I'm a retired motorman from the Port Authority who ran PCCs in service. I'm now an instructor at the PA trolley Museum where I teach people to operate streetcars including the older orange ones and the PCCs!
This presentation along with the beautiful music score is excellent, capturing the importance and essential thread trolleys were in the overall fabric of Pittsburgh. Beautifully done! 🚃
We rode them all the time. My family didn't have a car until 1968 so we shopped downtown every 2 weeks. Took it from Library to town. We shopped at Donahues and the New Diamond Market. Lots of the windows had greasy spots on the windows where guys with Vitalis and Brylcreem in their hair would fall asleep and lean on the window. The markets were amazing. There would be entire fish, kidneys and tripe in there, amazing for a young guy to see. I miss it all.
I remember visiting Pittsburgh when I was 15. The motorman allowed me to ride to the end of the line (which ended up in a loop) with him. This was on the Library Castle-Shannon route. I still have the photos somewhere !!! :)
Great video accented by James Horner's fine film score. It is a moving tribute to the trolleys which once dominated transit in Pittsburgh. However, one the vehicles shown is a former Toronto PCC car presently running in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The interior of another streetcar pictured is one that likely ran in Minneapolis/St. Paul then probably in Newark, NJ and appears to be in the process of being reconditioned for further service in San Francisco or San Diego. They appear at 1:08 & 3:28 respectively.
I was born in 63 and my Older Brother and I used to ride the PCC cars all over Pittsburgh and even once down to Library Pa in the early 70's . this was like an adventure to a small Boy !
Have to say, my favorite streetcar route was the #10 westview line; ...the ride itself was as thrilling as the amusements that awaited @ the former westviewpark! - now, --That's saying something!!!!! Sadly, both the park/transit line cease to exist.
I remember riding them with my Gram Minnie, from downtown Pittsburgh to our house in Bloomfield going to town on the street car was a big deal for us kids especially around Christmas. Those were the days I think of them often. And I miss you my Gram, Minnie..Mary Stone still in Bloomfield,Pa.
Boy did that bring back memories! I loved riding the trolley to school in the morning. I would catch the Carrick trolley with one transfer to downtown. I remember how packed they would be, and that sometimes we had to stand and hold on! Or, getting stopped in the trolley tunnels in complete darkness...fond memories!
The trolley at :32 is not a PRC trolley. It is actually one of the trolleys on what is commonly referred to as "The Harmony Line." From 1908 to 1931, those trolleys ran from downtown Pittsburgh through Ross Township to Evans City. From there, the line split, one branch heading to Butler and the other to New Castle and beyond.
I recall in the 1940s traveling all around Pittsburgh with my cousin. We sometimes ignored a PCC car thinking the next car might be an old Jones or high floor car that still had the conductors station near center doors. With kid's imagination, seated at that station, we were helping run the car.
Born and raised on the south side...1945 to 1963 lMt. Oliver St....the street cars rode on our street....YES...was a part of all of us. THANKS for all the neat memories. Jerry B. in Tennessee
While I'm quite nostalgic seeing the old streetcars, I also recall how the tracks, cobblestones, and overhead wires were horrid. Tough on car suspensions and exhaust systems. But I also often rode a motorcycle, and one had to be very careful not to have a tire get stuck in a trolley track!
At 2:30 in this great video, shows "Plaidland". This building now occupies a Rite Aid Store!, the once large plate glass windows have all been filled in with brick, and painted over, however reminants of the original front of this building ( above the sign in this video), still remain intact to this day! 😊
Great memories! I took the streetcar from Shannon Drake in Upper St. Clair downtown to work in the summers. A part of Pittsburgh did die with the streetcars.
Well done! Thank you for sharing this. Friends and I as young as 10 and 12 would take the PCC from the Drake Loop in South Hills into downtown to meet one of our dads at their office and he'd take us out to lunch at the nearby lunch counter (Woolworth's?). Great fun and fine dining! I used to ride that PCC all the time whenever we had a chance. I remember the one year with all the construction going on at the tunnel and at South Hills Junction. This served as the 'merge point' for the Overbrook and Beechview lines. Also was where the Shannon-Drake and Library cars came through. Riding those cars in the dead cold of winter was always a challenge too; there's nothing like the 'hot stink' from the passenger's shoes and boots drying out. lol OH BOY!
What I think was missed was how it connected all neighborhoods. They were amazing. I was a little girl and I remember going to the Pittsburgh Armory in Shadyside for the circus on the street cars. We lived in the South Hills. I don't remember too much, but I remember passing the Carnegie Museum and we ended up on this little street where the circus was held. Trust me, my mom was not the best person for taking directions but she got us there!!!
