Forgive my dim memory, but I thought I saw a Boston orange line conductor operating door controls from outside between the cars when I visited around 1978. Can anybody confirm or deny it? Of course nobody better try to claim Chicago winters are worse than Boston winters.
Patrick Boylan
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IND and IRT cars had conductors outside until the equipment after WWII. Chicago winters ARE more severe than Boston's having lived several years in both, because of the very strong winter wind off Lake Michigan, much stronger than the wind off the the Atlantic Ocean in Boston. Cape Cod acts as a wind breaker.. Chicago, even though south of the Twin Cities, has a more severe winter. Indeed, I would say it is more severe than Montreal. Parts of Long Island have more severe winters than Boston.
The surprising thing wasn't the idea that conducters should ride outside in Chicago - far from it. Gate cars were still in service in Chicago for several years after 6001-6120 were delivered. What was amazing was the idea that the conductor would ride between the cars with just one foothold and one grab iron on each car of the married pair.
http://www.chicago-l.org/trains/gallery/images/6000/cta6005-06cond.jpg
In the dreadful winter January 1979, passengers rode between cars on the L. I witnessed this several times on the Ravenswood line, since because of the snow, the buses were largely not operating and few were driving, the L lines were horribly overcrowded.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
I saw that back in 1975 when My dad, brother and I visited Boston and rode a good bit of the rail transit there. I can't recall seeing that on the Red or Blue lines but I definitely saw it on the Orange lines. Having a crew member working like that seems so insane.
rcdrye The surprising thing wasn't the idea that conducters should ride outside in Chicago - far from it. Gate cars were still in service in Chicago for several years after 6001-6120 were delivered. What was amazing was the idea that the conductor would ride between the cars with just one foothold and one grab iron on each car of the married pair. http://www.chicago-l.org/trains/gallery/images/6000/cta6005-06cond.jpg
Wonder if the got 'hazardous duty' pay for working 'outside'?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Onllly possiblew when the trucks are near the ends of the cars, with little overhang. Otherwise, entering and leaving curves would be a big problem. Even then, most conductors in all these cities moved one foot or the other to have both on the same step, but continued with use of both cars' grabirons.
The buttons on the Conductor's right were for the door controls. I imagine he was only expected to pop out onto his footholds at station stops. The Logan Square line, where the cars had their initial service intermixed with wood cars, had a couple of stations with curved platforms. . .
On both the CTA and on very crowded IRT Lexington Avenue Locals, the conductor often stayed at his position between stops only because of crowding, if the stops were close together. I remember observing this, but I can be confusing the two systems. On the IRT, this was in the subway, so rain and snow were not problems.
daveklepper On both the CTA and on very crowded IRT Lexington Avenue Locals, the conductor often stayed at his position between stops only because of crowding, if the stops were close together. I remember observing this, but I can be confusing the two systems. On the IRT, this was in the subway, so rain and snow were not problems.
Dave: As I remember on the old NYC IRT type cars. The conductor riding between cars had a cylindrical mechanism attached to each end of the cars both sides about shoulder height.. Looked somewhat like a flashlight. Once the train stopped the conductor would operate some kind of switch on the bottom that would open the doors on that car and every other car towards that end of the train. Then he would operate the switch on the other car towards the other end of the train.
Once the doors were clear of passengers the conductor would slap the top of each cylinder and doors would close toward that end of train. That way it may have been for the short platforms at South Ferry ?
Can anyone elaborate or correct my memory ?
I think your memory is correct about the IRT cars, and there was not much difference if any with the IND R-1-R-9 ccars. The conductor would be in the middle of a ten-car train, and at South Ferry only half the train would have open doors. But there were differences with the Gibbs-car 7th Avenue locals, which ran no more than six cars. The conductor would be between the first and second car or between the fifth and sixth. Because one car on the train did was not converted to mu door control and still had a lever to open the doors manually. So it was at one end of the train or the other! The local platforns on the Broadway-7th Avenue line were not extended from 5-1/2 cars to ten cars until after WWII. (along with closing 18th and 91st Street Stations) The very front doors on IRT trains did not open because the front vestibule was the motorman's location, even when bulkhead doors were replaced by a corner cab. The very rear doors did not open either. So a six car train could be accomodated at 270ft long platform. I do not remember if all doors on the 7th Avenue locals opened at South Ferry or if the end non-door-mu car remained closed.
Orange Empire Railway Museum has more than one PCC car. Four Los Angeles Railway 42" gauge cars. One San Diego car now being restored. They also my have a San Francisco Car. A Toronto car is on some private property next to the museum. The Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista CA has at least two cars from San Francisco.
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