DCTS 1101

DC Transit 1101

DC Transit 1101, the first PCC type street car to arrive in Washington, DC, passes the passenger shelter at Fishhook Siding in January 2019. The wooded surroundings of this part of our railway provide a decent idea of what some parts of the 82 line, the route shown on the roll sign, would have looked like. Photo by Bill Monaghan, NCTM Collections.

St. Louis Car Company, 1937

Washington, D.C.

Principal Features

Double truck, Single end PCC city car

Four Westinghouse 1432 motors

Clark B-2 trucks

99 Step Westinghouse controller

History

The Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) car brought to the Nation's Capital years of design work to create a standard of modern excellence for street cars in the United States. Capital Transit inaugurated PCC service with the 14th Street line on August 24, 1937. Nearly twenty-five years later on January 28, 1962, DCTS 1101 wore a large banner across its dash, "D.C. Transit / Last Day / of Streetcars," to commemorate the conversion of the 14th Street car line to diesel bus operation.

Although the PCC represents standardization in street car design, operating companies and car builders individualized their vehicles. Conduit current supply and forty-four foot transfer tables gave Washington's PCCs two unique characteristics, underground plows and one less window on a side. As an early PCC, DCTS 1101 does not have the standee windows of the "post-war cars" and does employ compressed air for windshield wipers, door engines, and brakes for the final stop. The Company replaced the original external, wheel-mounted brake shoes with internal, propeller shaft-mounted drum brakes when it extended the dynamic braking down to two miles per hour.

Mr. O. Roy Chalk, president of D.C. Transit System, donated DCTS 1101 to the Museum in March, 1970.

Join us next week as we present a special article about the museum and how we preserve the legacy of DC's street car network, one of the best transit systems in the world.

Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company (P&WCTCo) 85

J.G. Brill Company, 1932

Philadelphia, West Chester

Principal Features
Double end suburban car
Double truck
Lightweight Aluminum body
Leather reversible seats
"Automobile" styling"

History
The "80's" cars served Philadelphia’s western suburbs for 50 years. Their last 15 years of service saw them used primarily in rush hour service. Car 85 was withdrawn from service and acquired by the NCTM in 2014. For the NCTM collection, P&WCTCo 85 represents the transition in electric railway design, construction, and technology between arch roof cars and the PCC.

P&WCTCo 85 is in storage awaiting restoration.

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Both the Electric City Museum and Pennsylvania Trolley Museum have restored streetcars from the same group as P&WCTCo 85. Their descriptions of the history of these cars are below.

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from
Electric City Trolley Museum
(http://www.ectma.org/collection.html)



Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. #80 (Electric City Museum)

P&WCTCo#80 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCFsOQ1aaPg

Take a ride on J.G. Brill "Master Unit" car of 1932 as it operates an Electric City Trolley Museum service between Moosic and Scranton, Pennsylvania. June 15, 2014. Enthusiast video by Roger DuPuis.

Car #80 was one of ten lightweight "Master Unit" style cars delivered by J.G. Brill to Philadelphia and West Chester Traction in 1932. These cars addressed mounting competition from the automobile by introducing sleek lines, contemporary automotive styling features and cushioned leather seats to the Red Arrow service. Car #80 endured in service until retired and sold in 1982 by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). It has been returned to its early all-reddish-brown PSTC paint scheme and continues to operate at the Electric City museum.
 
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from

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

https://pa-trolley.org/collection/philadelphia-west-chester-traction-78/

"Philadelphia & West Chester Traction 78"
The onset of the Great Depression brought with it a spiraling decline in the revenue and ridership of most streetcar companies. For many lines, the only answer was abandonment or motor buses. Car 78 is one of a group of ten cars purchased from the J.G. Brill Company in 1931 and 1932 by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company as part of a bold plan to combat the decline while maintaining the financial health of the company through the tough economic times.

The “80 cars,” as they became known, were designed for one-man operation, equipped for high-speed running, and employed lightweight aluminum construction. The cars were so successful that five additional cars were ordered even before the initial five cars ordered had been fully delivered. These new cars were cheaper to man, and reduced power consumption, while their high-speed equipment cut the scheduled operating times and made the service even more attractive to potential riders. This, coupled with a fare reduction and consolidation of other competing forms of transit in the area enabled the management to stave off the effects of the terrible economic times, and go on to build one of the most successful privately-owned transportation companies in the country.

The consolidation of streetcar and bus operations by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company in the early 1930s gave rise to discussion of changing the corporate name to better reflect the new, diversified business. In 1936, the company became the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, and adopted the “Red Arrow Lines” logo as part of a carefully planned public relations campaign.

Busy Boats - Story time and Children's Activities

Our next story time video is now live! If you're on Facebook, visit our page to view the video: facebook.com/dctrolley 

For those of you not on Facebook, visit our YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/-JV7bPTJZvM) 

Follow up activity:

Follow Up Activities for the story Busy Boats

Written by Tony Mitton

Illustrated by Ant Parker

There were lots of different types of transportation mentioned in the story.