Great job guys on the pics, vids and music. When we lived in Library in '80, I took a PCC car from Library to downtown a couple of times- great memories! Been gone since '81 and hope to take my kids back to the south hills (McKeesport & Library) to show 'em where dad hails from next year. Thanks for a great job!
At 1:06, the Garden Theater on North Avenue, right across the street from East Park, close to Allegheny High. My mom and stepdad took me there to see "Bundle of Joy" in 1956, with Debbie Reynolds, and Eddie Fisher. Princess Leia was born shortly after they finished making it. My great - aunt Daisy deKlavon Thompson lived in that tall grey apartment building to the left of the Garden sign.
Fast and Efficient … and did not pollute the air we breathe! Except for downtown or frequent-stops places … most often the tracks were not on the streets or roads. believe the only line still running is the Mount Lebanon one with travel over the Mon … to downtown. ah … at one-time you could ride a streetcar from Pittsburgh to Cleveland! thanx for the video!
The 82 Lincoln went by our house on Centre Ave. in upper Oakland. The old orange ones were very noisy to ride in, while the newer PCC's were much nicer. I remember this as a 5-year=old.
We didn't own a car so I went everywhere on the street car. 44 Knoxville or if I had to wait too long I'd get the 53 Carrick and walk a few blocks to get home. Funny how after all these years I still remember those numbers.
I can remember the red & white #40 Mount Washington street car. You'ld catch it on Southern Ave. go down the hill & through a tunnel. Then cross the bridge & you were down town. It was a simpler & easier time back then.
This is wonderful! i remember my dad used to have to pick me up to the first step getting on...that first step getting on/last step leaving...was really high. Especially for a 4-5 year old. i was young when the street cars left Pgh. Sad. i can still hear the 54 on Millvale at night when i'd stay @ my grandmother's. Many, many thanks. ps...can you tell me what this (perfect) music is?
It's now 2019 and two of my kids work Downtown. I convinced them to buy houses in Castle Shannon. They are close enough to Willow to be able to take either the Blue Line or the Red Line, whichever one isn't broke down at the time they need to commute. Since the whole system is heavily subsidized with toll money from the Turnpike they are saving a bundle because the fare would be $7 a ride if the true operating costs were to be covered. A transit strike by the labor unions will eventually force them back into their cars just like the strikes caused Pittsburgh Railways to fail. Another strike will happen, count on it.
@@beerybill The 1700 series PCC Cars of course. I was wondering if you loved them or hated them. I came to Pittsburgh in 1975, long after the bulk of the streetcar system had been abandoned. We both miss the street cars is they are a part of our youth. I rode the Green Hornets in Chicago. Just like you still have great memories of taking street cars to school and other places
I didn't care for them and once I got my driver's license I rarely rode the trolleys. Trolleys didn't serve the area of Pittsburgh where I lived. Pittsburgh Railways, in fact, was a mish mash of dozens of small trolley lines that became, ca, 1903, Pittsburgh Railways.
No they didn't they just replaced them because they were a more efficient way to move people.Also less costly given the fact there is no track or overhead to maintain. I miss the old PCC Cars, but they just we're not state of the art anymore.
I'm a retired motorman from the Port Authority who ran PCCs in service. I'm now an instructor at the PA trolley Museum where I teach people to operate streetcars including the older orange ones and the PCCs!
I agree. A part of Pittsburgh died when the PCCs retired. I grew up with them. That's how we got to downdown over the Smithfield St Bridge.
This presentation along with the beautiful music score is excellent, capturing the importance and essential thread trolleys were in the overall fabric of Pittsburgh.
Beautifully done! 🚃
We rode them all the time. My family didn't have a car until 1968 so we shopped downtown every 2 weeks. Took it from Library to town. We shopped at Donahues and the New Diamond Market. Lots of the windows had greasy spots on the windows where guys with Vitalis and Brylcreem in their hair would fall asleep and lean on the window. The markets were amazing. There would be entire fish, kidneys and tripe in there, amazing for a young guy to see. I miss it all.
I remember visiting Pittsburgh when I was 15. The motorman allowed me to ride to the end of the line (which ended up in a loop) with him. This was on the Library Castle-Shannon route. I still have the photos somewhere !!! :)
Great video accented by James Horner's fine film score. It is a moving tribute to the trolleys which once dominated transit in Pittsburgh. However, one the vehicles shown is a former Toronto PCC car presently running in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The interior of another streetcar pictured is one that likely ran in Minneapolis/St. Paul then probably in Newark, NJ and appears to be in the process of being reconditioned for further service in San Francisco or San Diego. They appear at 1:08 & 3:28 respectively.
