The latest update on the restoration of former Public Service Coordinated Transport/Transport New Jersey/NJ Transit PCC Car #26 can be viewed at:
https://youtu.be/ffJWGjQk6fw
(Episode 3 - Most recent)

Previous updates can be viewed at:
https://youtu.be/vTsEM_INoM
(Episode 2)

https://youtu.be/AHHif20gLh8
(Episode 1)

Video of the first successful test run of the car (following four years of work which included regauging of the former Philadelphia trucks the car uses to Baltimore gauge, various electrical repairs, and conversion of the shaft brake system from GE to Westinghouse) can be seen at https://youtu.be/BqZVlGgNKlU. This test trip was a private event which included most of the volunteers who worked on the project in one capacity or another.

Additional photos and info can be found at: https://www.baltimorestreetcarmuseum.org/donate.

The contracted portion of the work is planned for completion by mid-2020, with 6-12 months of additional work to finish the car (both cosmetically and functionally) after its return to Baltimore Streetcar Museum.

While a number of PCC cars from Newark, NJ have been sent to museums, Car #26 will be the first completely restored to a period-correct historical appearance, accurately representing how the vehicle was configured circa 1964. Baltimore Streetcar Museum has expanded its collection beyond the Baltimore geographical area and thanks to its proximity to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor as well as major highways, draws a number of visitors from New Jersey. Completion of this project will mark another positive step for the museum after it was forced to suspend operations for several months following the derailment of a CSX freight train on the bridge passing over the museum’s trackage.

The completion of this project and availability of the restored car for public operations is very important to the museum. The bulk of the rail vehicles in the museum collection are over 80 years old, with many examples well over 100 years old. Since 2009 with the introduction of restored former Philadelphia PCC Car #2168, the burden of constant operation of century-old, fragile, early vintage vehicles has somewhat been reduced, helping ensure these vehicles can be sustained for long-term conservation. The only surviving original Baltimore PCC Car in the collection, BTC #7407, is getting quite worn mechanically and needs long term repair and conservation. The future availability of car #26, together with car #2168, will provide the museum with two rugged vehicles in excellent condition to carry the bulk of the museum's regular visitor and chartered event traffic, and reduce the burden on both the older equipment in the collection and the volunteers who labor to maintain these vehicles. Furthermore, the visiting public has been overwhelmingly pleased with the regular operation of a PCC car at the museum, resulting in an increase in visitors as well as contributions both physical and financial. It is believed that the regular operation of car #26 will enable even further gains in these areas.

To date, the project has raised approximately $60,000 through matching grants from other organizations as well as the generosity of NRHS Chapters and museum benefactors.

Perhaps one of the most inspiring facets of this project is the involved of multiple generations of volunteers. Several volunteers are under 30 years old; in fact three under 21 (including the producer of the project update videos). Help has come from volunteers as far away as Canada and throughout the Eastern United States.

Hopefully this update is both informative and helpful in sharing ideas for projects at other organizations.

Sincerely,

Matt Nawn
Project Manager, Car #26

Apologies - there is an error in the previous message for the link for Episode 2.

Correct link is:
https://youtu.be/vTsEM_INoMk

- Matt Nawn

The WH actuators are better than the GE stuff with the dual coils, but what was the curatorial reasoning behind changing the technology? Is this a "utility car" not in the historic collection?

The views expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of BSM management or administration.

Yes, 26 is viewed as an "expendable" artifact, that "utility car" if you will.

The BSM was unique in that it originally retained a collection of exclusively Baltimore equipment (with one anomaly--a semi-convertible body from Virginia matching Baltimore's design, which was to be used as a stand-in for the only true surviving Baltimore semi, long at Seashore Trolley Museum--and that carbody has been sent back to Newport News where it came from and is being restored). The BSM has but one Baltimore PCC, 7407, the "last" car to run on the last night; it has increasingly been sidelined with a variety of electrical and motor ailments.

The BSM, however, has long recognized that it could not continue to wear out the original artifacts until they resembled "George Washington's hatchet." So ages ago they began with the acquisition of a San Diego/El Paso PCC carbody from New Mexico that was a match for the earlier fleet of Baltimore PCCs (its rebuild is still ongoing). Then the Friends of the Philadelphia Trolley established a working relationship with the BSM, a reflection of multiple failures of past Philadelphia-area trolley preservation efforts. FPT acquired and brought down Philly PCC 2168 and restored it to bright and shiny condition, and worked with the BSM in the acquisition of several cars' worth of spares (including overhead work car 2187, which arrived still full of overhead line parts worth far more than was paid for the car), along with snowsweeper C-145 (currently being restored after years of running with little more than a coat of paint over the wood that came down from Philly).

NJT 26 was part of a massive rescue of basically the entire surviving Newark Subway fleet engineered by Bill Wall of Branford. One of the jokes made around the BSM was "We needed some track switches to rebuild the track arrangement for the additional track for the car barn, and they made us take a PCC as part of the deal!" My off-the-record understanding is that one BSM member personally footed the costs of acquisition of the car to get the switches, and the needed rebuilding has attracted a new crew of young volunteers with their own "pet project" to work on.

Consider the following: Although the car is being restored to earlier Newark Subway appearance, with so many other Newark PCCs out there, the car can be mechanically rebuilt to match the rest of the Baltimore PCC fleet; it can also be adapted further with wheelchair accessibility (one of the purported reasons for acquiring the old San Diego/El Paso 503/1503 years ago--it had been gutted, and no one needs to fret about changing the interior to accommodate wheelchairs). Also, as much as old trolley purists may sneer at the bus-like appearance of PCCs, their "retro" streamlining combined with the fact that they may be the only cars today's visitors may have ever ridden in service in any city, make them VERY popular with visitors, or so the BSM guys tell me.

When I visited BSM in 2003, 7407 was the car running and I was impressed with it. I am glad that they have some durable PCCs on hand to spread the load and allow them to fix 7407. My impression of BSM in 2003 was "small but impressive."

Matt's comment is in line with the reasoning we had at National Capital Trolley Museum when we acquired TTC 4603 from Toronto in 1996 and TTC 4602 from the Lake Shore collection in 2009. With the Toronto PCCs available we are able to extend the operating life of DCTS 1101.

Wesley

Alexander, thanks for the additional info. It also crossed my mind, after I clicked the POST button, that this car #26 must be on ex-Philly trucks that have been slightly broadened. And therefore, the trucks may have already been equipped with WH motors and brake actuators.