Those of you who have been to the Baltimore Streetcar Museum in the past year (since October 2002, actually) will have seen a tarp-covered streetcar sitting on a temporary railing directly outside the Museum's Visitors Center. Search our archives, and you'll discover it is a former El Paso, nee-San Diego PCC that has been purchased by the BSM to replicate the "missing" St. Louis Car Co.-built PCC car in the ranks of Baltimore cars (the Museum has one ex-Baltimore Transit PCC from Pullman-Standard). Well, now it appears they're working on a breeding program!A privately-owned former Philly PCC (sorry, didn't get the #) arrived on Tuesday, May 31 and is now sitting in the Visitors Center loop. The announced plan is for a truck swap to be initiated between the standard-gauge El Paso car and the "Philly gauge" (5' 2.5") Philly car, to give the BSM car a truck that can be easily regauged to "Baltimore gauge" (5' 4.5") while giving the private owner standard gauge trucks. My understanding is that the Philly car will then move on to another location, possibly Railways to Yesteryear in Rockhill Furnace, Pa.MEANWHILE, yet another ex-Philly PCC, SEPTA 2799, is now slated to join the ranks of the BSM's fleet as an operational car and "expendable/consumable" non-artifact operational car. This car is expected to arrive on site sometime this summer. This bumps the El Paso/San Diego car back to "relic" status, as it is anticipated 2799 will be overhauled with the possibility of adaptation for any disability accessibility issues.So where are they putting all these cars? The Museum has added a fourth track for storage behind its car barn, with roof and track already in place (albeit no track switches yet).Article on the San Diego/El Paso car at: http://www.baltimoremd.com/streetcar/thirdcharm/thirdcharm.htm

I seem to recall that when I was a volunteer at BSM in the early to mid-90s, a second Baltimore PCC was stored off-site in bad shape. Whatever happened to this car?

You are probably thinking of the "Avalon Car", a motorized PCC replica which incorporated a large number of PCC parts and fittings atop a truck chassis for use as a background prop in the movie "Avalon". As I understand it, this replica has been scrapped, with the relevant parts saved for future restoration.The BSM does have at least three buses stored off-site, including a trolley bus. It's hoped that with the eventual removal of the City's salt storage from the ex-Ma & Pa roundhouse and the subsequent planned transfer of that roundhouse to the BSM, that the buses and a static streetcar or two can share exhibit space inside.

What about the car body (bodies) that were stored at Curtis Bay for many years?Wesley

The car body at Curtis Bay was scrapped in the early 80s.There are several other PPC car bodies, not owned by BSM, within state park land, north of Baltimore. They are almost visible from I-83 near Hereford.Dave Crow

Does the proposed transfer of the roundhouse mean that the museum is staying put?I know that flooding has been quite a problem and there was talk of moving the whole operation.If they stay it will save a lot of money.I was on the F Line yesterday and the Motorman told that the first of the ex Newark, NJ PCCs has arrived for clearence testing.Ted Miles

The "new" PCC in Baltimore is NOT going to the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill Furnace, PA.Joel Salomonwww.rockhilltrolley.org

As far as we can tell, yes, the BSM is staying put.The City of Baltimore is currently attempting to revitalize the Jones Falls Valley from a semi-industrial wasteland to a more attractive valley; part of that includes a bike/hike trail and efforts to keep the BSM in situ. Part of the rationale for the roundhouse proposal is that the track level of the roundhouse is (just barely) above the "official" 100-year flood level, unlike the carbarn, and that there are second-story offices, etc. as part of the roundhouse. There's also a minor faction that would like to see some Ma & Pa representation in the roundhouse such as a freight car or caboose; there is already a token Ma & Pa presence in the current Visitors Center, and the whole streetcar ride covers former MPA right-of-way.All of this, of course, is dependent upon the City evacuating the salt out of the Roundhouse (they still haven't found an alternative site yet, despite several proposals) AND the roundhouse itself being deemed structurally sound. I don't think the BSM officials are counting chickens before they hatch, although they have invested in related architectural (and grant?) work.

Messages on the Yahoo Groups "Philly_Traction" and "PCC_Cars" tell of Philadelphia PCC 2647 going to Baltimore for a truck swap, before getting aimed at Brooklyn, N.Y.

Messages on the Yahoo Groups "Philly_Traction" and "PCC_Cars" tell of Philadelphia PCC 2647 going to Baltimore for a truck swap, before getting aimed at Brooklyn, N.Y.