PCC streetcar
Encyclopedia
The PCC streetcar (tram
) design was first built in the United States
in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II
was licensed for use elsewhere in the world. The PCC car has proved to be a long-lasting icon of streetcar design, and PCC cars are still in service in various places around the world.
committee
formed in 1929 representing the Presidents of various electric street railways. The Electric Railway Presidents’ Conference Committee, or ERPCC, was tasked with producing a new type of streetcar that would help fend off competition from bus
es and automobile
s. The committee conducted extensive research, prepared a detailed research program, built and tested components, made necessary modifications, and produced a high-performance design that was commonly used in the following decades. The cars were popular because of their distinctive streamlined
design and smooth acceleration
and braking. The design patents were held by a business called the Transit Research Corporation, who licensed features to various streetcar manufacturers.
It turned out that the PCC streetcar was a very good design. The standard car was 46 ft (14 m) long and 100 in (2.5 m) wide with later models 46.5 ft (14.2 m) long and 108 in (2.7 m) wide. Chicago, Detroit, Illinois Terminal, Pacific Electric, and San Francisco had longer cars, as long as 50.5 ft (15.4 m). Washington, D.C., had shorter cars (44 ft (13.4 m)) because of transfer table clearances. Many railways altered the car in various ways to fit their own needs, but most cars retained a standard appearance.
Although a participant in Committee meetings, trolley manufacturer J. G. Brill and Company brought a competitive design—the Brilliner—to market in 1938. With Raymond Loewy
designed elements, very similar to the PCC look, the Brilliner attracted no large orders, serving most conspicuously with Atlantic City Transit. Fewer than 50 were sold.
A significant contribution to the PCC design was Noise Reduction with extensive use of rubber in springs and other components to prevent rattle, vibration, and thus noise and to provide a level of comfort not known before. Wheel tires were mounted between rubber sandwiches and were thus electrically isolated so that shunts were used to complete ground. Resilient wheels were used on most PCC cars with later heftier cousins known as Super-Resilient.
Gears were another source of considerable noise, solved by employing hypoid gears which are mounted at a right angle to the axle, where three of the six teeth constantly engaged the main gear, reducing play and noise. All movable truck parts employed rubber for noise reduction as well. "Satisfactory Cushion Wheel of Vital Importance; Develop New Truck Design; Generous Use of Rubber" are headings within a paper that Chief Engineer Hirshfeld both presented and published.
Pittsburgh Railways
(PRCo) took delivery of PCC #100 in June 1936, the fourth order for a PCC car but the first PCC car delivered and the first in revenue service in the world. Production continued in North America
until the early 1950s, with 4978 units built; thousands more PCCs and direct descendants were produced in Europe through the 20th century. The cars were very sturdy and many lasted a long time; well into the 1970s the majority of surviving North American streetcar systems used PCC cars, the systems which closed often selling their cars secondhand to the surviving operators. A handful still remain in service alongside modern vehicles, though most of the PCC cars functional today are operated by museum
s and heritage railway
s.
The first order of 99 cars was built in 1936 for Brooklyn, New York, by the St. Louis Car Company
. The second order built (27) was for Baltimore
and the third order went to Chicago, all by St. Louis Car Company. Clark Equipment Company
built only one PCC, #1000, and the only aluminum PCC at that; this car completed the 100-car order for Brooklyn.
Washington, DC, PCCs were unique because of conduit plows
which collected current from a slot between the rails into which the plow dipped, contacting positive and negative rails under the street on either side. At the city limits were "plow pits", where the plow was dropped and removed, the trolley pole
raised, and the car then continued on its way, utilizing overhead wire; the process was reversed in the opposite direction into Washington.
"The PCC car was not just another modular vehicle but the result of the only systems engineering approach to mass producing a rail car." Research into passenger comfort resulting from vibrations, acceleration, lighting, heating and cooling, seat spacing, cushion height, space for arms, legs, standing passengers, economies of weight affecting maintenance, cost of power, reduced wear of components and track. Dimensions were established to fit the majority but could easily be changed for special situations. Windows were spaced to match seating.
While some of the components in the PCC car had been used before—resilient wheels, magnetic braking
, sealed gears, and modular design to name a few—the ERPCC redesigned, refined, and perfected many of these while developing new acceleration and braking controls and put them all in one package. The PCC is far more than a good design, it is an excellent design with modern transit rail vehicles essentially upgrading the design with the most recent technology.
PCC cars were initially built in the United States
by the St. Louis Car Company
(SLCCo) and Pullman Standard. Clark Equipment built the only aluminum-body PCC as well as all narrow gauge B1 trucks for Los Angeles, all the standard and wide gauge B2 trucks both air- and all-electric, and the B2B trucks used under PRCo 1725–1799 and Toronto 4500–4549. SLCCo built all B3 trucks, both standard and wide gauge. PCC cars for Canadian
cities were assembled in Montreal
, Quebec
by Canadian Car and Foundry
from bodies and trucks supplied by St. Louis Car.
Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse Air Brake, and General Electric supplied the electrical packages and brake components which were designed and built in cooperation with the ERPCC. The customer specified which equipment to install. Since Westinghouse was home based near Pittsburgh, PRCo ordered 75% of its PCC fleet with Westinghouse equipment, the balance with GE. Indeed, PCCs are often identified as either Westinghouse or GE.
