The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a tram design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful domestically, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the world where PCC based cars were made. The PCC car has proved to be a long-lasting icon of streetcar design, and many remain in service around the world.

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Quick Facts In service, Manufacturer ...

PCC streetcar
Three PCCs on the San Francisco Municipal Railway's F-line. Pictured are an example of one double-ended streetcar and two single-ended cars.
Interior of a PCC car
In service	1936–present
Manufacturer	St Louis Car Company Pullman Standard
Constructed	1935–1952 (USA) 1949–1978 (Europe)
Number built	5,000+
Number preserved	328+
Capacity	52–61 seats
Specifications
Car length	46–50.5 ft (14.02–15.39 m)
Width	100–108 in (2.54–2.74 m)
Maximum speed	50 mph (80 km/h)[citation needed]
Weight	35,000–42,000 lb (15,900–19,100 kg)
Traction motors	4 × 55 hp (41 kW) motors, 43:6 (~7.17) gear ratio
Acceleration	Variable, Automatic 1.5–4.75 mph/s (2.41–7.64 km/(h⋅s))
Deceleration	Service: Variable to 4.75 mph/s (7.64 km/(h⋅s)), Emergency: 9.0 mph/s (14.5 km/(h⋅s)) maximum
Electric system(s)	600 V DC from overhead catenary
Current collector(s)	Pantograph or trolley pole
UIC classification	Bo'Bo'
AAR wheel arrangement	B-B
Braking system(s)	Dynamic Service Braking; Friction; for Final Stop, Park; Magnetic
Track gauge	5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm) and other broad gauges 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) and other narrow gauges

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The "PCC" ("Presidents' Conference Committee") originated from the design committee formed in 1929. It was renamed the "Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee" (ERPCC) in 1931. The group's membership consisted primarily of representatives of several large operators of U.S. urban electric street railways plus potential manufacturers. Three interurban lines and at least one "heavy rail", or rapid transit, operator—Chicago Rapid Transit Company—were represented as well. Also included on the membership roll were manufacturers of surface cars (streetcars) and interested component suppliers.

ERPCC's goal was to design a streamlined, comfortable, quiet, and fast accelerating and braking streetcar that would be operated by a seated operator using floor-mounted pedal controls to better meet the needs of the street railways and appeal to riders. ERPCC prepared a detailed research plan, conducted extensive research on streetcar design, built and tested components, made necessary modifications and revisions based upon the findings, and ultimately produced a set of specifications for a standardized and fixed design. It included a modest list of available options with ample room for customer customization but was to be built with standard parts as opposed to a custom designed car body with diverse parts added depending on the whims and requirements of the individual customer. Numerous national and international users operated large fleets of PCC cars for many years.

Many design patents resulted from the work of ERPCC. These were transferred to a new business entity called the Transit Research Corporation (TRC) when ERPCC expired in 1936. Although this company continued the work of research on improvements to the basic design of the car and issued sets of specifications three times in the ensuing years, because TRC defined a PCC car as any vehicle which used patents on which it collected royalties, it was formed for the primary purpose of controlling those patents and promoting the standardization envisioned by the ERPCC. The company was funded by its collection of patent royalties from the railways which bought PCC cars. The company was controlled by a voting trust representing the properties which had invested in the work of ERPCC. One participant in Committee meetings, Philadelphia trolley manufacturer JG Brill Company, brought a competitive design—the Brilliner—to market in 1938. Because Raymond Loewy designed elements that were very similar to the PCC look, the Brilliner attracted no large orders, being built only for Atlantic City Transit and the Red Arrow Lines in suburban Philadelphia. Fewer than 50 were sold.^[1]

A significant contribution to the PCC design was noise reduction with extensive use of rubber in springs and other components to prevent rattle, vibration, and thus noise and to provide a level of comfort unknown before.^[2] Wheel tires were mounted between rubber sandwiches and were electrically isolated so that shunts were required to complete a ground. Resilient wheels were used on most PCC cars, with later heftier versions known as "Super-Resilient".

Gears were another source of considerable noise, solved by employing hypoid gears which are mounted at a right angle to the axle, where three of the six teeth constantly engaged the main gear, reducing lash and noise. All movable truck parts employed rubber for noise reduction as well.^[3] "Satisfactory Cushion Wheel of Vital Importance; Develop New Truck Design; Generous Use of Rubber" are headings within a paper that Chief Engineer Clarence F. Hirshfeld both presented and published.^[4]

After a specification document suitable for purchasing cars was generated by TRC, orders were placed by eight companies in 1935 and 1936. First was Brooklyn & Queens Transit Corporation (B&QT) for 100 cars, then Baltimore Transit Co. (BTCo) for 27 cars, Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) for 83 cars, Pittsburgh Railways Co. (PRCO) for 101 cars, San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) for 25 cars, Los Angeles Railway (LARy) for 60 cars, and then Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) for one car. In late 1935 or early in 1936 Westinghouse Electric Corporation pressed for one car to be equipped with their electrical equipment for testing in Pittsburgh, since the Brooklyn order would have all cars equipped by General Electric, and Clark Equipment Company pressed for one car to be made by them of aluminum for delivery to B&QT. Agreements among the parties were reached whereby St Louis Car Company would build 101 essentially identical cars and Clark would build one of its own body design.

