Is there any more information on this collection of trolleys that is being sold due to the passing of the private collector?

There are a few interesting cars in the collection...

http://photos.cityrails.net/showpic/?photo=2011051110070318424.jpg&order=bydate&page=9&key=

Ted Roy

The latest that I have heard is that only one piece has found a home, and that it will replace a similar car in worse condition. With all of the broad gauge PCC's out there, there is no market for the Pittsburgh cars as the Philadelphia cars available are generally in better condition. If someone really wants a Pittsburgh PCC, I know where there is one available.

Several museums are working on getting parts. More details when info becomes available.

The collection is described here, however I wonder if there may be a single truck trolley body or two hiding in amongst the sheds that I see in the above linked photo.

http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/pnaerc-query.pl?sel_curown=Private+owner+-+Uniontown&match_target=&Tech=Yes&pagelen=200

I doubt it. That roster of equipment was provided by the owner back about ten years ago, along with some photos, and I believe the only traction addition since then was the West Penn curve-side car. Recent information on a PTM member's blog suggests that the remaining prewar PCC is being parted out and that the postwar cars and 4000's are likely to follow. With as many Pittsburgh PCC's as are already preserved, there just isn't much of a market for more.

The most you may get is some trim/small parts and maybe a couple trucks worth rebuilding, the rest looks like a bunch of junk. Why save it just to let it rot?

I don't know any specifics in this instance, but the usual suspects are lack of money and manpower to complete the project.

Like most things, he probably started off with great intentions. I don't know what he had in mind for the cars, whether it was to preserve them, restore them to operation, or maybe he hoped he'd someday sell them for a profit. Maybe somebody else can shed light on his stated intentions.

He probably bought the cars when the opportunity presented itself. Maybe he had high hopes for them, or maybe he was simply trying to buy them some time before they went to the scrapper.

Once again, we sit around grumbling about how he didn't save them, and didn't store them under cover or restore them. Did anyone offer to help him, or to buy one or more of the cars?

On a related note, are there other collections like this around? I'm well aware of a certain collector in Oregon who has a scrapline he apparently thinks is worth big bucks. I've heard he's slowly starting to sell off certain items.

Are there others out there? Is there something that somebody should be working on saving, instead of complaining when it turns into a pile of rust flakes?

You can't save 'em all, we know that. This is a sad example of the one that go away.

Except for a small group of well-heeled collectors, I highly doubt that the best place for any piece of rail equipment is in private hands. Certainly this guy could never have figured he could run these cars again, we're not talking a model T here, you need a whole infrastructure before you go anywhere.

Long story short, you can't "help" someone that refuses to be "helped." I'm told that various serious overtures over the years were rejected. in the case of the PCCs. In the case of that trolley stash, it doesn't help their case that they're apparently all "broad gauge" rather than standard gauge.

Art said above that one of the cars was already in the process of being spoken for/ saved, which car was it?

Are there any pictures of the second sweeper, S-127? or the Center Entrance Interurban, Car 728 that has Sweeper S-126's trucks?

Ted:

C-127 and 728 were/are inside a building and not readily photographable. C-127 is the car that is likely to be saved.

I have heard that 7 of the cars have already been scrapped, including 4 of the 1600 series PCC's, sweeper body C-126 and the two other West Penn bodies, excluding 728.

Art,

Does this mean that the chopped up WP 539 freight motor (Three pieces and missing the middle) and the Cincinnati curve side (WP 836) were the other WP cars that were scrapped?

WP 836 had promise, the body looked is reasonable shape, but others that know more than I can comment on whether looks are deceiving.

Was S-126's hardware salvaged to complete, with spares hopefully, S-127?

After being in a building, what is the condition of S-127 and 728. I would like to hope that 728 has a chance of being saved as it was stored inside, at least somewhat protected...

Thank you for indulging my questions,

Ted.

Ted:

836 and the West Penn box motor pieces have been scrapped. Parts from 836 were obtained for use in the restoration of sister car 832, currently well under way by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. I have been told that C-127 is in good condition, while 728 was in poor condition even before it was acquired by the Uniontown collector. The body of sister car 739 (on trucks) is displayed with some cosmetic restoration at PTM.

Parts from C-126 including broom motors, controllers & the air compressor were obtained for stock by PTM. The purchaser of C-127 has another Phila. sweeper that can be used for parts. BTW, Phila. sweepers had C series prefix numbers. Toronto used S series numbers.

IMHO, 836 would have required an enormous investment to replicate its unusual running gear, including WH 1425 300v motors, W-N double reduction gearboxes, trucks with 22" wheels, etc. With a complete sister car in existence, this was unlikely to happen, especially as there is only one museum that has much interest in broad guage equipment from Western Pennsylvania.

The ECTM has PRT C-128, I wonder if they got C-127...

C127 is going to ECTM. It's condition is best described as "fair but promising." It is complete with wing plows, which many of those cars lacked in later years. It should have a good home there.

OK, so 'where' is this collection around Uniontown? PM me if you don't want to broadcast it to the planet...