, with La Brugeoise et Nivelles (now the BN division of Bombardier
) of Bruges
, Belgium
, building several hundred streetcars that saw service in Brussels
, Antwerp, Ghent
, The Hague
, Saint-Étienne
, Marseille
and Belgrade
(the latter city buying vehicles initially used by the Belgian Vicinal railways
).
The first European PCC cars were probably the ones developed in 1942 by Italian Fiat
for the Madrid
tramway system. Due to the progression of World War II
, delivery of the units from Italy had to be stopped (Tranvías de Madrid pp. 228) and eventually 110 cars were built in Spain to the Fiat design, either by CAF
(Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) in Beasain
or MMC (Material Móvil y Construcciones) in Zaragoza
. These units worked very successfully in Madrid until May 1972 (Tranvías de Madrid pp. 177).
CKD Tatra of Prague
also bought a PCC license, and built 18,680 PCC-based streetcars of the T1, T2, T3 and T4 models.(Refer Wikipedia articles on these trams.) Most numerous was type Tatra T3
; 14,113 units were sold worldwide, mainly in former eastern bloc
countries. ČKD Tatra had begun marketing to the rest of the world until 2000, when the company faced a bankruptcy and reorganization. The tram business was sold to Siemens
SKV, who discontinued these products. Variants and reconstructions of T3 cars (usually with low-floor centre sections) continue to be manufactured by Czech tram-builders such as Skoda subsidiary Pars Nova and Pragoimex. The Tatra PCCs are by far the most numerous PCCs in the world.
Another Central European company producing PCC cars (though not licensed) was Polish Konstal
in Chorzów
, Upper Silesia
. The Konstal 13N type was a copy of the CKD Tatra T1 (but with Belgian electric equipment) and is still used in Warsaw
. Newer Konstal 105N
types, produced since 1973, had the PCC electrical set. After many modernizations, the upgraded type Konstal 105Na
and later versions based on it are still produced (though with modern electronic equipment) by Konstal, which was bought by Alstom
in 1997. 105Na generation cars are still used in all tram-towns in Poland.
, manufactured by the St. Louis Car Company
and delivered in 1951-2.
developed the XD-323 rotary accelerator with 99 points; it was installed in the first PRCo car, #100, and minor modifications allowed use in the last PCCs produced in North America for San Francisco in 1952. Resistance ribbons were mounted to each point around the outside edge of the accelerator. An arm rotating in the center had rollers on either end which cut out resistance alternately as it rotated approximately 180 degrees. This same accelerator was also used for dynamic braking; when the power pedal was released the accelerator sought optimum braking for the speed, which prevented a lag when the brake pedal was depressed. General Electric
Developed a control system for PCC cars that mirrored the Westinghouse scheme in function, although not in simplicity or maintainability
. With the GE commutator motor controller operating by air pressure, it had to be redesigned with the advent of the All-Electric PCC. Acceleration was variable between 1.5- and 4.75-mph per second depending upon the depression of the power pedal with the accelerator advanced automatically by a low-voltage pilot motor. Service braking was also variable and the maximum dynamic application decreased speed by 4.75-mph/s; pressing the brake pedal into emergency also brought the friction and magnetic brakes into play providing a maximum deceleration of 9.0-mph/s. Compared to a maximum of 14 points on old time equipment, the PCC was considerably smoother.
Most PCCs employed three pedals with a dead man's switch
to the left, brake in center, and power pedal on the right. Depressing the brake about half way and then releasing the deadman pedal put the PCC in "park". Lifting the deadman alone would apply all brakes, drop sand, and balance the doors so they could be pushed open easily. Chicago used "bicycle-type levers" for power and brake but converted some cars to two pedals. (SLPS) used two pedals, both with heel interlocks. The right pedal is the brake; depressing this pedal about half way while lifting away from the heel applied "park". Once the brake is released the heel need not be engaged with the interlock (although a professional driver is to cover the brake at all times.) The left pedal applied the power and the heel interlock had to be engaged at all times since it was the deadman; only when the brake was in "park" could the deadman be disengaged.
SLPS is unique in that all 300 of their PCCs are All-Electric with the 1500s ordered in late 1939, the 1600s ordered late 1940s and the 1700s in January 1945. SLPS was the rolling laboratory for All-Electrics and what was learned here was applied to the post-WW2 All-Electric Demonstrator in the Fall of 1945.
From 1936 to 1945, PCC cars were 'Air-Electrics' with friction brakes, doors, and windshield wipers operated by air pressure. PRCo PCC 1600 of 1945 was the post WW2 All-Electric Demonstrator which eliminated the air compressor
and associated piping while incorporating such features as standee windows, a sloped windshield to eliminate night time glare, redesigned back end, forced-air ventilation, and other features. Dynamic brakes were the service brake on all PCCs; when almost stopped, friction brakes completed the stop and held the car in "park". Dynamic brakes slowed the "Air" cars to 3.0-mph at which point a lock-out relay allowed automatic application of air-applied friction brakes against each of the eight wheels. On All-Electric cars the dynamics were effective to 0.75-mph where the lockout relay then allowed a spring applied friction brake to engage a drum on each of the four motor drive shafts; this completed the stop and held the car in park. Drum brakes were released by an electric solenoid operating from low-voltage battery power; a power failure would prevent the drums from releasing which would prevent power application, a fail-safe
feature. Drum brakes were quite popular and greatly reduced maintenance thus some "Air" cars were retrofitted with drums. Four magnetic brakes, one between the wheels on each side of each truck, applied additional braking for emergency stopping where all brakes were generally employed.
