Brought back some memories as a kid. To see the city back then and to see it now really put a prospective on how much Pittsburgh has changed. Also on a side note, the PCC as shown at 15:34 is preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and is operational. Thank you for sharing this video with everyone.
+Justin's Rail Video I'm pleased to be able to bring back memories. To me, 1990 is not that long ago but to a younger person it is. It is good to hear that one of the PCCs has been preserved. I also took video at Arden during my visit but I'm not sure whether to post it or not.
It would be interesting to see. I am a volunteer at the Pennsylvania trolley Museum and always wondered what it was like back then. Much has changed and the museum is embarking on a major expansion in the next few years.
+Justin's Rail Video I'll think about it. I have been in direct with Chris W who you may know from there. I think he has seen what I have as he gave me a lot of help with the locations in my PCC video. Maybe he could confirm if it is worth posting.
@@johncross1041 I suppose you are lucky that at least scraps of the original system are still in operation along with a couple of new or rehabilitated stretches.
Very cool old video, loved seeing the city again back then and of course the PCCs. Such a shame they got rid of them. Thanks for taking and posting this!!
Thank you for this video. A lot of history. I was only 5 at the time here, I barely remember taking the old cars. My family would tell me how trolleys were everywhere. Its odd that they only chose these routes south, but not east where it's much more dense.
I’m pleased you liked it. There is one basic reason why trolleys survived in certain areas of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco - those routes all ran through tunnels, and I suspect without tunnels, those few remaining lines would have disappeared as well.
4008 and 4009 went to San Francisco. 4004 is in service at the PA trolley Museum. The operator of 4010 that overshot the low platform in you video was me! And to think that it's immortalized on You Tube! It only happened once! I retired 1 April 2011.
Thanks for that car information. I had to take another look at the Pittsburgh video and your mini mistake was quite close to the start. Did you remember seeing me there with the camera when you did the over shoot? I’m sure you’re not the only one that did it. Nevertheless I have had some remarkable coincidences with my trams on TH-cam. Some months ago some guy recognised his dad as the driver of a tram in 1976! For six years I was a Melbourne driver and overshot one platform because I was going as fast as normal in our B class but this time I unusually had an A class whose brakes obviously were much less potent. It was on reserve track so I did what you did and simply reversed back. Nobody said anything but nowadays somebody would be sure to dob you into management. Another mistake I did several times was forget which way to go at a junction. One time I had to change the ends and run back several hundred yards but I got away with it. It seems most drivers do this at some time or another. 😊
1713, 1737, 1745, 1765 were restored as built as 1700s. and were referred to as the super 17s. I was the operator who had been running LRVs all week and overshot the low platform at Steel Plaza when operating 4010, a PCC!
@@josephbrandtner7713 Yes I knew that several PCCs were modernised. In fact I think my video may have a couple here and there. Naughty boy for overshooting the platform. But I can’t talk. After having the B class articulate trams on a certain line for some time, suddenly we got some of the smaller A class. Pulling into a particular stop on the reservation, I applied the normal brake pressure and the back of the tram was somewhere near the departure end of the platform. I should have changed and driven back, but simply turned the reverser and drove back one length. Nobody said anything. With today’s private operators of the tramway I would probably get the sack for doing that.
These PCCs are a few remaining from the 1700 series. As can be seen, the windows are sealed and they sure were uncomfortable in the warm and humid months. Pittsburgh Railways claimed the windows were sealed for safety reasons. LOL. PAT did away with the PCCs, claim being parts weren't; available. Apparently MUNI knows something PAT didn't. More LOL.
Sealing windows and maybe replacing them with fans was not a good idea. Safety is often the excuse for doing money- saving changes. Lack of spare parts is a valid complaint. Presumably MUNI has to fabricate their own from scratch. This would often be time consuming and more expensive than when mass produced from a factory.
Drake Loop is just by my house. The old interburban trolley ran over top of the Drake Loop and down to Washington PA. I have an old picture with Trolleys on both the Drake Loop and the bridge over the Loop.
It’s a pity that Pittsburgh let so much go and seems to care little about expansion, let alone using all the track they have. Philly is the same. It is the ‘New’ systems that want to expand the most but SFO and NO are exceptions there - they are slowly growing.
A very nice video. I rode PCC cars back in 1977 in Pittsburgh. Wonderful. Great to see some PCC cars, again. Not these days though, I expect. I rode over the Smith Street bridge on my visit. Amazing to see the tracks still in situ.
Cars numbered 4000's are indeed rebuilt PCC's. But eletrically, no two are alike. After that, the remaining 1700's were rebuilt as close to original as possible and kept their 1700's series numbers. The 1700's were also the most reliable.
Brought back some memories as a kid. To see the city back then and to see it now really put a prospective on how much Pittsburgh has changed. Also on a side note, the PCC as shown at 15:34 is preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and is operational.
Thank you for sharing this video with everyone.
+Justin's Rail Video
I'm pleased to be able to bring back memories. To me, 1990 is not that long ago but to a younger person it is. It is good to hear that one of the PCCs has been preserved. I also took video at Arden during my visit but I'm not sure whether to post it or not.
It would be interesting to see. I am a volunteer at the Pennsylvania trolley Museum and always wondered what it was like back then. Much has changed and the museum is embarking on a major expansion in the next few years.
