When we received 8042 at Pennsylvania Trolley Museum 2/2/05 one feature that struck me as unusual was that the window guards were inside the windows. I don't recall seeing this done elsewhere on conventional cars, altho some early PCCs had them inside. In our collection we have Phila. car 5326, built at the same time as 8042 and differing mostly in being double end vs. the single end 8042. Its guards are outside. Did the 8000s originally have the guards outside? Was the move inside part of the 1940 era upgrade program?

Dave Hamley,
President, PTM

So how does a passenger open the windows?? On a PCC with inside window guards there is a crank overhead, and series of gears inside the wall, to raise the sash. It reqiures some room above the sash and below the upper sash or standee window. But I do not think I have seen this feature on any of the older, more traditional cars in our collection.

Bob Kutella

The handles to raise the window are mounted at the top of the sash, above those inside window guards. Must have been ackward as all get out to use.

Dave Hamley

Inside window guards were also installed on a lot of Brooklyn 8000 series cars during the 40's. The outside window guards so frequently seen as "normal" made it hard to mechanically wash the cars and the windows.

It was modernization back then.

PTC had to have 2 guys at the car washer, one on each side of the car, to remove the outside window guards before a car went thru the washer, then to put them back on before another car could be washed.

With inside guards, those 2 guys could be doing something else, and the cars got washed more quickly.