At least scrap prices are high. They can recoup some of the costs....

Oh, no, they won't.

Baltimore Streetcar Museum retains right of first refusal to just about anything on those PCCs, most specifically the motors, electricals, etc. If the cars are resold intact to anyone else, the current owners will owe effectively the purchase price again to the BSM.

I'm told that, aside from a few cars in mysterious private hands (like a bunch of cars in Ohio) and one very junky-looking PCC in Philly, these three PCCs are the best-condition unrebuilt PCCs not in museum hands.

Wait, wait...

Let me get this straight. So this organization wants federal money (and from local businesses) to run streetcars, but yet the BSM gets first right of refusal in regards to anything on them? That don't seem right to this taxpayer...

Moot point now... but leaves me with an odd feeling.

If the PCCs in question actually do get used for the Lancaster service, they would be sent to a shop for complete rebuilding and overhaul, a la the PCCs now in service in Philadelphia, which were overhauled at Brookville Locomotive, as I recall. That's when BSM would get used motors, wheels, controllers, seats, whatever.

I'm told the three PCCs that were purchased from BSM were purchased personally by individuals connected to the project, with no government money involved. IF the Lancaster project takes off AND these specific PCCs are used, I assume they would be sold/transferred to whatever agency is involved. Right now, it's little more than individuals' speculation, with lots of conditions attached.

The only thing that bugs me about that project is why on earth did they buy the cars first?

Seems like a serious approach would build community consensus, project governance and fundraising first, then go car-shopping once that's all established.

Perhaps the best term is "speculation". A certain BSM official has seemingly made himself one of the premier "wheeler-dealers" in trolley parts in the North American traction preservation scene. BSM rescued the cars from scrap in Philly, but didn't have enough room for proper storage, and there were reportedly other parties interested in one or more of the "extra" cars. One Philly car stays on BSM rails (thanks to Friends of the Philly Trolley); another becomes/stays a line car and potential parts supply. I'm presuming that if the Lancaster project falls through, the investors/speculators could recoup their investment by selling the cars to someone else--another Fort Collins, or whoever.

Heck, part of the impetus for grabbing the Philly cars in the first place was speculation over a possible Charles Village-to-downtown tourist/heritage trolley proposal still being discussed in Baltimore!