DC Transit

I've assembled this video from all the material I have on DC Transit from the films of John Hand and Walter Schopp. This system was unique having the trolley wire buried in the streets within the city limits, due to a D. C. law banning overhead wires. Most of the films were taken on excursions, some using the older trolley seen in the video. Also shown is the "Silver Sightseer", an air conditioned PCC with a unique paint scheme and stainless steel trim.

[@Poisson4147]

I have childhood memories of the system just before it was destroyed in the early 1960s. It always felt strange to see the cars operating without poles, thanks to the "plow" between the two street rails. The system was ingenious but from what I've read it was a nightmare to maintain.

[@DouglasTavenner]

Born in DC in 1946, Graduated from Anacostia High School in 1964 - Spent many hours traveling on the Streetcars, and was disappointed when we had to change and travel on buses. Also, I noted back then that the Streetcars did not emit the pollution fumes like the Buses did. In addition, the ride was a lot more easy-going and more comfortable than the buses. I could not understand why they went on buses.

[@GlennGlover-e1n]

The greatest ride ever going out to Glen Echo Park ,,,,,,, gentle as you could ever imagine WOW.........

[@mick8669]

My grandfather was one of the last trolly drivers. I love these videos.

[@Poisson4147]

Suggested edit: "trolley"

[@davidroache4699]

@@Poisson4147 Suggested edit; "Streetcar"

[@jamesdrummond5894]

I could remember riding on dc transit as a kid with my mother.

[@michaelroark3263]

My grandparents lived in Washington until I was 16 and I'd spend two or three weeks visiting them each summer of my childhood and early teens, in the 50s. They lived a couple of blocks from the 40/42 Mount Pleasant loop and before air conditioning I remember often waking to the sound of streetcars creaking around the loop at one end of the street and lions roaring for their breakfast at the other. Washington was a very different place then and open windows overnight were standard practice. I hoped the lions were still in their cages because I knew I could not outrun a lion (or much of anything else). From the time I was ten or so I would hop the streetcar and wander the National Mall and absorb history. Also, two of my aunts ran a beauty shop on 14th Street and I'd watch the PCC cars go by all day, and once in a while a couple of the older ones. One advertised Savings Bonds. Once a summer my grandmother would take me to the Glen Echo amusement park, which involved switching from the underground to overhead power feed. All a dream of the past now.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

Your grandparents must have lived near Mount Pleasant street and Lamont or Mt. Pleasant and Park road? The end of the line for the #40 trains were right there across from a Bakery.. As a kid, I too could hear the animals from the back side of the national zoo park. As a kid I was terrified to cross 16th street at Lamont or Park road out of fear of getting hit by cars, I too would hop on a train and go downtown.

[@michaelroark3263]

@@mamadouaziza2536 They lived on Kenyon, next street over from Lamont I think. Small world. They were more or less halfway between Mt. Pleasant St. and the Zoo.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

@@michaelroark3263 Yes, I know that area very well!!!

[@rexracernj7696]

As a kid I lived near Phila, early 1960s and loved PTC trolleys; visited DC around 1962 and saw the streetcar tracks with the unique center rail for conduit, asked someone "where are the trolleys," was told they'd been discontinued JUST before my visit.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

So true, they removed the last train by 1962.

[@gerardwebb1945]

I love DC! I lived and schooled there. And that tram #1561 Remind me of a room that I stayed in, in Hamilton Heights Upper Manhattan, NYC. The address 561 west 147th street in a 3 br apt with roommates in an apartment share living, Manhattan, NYC. Thank you for bringing back fond memories. And the local and express subway is 2 blocks south on 145th street.

[@robertwilliams3887]

Wow how iconic!!! And what's even more amazing the bus routes have the same number as these trolley cars.

[@genebutler7949]

What a great piece of transit history on this film. Thank you for sharing! I remember as a young boy in the late 50's and early 60"s riding with my parents during train layovers in DC! Brings back a lot of memories. I also remember seeing the beginning of the underground excavation, deep holes in the streets and how sad I was that the streetcars were disappearing.