"These performances [acceleration and braking] enable the P.C.C. car to out-pace the average automobile which, in America, is of substantially higher performance than the typical British vehicle."
The following are known figures (2008.09.13):
Figures for Tatra trams are from Wikipedia articles on the respective tram models.
In North America, most PCC-based systems were dismantled in the post-war period in favor of bus-based transit networks. Of the rail transit systems that survived this period, most had replaced their PCCs with modern light rail
vehicles (LRVs) by the early 1980s. A few sites have only recently concluded operation with PCCs:
As of 2005, there are still a few places in North America where transit agencies employ PCCs in true revenue service (as opposed to short-run or intermittent heritage railway service). Of these, only one has been in service continuously since the PCC's glory days:
Not considered historic equipment, the PCC cars in use on the Mattapan-Ashmont line represent the oldest cars still in revenue service, originally built between 1943 and 1946. These cars are also the only air-electric PCCs still in regular service in North America. Several retired PCCs from Boston are now at the Seashore Trolley Museum
.
Beginning in the late 1990s, several cities began to make use of historic PCCs to serve historic streetcar lines that combined aspects of tourist attractions and transit:
As many cities contemplate new transit projects, PCC-based streetcar lines are an attractive option as they are relatively low cost and can serve as a tourist attraction in and of themselves, especially on routes through historic city centers.
Pre-war tram networks remain largely intact in a number of European cities, and many still use PCCs as part or all of their rolling stock. Late-model PCCs remain in use in Belgium
. The vehicles used in Antwerp and Ghent
are metre-gauge, while those used in Brussels
are standard-gauge
. One of the peculiarities of the four-axle Brussels PCC vehicles is that some of them have been equipped with bogies and electric motor
s acquired second-hand in the United States from decommissioned streetcars from Kansas City, Missouri
, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania
. The last of the originally 171 four-axle class 7000 PCC cars in Brussels were withdrawn on February 12, 2010, with the articulated PCCs (130 class 7700 six-axle cars and 60 class 7900 eight-axle cars) remaining in service.
The tram system of Sofia
, Bulgaria
has 16 lines totaling 221 km served by 190 trams, some of which are Tatra PCCs.
In Romania, Bucharest
's extensive tramway network features a large fleet of Tatra T4R PCCs.
The largest number of PCCs (Tatra models) operate in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union.
Several tramways in the Czech Republic and Slovakia still use Tatra PCC cars, while many in Poland still operate Konstal PCCs. Some in the former East Germany also still use them, but many have been extensively modified.
Gothenburg tram types M25, M28 and M29, delivered between 1958 and 1967 resemble the PCC cars in appearance only, since they are quite different technically.
German manufacturer DUEWAG
produced a large number of GT6 and GT8 Streetcars for many German and European cities after 1951. Those cars were basically a modernized version of the PCC car, adapted to the specific requirements of European cities.
, Egypt suburban systems, see Trams in Egypt.
particularly, in Buenos Aires they ran through exclusive rights of way on the suburban Urquiza Line
for a while, these were modified at the ends to operate in two, three or four-sectioned articulated formations like most modern LRVs. See List of town tramway systems in Argentina
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
) design was first built in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was licensed for use elsewhere in the world. The PCC car has proved to be a long-lasting icon of streetcar design, and PCC cars are still in service in various places around the world.
Origins
The PCC name comes from the designDesign
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
committee
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
formed in 1929 representing the Presidents of various electric street railways. The Electric Railway Presidents’ Conference Committee, or ERPCC, was tasked with producing a new type of streetcar that would help fend off competition from bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es and automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s. The committee conducted extensive research, prepared a detailed research program, built and tested components, made necessary modifications, and produced a high-performance design that was commonly used in the following decades. The cars were popular because of their distinctive streamlined
Streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
design and smooth acceleration
Acceleration
In physics, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time. In one dimension, acceleration is the rate at which something speeds up or slows down. However, since velocity is a vector, acceleration describes the rate of change of both the magnitude and the direction of velocity. ...
and braking. The design patents were held by a business called the Transit Research Corporation, who licensed features to various streetcar manufacturers.
It turned out that the PCC streetcar was a very good design. The standard car was 46 ft (14 m) long and 100 in (2.5 m) wide with later models 46.5 ft (14.2 m) long and 108 in (2.7 m) wide. Chicago, Detroit, Illinois Terminal, Pacific Electric, and San Francisco had longer cars, as long as 50.5 ft (15.4 m). Washington, D.C., had shorter cars (44 ft (13.4 m)) because of transfer table clearances. Many railways altered the car in various ways to fit their own needs, but most cars retained a standard appearance.
Although a participant in Committee meetings, trolley manufacturer J. G. Brill and Company brought a competitive design—the Brilliner—to market in 1938. With Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
designed elements, very similar to the PCC look, the Brilliner attracted no large orders, serving most conspicuously with Atlantic City Transit. Fewer than 50 were sold.
A significant contribution to the PCC design was Noise Reduction with extensive use of rubber in springs and other components to prevent rattle, vibration, and thus noise and to provide a level of comfort not known before. Wheel tires were mounted between rubber sandwiches and were thus electrically isolated so that shunts were used to complete ground. Resilient wheels were used on most PCC cars with later heftier cousins known as Super-Resilient.