I was born in 63 and my Older Brother and I used to ride the PCC cars all over Pittsburgh and even once down to Library Pa in the early 70's . this was like an adventure to a small Boy !
Have to say, my favorite streetcar route was the #10 westview line; ...the ride itself was as thrilling as the amusements that awaited @ the former westviewpark!
- now, --That's saying something!!!!!
Sadly, both the park/transit line cease to exist.
Used to ride these down Fifth Avenue on weekends with my mother and sister to shop downtown. Thanks for posting!
I remember riding them with my Gram Minnie, from downtown Pittsburgh to our house in Bloomfield going to town on the street car was a big deal for us kids especially around Christmas. Those were the days I think of them often. And I miss you my Gram, Minnie..Mary Stone still in Bloomfield,Pa.
Boy did that bring back memories! I loved riding the trolley to school in the morning. I would catch the Carrick trolley with one transfer to downtown. I remember how packed they would be, and that sometimes we had to stand and hold on! Or, getting stopped in the trolley tunnels in complete darkness...fond memories!
Bet you didn't think so back when it was happening.
The trolley at :32 is not a PRC trolley. It is actually one of the trolleys on what is commonly referred to as "The Harmony Line." From 1908 to 1931, those trolleys ran from downtown Pittsburgh through Ross Township to Evans City. From there, the line split, one branch heading to Butler and the other to New Castle and beyond.
I recall in the 1940s traveling all around Pittsburgh with my cousin. We sometimes ignored a PCC car thinking the next car might be an old Jones or high floor car that still had the conductors station near center doors. With kid's imagination, seated at that station, we were helping run the car.
Born and raised on the south side...1945 to 1963 lMt. Oliver St....the street cars rode on our street....YES...was a part of all of us. THANKS for all the neat memories. Jerry B. in Tennessee
Remember riding them in the 80s, not a ton ran then but a few - from south hills to pgh Shannon drake
While I'm quite nostalgic seeing the old streetcars, I also recall how the tracks, cobblestones, and overhead wires were horrid.
Tough on car suspensions and exhaust systems.
But I also often rode a motorcycle, and one had to be very careful not to have a tire get stuck in a trolley track!
At 2:30 in this great video, shows "Plaidland". This building now occupies a Rite Aid Store!, the once large plate glass windows have all been filled in with brick, and painted over, however reminants of the original front of this building ( above the sign in this video), still remain intact to this day! 😊
I also remember Plaidland!
Great memories! I took the streetcar from Shannon Drake in Upper St. Clair downtown to work in the summers. A part of Pittsburgh did die with the streetcars.
As a Burgh native, this is SO SWEET. I was born in 1986, so this is just amazing to imagine the good old days.
Well done! Thank you for sharing this. Friends and I as young as 10 and 12 would take the PCC from the Drake Loop in South Hills into downtown to meet one of our dads at their office and he'd take us out to lunch at the nearby lunch counter (Woolworth's?). Great fun and fine dining! I used to ride that PCC all the time whenever we had a chance. I remember the one year with all the construction going on at the tunnel and at South Hills Junction. This served as the 'merge point' for the Overbrook and Beechview lines. Also was where the Shannon-Drake and Library cars came through. Riding those cars in the dead cold of winter was always a challenge too; there's nothing like the 'hot stink' from the passenger's shoes and boots drying out. lol OH BOY!
May be bad smell from unwashed bodies, too.
Always enjoy these, have great memories of riding to town with parents. The PCC cars used to go right down our street
What I think was missed was how it connected all neighborhoods. They were amazing. I was a little girl and I remember going to the Pittsburgh Armory in Shadyside for the circus on the street cars. We lived in the South Hills. I don't remember too much, but I remember passing the Carnegie Museum and we ended up on this little street where the circus was held. Trust me, my mom was not the best person for taking directions but she got us there!!!
Great job guys on the pics, vids and music. When we lived in Library in '80, I took a PCC car from Library to downtown a couple of times- great memories! Been gone since '81 and hope to take my kids back to the south hills (McKeesport & Library) to show 'em where dad hails from next year. Thanks for a great job!
