Car #6 is the third vehicle in the museum collection to receive this distinction, the other vehicles being Johnstown Traction Company #355 in 2007 and York Railways #163 a number of years ago.
While the rehabilitation of car #6 was not a complete, ground-up restoration; nor was the car returned to like new condition, what made it unique was the tremendous effort and accelerated timeframe that transformed the vehicle from a deteriorated relic to a great looking and operating car again. Within 5 weeks of the car's shipment from New Jersey, museum volunteers had made the car reliably operable again. Three months later, body and paint work both inside and out had been completed in time for the car to be rolled out for a special ceremony commemorating both the return of the car to operation and marking 10 years since the end of PCC service in the Newark City Subway.
Car #6 has its minor flaws, dents, and other signs of many decades of use. But, we'd like to think it is preserved as an accurate representation of its years of service in New Jersey; not pristine, but well maintained and looking good. Perhaps the greatest compliment came when an individual who had a long history with the cars in Newark visited the museum, inspected #6, and stated "it's not overdone...it looks just like it did in Newark".
Once again, my compliments to the all-volunteer PCC Car #6 Restoration Crew and the others who worked behind the scenes to make its preservation possible.
Car #6 departs Penn Station on 8-16-2001, one week before its retirement. Photo compliments of Bill Volkmer.
Car #6 picks up a passenger at Park Avenue in 1954. Photo compliments of Bill Volkmer.
PCC Work in Progress and Planned on other vehicles
Awards are great, but there's no time to rest, there is work to be done!
New Jersey Transit PCC Car #10
Work continued on this car's charging system on March 15. Fred Wagner, Nicholas Brightbill, and Matt Nawn spent some time trying to get the voltage regulated properly, but more work remains. Jerry Evans and George Rich, which assistance from Matt Nawn and Bill Monaghan, did some further work during the 4/6/2013 work session, but issues still remain and the MG set itself may be the source of the problems. Getting this car operable again will enable its owner to ship it to its new home.
SEPTA/PTC #2743
Thanks to the recent substantial contributions by the Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys as well as many individual donors, the long planned carbody restoration of this popular vehicle will commence in late spring of this year. The goal for completion is the Summer 2014 PCC Car Day at the Rockhill Trolley Museum. Updates will be posted here as the car is transformed back to circa 1959 PTC appearance in the familiar green and cream colors. The work will be performed by the same contractor crew that restored the carbody of SEPTA #2168 at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum under the experienced supervision of Harry Donahue.
This is the color scheme #2743 will wear after its restoration, but we plan to avoid smashing in the doors. Photo by R. Vible, RTY Collection.
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