FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2020 - The National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, Maryland is pleased to announce our acquisition of historic DC Transit Company PCC street car No.1470 from the @Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, VA.
DC Transit 1470 was built in 1945 by the St. Louis Car Company and is of PCC (President’s Conference Committee) design - the same as DC Transit 1101, 1430 and 1540 which already reside in the museum’s collection. DC Transit 1470 is unique from the other Washington PCC cars in our collection; it is equipped with an automatic trolley catching device (notice the catching device on the roof holding the trolley pole.) An air motor replaced the traditional catcher and pulled the pole down to save manpower at plow pits. Both the release for the catcher and the air motor could be operated from the operator’s position in the car.
DC Transit 1470 was donated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in 1964 by the President of DC Transit System, Inc., Mr. O. Roy Chalk, who donated many other historic street cars to the National Capital Trolley Museum.
The National Capital Trolley Museum’s Board of Trustees initially voted to acquire the car in late summer of 2019. On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, DC Transit 1470 was delivered to our facility in Colesville, Maryland. The arrival of this car on our campus marks the first time in many decades that the car is in a facility with other Washington street cars.
We wish to extend a very special thank you to the many individuals and organizations who assisted with this acquisition, from the planning to the transportation, of this special car.
We invite you to Like and Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages, subscribe to our TrolleyTime Blog and watch our website for additional information, photos and details regarding our acquisition of DC Transit 1470. Thank you for your continued support of the museum.