In July 1999, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) PCC No. 3232 glides into Boston's Ashmonth station, where passengers transfer to and from the heavy-rail Red Line. This 1945 Pullman Standard-built car is one of 11 surviving PCCs on the MBTA system.

The once-ubiquitous PCC trolley car used to be seen almost everywhere on MBTA surface and underground lines in greater Boston, but now has generally be displaced there by new

Steam road station turned pizza parlor at Mattapan.

articulated streetcars. The last Boston PCC holdouts are 11 cars which provide frequent service on the Mattapan High Speed Trolley Line, a three-mile double track run between Ashmont and Mattapan which was converted in 1929 from former New Haven Railroad (Old Colony) steam trackage displacing NH

4-4-0s and wooden coaches. The line is separate right-of-way rather than street running, but there are several highway grade crossings. The PCC's also share pavement with buses at the Ashmont turning loop, where their classic design dating from the Great Depression holds up quite well in comparison to garish modern vehicles. At the Mattapan end, cars loop through ornamental arches constructed in 1929, while the original steam road station is now a pizza parlor.

Sportings its forced-air ventilation housing on the roof, PCC 3254 negotiations an odd track arrangement at Mattapan. These 1945-vintage cars originally wore MBTA's standard orange paint scheme.

Purists would argue that these aren't true PCCs at all, because their original resilient wheels have been replaced by solid steel ones, sacrificing some of that smooth and quite PCC ride. But they're still trolley cars and they still look like PCCs. And if it snows and you're lucky, you might get an extra bonus by seeing an even older "Type 5" heavyweight trolley plowing snow from Ashmont to Mattapan.

Two PCCs share the Mattapan yard with ancient snow plow 5164.

A PCC emerges from the arched Mattapan terminal in July, 1999. Boston is one of only two major U.S. cities still operating PCC cars in regular service (the other is San Francisco), while Philadelphia is considering rebuilt PCCs for a restored rail service.