Sub-series 6.3: PCC Trolleys and Trolley Coaches, 1936 - 1960

Sub-series 6.3 contains images of Brooklyn PCC cars. The PCC car (named for the Electric Railroader’s President Conference Committee) was a standardized high-performance design for street cars developed in the 1930s, featuring a streamlined and modern aesthetic. These cars were purchased and operated by the Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corp. (B&QT), then a subsidiary of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Company (BMT). B&QT ordered 99 St. Louis-built cars and one Clark-built car. Most of the 100 PCC cars in Brooklyn were delivered in the summer of 1936, and entered service on October 1 of that year, servicing the following lines: 28 (Erie Basin), 67 (Seventh Avenue), 68 (Smith Street-Coney Island), and 69 (McDonald-Vanderbilt). All but the 68 operated over the Brooklyn Bridge to a loop at Park Row in Manhattan. This elevated line over the Brooklyn Bridge was abandoned in 1944, after which point the cars operated on new trackage connecting the el tracks to a new streetcar terminal at Park Row. However, at the end of the second World War, two of the PCC lines were discontinued as part of Mayor LaGuardia’s plan to convert streetcars to buses. Interestingly, PCC lines were some of the last to be converted to bus service because the financing arrangements on the cars called for a 20-year life span, and they couldn’t be retired until October 1, 1956. The last PCC cars operated on Church and McDonald Avenues on October 31, 1956, marking the end of streetcar service in New York City. This series also shows trolley coaches built by several other manufacturers, including American Car & Foundry, Twin Coach, Pullman Standard, and St. Louis Car Company.