I'll amplify a little more what Jim mentioned regarding corrosion of Newark PCC cars.
Once we completely stripped Car #26, the years of deterioration from salty slush being tracked inside the car, damage from minor accidents, damage from vandals dropping heavy objects from overpasses, and simply 50 years of wear and tear from running in all kinds of weather became apparent. Although numerous repairs were performed, during the cars' lives in New Jersey they were never completely stripped down and rebuilt. There were approximately nine layers of paint on the car, and during the process each paint color made at least a partial reappearance, down to the original TCRT yellow.
Many areas of plastic body filler were found and removed, as well as lead filler used in the original construction. All of the lead filler needed to go as it was found to chemically react with the new paint system (AwlGrip). Another frustrating challenge was hydraulic fluid that had leaked from the pantograph cylinder installed late in the car's life and managed to work its way into the interior ceiling panels. Removal of the residue to the point where it would not contaminate the paint and primer was a painstaking, and at times frustrating, endeavor. Other surprises included finding the front dash was made of three pieces after an accident repair, and a block of wood hidden under body filler to hold the operator's window in place. All of these items had to be repaired. The bottom feet of every seat were cut off, new feet fabricated, and welded in place. A fixture was made to hold the seat at the proper angle was made to facilitate these repairs.
Condition of each surviving Newark car that has not been rebuilt like the 11 cars in San Francisco, or #3 (TCRT #322 at MSM), or #26, varies. Surviving maintenance records show limited, but fascinating details of accidents, incidents, fires in some cases, partial repainting, mechanical and electrical repairs of all kinds, and in some cases, minor or major rewiring, etc.
Credit truly belongs to the small and resourceful crews who kept these cars running and looking decent, seven days a week, for so many years with very limited resources and without truly adequate space to work with. As late as 2001, it was possible to experience a weekday rush hour with 16 PCC cars running flawlessly on 90 second headways carrying standing loads. Pretty impressive considering the newest car at that time was over 50 years old.
I've attached a sampling of photos to illustrate some of the above comments.
Best wishes,
Mattt Nawn
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26-seat frame repair process (edited).jpg [ 98.32 KiB | Viewed 3959 times ]
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26 - right front roof seam repairs (edited).jpg [ 135.89 KiB | Viewed 3959 times ]
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26 - corrosion cut out of roof line (edited).jpg [ 124.03 KiB | Viewed 3959 times ]
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26 left side showing corrosion after 9 coats of old paint were removed.jpg [ 111.34 KiB | Viewed 3959 times ]
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26 left rear corner during wetblasting (edited).jpg [ 137.2 KiB | Viewed 3959 times ]
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26 roof after removing all the old paint and rubber (edited).jpg [ 192.14 KiB | Viewed 3959 times ]
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