+Justin's Rail Video
I'll think about it. I have been in direct with Chris W who you may know from there. I think he has seen what I have as he gave me a lot of help with the locations in my PCC video. Maybe he could confirm if it is worth posting.
I lived this. I miss the era and travelled all these lines.
@@johncross1041 I suppose you are lucky that at least scraps of the original system are still in operation along with a couple of new or rehabilitated stretches.
@@tressteleg1 very true. They have a line setup for people to take rides on for nostalgia which is really nice.
@@johncross1041 That is interesting. For that service, do they run any old PCCs or something even older?
@@tressteleg1 yes they have some restored Pcc cars and have a mile track or so, been years since I was there. very cool
Very cool old video, loved seeing the city again back then and of course the PCCs. Such a shame they got rid of them. Thanks for taking and posting this!!
😊👍👍
Thank you for this video. A lot of history. I was only 5 at the time here, I barely remember taking the old cars. My family would tell me how trolleys were everywhere. Its odd that they only chose these routes south, but not east where it's much more dense.
I’m pleased you liked it. There is one basic reason why trolleys survived in certain areas of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco - those routes all ran through tunnels, and I suspect without tunnels, those few remaining lines would have disappeared as well.
4008 and 4009 went to San Francisco. 4004 is in service at the PA trolley Museum. The operator of 4010 that overshot the low platform in you video was me! And to think that it's immortalized on You Tube! It only happened once! I retired 1 April 2011.
Thanks for that car information.
I had to take another look at the Pittsburgh video and your mini mistake was quite close to the start. Did you remember seeing me there with the camera when you did the over shoot? I’m sure you’re not the only one that did it. Nevertheless I have had some remarkable coincidences with my trams on TH-cam. Some months ago some guy recognised his dad as the driver of a tram in 1976!
For six years I was a Melbourne driver and overshot one platform because I was going as fast as normal in our B class but this time I unusually had an A class whose brakes obviously were much less potent. It was on reserve track so I did what you did and simply reversed back. Nobody said anything but nowadays somebody would be sure to dob you into management.
Another mistake I did several times was forget which way to go at a junction. One time I had to change the ends and run back several hundred yards but I got away with it. It seems most drivers do this at some time or another. 😊
1713, 1737, 1745, 1765 were restored as built as 1700s. and were referred to as the super 17s. I was the operator who had been running LRVs all week and overshot the low platform at Steel Plaza when operating 4010, a PCC!
@@josephbrandtner7713 Yes I knew that several PCCs were modernised. In fact I think my video may have a couple here and there.
Naughty boy for overshooting the platform. But I can’t talk. After having the B class articulate trams on a certain line for some time, suddenly we got some of the smaller A class. Pulling into a particular stop on the reservation, I applied the normal brake pressure and the back of the tram was somewhere near the departure end of the platform. I should have changed and driven back, but simply turned the reverser and drove back one length. Nobody said anything. With today’s private operators of the tramway I would probably get the sack for doing that.
Hello! May I use a few clips of this with credit in a video about Pittsburgh's light rail? Thanks!
@@ClassyWhale Hi. If you let me know what time points, I may have a better version than you will get off TH-cam.
Still waiting to hear from you…..
These PCCs are a few remaining from the 1700 series. As can be seen, the windows are sealed and they sure were uncomfortable in the warm and humid months. Pittsburgh Railways claimed the windows were sealed for safety reasons. LOL. PAT did away with the PCCs, claim being parts weren't; available. Apparently MUNI knows something PAT didn't. More LOL.
Sealing windows and maybe replacing them with fans was not a good idea. Safety is often the excuse for doing money- saving changes. Lack of spare parts is a valid complaint. Presumably MUNI has to fabricate their own from scratch. This would often be time consuming and more expensive than when mass produced from a factory.
Drake Loop is just by my house. The old interburban trolley ran over top of the Drake Loop and down to Washington PA. I have an old picture with Trolleys on both the Drake Loop and the bridge over the Loop.
I hope the video brought back some memories of earlier days.
It did, I grew up in Pt Breeze and although the trolleys were gone we still had the rails running on Penn Ave. They're just buried now.
It’s a pity that Pittsburgh let so much go and seems to care little about expansion, let alone using all the track they have. Philly is the same. It is the ‘New’ systems that want to expand the most but SFO and NO are exceptions there - they are slowly growing.
A very nice video. I rode PCC cars back in 1977 in Pittsburgh. Wonderful. Great to see some PCC cars, again. Not these days though, I expect. I rode over the Smith Street bridge on my visit. Amazing to see the tracks still in situ.
Our old trolleys. The SD 100. I didn't know they had a deadman pedal.
SD-400s actually. SD-100s only had street level doors
wow, the incline used to come down fast. Now it crawls into the station.
Joseph Wagner No doubt the health and safety theorists got to it!
The Duke nearly ended up on Carson Street one day. They HAD to slow their roll.
Cars numbered 4000's are indeed rebuilt PCC's. But eletrically, no two are alike. After that, the remaining 1700's were rebuilt as close to original as possible and kept their 1700's series numbers. The 1700's were also the most reliable.
Thanks for the local input. Didn’t a few of your PCCs go to San Francisco? Were they 4000s?
Oh the T has come a long way since this video was shot.
Drew Silverman 😊👍