Types and Sources of Rolling Stock
Original American
Streetcars—from transit systems
Most heritage lines would ideally like to
obtain authentic American streetcars from a prior operator, if they were
available. Unfortunately, there are no pre-World War II classic style American
streetcars in the possession of US transit operators, except for those being
used on existing heritage trolley lines.
The streamlined art-deco standard design
known as PCC cars (a shortened acronym of the Electric Railway Presidents’
Conference Committee that developed the design in the 1930s) remain in use by a
handful of transit systems (Boston, Kenosha (WI), Philadelphia, and
San Francisco). None of these operators has any spare cars to sell.
San Francisco and Kenosha are examples of
heritage trolley operations that operate PCC cars acquired from other transit systems.
Original American
Streetcars—from other sources
Trolley museums are the only other potential
source of authentic, pre-streamlined American streetcars. However, museums are
fundamentally committed to preserving their cars, which means leasing cars for
regular, heavy transit operation is incompatible with their mission, though
special or supplemental service on heritage lines may be appropriate. However,
there may be exceptions in the case of duplicate equipment or cars that may be
deemed surplus and available for sale. Such cars will normally require structural, electrical, and mechanical overhaul before being used. The same is generally true for the
streamlined PCC cars; though some are for sale.
PCC Cars for Sale: The Seashore
Trolley Museum, host of this web site, has 6 double end and 5 single end PCC
cars for sale. For details, click:
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A single-end Boston PCC car similar to the ones offered for sale by the Seashore Trolley Museum.
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A double-end Dallas PCC car of the type that the Seashore Trolley Museum is offering.
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Several private parties may have PCC cars for sale as well. All
such cars will also need rebuilding. Brookville Equipment
Corporation of Brookville, PA has rebuilt such cars for Philadelphia
and San Francisco and is very interested in doing similar projects for other
cities.
A final source of American streetcars is the
many car bodies that were sold off by transit systems in the first half of the
last century for use as houses, cabins, diners, or storage facilities. Many of
these cars still exist, but tend to have been heavily modified and to show
considerable deterioration. As well, they are always bodies-only, as the transit
operator would sell mechanical and electrical parts for scrap before selling the
car bodies. Restoration costs for such cars will typically approach or even
exceed the cost of new replica cars equipped with reused mechanical equipment.
Nonetheless, for many heritage operators, such bodies will be the only possible
source of a car that once ran in the city in question. Trolley museums can be a
valuable source of information about the location of such car bodies. Many
museums have also restored such bodies to operation so can be a source of
information on the work involved.
Follow this link to the Technical
section of this site for reference to the standards that should be followed for
rebuilding streetcars for heritage use.
Replica cars with second
hand mechanical components
A number of new start heritage trolley systems in
the United States have been equipped with newly-built replica cars. These cars
use mechanical and electrical equipment salvaged from older transit vehicles
then reconditioned for reuse. Most of this equipment has come from foreign
streetcars, though some has come from American PCC cars. The Gomaco Trolley
Company of Ida Grove, Iowa pioneered this field by building three replica
cars—copies of cars at the Seashore Trolley Museum—for Lowell, Massachusetts
starting in the mid 1980s. Those cars used equipment salvaged from Melbourne,
Australia trams, a source that is no longer available. Gomaco subsequently built
replica cars for Portland, Oregon using equipment from American PCC cars. It
developed a new model, a replica of a double-truck Birney car, for Tampa,
equipped with air conditioning, and using mechanical equipment from Milan,
Italy. A subsequent order for the same type of car for Little Rock incorporates
built-in wheel chair lifts. Recent orders of cars have typically been priced in
the range of $600,000 to $800,000 each (early 2000s prices). The firm is now
building cars with virtually all new parts (see next section).
The below photos, furnished by Gomaco, show the
construction process on the Tampa cars. Click on each thumbnail to enlarge the
image. See Gomaco's website for more
views and further information about their products:.
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A Tampa car body takes shape at Gomaco's Ida Grove, Iowa plant.
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The interior shows plymetal flooring and insulation below the windows to keep air conditioned air coold.
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Representatives of Hartline examine a reconditioned truck recovered from a Milan, Italy tram.
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One of the former Milan trucks in position under the car.
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An exterior view of a nearly-complete steel body shell.
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Some final colors appear as windows and a roof-mounted air conditioning unit are installed.
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The first headlining panels cover insulation, wiring, and frame members. Air conditioning ducts run along the center.
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Seats and many pieces of interior woodwork have been installed in this view.
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The finished car posing on a railroad trestle near the Iowa factory.
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Gomaco has supplied similar cars to Little Rock, Charlotte, and Memphis.
The Port of Los Angeles has also used a similar approach—new bodies with rebuilt
mechanical equipment—for the replica interurban cars used on their San Pedro heritage line.
Visit the Bibliography page for links to other
suppliers of heritage cars.
