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October 2003

Philadelphia to get new PCC Cars - Again!

PCC-II 2320 rolled out at Brookville

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On Saturday, September 6^th, Brookville Equipment Corporation (BEC) rolled out the first of eighteen PCC cars to be eventually used to restore rail service to Philadelphia's Route 15, Girard Avenue. The car was delivered to Elmwood Depot on Tuesday, September 9^th. These cars have been given the designation PCC-II. These will be the first new PCC cars in Philadelphia since 1948.

This apparently brand new car is really the new technology of an LRV in a refurbished PCC body. Every knowledgeable PTC PCC rail fan in the country will notice that the red belt rail and the accent stripe above the windows should not have continued through the doors; that the drip rail above the standee windows should have been also Chinese red and that the PTC herald has been modified. It would have been nice is they had enlarged the windshield like the Muni rebuilders did. We will not comment at all on the rather bulky looking air-conditioning shroud on the roof. It could have been worse. It is a small price to pay to see PCC cars in Philadelphia after an absence of 12 years.

The interior is also brand new and there is an entirely new LRV type operator's console.

PCC cars had been fixtures on the streets of Philadelphia for 54 years when SEPTA incorrectly determined that they were worn out. Of course, San Francisco proved them to be extremely wrong!

Basically, the PCC-II is a rehabilitated PCC body updated with air-conditioning (Note the sealed windows); disc brakes; new AC propulsion system including four 67hp AC traction motors, hill holder and wheel slip/slide protection; large outside mirrors; front, side and rear turn signals; inside and outside public address system; a wheelchair lift in the center doors; and stainless steel cloth upholstered seating. The cars retain original style "Art-Deco" lighting while provisions are made for passengers with wheel chairs. So the PCC-II is a state-of-the-art LRV wrapped in a PCC shell and all of this for about $1.2 million per car. This looks like a possible win-win for SEPTA.

The following fourteen 1947 PCCs were sent to BEC during 2002-2003 for rebuilding into PCC-IIs:

2726, 2730, 2738 (to be 2321), 2741, 2746, 2747, 2750 (now 2320), 2753, 2758, 2770, 2777, 2783, 2790 and 2798.

Six 1948 PCCs have also been sent to BEC:

2158, 2170, 2181, 2182, 2196, and 2197, with 2181 arriving at BMEC on the same day 2320 arrived at Elmwood Depot.

Interestingly, most of the selected 1947 cars spent most of their young lives on Route 23, Germantown Ave, beginning on Mother's Day 1947. The six 1948 cars saw service on Route 56, Erie Avenue. All of them finished their 45 year service lives on the four Elmwood based subway surface lines, 11, 13, 34 & 36. Very few, if any, of these cars saw any extended service on Route 15 in their initial service careers. For more detailed information, check the internet at www.phillytrolley.org or users.snip.net/~trolleydriver/girard.htm.

Traction Day at Orange Empire Railway Museum

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Saturday. September 13^th was the annual Traction Day at the museum with the Southern California Traction Clubs 16' by 20' HO scale modular traction layout shown in the photos below

In the next photo, four of the club members (l to r), Byron Brainard, Bill Kift, George Jones and George Huckaby are manning the display.

In the next photo, PERy 'Blimps 498 and 418 pass PERy 1001 with Citrus Growers Association Private Car in tow.

and Bill Everett's O scale streetcar models on display in the air-conditioned Town Hall.

Shown above is Toshisuke Matsumoto admiring the O scale models. Toshisuke is a member of the Southern California Traction Club, but lives in Tokyo, Japan. A model railroad swap meet was held in the morning with many vendors in attendance and there was a barbecue later in the evening in Car House #1. This car house just received a new concrete floor and everyone got to appreciate this new improvement plus a view of recently restored PCC 3001 while enjoying fine barbecued beef and chicken.

The museum is always a great place to visit. Recently, the museum moved around some equipment and the resulting scenes reminiscent of years gone by were created.

In the final photo, Toshisuke Matsumoto and Dave Garcia, both members of the Southern California Traction Club, admire the recently painted LARy PCC 3001.

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New Orleans Canal Street Cars

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Riding on similar trucks as the PCC-II cars being delivered to Philadelphia, here is a photo of one of the Canal Street cars starting to emerge in the Crescent City.