All,
Volunteers at the Museum of Transportation, with the streetcar group, have reached a major milestone with the restoration of St. Louis Public Service PCC #1743. Nearly all of the interior and exterior painting of the car is complete, as exhibited in these photos. To me, the result is stunning, as I never thought I’d see a SLPC PCC. The car, when I first arrived in St. Louis eight years ago was a rust bucket. The back end of the car “drooped” from rusted out frame members. Volunteers from other MOT groups as well as MOT staff have provided invaluable assistance in this project. I’d also like to give a special thanks to the late Fred Perry of Seashore who helped us fabricate and weld in replacement frame members to cure the car’s “droop.”
This car is a 1946 product of St. Louis Car Company, and ran in St. Louis until sale to SF MUNI in the 1950s. It was retired in the early 1980s by MUNI and spent some time at East Troy, mainly sitting in the car barn at Phantom Woods.
While I am a member of the streetcar group at MOT, I've only had a very small role in this restoration. The hard-working volunteers have put in many hours on this car. A lot of time was spent fixing rust and accident damage, as well as changing features of the car back to represent a SLPS car.
The next phase of the restoration will focus on replacement of the rubber flooring in the car, mechanical work, and installation of the seats and windows. It is expected that the project will be finished in about a year.
These photos are from Steve Binning, and may not be reproduced without his permission. Thanks Steve!
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File comment: PCC Inside Front PCC Inside Front.JPG [ 29.31 KiB | Viewed 6121 times ] |
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File comment: Inside Back PCC Inside Back.JPG [ 30.22 KiB | Viewed 6121 times ] |
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File comment: Exterior PCC Front.JPG [ 31.22 KiB | Viewed 6121 times ] |