[@ArtStoneUS]

To elaborate on the description, no PCC cars were built with air conditioning. At most they had noisy fans and/or windows you might be able open with a crank. Among the reasons for no AC is that the Direct Current (DC) power lines for streetcars did not generally have transformers close enough to deliver the necessary current. The further the streetcar got away from the feeding substation, the lower the voltage becomes. Air conditioning also added weight. Power to streetcars is DC and most Air Conditioners need AC power, so you also need an inverter. If you look at the list of cities that bought PCC street cars, you'll notice that almost all of them are in the northern half of the country. There were more reasons why streetcars became unpopular than just that GM wanted to sell buses. So the street car at the beginning intended for tourists is a one-off. In some cities (Pittsburgh for instance), the original PCC cars were rebuilt and modified to have air conditioning by using different motors, fiberglass bodies to reduce weight, and additional substations. The reality is the rebuilt street cars have almost nothing of the original streetcars. They just look like them.

[@jayo1212]

Pittsburgh also was converted to pantograph collection, which allows higher voltage collections. Unfortunately, only one PCC got air conditioning before funding ran out. So, yeah, they had fans but they didn't always work, and a lot of times, the operator just had one of the front doors open.

[@paulh6591]

Was the car at the 9:32 mark retrofitted for AC or was it built with it?

[@Taoseno2007]

So many memories; Sad that DCT never finished repainting all the PCCs into the Mrs Chalk scheme, we lived on Wisconsin Ave near the Calvert Theatre on the #30 line and I rode the wheels off of those cars. When my Mom wanted to get 'rid' of me in the Summer she'd give me 50 cents to ride down to Barney Circle and back...BC was where I could buy a snow cone at the terminal there with the change from the first fare (5c)!! Cherry was my fave!!

[@emorydepew3380]

When I was about 10, my father and uncle took me to Griffith Stadium (remember that) on a streetcar. I remember going through a station where they transitioned from overhead wire to the center rail for power pickup. I wished this had been shown. Otherwise, a great presentation .

[@disco07]

Despite the film quality, I could recognize most of the locations. My grandma would take us on occasion to the Navy Yard on the Florida Ave Line (U Street). Sometimes, if I was lucky, a guard would let me in the Navy Yard and I would run down to the river and back. Grandma would wait on a park bench across the street from the entrance. We would return, stop at the 15th and U street Safeway, pick up a 1/2 or 1/4 water melon and eat it on the back porch. Life was simple and grand.

[@timosha21]

I'm a train and I approve this video!

[@mikedrown2721]

I rode these same PCC's in Barcelona in 1967

[@DateTwoRelate]

Looks like plenty of 14th St NW shots. I noticed a 54 "Navy Yard" trolley a few times and that bus route I think still lives.

[@hilliardlarkins9278]

This brings back memories of growing up in DC Barney circle the transfer station from bus to street car

[@JeffreyOrnstein]

Great video! Nice catch of Pre-PCC No. 1053 - I think this is the first time I have ever seen that car on film. Oh, and that Silver Sightseer is just fabulous!

[@ronniemoore6710]

My parents would go to DC sometimes to shop when I a young boy .Had to be the late 50s . I'm 67 now so it had to be before they closed down .My Mother was always nervous about driving over the tracks but my Father told her it was safe . Really enjoyed watching these videos .Brings back old memories .

[@mamadouaziza2536]

Yes, it must have been either in 1958 or 1961 of your memories. The last trolley cars were removed by 1962 but the tracks remained well into the early 1980 in most of the city.

