Re: PC: Pass. car roofs and coach question

[NYC4600@xxxxxxx]

While on the subject of the roof of that particular coach, I have a question 
myself.  Does anyone know where cars like that came from?  The photo (middle 
one on the new PC Harlem Line page at the PC site) is obviosly pre-1971/1972, 
since the low level platforms are still in place in North White at the time 
of that photo.  Coaches of this type often show up in early PC photos I've 
seen of PC Metropolitan Region trains.  

Most have PC worms beneath the end windows of each side of the coach, and 
have a single stripe below the windows.  If I recall correctly, this is the 
same scheme used on PC's MU cars.  In one photo I've seen of a PC RS-3 
pulling a northbound commuter run at Bedford Hills, NY around 1972, I could 
sware on the first coach behind the diesel there was a large round headlight 
above the door at the end of the car, along with a cab window, as an MU car 
would have.  The car also had large picture windows VERY similar to those of 
the 100 1950 ex-NYC 4500 series, PC 1000 series MU's, a few of which appear 
in photos on Jerry's PC page in service as MU's.  I understand that these 
MU's and the last few old late 1920s NYC 4300 series, PC 1200 series MU's 
were taken out of service in 1972, when PC got the modern M-1 "Metropolitan" 
type electric MU cars funded by the MTA.  After that, the only old NYC MU's 
left were the ex-NYC 46/4700 series, PC 1100 series MU's, which were very new 
themselves in 1972.  This would have made the ex-NYC 4500, PC 1000 series 
MU's available for use as coaches.  This was done by the Long Island Rail 
Road with many of their older MU's and even their then very new 1963 MUs that 
were the Long Island cousins to the PC 1100s, when they got their M-1 
"Metropolitan" MU's in 1969, and the LIRR is only retiring these cars now.  

This would have made perfect sense if PC and the MTA had done this, since at 
the time they were buying worn out ex-long distance streamlined equipment, 
that was in bad shape.  So why not take the 22 year old MU cars, that they 
already had on the property, owned, operated, and maintained, and simply put 
them into service as coaches, taking all electric equipment out of them if 
necessary?  Does anyone know if PC did this with any of the old NYC 4500 
series, PC 1000 series MU's when the M-1's arrived in 1972?  Is that what the 
first coach in that middle photo at North White is?  If not, what is it, and 
where did it come from?  I've never seen any NYC commuter cars that looked 
like that, and the only ones with rooves like that, were assigned to the NYC 
Putnam Division commuter line, but they had regular openable, standard coach 
type windows, while this car appeares to have had closed picture windows 
similar to those of the PC 1000 series MU's.  The car also does not appear to 
be a former long distance coach.   Anyone know where these cars came from, 
and what they were?

Thanks ahead of time.

John W.