Gears were another source of considerable noise, solved by employing hypoid gears which are mounted at a right angle to the axle, where three of the six teeth constantly engaged the main gear, reducing play and noise. All movable truck parts employed rubber for noise reduction as well. "Satisfactory Cushion Wheel of Vital Importance; Develop New Truck Design; Generous Use of Rubber" are headings within a paper that Chief Engineer Hirshfeld both presented and published.
Pittsburgh Railways
Pittsburgh Railways
Pittsburgh Railways was one of the predecessors of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. It had 666 PCC cars, the third largest fleet in North America. It had 68 street car routes, of which only three are used by the Port Authority as light rail routes...
(PRCo) took delivery of PCC #100 in June 1936, the fourth order for a PCC car but the first PCC car delivered and the first in revenue service in the world. Production continued in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
until the early 1950s, with 4978 units built; thousands more PCCs and direct descendants were produced in Europe through the 20th century. The cars were very sturdy and many lasted a long time; well into the 1970s the majority of surviving North American streetcar systems used PCC cars, the systems which closed often selling their cars secondhand to the surviving operators. A handful still remain in service alongside modern vehicles, though most of the PCC cars functional today are operated by museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
s.
The first order of 99 cars was built in 1936 for Brooklyn, New York, by the St. Louis Car Company
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...
. The second order built (27) was for Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and the third order went to Chicago, all by St. Louis Car Company. Clark Equipment Company
Clark Equipment Company
Clark Equipment Company was a designer, manufacturer, and seller of industrial and construction machinery and equipment.-History:Clark's predecessor was the George R...
built only one PCC, #1000, and the only aluminum PCC at that; this car completed the 100-car order for Brooklyn.
Washington, DC, PCCs were unique because of conduit plows
Conduit current collection
Conduit current collection is a system of electric current collection used by electric trams, where the power supply is carried in a channel under the roadway, rather than located overhead.-Description:...
which collected current from a slot between the rails into which the plow dipped, contacting positive and negative rails under the street on either side. At the city limits were "plow pits", where the plow was dropped and removed, the trolley pole
Trolley pole
A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a system of current collection is reputed to be the 1880 invention of Frank J....
raised, and the car then continued on its way, utilizing overhead wire; the process was reversed in the opposite direction into Washington.
"The PCC car was not just another modular vehicle but the result of the only systems engineering approach to mass producing a rail car." Research into passenger comfort resulting from vibrations, acceleration, lighting, heating and cooling, seat spacing, cushion height, space for arms, legs, standing passengers, economies of weight affecting maintenance, cost of power, reduced wear of components and track. Dimensions were established to fit the majority but could easily be changed for special situations. Windows were spaced to match seating.
While some of the components in the PCC car had been used before—resilient wheels, magnetic braking
Magnetic braking
Magnetic braking is a theory explaining the loss of solar angular momentum due to material getting captured by the solar magnetic field and thrown out at great distance from the surface of the Sun.-The problem:...
, sealed gears, and modular design to name a few—the ERPCC redesigned, refined, and perfected many of these while developing new acceleration and braking controls and put them all in one package. The PCC is far more than a good design, it is an excellent design with modern transit rail vehicles essentially upgrading the design with the most recent technology.
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by the St. Louis Car Company
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...
(SLCCo) and Pullman Standard. Clark Equipment built the only aluminum-body PCC as well as all narrow gauge B1 trucks for Los Angeles, all the standard and wide gauge B2 trucks both air- and all-electric, and the B2B trucks used under PRCo 1725–1799 and Toronto 4500–4549. SLCCo built all B3 trucks, both standard and wide gauge. PCC cars for Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
cities were assembled in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
by Canadian Car and Foundry
Canadian Car and Foundry
Canadian Car and Foundry also variously known as "Canadian Car & Foundry," or more familiarly as "Can Car," manufactured buses, railroad rolling stock and later aircraft for the Canadian market...
from bodies and trucks supplied by St. Louis Car.
Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse Air Brake, and General Electric supplied the electrical packages and brake components which were designed and built in cooperation with the ERPCC. The customer specified which equipment to install. Since Westinghouse was home based near Pittsburgh, PRCo ordered 75% of its PCC fleet with Westinghouse equipment, the balance with GE. Indeed, PCCs are often identified as either Westinghouse or GE.
Europe
The PCC technology was exported to EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, with La Brugeoise et Nivelles (now the BN division of Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
) of Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, building several hundred streetcars that saw service in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Antwerp, Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
, Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
and Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
(the latter city buying vehicles initially used by the Belgian Vicinal railways
Vicinal tramway
The Tramways vicinaux or Buurtspoorwegen were a system of narrow gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country and had a greater route length than the mainline railway system...
).
The first European PCC cars were probably the ones developed in 1942 by Italian Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
for the Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
tramway system. Due to the progression of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, delivery of the units from Italy had to be stopped (Tranvías de Madrid pp. 228) and eventually 110 cars were built in Spain to the Fiat design, either by CAF
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles is a rail equipment manufacturer based in Beasain in the Basque Country, Spain. Equipment manufactured by CAF includes light rail vehicles, rapid transit trains, railroad cars and locomotives, as well as variable gauge axles that can be fitted on any...
(Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) in Beasain
Beasáin
Beasain is a town and municipality located in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. It has an important industry of railroad vehicles and related equipment that exports its production to all the world.-External links:* *...
or MMC (Material Móvil y Construcciones) in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
. These units worked very successfully in Madrid until May 1972 (Tranvías de Madrid pp. 177).
CKD Tatra of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
also bought a PCC license, and built 18,680 PCC-based streetcars of the T1, T2, T3 and T4 models.(Refer Wikipedia articles on these trams.) Most numerous was type Tatra T3
Tatra T3
The T3 is a type of tramcar produced by Tatra. During its period of production, between 1960 and 1989, 13,991 multiple units and 122 sidecars were sold worldwide, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union...
; 14,113 units were sold worldwide, mainly in former eastern bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries. ČKD Tatra had begun marketing to the rest of the world until 2000, when the company faced a bankruptcy and reorganization. The tram business was sold to Siemens
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
SKV, who discontinued these products. Variants and reconstructions of T3 cars (usually with low-floor centre sections) continue to be manufactured by Czech tram-builders such as Skoda subsidiary Pars Nova and Pragoimex. The Tatra PCCs are by far the most numerous PCCs in the world.
Another Central European company producing PCC cars (though not licensed) was Polish Konstal
Konstal
Konstal is a Polish tram builder.They made several types of trams, amongst others:* Konstal 105Na* Konstal 105N* Konstal 105NWr* Konstal 805Nm...
in Chorzów
Chorzów
Chorzów is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
, Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
. The Konstal 13N type was a copy of the CKD Tatra T1 (but with Belgian electric equipment) and is still used in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. Newer Konstal 105N
Konstal 105N
Konstal 105N is a family of electric trams designed by Konstal, a Polish company based in Chorzów, produced between 1973 and 2001.-Konstal 105N:105N is a single module, unidirectional engine car with four doors on the right side....
types, produced since 1973, had the PCC electrical set. After many modernizations, the upgraded type Konstal 105Na
Konstal 105Na
The Konstal 105Na are a class of Polish trams manufactured from 1979 to 1992 in workshops Konstal Chorzow, Poland. The narrow-gauge version is designed as 805Na...
and later versions based on it are still produced (though with modern electronic equipment) by Konstal, which was bought by Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
in 1997. 105Na generation cars are still used in all tram-towns in Poland.
Last PCC streetcars
The last PCC streetcars built for any North American system were a batch of 25 for the San Francisco Municipal RailwaySan Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. In 2006, it served with an operating budget of about $700 million...
, manufactured by the St. Louis Car Company
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...
and delivered in 1951-2.
Performance
WestinghouseWestinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
developed the XD-323 rotary accelerator with 99 points; it was installed in the first PRCo car, #100, and minor modifications allowed use in the last PCCs produced in North America for San Francisco in 1952. Resistance ribbons were mounted to each point around the outside edge of the accelerator. An arm rotating in the center had rollers on either end which cut out resistance alternately as it rotated approximately 180 degrees. This same accelerator was also used for dynamic braking; when the power pedal was released the accelerator sought optimum braking for the speed, which prevented a lag when the brake pedal was depressed. General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Developed a control system for PCC cars that mirrored the Westinghouse scheme in function, although not in simplicity or maintainability
Maintainability
In engineering, maintainability is the ease with which a product can be maintained in order to:* isolate defects or their cause* correct defects or their cause* meet new requirements* make future maintenance easier, or* cope with a changed environment...
. With the GE commutator motor controller operating by air pressure, it had to be redesigned with the advent of the All-Electric PCC. Acceleration was variable between 1.5- and 4.75-mph per second depending upon the depression of the power pedal with the accelerator advanced automatically by a low-voltage pilot motor. Service braking was also variable and the maximum dynamic application decreased speed by 4.75-mph/s; pressing the brake pedal into emergency also brought the friction and magnetic brakes into play providing a maximum deceleration of 9.0-mph/s. Compared to a maximum of 14 points on old time equipment, the PCC was considerably smoother.
Most PCCs employed three pedals with a dead man's switch
Dead man's switch
A dead man's switch is a switch that is automatically operated in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death or loss of consciousness....
to the left, brake in center, and power pedal on the right. Depressing the brake about half way and then releasing the deadman pedal put the PCC in "park". Lifting the deadman alone would apply all brakes, drop sand, and balance the doors so they could be pushed open easily. Chicago used "bicycle-type levers" for power and brake but converted some cars to two pedals. (SLPS) used two pedals, both with heel interlocks. The right pedal is the brake; depressing this pedal about half way while lifting away from the heel applied "park". Once the brake is released the heel need not be engaged with the interlock (although a professional driver is to cover the brake at all times.) The left pedal applied the power and the heel interlock had to be engaged at all times since it was the deadman; only when the brake was in "park" could the deadman be disengaged.
SLPS is unique in that all 300 of their PCCs are All-Electric with the 1500s ordered in late 1939, the 1600s ordered late 1940s and the 1700s in January 1945. SLPS was the rolling laboratory for All-Electrics and what was learned here was applied to the post-WW2 All-Electric Demonstrator in the Fall of 1945.