[@Loco-motix]

I noticed cars 1053 and 1101. I rode both at the Nat'l Capital Transit Museum. Sadly, old 1053 was lost to a fire. I was born just after the streetcars ended in DC but I recall the tracks still in place. I love that the video shows a glimpse of the new buses as well. I grew up riding the sleek, chrome hub capped DC Transit buses. I thought they were the best looking buses I ever saw---a modern marvel. GM sure set the standard for excellence in the transit industry. Some of those buses lasted 40 years in DC--longer than the PCC cars they replaced. They were rebuilt by Metro and ran up 'til about Y2K. New buses these days could never last that long.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

I recall the introduction of those new square looking buses, about a year or two after DC Transit became Metro Bus.. Those new buses were awesome but could burn down in 3 minutes tops.. No more smoking on the buses by 1974!

[@ralstonmathews3543]

Awesome video...saw Blair Rd. in Takoma Park where I grew up/this is a must share

[@_karmin_95_]

We still have one PCC here at Sarajevo - Bosnia and Herzegovina!

[@Bigtex124]

Great film. Thank you compiling and sharing it.

[@steamgent4592]

Nice grew up riding a few of the DC trolleys at the National Capital trolley museum and the trolley museum in Baltimore

[@tact86]

Great Video, Thanks for sharing!

[@nielspemberton59]

I was born in Washington DC on 12-15-1962 and by that time Washington was an all-bus town and people knew that some form of subway was inevitable for Washington. But my mother and father remembered the streetcars and told me re: them when I was 7 years old. My mother was Danish and I visited Copenhagen in 1966 with her. Copenhagen had streetcars but not PCC cars from Washington (TOO BAD !! I would not have minded seeing them in Copenhagen Tramways Yellow !! Instead, some were sold to Barcelona Spain in 1962...)

[@redbarnz]

Wonderful traction clips from the past. Thanks for sharing!

[@terrywitkowski6937]

I wish there was still trolleys around. Then I wouldn't have to worry driving around with all the screwy drivers that are on the roads nowadays.

[@ldlink3935]

You still have options, they are called buses, taxi cabs, ubers/lyfts hahaha

[@mamadouaziza2536]

DC still has a trolly line on 'H' street and DC has a massive subway system, the second largest in the USA.

[@jayo1212]

@@mamadouaziza2536 it's newer, but yeah. Personally, I always considered the Metro the spiritual successor...

[@geneve2008]

Simply fantastic !

[@JhonnyBoi]

1:40 so those underpasses were originally for trolleys? I drive through them almost everyday and never realized that.

[@fmnut]

Yes

[@videonut1988]

Least The District had light rail before the DCCirculator brought it back with their Streetcar service.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

I remember the damn tracks all over DC in the 1960s, the trolleys were all gone by 1962. However, it was the subway system opening that transformed DC into an international urban center.

[@ldlink3935]

Awesome video, nice compilation, thanks

[@lazyrrr2411]

Bought an N Gauge PCC and found a fascination with Traction that had been waiting for it's time 👍🚋

[@jasonpp1973]

I believe O and P Street still has some of the original tracks.

[@bradrumph8031]

They do. The tracks on Wisconsin Ave and M Street (long gone) were quite a challenge when I first started driving, age 16, many decades past.

[@MarkInLA]

Though this is fantastic capturing of this trolley system where I did give it thumbs up # 305, It'd been nice to have had some shots of them not moving, people boarding them and /or shots of maintenance work/car barn activity..

[@fmnut]

Yes, it would be nice to have scenes of all those things. However the original films didn't contain such scenes. I simply added sounds. I was in grade school when these films were shot.

[@jayo1212]

Imagine if they actually held on to the streetcars... And instead of the Metro, they just completely reconstructed the streetcar into a light rail system, with all the downtown lines underground...

[@CABOOSEBOB]

Or just had metro and streetcars

[@oscardaone]

I mean we can but ddot seems to have a lackluster way of building those infrastructures.

[@rickybee]

Excellent

[@JoshsTrainVideos]

Very cool video!

[@luislaplume8261]

The streetcars with the oval windows are post World War 2 streetcars 1946 1950.

