Presidents' Conference Committee Streetcar

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The Presidents' Conference Committee, later known as the Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee, or "PCC" streetcar is an early trolley (also streetcar, tram or light-rail) vehicle first manufactured in the United States (and then to Canada and abroad).

History

The PCC type trolley represented a dramatic technological leap forward over earlier wooden trolley cars. The PCC represents the first time a streetcar was built to a standardized plan with standardized interchangeable parts. PCC trolleys were manufactured by the Pullman Car Company and St. Louis Car Company from 1936 until 1951. Much of PCC technology was first developed and tested in Brooklyn during the 1930s.

The PCC was the world's first light rail vehicle. PCCs accelerate and brake 2 to 3 times faster than a modern bus and provide an extremely smooth and comfortable ride, even on badly worn rails.

PCC technology was so revolutionary that by the 1950s almost all remaining trolley systems in the US, Canada, and Mexico (and many in Europe) primarily ran PCC cars. In Prague and other European cities, PCC type cars continue to be the mainstay of their light rail system.

The PCC was designed by the Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) to address the problem of increasingly traffic-clogged streets and decreasing ridership. The PCC has proven to be one of the most durable and efficient rail vehicles ever manufactured. Even after over a half-century of continuous service, some PCC trolleys continue to provide full-time mass transit service in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and other American cities.

Two main manufacturers in the United States produced these cars; the St. Louis Car Company, and the Pullman-Standard Car Company. An additional manufacturer named Clark Equipment Company, built one streetcar, unique in that it was the only streetcar built utilizing an all aluminum body. This trolley is preserved at the Trolley Museum of New York, and is listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places. Elsewhere, in Canada, various components were manufactured by the St. Louis Car Company, however, the Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F) assembled the cars at their plant in Montreal, PQ. European manufacturers include Fiat and ČKD Tatra (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk).

Manufacturers and models

North America

Canadian Car and Foundry (CA)

Clark Equipment Company (US)

  • Aluminum model - Viewed to be lighter than conventional cars. One car produced for Brooklyn.

Pullman-Standard Car Company (US)

  • Model "B" - Pre-cursor to "pre-war" model, constructed in 1934. Demo'd in Chicago on Windsor Park shuttle car line, and then to Brooklyn. Problems with the car included poorly viewed braking, due to braking power being dependent on overhead current.
  • Pre-war
  • Post-war

St. Louis Car Company (US, CA)

  • Pre-war
  • Post-war
  • PCC II (Used PCC trucks, however utilized rapid-transit styled bodies for heavy rail application.)

Twin Coach

  • Model "A" - Experimental bus built on streetcar trucks in 1929. Their project ended in 1935.

Europe

Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD Tatra) (EU)

  • T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7

Fiat (EU)

This section is incomplete.

La Brugeoise et Nivelles

This section is incomplete.

Australia

Melbourne and Metropiltan Tramways Board (M&MTB)

  • Truck and electrical gear supplied from United States. Only one car produced.

Operators

This list is incomplete.

"Italicized" agencies note dismantled PCC systems or not seen in regular service.

Australia Flag of Australia.png

Belgium Flag of Belgium.png

Bosnia and Herzegovina Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.png

Brazil Flag of Brazil.png

Canada Flag of Canada.png

Chile Flag of Chile.png

Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.png

Denmark

Egypt Flag of Egypt.png

France Flag of France.png

Germany Flag of Germany.png

Italy Flag of Italy.png

South Korea Flag of South Korea.png

Former cars of Los Angeles Railway 3007-3008 (1937).

  • Pusan, KR (present-day Busan), in 1962.
  • Seoul, KR, in 1962.

Mexico Flag of Mexico.png

Netherlands Flag of Netherlands.png

Poland Flag of Poland.png

  • Warsaw, PL

Russia Flag of Russia.png

  • Barnaul, RU
  • Grozny, RU
  • Irkutsk, RU
  • Izhevsk, RU
  • Krasnodar, RU
  • Kursk, RU
  • Moscow, RU
  • Nizhny Novgorod, RU
  • Novokuznetsk, RU
  • Oryol, RU
  • Pyatigorsk, RU
  • Rostov-on-Don, RU
  • Samara, RU
  • St. Petersburg, RU
  • Tula, RU
  • Tver, RU
  • Ufa, RU
  • Ulyanovsk, RU
  • Vladikavkaz, RU
  • Volgograd, RU
  • Volzhsky, RU
  • Voronezh, RU

Spain Flag of Spain.png

Sweden Flag of Sweden.png

United States Flag of the United States.png

Pre-War models (1936-1941)

Post-War models (1941-1951)

Museums or facilities storing PCC cars in their collection

Canada Flag of Canada.png

United States Flag of the United States.png

Major orders by North American agencies

This section is incomplete

Canadian Car and Foundry

Note: Canadian (CC&F) cars were provided by St. Louis Car Company bodies and trucks. The final product was assembled in Montreal, PQ.

The class is provided in the table below to separate orders.

Class Fleet numbers Year Agency Notes
A1 4000-4139 1938 Toronto Transportation Commission
A2 4150-4199 1940 Toronto Transportation Commission
A3 4200-4259 1942 Toronto Transportation Commission
A4 4260-4274 1944 Toronto Transportation Commission
A5 4275-4299 1945 Toronto Transportation Commission
A6 4300-4399 1947-1948 Toronto Transportation Commission
A7 4400-4499 1949 Toronto Transportation Commission
A8 4500-4549 1951 Toronto Transportation Commission

Clark Equipment Company

Clark Equipment Co. manufactured many of the trucks used under PCCs, but they only built one complete car.

Order number Fleet numbers Year Agency Notes
1000 1935-1936 Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation "Brooklyn-Clark" type car.
  • Only one produced, experimental.

Pullman Standard Car Company

Order number Fleet numbers Year Agency Notes
W6629 3002-3021 1940 Boston Elevated Railway "Tremont" cars.
W6642 5000-5029 Oct., 1940 Pacific Electric Railway Double-ended center-door cars.
W6697 3022-3071
3097-3146 		1944 Boston Elevated Railway
W6699 601-625 1945 Dallas Railway and Terminal Company Ordered in 1942, but delayed for three years due to wartime rationing.
  • Dallas-style double-end car.
W6710A 3072-3096 1945 Boston Elevated Railway
W6710B 3147-3196 1945 Boston Elevated Railway
W6710C? 3222-3271 1945-1946 Boston Elevated Railway
W6710D 3197-3221 1945 Boston Elevated Railway
W6750 4207-4223? 1946 Cleveland Transit System
W6820 71-95 1947 Shaker Heights Rapid Transit
W6892 3272-3321 1951 Boston Elevated Railway
W16900 4062-4083 1945 Chicago Surface Lines
W17245 801-848 1947 Birmingham Electric Company
W17310 4206-4381 1946-1948 Chicago Surface Lines

St. Louis Car Company

See St. Louis Car Company work orders for detailed list.

References

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