From 1936 to 1945, PCC cars were 'Air-Electrics' with friction brakes, doors, and windshield wipers operated by air pressure. PRCo PCC 1600 of 1945 was the post WW2 All-Electric Demonstrator which eliminated the air compressor
Air compressor
An air compressor is a device that converts power into kinetic energy by compressing and pressurizing air, which, on command, can be released in quick bursts...
and associated piping while incorporating such features as standee windows, a sloped windshield to eliminate night time glare, redesigned back end, forced-air ventilation, and other features. Dynamic brakes were the service brake on all PCCs; when almost stopped, friction brakes completed the stop and held the car in "park". Dynamic brakes slowed the "Air" cars to 3.0-mph at which point a lock-out relay allowed automatic application of air-applied friction brakes against each of the eight wheels. On All-Electric cars the dynamics were effective to 0.75-mph where the lockout relay then allowed a spring applied friction brake to engage a drum on each of the four motor drive shafts; this completed the stop and held the car in park. Drum brakes were released by an electric solenoid operating from low-voltage battery power; a power failure would prevent the drums from releasing which would prevent power application, a fail-safe
Fail-safe
A fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
feature. Drum brakes were quite popular and greatly reduced maintenance thus some "Air" cars were retrofitted with drums. Four magnetic brakes, one between the wheels on each side of each truck, applied additional braking for emergency stopping where all brakes were generally employed.
"These performances [acceleration and braking] enable the P.C.C. car to out-pace the average automobile which, in America, is of substantially higher performance than the typical British vehicle."
Largest fleets
| City | New | Used | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow | 2,249 | Tatra T2 180. Tatra T3 2,069. Other Russian/former Soviet Union cities, other than those listed below, had 20 Tatra T1s, 200 Tatra T2s and 7,398 Tatra T3s. | ||
| Warsaw | approx 1,399 | Tatra T1 2. Konstal 13N 836. Konstal 105N approx 560. Approx 400 other Konstal 105N were deployed across other cities in Poland. The Konstal designs were not produced under a PCC licence. The 13N was based on the Tatra T1; the 105N used PCC equipment. | ||
| Prague | 1,328 | Tatra T1 133. Tatra T2 2. Tatra T3 1193. Other Czech and Slovak cities had 132 Tatra T1s, 389 Tatra T2s and 1061 Tatra T3s. Another 365 Tatra T3s were delivered to German cities apart from those listed below and 313 to other eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Romania and Latvia. Another 954 Tatra T4s were delivered to cities in eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Romania and Latvia. | ||
| Kiev | 923 | Tatra T3. | ||
| Leipzig | 870 | Tatra T4. | ||
| Dresden | 822 | Tatra T4. | ||
| Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission Before 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission was called the Toronto Transportation Commission.-History:Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge... |
540 | 225 | 765 | All new PCCs purchased by 1951; second-hand by 1957.
|
| Kharkiv | 735 | Tatra T3. | ||
| Chicago | 683 | 683 | Total in 1948. Many were converted to CTA 6000 and 1-50 series rapid transit cars by 1958. One is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago... in operating condition. |
|
| Pittsburgh | 666 | 666 | Total in 1949.
|
|
| Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company | 470 | 90 | 560 | All new PCCs purchased by 1947; second-hand by 1955.
Kansas City Public Service Company The Kansas City Public Service Company was a public transit operator in Kansas City, Missouri in the 1940s.Streetcar operations in Kansas City began as horsecar operations in 1869 and electricification after the 1880s.... class A-14 PCCs in 1976. |
| Halle | 447 | Tatra T4. | ||
| Magdeburg | 416 | Tatra T4. | ||
| Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... , Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
361 | |||
| The Hague The Hague The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam... , Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
264 | The actual GTL-8 articulated trams are based on PCC-techniques and some of them still drive on recuperated bogies of demolished PCC's. | ||
| Antwerp, Belgium | 165 | Some are still in service. | ||
Figures for Tatra trams are from Wikipedia articles on the respective tram models.
North America
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
vehicles (LRVs) by the early 1980s. A few sites have only recently concluded operation with PCCs:
- The first PCC cars in Canada were operated by the Toronto Transit CommissionToronto Transit Commission-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
(TTC) in 1937. By 1954 TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
had the largest PCC fleet in the world, including many purchased second-hand from U.S. cities that abandoned streetcar service following the Second World War. Although it acquired new custom-designed streetcars in the late 1970s and 1980s, the TTC continued using PCCs in regular service until the mid-1990s, and retains two (#4500 and #4549) for charter purposes. These vehicles occasionally enter revenue service to mark special occasions. Recently they have been showcased on the 509 Harbourfront route on weekends during the summer. A number of different models of Toronto PCC cars are on display at the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Society museum, the Halton County Radial RailwayHalton County Radial RailwayThe Halton County Radial Railway is a working museum of electric streetcars, other railway vehicles, trolleybusses and buses. It is operated by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association...
, near Rockwood, Ontario. Several are in operating condition and rides are available to the public. Toronto sold their earlier PCCs to Alexandria, Egypt from 1966 to 1968. These cars remained in operation until 1984.
- The Newark City Subway used them until upgrading to modern LRVs in 2001.
- The unique Tandy Center Subway in Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, shut down in 2002. A shuttle between a mall and its parking lot, the system used a number of PCCs, but their exteriors were heavily modified in the 1970s, making them largely unrecognizable.
