OERM Behind the Rails PCC 3001 Trolley

[@Melok3503]

Nice video! In Europe PCC trams are still popular. Of course it's like Tatra T3, Konstal 105Na or other vehicles like this, but operating is really similar. Nice to see how it looks like in original PCC

[@johnpabst6101]

Early childhood memory (c. 1974): watching the driver back up the J Church PCC cars to turn around at 30th and Church Sts in San Francisco

[@3henry214]

I have the exact same memory, except it was with the M Ocean View line at Broad and Plymouth Sts.

[@dalemettee1147]

I got one for John. As a boy, we would walk to the local Sears stores. On the way there, we'd pass by the power station for the electricity supply for this part of the grid of the streetcars. It contained several dynamos which generated the 600 volts need for operating all the cars on that line. I remember smelling the odor of ozone and the sound of high pitched whine of the spinning generators. I think that there was four in there. Two working and two for backup. After seeing several videos with operating a PCC. Those cars could really pick up speed on a long run. Considering how much they weigh. How big and how much power how many motors are built in each car?

[@rentatrip1videos]

Thanks John & all the Great People at OERM- I helped rough "sand" this car when it was being refurbished in 1983- doing plenty of detail finish sanding on the side doors - It looks great See You all Later -

[@gusneaker]

Congratulations on the hard work you've been doing for such a long time!!

[@buddyclem7328]

If you add the words in tag or description, "how to drive a PCC trolley" this video would be easier to find on Google. Great video! It's the only one that shows you how to drive a PCC trolley. Thanks!

[@erikziak1249]

Please some details about the trucks-bogies. These are especially interesting, yet there is no info on them to be found.

[@ShukreeTube1]

I'm actually a trolley operator in Philadelphia we operate the Pcc11

[@TheHappyCooker68]

Modernized PCC's have been used on Route 15 since 2008. I was Director of Capital and Long Range Planning at SEPTA from 1997 until 2005.

[@SMVvids]

I like the Irish tam, the double leveled one. Bring that one out.

[@alexjenkins1079]

I wonder what LA would be like if it still had trams and the Pacific Electric

[@buddyclem7328]

Alex Jenkins LA has trams now. Check out the Metro Expo Line.

[@Poisson4147]

@@buddyclem7328Yes, but the Expo line is a tiny fraction of what PE offered. PE was destroyed in the 1950s and LA went without trams for decades. During that time many of the former rights-of-way were paved over for highways and have been permanently lost for transit re-use.

[@buddyclem7328]

@@Poisson4147 True. Many of the greatest transit systems have largely been abandoned, like Pittsburgh. But, the right-of-way is never lost forever. Many cities, LA included, have run trains in the median of highways. DC and Chicago both run metro trains in the median of Interstate highways. Of course, what we need are political will, money, and time. I hope the progress in rail transit continues, but of course, it would have been better to maintain the legacy systems. My city used to have trolleys, but all that's left now is the trolley barn and a few power poles.

[@Poisson4147]

@@buddyclem7328 Thank you! I'm in PA and have seen what happened in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Sadly will, money, and time are in horribly short supply these days. Unfortunately even if those could be found, at least in PA there are areas where some rights-of-way couldn't readily be recovered because the land has been converted to commercial use. For example parts of one former interurban line now sit underneath a huge research complex ... which of course can only be accessed by car. SO foolish.

[@buddyclem7328]

@@Poisson4147 So true. I grew up near Harrisburg, in Allentown, PA, and we moved away in the mid 70s just like that Billy Joel song. Hopefully the future of all rail transit in the US will be better.

[@javonbrandon]

Could another car connect to each other

[@gregodessite]

Sounds like pneumatic PCC

[@L-Taraval]

It is.

[@MogamiK32]

i have acutally see this one accept in the barn not opperating i had rode on 3100

[@parrot0051]

What's with the damn music ? let's hear the car run who does these videos anyway ? leave out the damn music.

[@gilval808]

Why ! ? L.A. county did you destroy the city's best transportation system in the world . Now look at all the traffic . Instead of having winter's. We have longer Summers . I'm hoping those city council members from back then are all fired ! Now everybody is crying because there's too much traffic and gas prices are going high . For those who are crying about today's traffic and gas prices . You wanted a car now you got now pay the price . You made your bed now take a nap.

[@Poisson4147]

LA fell victim to a combination of postwar road-building, returning GIs and others who wanted to live in the newly-developing suburbs, and predations from a company called National City Lines. NCL presented itself as a "white knight" that would aid struggling transit companies by offering economies of scale in management, procurement, etc. However in many cases their "aid" came in the form of shutting down rail lines in favor of buses, or sometimes just abandoning them outright. This happened in cities across the country including LA, Washington, Philadelphia, and smaller towns. NCL was later found to be a "front" company for GM and various oil and tire companies, all of whom would of course benefit from reductions in rail transit. There were several investigations but nothing produced more than a few slaps on the wrist. While some people have claimed that NCL alone was responsible for the demise of interurbans and streetcars, that decline had started as early as the 1920s when cars became more affordable and road-building increased. However NCL _did_ accelerate the decline by in effect "picking off" systems that were already in trouble and weakening others that were in better shape. Most of their damage was committed in the 1950s so the question lingers as to whether, if NCL had been stopped, more private operations might have survived long enough to be folded into municipal systems.