Pacific Electric Glendale-Burbank PCC Service Bulletin (1940)
Pacific Electric Glendale-Burbank PCC service bulletin from 1940, announcing the institution of PCC car service beginning Nov. 24, 1940.
Ralph Cantos Collection
From Ralph:
PE’s Pullman Standard PCC’s were THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PCC of all time. The PE was very proud of the cars, even though the Railway was “forced” to buy them. This 4 panel booklet announced their arrival, and the restitution of full time rail service to the Glendale-Burbank Line. The service life of the PE PCC’s was some what short, only 15 years, stored for 4 years in the LA Subway, and then only about 3-4 years in Buenos Aires, for a total life span of little more then 23 years. The shortest service life in “PCC History” however goes to the Illinois Terminal double enders that served that Railroad for just 8 years before being retired, Two of the I.T. PCC’s were saved for preservation and made a brief return to service on the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit, but all in all , a VERY SHORT service career.
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Just in case anyone is unaware of the fate of the PE PCC fleet–all thirty of them were shipped to Argentina in the late 1950s, where they joined the 1100s and 732-759 on the FC General Urquiza out of Buenos Aires. They only lasted a few years, being scrapped in the 1960s. Whether the owner (PE or Metro Coach) would have “cut one out of the herd” for local preservation if the money were available remains a question. Today the only PCC in PE colors (more or less) is San Francisco Muni 1061, a single-end ex-Philly St. Louis product that run on the “F” line. Note the road number, which memorializes the last year of Red Car operation.
I was fortunate to ride on the PCC cars in Argentina. Quiet and comfortable. They arrived in pretty poor condition after their four year storage, but the people at the Urquiza’s Lynch shops rehabbed them and brought them back to life. Unfortunately, the cars were too light for the FCGU trackage and their control setup made them oddballs compared to the other FGCU equipment. That combined with a desire by the national goverment to cut the branch line on which they operated, spelled the end for the PCCs. Believe me, the preservationist in Buenos Aires also lament that not a single PCC was preserved. In fact the same can be said for the 1100s and the Key System cars that also ran on the FCGU. A Hollywood car survives largely because it was kept by the railroad as work motor. However, the museum that owns it is far from restoring to its former glory.
According to some reports, two or three of the 1100s survive as rusted hulks somewhere in the “back country”. It would probably be easier to build replicas from scratch rather than try to recover the bodies and ship them back to the US. At least a few of the PE Hollywood cars and a few of the Key System bridge units have been preserved, and at least one of each type is in running order.