As of 2005, there are still a few places in North America where transit agencies employ PCCs in true revenue service (as opposed to short-run or intermittent heritage railway service). Of these, only one has been in service continuously since the PCC's glory days:
- The Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed LineAshmont-Mattapan High Speed LineThe Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line or also known as the "M-Line" in Boston and Milton, Massachusetts is considered to be part of the MBTA's Red Line, even though it uses different equipment and passengers have to change at Ashmont. The only MBTA line to run through a cemetery, the line opened on...
in BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
is a light-rail extension of the MBTA's heavy Red LineRed Line (MBTA)The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
. It runs from the Ashmont terminus of the Red Line to Mattapan, and runs PCCs exclusively. The line was shut down for reconstruction from June 24, 2006 until December 22, 2007, but PCC cars have resumed operation since the line's bridges cannot support heavier light rail vehicles (LRV) operated on the MBTA's Green LineGreen Line (MBTA)The Green Line is a streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. It is the oldest line of Boston's subway, which is known locally as the 'T'. The Green Line runs underground downtown and on the surface in outlying...
.
Not considered historic equipment, the PCC cars in use on the Mattapan-Ashmont line represent the oldest cars still in revenue service, originally built between 1943 and 1946. These cars are also the only air-electric PCCs still in regular service in North America. Several retired PCCs from Boston are now at the Seashore Trolley Museum
Seashore Trolley Museum
The Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's oldest and largest museum of mass transit vehicles....
.
Beginning in the late 1990s, several cities began to make use of historic PCCs to serve historic streetcar lines that combined aspects of tourist attractions and transit:
- The F Market LineF MarketThe F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike the other lines, the F line is operated as a heritage streetcar service, using exclusively historic equipment both from San Francisco's retired fleet as well as from cities around the world...
(historic streetcar service) in San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, opened in 1995, runs along Market Street from The Castro to the Ferry BuildingFerry BuildingThe San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay and a shopping center located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. On top of the building is a large clock tower, which can be seen from Market Street, a main thoroughfare of the city...
, then along the Embarcadero north and west to Fisherman's Wharf. This line is run by a mixture of PCC cars built between 1946 and 1952, and earlier pre-PCC cars. (Although San Francisco had removed PCCs from revenue service when the city's light rail was transformed into the Muni MetroMuni MetroMuni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
system in 1980, they had made occasional festival trips in the ensuing years before being returned to full-time service.). Car 1074 is painted in the livery of the Toronto Transportation CommissionToronto Transportation CommissionBefore 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission was called the Toronto Transportation Commission.-History:Toronto's first public transportation company was the Williams Omnibus Bus Line and owned by undertaker Burt Williams. The franchise carried passengers in horse-drawn stagecoaches along Yonge...
, but this car was never in the TTC roster.
- The Kenosha Electric Streetcar in Kenosha, WisconsinKenosha, WisconsinKenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
, has been operating five PCCs acquired from Toronto since 2000. The Kenosha Electric Streetcar is unique among modern PCC operations in that that PCCs had not run in the city before 2000—the original rail system was shut down in 1932 before any PCC cars had been built. One of its cars is still painted in its original TTCToronto Transit Commission-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
colours, while the rest have been re-decorated in the liveries of several U.S. cities including Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Chicago and Cincinnati.
- SEPTA restored trolley service to the Route 15 Girard Avenue lineRoute 15 (SEPTA)SEPTA's Trolley Route 15, the Girard Avenue Line is a streetcar line, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority , along Girard Avenue through North and West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. , it is the only surface trolley line in the City Transit Division that is...
in Philadelphia in September 2005 after a 15-year "temporary" suspension of trolley service in favor of diesel buses. The line uses restored and modernized (by the Brookville Manufacturing Company) PCC cars, known as PCC-II's, painted in their original green and cream Philadelphia Transit Company livery, rather than SEPTA's white with red and blue stripes. Modernization included all-new control systems, modern turn markers, HVAC system (which accounts for the noticeably larger roof enclosure), and ADA compliant wheelchair lifts. The line runs from Haddington to Port Richmond down the median of Girard Avenue. It crosses both the Broad Street Subway and the Market-Frankford LineMarket-Frankford LineThe Market–Frankford Line is a rapid transit line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority .-Route:The Market–Frankford Line begins at 69th Street Transportation Center, in Upper Darby...
, and stops at the Philadelphia ZooPhiladelphia ZooThe Philadelphia Zoo, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, was the first zoo in the United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, its opening was delayed by the American Civil War until July 1, 1874...
, among other landmarks. SEPTA had originally planned to run modern KawasakiKawasaki Heavy Industriesis an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
trolleys along the line once service was restored, but a combination of economics and a desire to help revive the Girard Avenue corridor with a more "romantic" vehicle led to the agency restoring the old vehicles for about half the cost of new cars. SEPTA uses Kawasaki vehicles on the rest of its trolley lines, including the Subway-Surface Green LineSEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley LinesThe Subway–Surface Trolley Lines or Green Lines are five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and in a shared subway with rapid transit trains in Philadelphia's Center City....
linking West PhiladelphiaWest PhiladelphiaWest Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though there is no official definition of its boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Line Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and...
with Center CityCenter City, PhiladelphiaCenter City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...
and its 69th Street Terminal69th Street Terminal69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It is also the southwestern terminus of Philadelphia's EL, the Market-Frankford Line ....
with the western suburbs of Media and Sharon HillSharon Hill, PennsylvaniaSharon Hill is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,468 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sharon Hill is located at ....
via the Media-Sharon Hill Line.
