TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION

 PCC Streetcar No. 4607

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Streetcars were a common form of transportation in U.S. cities from the late 1800s to the late 1900s. They were also called "trolley cars" because of their overhead electric trolley poles.

This car is an example of a "PCC car," designed in the 1930s by the electric railways Presidents' Conference Committee to modernize streetcar service. This car served the city of Toronto, Canada, from 1951 until 1995. The Phoenix streetcar system did not have PCC cars, but the city purchased this one in 1996 for a transit display at 1st Avenue and Van Buren streets. Then, to make room for new construction, they sold this car to the museum in 2010.

Today, as cities become more congested, electric street railways are once again being built to satisfy ongoing transportation needs.

PCC cars ran in 27 U.S. cities, 3 Canadian cities, and 7 other foreign cities. Toronto had the largest PCC fleet in the world, with over 700 cars. It retired most of them in the 1990s because autos and buses had become a more popular form of transportation.

Of the nearly 5,000 PCC cars built between 1935 and 1952, most were built by the St. Louis Car Company, and some by Pullman-Standard. They were powered by a 600-volt overhead electrical system, with magnetic brake pads between the wheels which pressed against the rails to slow the car. Most of these cars were single-ended and were turned on a loop at the end of their runs. They had 50-60 seats and could hold an additional 40-50 standees, with a "crush load" capacity of 134.

The Toronto cars were assembled by Canadian Car & Foundry from body shells and trucks provided by the St. Louis Car Company. This particular one was built in 1951 as Toronto Transit Commission No. 4536, class A8, with a non-standard "Toronto gauge" of 4 ft 10 7/8 inches. It was rebuilt into class A15 in 1990 and renumbered No. 4607, retired in 1995, and sold to the city of Phoenix in 1996.

The city of Phoenix installed it at a display location next to its downtown Transit Center and placed two historical buses alongside. This display site was dismantled in 2010 because of proposed new construction. The city offered it to the Arizona Railway Museum for the sum of $1, and even trucked it to the museum's Tumbleweed Park location where it arrived on June 26, 2010. It can't run on regular museum trackage because of its non-standard rail gauge, so it sits on its own special section of track.

Photo of the trolley on 2-27-13.
5/18/12 - Restored interior.
5/18/12 - Restored interior.
5/18/12 - Restored interior.
5/18/12 - Restored interior.
6/26/10 - Interior view towards front.
6/26/10 - Interior view towards rear.
6/26/10 - Touch down!
6/26/10 - Almost home.
6/26/10 - Trolley being delivered to ARM.
6/24/90 - Photo of trolley #4607 in Toronto.

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