans to New York via either the Lackawanna or the Lehigh Valley were shown, posssibly even via the NYCentral, and possibly a through Pullman to Boston via the Central.  This was probably all before WWII, probably not the 1960's.   But maybe.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, April 10, 2016 2:51 AM

And if not thru Pullmans, just connecting service.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 11, 2016 8:29 AM

If Diggesty has a question ready, I am all for it.  If he wishes me to ask one, I will do my best to come up with one quickly.

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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, April 11, 2016 1:48 PM

Thanks, Dave.

There was a short line in the South that participated in overnight Pullman service between two state capitals; it did not serve either capital, but received a car from a Class 1 and delivered the car to the same Class 1 for arrival in the morning. Had the Class 1 road carried the car all the way, the sleepers who left feet first would have arrived head first. Name the cities, the roads--and why the cars changed direction of travel when handled solely by the Class 1 road.

I may be out of touch until lateThursday through Thursday afternoon, when I will be in theWashington station.

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 8:34 PM

Deggesty

Thanks, Dave.

There was a short line in the South that participated in overnight Pullman service between two state capitals; it did not serve either capital, but received a car from a Class 1 and delivered the car to the same Class 1 for arrival in the morning. Had the Class 1 road carried the car all the way, the sleepers who left feet first would have arrived head first. Name the cities, the roads--and why the cars changed direction of travel when handled solely by the Class 1 road.

I may be out of touch until lateThursday through Thursday afternoon, when I will be in theWashington station.

 

As too often, I forgot the questions: name the roads, the termini of the sleeper line, the junction points of the connections--and the point at which the direction of the cars was if changed if only the Class 1 carried the line.

I learned at supper tonight that my cousin and her husband (whom I am visiting) have Wi-fi so I am able to be on line in King George, Va.

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, April 14, 2016 2:45 PM

Working off maps but no timetables I come up with:

Columbia SC - Atlanta GA

Southern Ry - Belton SC - Blue Ridge Ry - Seneca SC - Southern Ry

If it went via Greenville SC - the all Southern Ry route, it would end up facing the wrong direction.

Blue Ridge Ry was eventually merged into the Carolina and Northwestern by Southern.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, April 17, 2016 8:07 AM

Rob, you found the line. The difficulty with going through Greenville was that the Columbia-Greenville line entered more or less from the south, just as the Washington-Atlanta line left to the south.

I'm sorry to be so late in responding; when I was in Chicago Friday, I was unable to get on line--and I was, of course en route home almost all day yesterday.

Had I not spent a pleasant morning with Carl Shaver in the station Friday, I might have been able to get on line.

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, April 17, 2016 2:17 PM

I had the advantage of havong looked at all the maps while trying to answer your earlier question.

There was an alternate all-Southern way to route between Columbia and Atlanta but that would have involved an awkward back-up move in Spartanburg.

New question:  This large streetcar sytem had prewar PCCs with roof hatches to raise and lower the trolley poles.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 3:45 AM

Cincinnatti, because of the double-pole, double-wired requirement in downtown and adjacent areas, and single-pole operation in some suburbs.

Washington, DC, whcih also needed to raise and lower poles on some lines, with conduit operation downtown and adjacent areas, did not have roof hatches in my memory.

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 6:02 AM

Both Cincinnati and Washington used the back window or raised the poles from the street.  This city's PCCs (but not conventional cars) had the trolley catchers at roof height.  If it's not too big a hint it had lots of prewar PCCs.  Postwar PCC cars were set up with the catcher at the belt rail.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 8:37 AM

Then Chicago, with the idea that the conductor at the rear of the car  could reset the pole without exiting the car, after a dewirement.

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Posted by narig01 on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 10:30 AM

Someplace that had operations in a tunnel precluding the ability to get out of the car to change the pole?  Kind of like The Tandy subway in Dallas(I think)

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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 12:05 PM

I don't know if a tunnel was the reason, but the system did (and still does) have a long tunnel.

The system had more prewar PCCs than any other system.  Of the prewar and wartime cars, only two lacked the hatch.

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, April 21, 2016 6:26 AM

Well, I thought I knew a lot aboiu Boston, but passibly it is the Boston system, first the Boston Elevated, then the MTA, and then the MBTA.

There would be a logical reason, since it is somewhat difficult to rewire a pole that has dewired using the rope at the rear when there is another PCC coupled behind.   And in a subway tunnel at that. But eventually that is the way it was done, especially since poles rarely dewire in the subway.

The center-entrance cars, which the PCCs replaced in subway service, had roof hatches and reversed trolley poles. The two hatches were above the conductor's positiono in the center of the car.

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, April 21, 2016 7:29 AM

Boston's prewar PCCs do not have hatches.  This system had more prewar PCCs than Boston, or any other city.  The first car it got didn't have the hatch, and the prototype for the postwar cars, as well as the postwar cars themselves, was hatchless. 

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Posted by narig01 on Sunday, April 24, 2016 1:32 PM

Toronto?

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, April 25, 2016 6:13 AM

System color were similar to Toronto's... How about this - unlike Toronto, the system with roof hatches never bought a used PCC.

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Posted by RME on Monday, April 25, 2016 8:58 AM

Chicago for the Washington Street tunnel?  (Was there something special about the La Salle tube construction that would call for special PCC design?)

I ruled out Pittsburgh Railways because the later PCCs had that full-length 'hump' on the roof, which I'd think would interfere with hatches to get to the poles.

Interesting that nowhere I could find are the roof hatches or high-mounted catchers described ... and I refused to cheat by asking on any trolley lists.  I'd think there would be a reference online somewhere to a configuration this unique.

No points for knowledge -- this isn't my field anyway.  And no credit for guessing, so if this turns out right ask another one.

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, April 25, 2016 10:21 AM

RME
I ruled out Pittsburgh Railways because the later PCCs had that full-length 'hump' on the roof, which I'd think would interfere with hatches to get to the poles.

The hatches were only on the pre-war cars, and two of those didn't have them...

Chicago's Washington St. tunnel was used by PCCs up to the end of Madison Street service, no hatches, but Chicago policy required setting the pole from inside the car (using the back window).  Chicago PCCs had belt-rail level catchers.  The LaSalle tunnel was closed in 1939 due to construction of what is now the Blue Line on Lake Street - due to WWII the new subway wasn't opened until 1950.  In 1939 only Madison Street had PCCs (using the Washington tunnel).  The Van Buren tunnel was never used by PCCs as far as I know - it was reroute only after about 1924 even though it stayed in service until 1952.  The lines for which it was a reasonable reroute never got PCCs.

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Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 5:22 AM

I did state Chicago before proposing Boston, but somehow I thought this was rejected.   It seemed lobical to go along with 2-man operation and a rear entrance.   And certinly the Chicago PCCs were the oddest, both prewar and postwar.

Regarding who had the most prewar PCCs:  Boston orderred about 300 in total tothe prewar design, ordered before and during the war, but mahy were delivered just after the war through 1946.

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 6:11 AM

It's not Chicago, Boston or Brooklyn.  Boston's 300+, Brooklyns 200+ and Chicago's 96 prewar cars were eclipsed by this city's 555.  It also got 101 postwar cars (though one was delivered during the war).  One of you already mentioned it on the way by, but didn't offer it as the answer.

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