Following the end of service for DC Transit, PCCs from Washington DC were sold and operated in Sarjevo and Barcelona. Cars have been restored in both cities.

Here is a you tube video of the restoration of Barcelona PCC 1683, an ex-Washington standee window PCC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-tCfedkr6E&NR=1

And Sarajevo #71 (both ex DCTS numbers unknown)

Wesley

Fascinating videos, thanks for posting! According to http://perso.wanadoo.es/assotram/bcnpcceng.html, a site about Barcelona trams which conveniently has an English version, car 1631 (I believe the one that is being restored) is ex-DC 1511 and car 1683 (the unrestored one in which the spokesman is interviewed) is ex-DC 1557. For fifteen years both of these cars were sitting outdoors in a failed museum which suffered from failed (and possibly corrupt) management (see here for info-hope the link works!). It's great to see them being restored.

The photo of Sarajevo #71 is very nice. I am surprised it survived the war intact. For some reason I thought that the cars that went to Sarajevo ended up with double headlights, like on a bus. Or, am I thinking of another city that got Washington PCC cars?

Sarajevo also created some articulated trams using Washington bodies, think a "super-PCC"

Question:

With the fire at NCTM a while back taking out a couple DC Transit treasures, has any thought been put towards the potential repatriation of a DC PCC from Europe, especially the standee-window car? Is there either the motivation or the desire (which comes before the fundraising, of course)? Not that the shell seen in the video is much better than the alternatives, but at least it's authentic........

We have a DCTS standee window car in the collection, stored offsite.

http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/pnaerc-query.pl?detail=1540

Wesley

VMT also has a standee-window DC PCC

http://www.vmt.org/Loops-Collections/Ad ... -1470.html

I was surprised to hear that NCTM has an authentic Washington PCC in their collection, but even more surprised that a restoration hasn't been started. This seems like it would be a top priority. But maybe the car needs a greater restoration effort than the museum is currently capable of handling. Is there any schedule for a future restoration effort?

Les

They have three, of which one is complete and basically operational.

http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/pnaerc-query.pl?sel_curown=National+Capital+Trolley+Museum&sel_allown=Capital+Transit&match_field=type&match_target=PCC&Tech=Yes&pagelen=200

Les,

While I cannot speak for NCTM, I would assume that NCTM has had its plate full the past several years, recovering from a fire, and building a new world-class museum building and relocating a significant portion of their line, all while trying to keep some semblence of operation and be open for visitors.

It should be noted that at one time NCTM had the famous "Silver Sightseer" car, until it was involved in a fire in the 1970s and subsequently scrapped.

As always, Frank Hicks' and Jeff Hakner's Preserved North American Electric Car Roster database, available online, is a good resorce:
http://www.bera.org/pnaerc.html

All,

We have three DC PCC cars:

DCTS 1101 Displayed; operates, but not used in regular service
DCTS 1430 Displayed; complete; not operational
DCTS 1540 Body only, on trucks; stored offsite.

DCTS 1101 was moved to public display in Street Car Hall on March 22.

We are aware of DCTS 1470 in Roanoke. We also looked carefully at a Tandy car when the line closed in 2002 but declined to add one of those cars to the collection since the body was heavily modfied and the general mechanical systems needed major overhaul. DCTS 1540 is from the same order as the remaining Barcelona car, but the DCTS 1540 body is in better shape than what we've seen in pictures from Spain.

Wesley

Wesley -

I should have reviewed the Hicks/Hackner list before I mispoke. My apologies. Glad to see that the museum has these 3 historically important D.C. cars.

Les