Near Side Car and the Thomas E. Mitten by Mervin E. Borgnis 1994 SC #210

$38.22

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This is a story from the era 1911 to 1957. The principal character is Thomas E. Mitten. His most memorable transit idea was his Nearside car design. In his career he was a pioneer for many of the mass transit ideas, trends and operations that we now take for granted. Although Mitten departed from the scene too early to see the results of his creations, his theories will amaze many present day scholars. Only his Nearside cars, and their off-spring (The Philadelphia 8000 series) remained in service through-out the more than four decades of this narration.

It was an era when long range planning was an accepted fact. In those years a transit company would expand by leasing a smaller transit operation for 99 or 999 years. Replacements were needed for the converted horse cars and the early electric cars as they wore out. These new cars were purchased with an estimated life span of a half a century or more. In those years a higher education meant a High School Diploma. Many people could not afford to be out of the job market long enough to earn this parchment. For that reason, the design of vehicles had to be of a plain and practical "nuts and bolts" construction. These enabled men who lacked formal education to perform repairs. Mitten's Nearside cars were designed on the following principle; "Simplicity-Reliability-Economy-Longevity".

It was only when a streetcar was rolling along collecting fares that it was an asset. "Down-time" had to be held to a minimum, as funds were not available to support a large reserve fleet. Dependability was needed to retain the ridership. The initial investment in a rail line was so large, that economical operation was a paramount requirement. In this way the company could hope to pay back the investors and encourage new money for expansion. The Nearside cars of Thomas E. Mitten were designed to fulfill these criteria.

For those who enjoy looking at streetcars, in the way that people admire paintings and sculpture, a pictorial history would suffice. However, some people like a story rather than a textbook or a model builders guide. The intention of this book is to give this type of reader an insight on the time when the cars ran. It also tries to give an outlook from the view of some people that ran them. In this author's mind, no tale about transit in Philadelphia should omit the story of one of the city's greatest engineering triumphs. That was when the miracle of the Hog Island Shipyard took place. It was Transit that played the most valuable role in making this possible. Today, the construction of a mere railroad overpass can take three years to complete. Hog Island was converted from marshlands to a shipyard which launched its first ship in eleven months.

All pictures are of the actual item. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.

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