At 1:06, the Garden Theater on North Avenue, right across the street from East Park, close to Allegheny High. My mom and stepdad took me there to see "Bundle of Joy" in 1956, with Debbie Reynolds, and Eddie Fisher. Princess Leia was born shortly after they finished making it. My great - aunt Daisy deKlavon Thompson lived in that tall grey apartment building to the left of the Garden sign.
Fast and Efficient … and did not pollute the air we breathe!
Except for downtown or frequent-stops places … most often the tracks were not on the streets or roads.
believe the only line still running is the Mount Lebanon one with travel over the Mon … to downtown.
ah … at one-time you could ride a streetcar from Pittsburgh to Cleveland!
thanx for the video!
Got goosebumps all Over watching these videos, I miss home so much..thinking of moving back..been in Florida almost 8 years now
Thanks for stoking the memories!
The 82 Lincoln went by our house on Centre Ave. in upper Oakland. The old orange ones were very noisy to ride in, while the newer PCC's were much nicer. I remember this as a 5-year=old.
We didn't own a car so I went everywhere on the street car. 44 Knoxville or if I had to wait too long I'd get the 53 Carrick and walk a few blocks to get home. Funny how after all these years I still remember those numbers.
Beautiful! I wish I was there to see this.
At 1:57: Perrysville Road at North Avenue, a few feet from the Garden Theater. I might have been on that trolley, in this picture.
I can remember the red & white #40 Mount Washington street car. You'ld catch it on Southern Ave. go down the hill & through a tunnel. Then cross the bridge & you were down town. It was a simpler & easier time back then.
beautiful documentary
I used to take my fishing rods on the streetcar from Dormont to fish the Mon in the late 60s.
Same here, From Allentown.
same here Carrick
Cool video!
This is wonderful! i remember my dad used to have to pick me up to the first step getting on...that first step getting on/last step leaving...was really high. Especially for a 4-5 year old. i was young when the street cars left Pgh. Sad. i can still hear the 54 on Millvale at night when i'd stay @ my grandmother's. Many, many thanks. ps...can you tell me what this (perfect) music is?
I remember living in Brookline, pa . And took the street car to school ( South Hill Hight )
Used to take the streetcar from Bethel Park to the city,then transfer to go to the Carnegie Museum!
I used to ride the streetcars from Dormont into town and back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. They were fun and were quiet compared to BG buses.
We didn't have streetcars in Monroeville, but we did have McCoy Brothers buses.
Do any pictures or videos exist of the trolley that ran parallel to Noblestown Road between West End and Crafton?
AWESOME I Loved It.
I miss that America. I want it back l.
Now we have these God forsaken buses. They clog traffic and are very expensive to maintain.Trolleys never pollute.
"A part of Pittsburgh died when the PCC was retired." Ain't that the TRUTH!
The shot at 1:11 isn't Pittsburgh
Wow, gas at 30 cents a gallon. Oh how would that be.
Streetcars running way past 64 I Road them in the 70s to go to high school
They ruin Pgh , when they tool the street cars away...
It's now 2019 and two of my kids work Downtown. I convinced them to buy houses in Castle Shannon. They are close enough to Willow to be able to take either the Blue Line or the Red Line, whichever one isn't broke down at the time they need to commute. Since the whole system is heavily subsidized with toll money from the Turnpike they are saving a bundle because the fare would be $7 a ride if the true operating costs were to be covered. A transit strike by the labor unions will eventually force them back into their cars just like the strikes caused Pittsburgh Railways to fail. Another strike will happen, count on it.
The 1700 series PCCs were sweatboxes in warm weather. Sealed windows, no AC.
So did you love it or hate it?
@@jimwalsh233 What is "it?" You mean the 1700 series?
@@beerybill The 1700 series PCC Cars of course. I was wondering if you loved them or hated them. I came to Pittsburgh in 1975, long after the bulk of the streetcar system had been abandoned. We both miss the street cars is they are a part of our youth. I rode the Green Hornets in Chicago. Just like you still have great memories of taking street cars to school and other places
I didn't care for them and once I got my driver's license I rarely rode the trolleys. Trolleys didn't serve the area of Pittsburgh where I lived. Pittsburgh Railways, in fact, was a mish mash of dozens of small trolley lines that became, ca, 1903, Pittsburgh Railways.
city buses killed the streetcars...
No they didn't they just replaced them because they were a more efficient way to move people.Also less costly given the fact there is no track or overhead to maintain. I miss the old PCC Cars, but they just we're not state of the art anymore.
There were many factors that caused the demise of street cars, Not the least of which was maintenance of way and overhead lines.
MAGA