- One of the PCC cars from the Tandy Center Subway was acquired by McKinney Avenue Transit AuthorityMcKinney Avenue Transit AuthorityThe McKinney Avenue Transit Authority , a non-profit organization, operates the M-line Streetcar line in Dallas, Texas . The offices and car barn are located at 3153 Oak Grove, Dallas, TX 75204. It is an example of a heritage streetcar running historic cars...
in Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. Prior to 1977, it was rebuilt and given a boxy, more symmetrical appearance. When the McKinney Avenue Transit AuthorityMcKinney Avenue Transit AuthorityThe McKinney Avenue Transit Authority , a non-profit organization, operates the M-line Streetcar line in Dallas, Texas . The offices and car barn are located at 3153 Oak Grove, Dallas, TX 75204. It is an example of a heritage streetcar running historic cars...
bought the PCC car in February 2003, it was named "Winnie" for its resemblance to a WinnebagoWinnebago IndustriesWinnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.-Corporate history:...
.
As many cities contemplate new transit projects, PCC-based streetcar lines are an attractive option as they are relatively low cost and can serve as a tourist attraction in and of themselves, especially on routes through historic city centers.
Europe
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The vehicles used in Antwerp and Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
are metre-gauge, while those used in Brussels
Brussels trams
The Brussels tram system is one of the ten largest in the world, carrying some 75.6 million passengers in 2009. Its development demonstrates many of the quandaries that face local public transport planners...
are standard-gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
. One of the peculiarities of the four-axle Brussels PCC vehicles is that some of them have been equipped with bogies and electric motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
s acquired second-hand in the United States from decommissioned streetcars from Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
. The last of the originally 171 four-axle class 7000 PCC cars in Brussels were withdrawn on February 12, 2010, with the articulated PCCs (130 class 7700 six-axle cars and 60 class 7900 eight-axle cars) remaining in service.
The tram system of Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
has 16 lines totaling 221 km served by 190 trams, some of which are Tatra PCCs.
In Romania, Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
's extensive tramway network features a large fleet of Tatra T4R PCCs.
The largest number of PCCs (Tatra models) operate in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union.
Several tramways in the Czech Republic and Slovakia still use Tatra PCC cars, while many in Poland still operate Konstal PCCs. Some in the former East Germany also still use them, but many have been extensively modified.
Gothenburg tram types M25, M28 and M29, delivered between 1958 and 1967 resemble the PCC cars in appearance only, since they are quite different technically.
German manufacturer DUEWAG
DUEWAG
The DUEWAG AG was one of Germany's major manufacturers for rail vehicles. The business was sold in 1999 to Siemens transportation.- History :The company was founded in 1898 as Waggonfabrik Uerdingen AG in Uerdingen...
produced a large number of GT6 and GT8 Streetcars for many German and European cities after 1951. Those cars were basically a modernized version of the PCC car, adapted to the specific requirements of European cities.
Africa
Some PCC trams are still in use in CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt suburban systems, see Trams in Egypt.
Latin America
PCC cars were also exported to Latin America, although not in great numbers, to Mexico and Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
particularly, in Buenos Aires they ran through exclusive rights of way on the suburban Urquiza Line
Línea Urquiza (Buenos Aires)
The Urquiza Line is a suburban electric commuter line operated by the subway operator Metrovías, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It runs from the Federico Lacroze terminus in the barrio of Chacarita, to General Lemos terminus, Campo de Mayo in Greater Buenos Aires, a total journey time of 46 min...
for a while, these were modified at the ends to operate in two, three or four-sectioned articulated formations like most modern LRVs. See List of town tramway systems in Argentina
See also
- Peter Witt streetcarPeter Witt streetcarPeter Witt was a Cleveland Railway commissioner, who designed a model of streetcar known by his name, and used in many North American cities, most notably in Toronto and Cleveland.-Features:...
- BirneyBirneyA Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...
Safety Car - CitytramCitytramThe Tram Power City Class Light Rail Vehicle is a prototype two car articulated electric tram previously tested on the Blackpool Tramway It operates off a power supply between 550V and 800V DC...
- Toronto PCC-carsTTC Presidents' Conference CarThe Presidents' Conference Committee Car was a streetcar used by the Toronto Transportation Commission and the Toronto Transit Commission. The PCC streetcar was designed by the Presidents' Conference Committee, a group of transit operators in the United States and Canada. The TTC version was built...
Technical Specifications - Streetcars in North AmericaStreetcars in North AmericaElectric streetcars—trams outside North America—once were the chief mode of public transit in scores of North American cities. Most municipal systems were dismantled in the mid-20th century....
- Streetcars in Kenosha, WisconsinStreetcars in Kenosha, WisconsinStreetcars have been running in Kenosha, Wisconsin for more than 100 years through a variety of companies and routes.-Kenosha Electric Railway:...
Further reading
- Carlson et al. (1986), The Colorful Streetcars We Rode, Bulletin 125 of the Central Electric Railfans' Association, Chicago, Il. ISBN 0-915348-25-X
- Kashin, S.; Demoro, H. (1986), An American Original: The PCC Car, Interurban PressInterurban PressInterurban Press was a small, privately owned American publishing company, specializing in books about streetcars, other forms of rail transit and railroads in North America, from 1943 until 1993. It was based in the Los Angeles area, and specifically in Glendale, California after 1976...
, ISBN 0-916374-73-4 López Bustos, Carlos, Tranvías de Madrid, Aldaba Ediciones, Madrid 1986, ISBN 84-86629-00-4