Peter Witt 8534

About 50 meeting attendees were treated to an exciting and historic journey through the streets of Philadelphia riding two vintage trolley cars, the Peter Witt Car 8534 and PCC Car 2732.

Our journey began with a departure from the Airport Terminal on the R1 Line at 8:45 AM. After arriving at 30th Street station, we were afforded the opportunity for a quick break before heading down to the Subway tracks for our 9:30 departure in our chartered vintage trolley cars, which are operated by SEPTA, the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority, the regional rail authority.

After exiting the subway tunnel it was onto the streets of the City of Brotherly Love for about 25 miles of street running. The route covered Route 10 to Lancaster & Girard, then Route 15 to 63rd & Malvern Route, including the Baltimore Avenue Loop to 61st Street. Then from Malvern loop to 42nd & Chester Avenue via Route 10 to 40th & Lancaster and surface diversion trackages. Then we followed Route 13 from 42nd & Chester to Darby loop, then from Darby & Eastwick loop via Route 11, Island Road, a stop at the car barn, and then Route 36. From Eastwick we headed for the home stretch back to the tunnels & 30th street, arriving about 2:40 PM.

During the course of the trips, numerous opportunities were presented for photo stops both for still & film photography, including runbys. All passengers were encouraged to swap back and forth between the two cars during the stops througout the course of the day. Enroute adventures also included several stops for cars blocking our way, and a couple of delays to reseat the power cable on the overhead wire when it had popped off. The site of these vintage cars running through the streets of the city turned many heads. As the picture shows, several switches had to be thrown by hand during the course of our journey as well. Switches, which are buried in the street are thrown by inserting a long metal bar through a slot and then pushing/pulling the bar in the desired direction.

We express our sincere appreciation to the personnel of SEPTA's Light Rail Division for their interest and efforts in operating these cars. Mr. Edward A. Springer of SEPTA, himself a rail historian who has devoted much effort to preserving the Peter Witt and PCC cars, was our group leader. Our motormen were Russell Greco and Richard Vible.

HISTORY BACKGROUND -

The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT) bought 535 cars of the Peter Witt Design. These cars were constructed between 1923 and 1926 by the J. G. Brill Company at 62nd St. and Woodland Avenue in southwest Philadelphia. A track connection from the plant to the Route 11 on Woodland Avenue permitted delivery of the cars directly to PRT's carbarns. Cars 8000 to 8534 were 46' 6" long, 8' 6" wide and seated 55 passengers. Car 8534, the last series, celebrates its 75th anniversary in the year 2001.

The "Peter Witt" car was designed and named for a transit official in Cleveland, OH. The car was a front entrance, center exit design. Passengers could pay their fare to the conductor at the center door and move to the rear of the car, or they could remain in the front of the car and pay upon exiting at the center doors. The car was very successful and was purchased by transit companies throughout the world. Royalties were paid to Peter Witt on every car constructed.

The first Peter Witts in Philadelphia entered service in August 1923. In 1924 they were assigned to the subway-surface routes. The delivery of the last 50 cars in May, 1926 permitted the retirement, in 1928, of all cars placed in service prior to 1911. In 1935, the 8000-series cars were assigned to 19 routes.

Between 1939 and 1945, 274 of the cars were overhauled. The program included new and quieter gears, improved braking equipment, new interior lighting, padded leather seats, new floors, and a lighter green paint scheme. PRT christened the cars "Paintliners" for publicity purposes.

The 8000's dominated the system at the end of 1954. Only three of the 535 cars had been scrapped. However, a change of management in 1955 resulted in the rapid conversion of the system to a predominately bus operation. Routes 17 and 32 were the last stand for the 8000's. December 27, 1957 proved to be the last day of operation.

Today, three of the cars, 8042, 8530, and 8534 are preserved. Car 8530 is privately owned. Buckingham Valley Trolley Association (BVTA) owns cars 8042 and 8534. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania restored the cars in 1976 for the Bicentennial. BVTA loaned 8534 to SEPTA in October 1978 to commemorate the reconstruction of Germantown Avenue between Mermaid and Bethlehem Pike loops in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. The car was returned to BVTA in 1980.

Peter Witt 8534 returned to SEPTA for "TrolleyFest '93" to celebrate 100 years of electric trolley operation in Philadelphia. SEPTA personnel varnished the interior woodwork and repainted the exterior. The car was the centerpiece of "TrolleyFest '95" and remained on the property for special events and charters.

During 2000, car 8042 was moved from storage at SEPTA's Germantown depot to Scranton, PA, the site of the Electric City Trolley Museum under the auspices of the Electric City Trolley Museum Association (formerly BVTA) for eventual stationary display. It is currently on Steamtown property on a flatbed trailer under cover to protect it from the elements.

NOTE: PCC stands for Presidents Conference Committee. The PCC was a standardized design for streetcars/trolley arrived at by the collaboration of the heads of a variety of mass transit companies in the 1930's. The goal was to provide a standardized design to reduce production time and costs as well as repair costs.

"The Trolleys We Rode"

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL -

PCC 2732 Photo

Video - Classic Trolley Corner

** All photographs by NRHS Webmaster