[@karlpiepenburg3157]

Last fall i saw a PCC behind a fence in DC. Have no idea why it was there

[@lasalleman]

Great films.

[@kae4466]

i have a mth pcc car and its lovely. thanks for the look back. next time gm and the other automakers whine in front of congress for money as they are broke , shove this lovely film in their face. now am watching listening to the trolley song as sung by judy garland.

[@pizzajona]

1:30 I didn’t realize those roundabout tunnels were for just the streetcar

[@johnsweet8508]

Based on some of the later model cars seen, this had to be close to the end for the streetcars. Thinking this was '61 or '62? Looks like Barney Circle at about 9:21.

[@fmnut]

I have no solid information on the date of the films. I would agree with your estimate based on the vehicles, with the added observation that fans tend to focus their recording efforts when it becomes known an operation is about to disappear. Thanks for watching.

[@Taoseno2007]

Did you know? That to this day, Metro's routes that have double-digits are former Streetcar lines? Example; 72, etc. True fact.

[@videonut1988]

John Wise, former DCT lines?!?

[@Taoseno2007]

Yes

[@jayo1212]

The Metro rail lines also roughly follow the former streetcar lines...

[@mr.f1387]

The ancient route numbering may be changed by the new manager of WMATA sometime after 2025. It's being market surveyed.

[@ralstonmathews3543]

That CBS TV truck is crazy...

[@davidmoser3535]

Better then fox, Ralston

[@bradrumph8031]

Channel 9.

[@neilhunter6026]

Was the slot in the center of the track for third-rail power?

[@fmnut]

Google "conduit current collection" for a good description.

[@michaelp.Watermaker]

Yes, indeed. Washington had no overhead utilities.

[@mikedrown2721]

Some have overhead wires, not all.​@@michaelp.Watermaker

[@Icerthebluelion]

so we all have seen the videos of people not looking and running into trams and trolleys. I mean if you check your blind spot you'd see a huge trolley/tram next to you before turning left but people are stupid. So was that a thing back then or were people smarter then and looked before turning.

[@fmnut]

I think it probably did happen but not nearly as often as today. Today's drivers are far more hurried and distracted than back then. Also, statistically, there are far more vehicles on the road today driving up the odds.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

Well the trains were never subtle, you could feel the vibration and of course the sounds..

[@donberg01]

Why are some lines have the trolly pole down? Are they on battery?

[@fmnut]

No. DC had an ordinance outlawing overhead lines. There was trolley power under the street instead. Outside the city they used conventional overhead wires.

[@ronniemoore6710]

Did the street cars always have the right of way ? I mean do they stop at traffic lights ?

[@fmnut]

Yes, they have to stop a red lights and indicate turns just like a car. They pretty much behave like a rubber tired bus, they just don't steer.

[@ronlawray1563]

Of course they stopped for traffic lights, just as cars did!

[@IndigenousAmericanTrucker]

They shpuld have kept this sytsem there from the beginning, and never dismantled it. Just to put the damn thing back down today, except jist not the whole city! I think its a nice old school thing, and that they should put it back down thru the whole city!

[@pizzajona]

Anyone know where 9:14 is?

[@bradrumph8031]

Somewhere on K Street NW would be my wild guess. Probably wrong.

[@mr.f1387]

Possibly New York Ave, which had a dedicated tree-lined median track section. Other guesses nare East Capitol Street or Pennsylvania Ave SE Definitely near the end of service, ca. 1961 - 62, pre-riot era with so many lost legacy buildings.

[@flatbushfox]

POWER SOURCE ?

[@fmnut]

The slot in the street between the rails. Underneath was a dolly with current pickups that got power from energized rails, the dolly arm was attached or disconnected in a manned pit at the transition point to overhead wires for running outside city limits. D.C. ordinance prohibited overhead wires.

[@flatbushfox]

I figured or it was driven by stranded pull cable...Thanks