Replica cars—Completely
new
The first heritage trolley
operator to build accurate replica trolleys using new components both for the
bodies and the mechanical equipment was the New Orleans
Regional Transit Authority. As well, the RTA is the only operator to have built
its replica cars in house. In the mid 1990s, the RTA built about a half-dozen
replicas of the 1920s vintage Perley-Thomas cars it uses on St. Charles line to
replace second-hand cars it was using on the relatively new Riverfront trolley
line. The cars were very close copies of the St. Charles cars but had an extra
door mounted on each side for a wheelchair lift at the cost of several seats and
passenger space inside. These cars used PCC-style trucks plus modern electronic
control equipment supplied by a Czech manufacturer, CKD Dopravni (formerly Tatra),
that once was one of the dominant suppliers of streetcars to eastern block
countries. The estimated cost of these cars was about $1 million each. (See
The New Ladies in Red, for more about these cars).
The RTA subsequently built a prototype car
followed by a production series of 23 more cars for the reintroduction of streetcar service on Canal Street.
These cars used the
same basic body design, but with a slight modification to the handicapped door
layout, and were also equipped with air conditioning. The demonstrator also
initially used CKD trucks and
controls. The RTA began series production of 23 additional cars of this design
for the Canal line in 2001. and placed them in service in April, 2004. The
Brookville Equipment Corporation, a
manufacturer of mining and other rail equipment provided the mechanical systems. The cost
of the Canal cars was approximately $1.2 million each. See the New Orleans section of this site for
photos of the Canal cars. Sadly, hurricane Katrina in August, 2005 left all but
one of the RTA built streetcars in about 4 feet of water for several weeks.
Initial estimates of rebuilding the cars are in the range of $1 million each.
As mentioned above, Gomaco is preparing to build cars with
all new components and Brookville has expressed interest in doing the same.
New Modern Streetcars
New start streetcar systems in the United States, specifically Portland (OR)
and Tacoma, operate new streetcars of eastern European design. Washington (DC)
has selected similar cars for the planned Anacostia demonstrator line. These
cars are shorter than modern light rail cars but somewhat longer than
traditional American streetcars. They are articulated (the bodies bend) and
feature low floor loading for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act. The initial cars for Portland and Tacoma were built by the Czech firm Skoda
and have the model name Astra. Skoda subsequently decided to discontinue
production of these cars, but another Czech firm, DPO Inekon, started
manufacture of a very similar car which as been ordered by Washington and
Portland. Follow these links for photographs of the Skoda cars operating in
Portland and Tacoma.
The possibility of manufacturing cars of this type in America is being
explored in Portland. The following notes from
Rail Transit Online describe these plans:
Foreign
streetcars—American style or foreign style
Several heritage trolley operators have
purchased complete, operable streetcars from foreign countries. In many cases
older styled streetcars have remained in service far longer than in the United
States and Canada. Many early heritage operations purchased "W-2" cars from Melbourne,
Australia or used components of these cars in new replica cars (see Veterans From Down Under).
However, the Australian government has prohibited further export of these cars,
so this source is no longer available. Several other operations used cars from
Portugal—in most cases standard gauge cars from Porto (Memphis,
Dallas, and San Jose)
and in one case (Detroit) narrow gauge cars from
Lisbon (now out of service). However, in both of these Portuguese cities the few original cars left
are either still in operation or are used for museum purposes.
The last remaining sizable
fleet of American style conventional streetcars still in service is the fleet of
"Peter Witt" style cars in Milan, Italy (San
Francisco and San Jose have cars from this
series and Gomaco made cars for
Tampa and Little Rock
using components of these cars. Gomaco also has supplied two rehabbed Milan
Peter Witt cars to St. Louis for a line under
consideration there.). The cars are smaller copies of cars built for
Philadelphia in the mid 1920s. The remaining cars of this type in Milan are
gradually being replaced by modern equipment, so this source may remain a viable
source for North American heritage trolley operations.
The only other foreign
source of cars that appear somewhat similar to conventional American cars is
Japan, where some cars equipped with 1920s-era American running gear are still in service
(but many are built to Japanese gauge of 4' 6"—2 1/2" narrower than standard).
See Tucson for images of a typical Japanese car.
Beyond these sources, many
foreign cities, particularly in Europe, operate streetcars of more modern
European design, and cars may be available second hand.
Leasing Streetcars
Either heritage operators
or trolley museums may consider leasing equipment for use on other systems. Some
heritage operators may have surplus equipment if a shortage of funding prevents
operating a full schedule. As well, trolley museums have occasionally leased
cars to heritage operations, though normally for short term or relatively light
service. Leasing may be an attractive way to demonstrate a potential operation
or to begin service before funds are available to purchase cars. Click on Trolley Links via
Seashore Web Site for links to museums
that might consider leasing cars.
Additional Information
For more information on
heritage cars click on:
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