ERA BULLETIN — DECEMBER, 2016 The Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol. 59, No. 12 December, 2016 TH The Bulletin BROOKLYN PCC CARS’ 80 ANNIVERSARY Published by the Electric by Bernard Linder Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated, PO Box (Continued from November, 2016 issue) 3323, New York, New York 10163-3323. As soon as the cars were in service, news- dynamic brake came into service first and papers reported that the passengers liked was increased as the brake foot pedal was For general inquiries, or the quiet, fast, comfortable cars. St. Louis depressed. At 3-inch pedal movement, the Bulletin submissions, Car Company’s booklet explains how the track brake cut in. The air brake completed contact us at bulletin@ company accomplished this feat. the braking cycle and held the car after it erausa.org. ERA’s The designers proceeded to develop a radi- stopped. Your Editor-in-Chief’s supervisor website is cally new control and braking apparatus for recalled that the Brooklyn cars’ magnetic www.erausa.org. smooth and rapid starts and stops. To deter- brakes were disconnected after they wore Editorial Staff: mine the maximum comfortable acceleration, out the track rails at the trolley stops. The Editor-in-Chief: your Editor-in-Chief’s supervisor sat in a car PCC’s brakes gave rates of retardation that Bernard Linder loaded with sandbags. Tests were conducted were not previously achieved. Tri-State News and in the Ninth Avenue Depot at different rates The PCCs were much quieter than the old- Commuter Rail Editor: Ronald Yee of acceleration and deceleration. These ex- er cars. This noise reduction was accom- North American and World periments revealed that high acceleration plished by attaching the motors to hypoid News Editor: and braking rates are comfortable as long as gears floating in oil and by designing a new Alexander Ivanoff they are accomplished without jerking or sud- assembly for the trucks and wheels using Contributing Editor: Jeffrey Erlitz den changes in rates. The controls were set rubber connections, instead of metal ones, as shown in the following table, which com- between the truck and the car body. This Production Manager: pares the performance of the old and the type of resilient wheel is one of the most nov- David Ross new cars: el features and was one of the latest devel- opments of the use of rubber for mechanical PCCs 6000s OLD CARS ©2016 Elect ric purposes. A new method of vulcanizing rub- Railroaders ’ Acceleration 4.00 3 0.5-1.0 ber to metal made the new wheel possible. Association, (MPH/sec.) The wheels were flanged steel bands with Incorporate d large discs of rubber supporting the axle. The Braking 4.75 2.5 1.5 (MPH/sec.) rubber disc in the wheel separated the metal tire from the rest of the wheel. The hub of the In This Issue: Smooth acceleration was accomplished by wheel and the axle were also separated from mounting 99 resistors on the rim of a drum the frame of the truck by rubber. The large From powered by a 32-volt electric motor. Use of conical rubber springs were used for this pur- Recognition to rheostatic acceleration instead of series- pose. Dominance— parallel eliminated the transition notch and An automatic system was designed to heat The New York made it possible to obtain high rates smooth- and ventilate the car. Air was taken through Connecting ly. Cars were stopped without jerking by us- an opening in the roof and carried through ing dynamic, air, and magnetic track brakes. ducts in the car. All the rheostats used to Railroad The dynamic and magnetic brakes slow the control the motors during acceleration and (Continued) car quickly and smoothly from high speeds dynamic braking were enclosed in a com- …Page 2 without generating excessive heat in the partment under the center of the car. Cool air wheels and also insure against skidding. The (Continued on page 20) NEXT TRIP: PENN STATION BEHIND THE1 SCENES — SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 NEW YORKERA BULLETIN DIVISION BULLETIN— DECEMBER, OCTOBER, 2016 2000 FROM RECOGNITION TO DOMINANCE: THE NEW YORK CONNECTING RAILROAD (BRIDGING THE BAY AND CONNECTING THE PIECES) by George Chiasson (Continued from November, 2016 issue) THE NEW HAVEN’S “RAPID TRANSIT” Harlem River Branch, along with their small passenger SERVICE TO 129TH STREET STATION ENDS coaches, to the Hartford-New Britain-Bristol suburban service starting in July, 1906, when its (unique) 10-year- By February of 1904, the New Haven’s Engineering rd Department was deep into its task of planning details in old 3 rail electrification was shut due to mounting legal the extensive package of right-of-way reconstructions issues, after several young boys had been killed by fall- that would soon encompass the Harlem River Branch ing across the energized rail. This action was also influ- and