Can you remember what they were?

Activity Option 1:  Fold a piece of paper into 4 sections.  Draw a picture of yourself riding on four of the different types of boats that were mentioned in the story.  Include in the picture one important part of that particular boat.  Feel free to refer to the last page of the book for some ideas. Write a sentence or two describing where that boat Is taking you. 

Activity Option 2:  Design a boat that you could live on for a week.  Label all of the important parts of your boat.  Write a description telling about everything included in your design and how it will help you live without coming to port for a week.

*Bonus:  Do some research and design a boat that floats out of household materials. Test it out in your bath tub or kitchen sink with a guardian’s approval.

Special Film Presentation

The Trolley Museum is pleased to present a special film presentation, FAREWELL BONIFANT JUNCTION, on Tuesday, May 19 at 12:15pm. This film is a collection of older video that was produced prior to the closure of the original museum facilities.

For those of you on Facebook, simply go to our page, http://fb.com/dctrolley, and find the video announcement.

For those of you not on Facebook, this program will be streamed live on YouTube as well - go to http://bit.ly/2AzVVyt to watch.

We will be presenting several more special video programs during this time that the museum is closed. We invite you to join us for all of them!

Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) 4602 & 4603

TTC 4602 outside of the Visitor's Center during our 2016 Night Photo Session. Bill Monaghan Photograph

Canadian Car and Foundry, Limited &
St. Louis Car Company, 1951
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Principal Features:

Double truck, Single end PCC city car

Trucks: Clark B-2

Motors: Four WH 1432J

Westinghouse control

All-electric operation

History:

On November 7, 1950 St. Louis Car Company commenced shipment of the body shells to Canadian Car and Foundry Company for completion as Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) 4500-4549, class A-8. When the last body left St. Louis on February 9, 1951, it remained only for the final Boston (Pullman-Standard) and San Francisco orders to be completed before the last Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) street car was built in North America.

In reaffirmation of Toronto's love affair with its Red Rockets (PCC street cars) and to cater to a sudden upswing in ridership as well as the new Harbourfront line, a study was undertaken in late 1984 regarding a PCC rebuilding program. The rebuilding was even more extensive than that done in the 'seventies. The body was essentially remanufactured with new side sills, bolsters, window posts, frame members, and side skin, in some cases of heavier steel. Only the roof was original. The trucks, motors and all electrical components were rebuilt and all wiring replaced. All the wiring between the front and middle of the car was relocated in a sealed conduit in the side sill instead of beneath the car floor. Cream ceilings, brown window areas, bright red Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV)-style seating, wood-grained laminates below the windows, and marbled light gray flooring graced the interior. Renumbered TTC 4600 through 4618, the cars sported the original dark red with cream livery and the old TTC logo and numerals.

The Museum purchased TTC 4602 from the Lake Shore Electric Railway in the fall of 2009.

In November, 1995 the TTC decided to retire all but the two "tour tram" PCC cars. The reasons for the sudden demise of the PCC car in Toronto after 57 years included; 1) declining ridership, 2) having sufficient CLRVs and ALRVs to maintain existing routes and the new Spadina Avenue line, and 3) achieving a standardized fleet without maintaining a separate spare parts inventory for just nineteen cars.

Museum member James Hogan purchased TTC 4603 and gave it to the Museum in 1996.

No Passengers!

The Trolley Time Blog is taking a break through May 12, but will return Thursday, May 14. 

We have a lot of great material lined up for the Trolley Time blog following our break; articles on Washington transit uniforms, the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railroad, rare video of Washington street cars in operation (including a snow sweeper) and more. Plus, story time for the kids will resume as well. 

Don't forget to subscribe to the blog for email updates when we post! Thanks for your continued support; we hope everyone remains safe.

Wooden Nickels? #ThrowbackTuesday!

Wooden Nickels? #ThrowbackTuesday - Contributed by Wesley Paulson, NCTM Treasurer

Vintage wooden nickel formerly sold in the NCTM Museum Store. The graphic at the top of the image is from a 1983 brochure.

May, 2020

I was surprised when a friend at church presented me with this wooden nickel on Sunday. The wooden nickel was one of many typical souvenirs sold in the Museum Store when the Trolley Museum opened in October 1969. Other souvenirs at the time included back scratchers, a foot long book of matches, bumper stickers, plates, and decals.

Over the years the store slowly evolved from a typical souvenir gift shop to a museum store with a large selection of books. The nickels and back scratchers are long gone from the store but we still have plenty of those plates!


The wooden nickel gained popularity as a souvenir at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Soon after the nickels could be found in souvenir shops across the country.


The price of the Trolley Museum nickels in the 1970s? Twenty-five cents.

-Wesley Paulson

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Do you have a vintage Trolley Museum souvenir? Send us a picture!