Port Authority 4000-series PCC

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Port Authority 4000-series PCC
Pennsylvania Trolley Gauge

The 4000-series PCC was a rebuilt

Port Authority of Allegheny County. Originally designed by the Presidents' Conference Committee, a group of transit operators in the United States and Canada, the 4000's were a series of PCC cars completely rebuilt from cars built in 1949 by the St. Louis Car Company for Port Authority's predecessor, Pittsburgh Railways
.

Background

In the early 1980s, the Pittsburgh Port Authority began its "Stage I" project to completely rebuild portions of its streetcar system into their new

Drake
lines earmarked in the "Stage II" plan, to be rebuilt at a later date as funding became available. Until such time, the "Stage II" lines would not be able to accommodate the new, heavier, and wider rail cars due to their age and condition, so the Authority needed to continue to operate their aging PCC fleet.

The solution was a fleet of completely rebuilt PCC's that could complement the new LRVs by operating on portions of the system that could not yet accommodate the larger, heavier cars, as well as having new components that extended their service lives until such time that their lines could be rebuilt and replacements bought.

Originally, the Authority planned to overhaul forty-five of their 1700-series PCC's. However, budgetary constraints and technical difficulties resulted in only sixteen cars being rebuilt. Of the sixteen, only twelve cars received the complete overhaul, while four were only partially rebuilt. These four, affectionately referred to as "Super 17's" by many, received the same mechanical and electrical improvements, seats, body work, and paint scheme as the remaining twelve, but retained several of their 1949 attributes, including original interior and exterior lighting, all-steel body panels, and operator's controls, as well as retaining their original numbers.

pantographs, where the front one was outfitted with a de-icing apparatus intended to help remove sleet from the overhead wires. As planned, nearly all cars would be air-conditioned, but with the aforementioned budget issues, only one car, number 4006, was fitted with an air-conditioning system.[3]

Service

See also:
Blue Line – Library

The 4000 series was intended as an interim solution for the Authority's unrebuilt lines, which could not accommodate the newer, heavier railcars. As such, they were assigned to the

47S South Hills Village via Overbrook lines, as well as the 47 Shannon line, all trans-versing the Overbrook corridor.[4]
In 1988, Port Authority retired all of its remaining unrebuilt PCC's due to safety concerns, leaving only the twelve 4000 PCC's and four "Super 17's" available to serve the Overbrook, Library, and Drake lines, thus necessitating the use of LRV's on at least one of these lines to maintain service. Of the three, the Library line was found to be the best suited to accommodate the larger LRV's with only minor modifications, and the route was modified and redesignated as the "42L Library via Beechview" (as the Overbrook line could not accommodate the LRV's) in December, 1988, and the PCC's were relegated to just the 47D,S, and 47 lines.

Unlike the LRV's which had both high and low level doors, the PCC's had only low level doors and were limited to street level boarding. As a result, all major stations on portions of the system that were shared by PCC's and LRV's (these being

South Hills Junction, and all stops north of the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel
) had both high and low platforms to accommodate both types of cars.

PCC 4001 47D Drake shuttle trolley close up.

In 1993, the Overbrook Line was shut down between Castle Shannon and South Hills Junction due to the deteriorated conditions of the track, bridges, walls, and other infrastructure. With that, routes 47 and 47S were suspended, and the 47D was reduced to a short shuttle between Drake and Castle Shannon, where riders would be required to transfer to route 42S, 42L, or a bus to continue to downtown.[5]

In 1999, the Drake shuttle was shut down, and the remaining PCC's were retired.

Roster

A roster of Pittsburgh's PCC streetcars[6]
1981 former number renumbered to / notes
4000 1702 4012 in 1985
4001 1720
4002 1740
4003 1731
4004 1739
4005 1729 [assumed due to 4007 reference]
4006 1767
4007 1719 [7]
4008 1709
4009 1700
4010 1757
4011 1733
4012 4000
1987
4013 1762

Preserved examples

Car #4004 was donated to the

Standard Gauge) as well as modifications for ADA accessibility.[10] By 2018, these factors, combined with the poor condition of the cars, having been stored outdoors for nearly two decades, ultimately prompted Muni to sell the two for scrap, and the cars were cut up the following year.[11] Muni instead repainted their PCC no. 1062, originally Philadelphia Transportation Company (later SEPTA) no. 2101, in Pittsburgh Railways Company livery to represent the city.[12][13]
The disposition of the remainder are as follows:

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.rapidtransit-press.com/131-1.pdf
  2. ISBN 0-915276-48-8
    .
  3. ^ The 80's at PAT. Antique Motor Coach Association of Pennsylvania. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
  4. ^ "Pittsburghtransit.info - The Routes - PCC Operation". 28 August 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Pittsburgh Railways Online - A Trolley Car Tragedy - 1950's". February 18, 2002. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  6. ^ "Pittsburghtransit.org".
  7. ^ Hicks, Frank (October 24, 2017). "Preserved Traction: Pittsburgh PCC numbering history corrected".
  8. ^ "Pennsylvania Trolley Museum - Port Authority Transit Car #4004". October 17, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  9. ^ Laubscher, Rick (2007). "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: PCC past-time". Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  10. ^ Rick Laubscher (August 1, 2008). "Market Street Railway - Sixteen PCCs Out for Renovation Bids". Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  11. ^ https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2018/06/6-19-18_item_10.1_disposal_of_street_cars_resolution.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  12. ^ "Pittsburgh in Nevada, Inbound". Market Street Railway. 24 June 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  13. ^ "Perfect November Saturday on the Waterfront". Market Street Railway. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  14. ^ "EVENTS".
  15. ^ "Mike Samolovitch Collection_0020 - PCC 4006". 27 May 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
  16. ^ "Preserved Traction: A Terrible Acquisition". 31 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Pennsylvania Trolley Museum acquires Terrible Trolley - CBS Pittsburgh". CBS News.

External links

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