appointed its first Project Manager to oversee this enced politically by some New Britain merchants who gargantuan enterprise. The actual work would not com- didn't like their customers being able to easily hop the rd mence for another 20 months, but in the meantime the 3 rail cars into Hartford to shop…The locals dubbed New Haven’s own steam-powered “rapid transit” opera- them ‘Dinky’ trains due to their small engines and small tion was replaced by a third rail-electrified IRT shuttle coaches, but it was not used as a term of endearment from the 129th Street station to the existing high center because the vast majority of riders were never very platform at the Harlem River (Willis Avenue) Terminal happy with them. The first day of service brought an beginning on May 11, 1905. In truth this was actually uproar of complaints by riders, including the same folks in New Britain that had complained the loudest about the last piece of the entire Manhattan Elevated system rd to require Forney steam engines for propulsion, the bal- the 3 rail. The Forneys burned soft coal which pro- ance of Manhattan Railway Company lines having been duced more smoke and when the windows of the so converted in 1903, before they were handed off to coaches were opened it flowed unpleasantly inside, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in anticipation covering everyone in cinders. Plus, many passengers of their integration with the subway system then under sorely missed the open electric cars that had traditional- construction. Standard IRT “gate cars” were thus de- ly run each and every summer. In addition, the Dinky ployed to again shuttle between the two stops, albeit at trains had difficulty maintaining the fast, rapid transit-like a peppier pace than their steam-powered predecessors, schedule that the electric cars had, and in the winter the and it appears that public response was much better little Forneys had trouble staying warm enough to steam properly. Shortly, calls were made for the New Haven to than the earlier incarnation thanks to the operational rd advantages provided by electrification (faster relay bring back the 3 rail despite its faults, which the com- moves and operating speeds, in a relative sense). Con- pany steadfastly refused to do. The Forneys thus con- currently, the New Haven resumed its pre-1887 service tinued to serve the “Dinky” until they were retired, most pattern on the Harlem River Branch local, which again by 1908, with a few making it to 1913 and one to 1915. roamed strictly between New Rochelle and the outer They were also used on the Rockville Branch, the New platforms of the Harlem River Terminal. Two transfer Britain-Berlin Line and the Berlin-Middletown Line. Oth- alternatives were then available for continuation to Man- er S Class engines may have been (and probably were) hattan: the Willis Avenue Shuttle to 129th Street or a used on the Hartford-New Britain-Bristol route as well, walking transfer to the 133rd Street station, where with older, smaller 4-4-0s replacing the Forneys as they through express service could be had during the rush were retired (although the public still referred to the hours. The New Haven’s existing “rapid transit” rolling ‘newer’ engines as Dinkys while the same, small ‘Eads’ stock continued its assignment on the Harlem River coaches were still in service). These were initially used Local through the first several months of this revival, in the same fashion, running tender-first from Bristol being gradually replaced by shared equipment from the toward Hartford, but this resulted in a number of wrecks New Haven’s “main line” operation into Grand Central when the tenders derailed at higher speeds. The Con- sometime in the first half of 1906. necticut Public Utilities Commission finally prohibited The ultimate fate of the New Haven’s Forney locomo- this practice and the New Haven, to avoid installing a tives and their companion, specialized “rapid transit” turntable in Bristol, ran the Dinky trains up to the Ter- coaches is herewith revealed by Mr. Charlie Dunn of the ryville loop to turn them around. As far as I've been able New Haven Rail Road Historical & Technical Associa- to determine the Dinky trains ran into the 1920s (Note: tion: circa 1923), at which time the former rapid transit “Eads” th “In the period between May, 1905 and July, 1906 all coaches (delivered for through service to 129 Street in ten (10) of the New Haven S-8 Class Forneys were (Continued on page 3) shopped for class repairs…All were transferred from the 2 ERA BULLETIN — DECEMBER, 2016 From Recognition to Dominance (west to east), with 3-4 nominally designated for local passenger trains, 1-2 for through passenger trains, and (Continued from page 2) 5-6 for freight trains, though such assignments were not 1890-1) were retired permanently.” strictly followed.