Port Authority Streetcars

n 26th July, 1936, PRCo entered a new era with the entry into service of PCC-car 100, its first. Later this car became the instruction car and it is now the oldest PCC-car on an operating property, although it is now derelict. A total of 666 PCC-cars was purchased over the next 12 years, mainly in batches of 100. Car 1600, delivered in 1945, was an experimental car, the first to have standee windows. It had a specially-developed all-electric braking system, and became the prototype for the 1700 series. This latter series, the newest of the system, is noted (and frequently cursed) for its hermetically-sealed windows that go along with its forced-air cooling and heating system. Nine cars of the 1600 series and 24 of the 1700 series were equipped specially for the two interurban lines. They had roof- mounted headlamps, lifeguards, air whistles, a full emergency kit, and opening rear windows to enable the motorman to put the trolley back on the wire when on the many trestle bridges. In 1948, all these cars were fitted with the "trolleyphone, " a telephone system which uses a frequency-modulated carrier on the trolley-wire to enable the motorman to keep in touch with the despatcher; when the interurban routes were cut back to Library and Drake in 1953, both this and the emergency kits were discontinued.

Tom E. Parkinson / The Street Railways of Pittsburgh, 1859-1967

perating in and around Pittsburgh through very rugged terrain are the remains of a once great tram network which has lasted remarkably intact into this decade but is now rapidly diminishing. The 290 miles of track and 287 cars in 1965 have dwindled to 152 track miles and 221 cars by January, 1967, while closures scheduled for this January will reduce the system to 58 miles and 128 cars. The bulk of this reduced system is made up of three routes on private right-of-way, and these should survive for several years to come. The present fleet of uniformly modern PCC-cars was built between 1942 and 1949 and the cars are also uniformly noisy and invariably dirty, for the mainten- ance of vehicles and track has been minimal over the last ten years. As if to make up for the unexciting lack of variety of trams, the routes are superbly spectacular, leaping over rivers and ravines, plunging through woods, climbing over and tunnelling through hills to make Pittsburgh the mecca for American tramway enthusiasts.

Tom E. Parkinson, 1967

When some of Pittsburgh’s South Hills trolley lines were being upgraded to light rail standards and new equipment was being purchased, the Port Authority undertook a program to remanufacture 1949-vintage PCC cars for use on the Library and Overbrook routes. At the time these lines were not being rebuilt and required operation using the smaller lighter cars traditionally used on these lines. Originally slated to include 45 cars, the program ended with only a dozen rebuilds, due to cost realities. Those that were finished, however, were essentially new cars, with all-new electrical and running gear of the type and style that they were originally equipped. In September 1999 car 4004 was the last PCC to operate in revenue service, ending 63 years of PCC car operation in Pittsburgh. It was donated to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum by the Port Authority, who generously stored the car until the new Trolley Display Building was completed, and then repainted it before delivery.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum