Back in the heyday of trolleys believe it or not in the community of
Carrick Pa. which became part of the city of Pittsburgh and is now its
29th ward and where I grew up before moving out of the city . It was the
law for trolley operators to stop and pick up a fireman along his
route if he was standing there in his fire gear and take him
intermediately to the closet stop where the fire was located.
Now
remember this was back in the early 1900's not everyone had a vehicle
and in fact horses where still being used for delivering milk etc.
So
it only made sense that this was and back then trolleys went everywhere
. You could board a trolley in Pittsburgh and by switching to various
trolly lines at one time be able to go all the way to Cleveland ,
Detroit even Chicago by trolley and rail line. Some trolley lines even
carried freight and even had special ambulance cars which got people to
hospitals.
Several other community's which had trolleys also are suppose to have had this law on there books as well.
You
can view more carrick trolley pictures and even read articles I wrote
on them as part of my Eagle scout project on history of carrick at
following link.
Because
this was the fastest way to get to a fire scene it was also the fastest
way to get away from a crime as well. and in City of Pittsburgh in
1960's an individual became famously known as the Commuter Bandit as he
would rob a bank then hop on a trolley to make his escape even back
then trolleys often had there own rights of way to get thru areas fast.
He was even charged with Robbing a bank in Carrick as well. Ironically a
friend of ,my dads who he worked with at J&L steel. His wife
Deloris worked at the grocery store where the commuter bandit was the
owner it turned out.
This
was a fascinating era now gone and only a hand full of towns still
have trolleys or street cars in use. most modernized and there are a
handful of museums like near Washington Pa. where you can still ride one
of these great old relics.
But
Pittsburgh Railways which ran the big net work of trolleys before it
was taken over by Allegheny county Transit authority known as PAT
Port authority transit. Still exists and was a one time big player in
the Alarm Business . They are still known today as Pittway that's right
the people who bought and expanded ADEMCO Alarm systems till they sold
out to Honeywell.
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Pittway-Corporation-company-History.h
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