Brooklyn received its first car number 1001 on May 28, 1936, PRCo took delivery of car number 100 on July 26, 1936, and Baltimore received its first car on September 2, 1936. In the late 1936 discussions of operating experience, it was noted that the Brooklyn car had run 3,000 miles by the time the Pittsburgh car had run 1,000 miles. One of the key patents was filed by Dan H. Bell on January 8, 1937, and granted on July 5, 1938, and entitled, "Rail Car or Similar Article," Patent No. 110,384.^[5] The first car to be placed in a scheduled public service was PRCo 100 in August and B&QT launched its first scheduled service with a group of cars on October 1, 1936, followed by CSL on November 13, 1936. Production continued in North America by St. Louis Car Co. and Pullman Standard until 1952, with 4,978 units being built. Under license to use the designs patented by TRC, thousands more PCC and partially PCC type cars were produced in Europe through the last half of the 20th century. The cars were well built, and many hundreds are still in operation. The majority of large North American streetcar systems surviving after 1935 purchased PCC streetcars. The systems which eventually terminated streetcar operations often sold their cars to surviving operators.

The Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) in Australia was keen to build two new tram routes after World War II, and these routes would be served by PCC Streetcars. The MMTB decided that it was too expensive and Melbourne only ever had two PCC streetcars, of which one was a prototype for a completely different class.

Several dozen remain in public transit service, such as on the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line in Boston, as well as in Philadelphia, Kenosha, San Diego and San Francisco following extensive overhauling. All other surviving and functional North American PCC cars are operated by museums and heritage railways.^[6] Several retired PCCs from Boston, Cleveland, and Philadelphia were purchased as scrap and have been privately stored just outside Windber, Pennsylvania since 1992.^[7]

The PCCs built for Washington, D.C. were among the more unique examples due to the installation of overhead wires being prohibited within the city limits,^[8] necessitating the use of conduit plows^[9] that collected current using a plow lowered into a slot between the rails contacting positive and negative rails under the street. A pit was located at the boundary line of the city limits, over which cars would stop to have their power collection changed from the trolley pole to the conduit plow and vice versa.

"The PCC car was not just another modular vehicle but the result of the only systems engineering approach to mass producing a rail car."^[10] Research into passenger comfort resulting from vibrations, acceleration, lighting, heating and cooling, seat spacing, cushion height, space for arms, legs, standing passengers, economies of weight affecting maintenance, cost of power, reduced wear of components and track. Dimensions were established to fit the majority but could easily be changed for special situations. Windows were spaced to match seating.

While some of the components in the PCC car had been used before—resilient wheels, magnetic braking, sealed gears, and modular design to name a few—the ERPCC redesigned, refined, and perfected many of these while developing new acceleration and braking controls and put them all in one package.

PCC cars were initially built in the United States by the St Louis Car Company (SLCCo) and Pullman Standard. Clark Equipment built the only aluminum-body PCC^[12] as well as all narrow gauge B1 trucks for Los Angeles, all the standard and broad gauge B2 trucks both air- and all-electric, and the B2B trucks used under PRCo 1725–1799 and Toronto 4500–4549.^[13] SLCCo built all B3 trucks, both standard and broad gauge.^[14] PCC cars for Canadian cities were assembled in Montreal, Quebec by Canadian Car & Foundry from bodies and trucks supplied by St. Louis Car.^[15]

Westinghouse (Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Canadian Westinghouse Co.) and General Electric both supplied electrical packages and brake components which were designed and built in cooperation with the ERPCC.^[16] The customer specified the equipment, which was to be installed, performance was similar, and most cities ordered from both suppliers.^[17] Since Westinghouse was home based near Pittsburgh, PRCo ordered 75% of its PCC fleet with Westinghouse equipment, the balance with GE.^{[citation needed]} Indeed, PCCs are often identified as either Westinghouse or GE.^{[clarification needed]}

The last PCC streetcars built for any North American system were a batch of 25 for the San Francisco Municipal Railway, manufactured by St. Louis and delivered in 1951–2.^[18]

A total of 4,586 PCC cars were purchased by United States transit companies: 1,057 by Pullman Standard and 3,534 by St. Louis. Most transit companies purchased one type, but Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Shaker Heights ordered from both. The Baltimore Transit Co. (BTC) considered the Pullman cars of superior construction and easier to work on. The St. Louis cars had a more aesthetically pleasing design with a more rounded front and rear, compound-curved skirt cut-outs, and other design frills.

There were four rapid transit companies on the committee, but the primary focus was streetcars, rapid transit development was slower. The difference in operations between the systems also made standardization difficult.

By 1940, Brooklyn had five three-section articulated trainsets with PCC components, after WWII Chicago ordered four similar trainsets. Chicago ordered two from Pullman and two from St. Louis, with different equipment, so that competing manufacturers could be directly compared. Experience from the trainsets influenced the following car standards.

Cars were to be approximately 48 ft (14.6 m) long (the Chicago maximum, Boston had some 55 ft (16.8 m) long) with one cab per car arranged in "married" two car sets, a double ended single car variant was possible. Number and type of doors and windows, interior layout, and width of cars varied with each system. Boston had two sizes, the longest at 55 ft (16.8 m), and narrowest at 8 ft 4 in (254 cm), Cleveland had the widest at 10 ft 4 in (315 cm).

Trucks were a major focus, both Clark and St. Louis developed trucks with 28 in (710 mm) wheels and a 70 mph (110 km/h) maximum speed, but only Boston used them, Clark B10s on 40 cars. Chicago used streetcar type trucks, with 26 in (660 mm) wheels and a speed of 50 mph (80 km/h), adequate for their system. When Clark stopped building railroad equipment in 1952 PCC trucks were no longer available, Boston and Cleveland then used non PCC trucks with 28 in (710 mm) wheels.

Chicago ordered the first of 770 (720 + 50 double-ended) 6000-series cars in 1948 (before the standard, which they influenced), Boston (40, then later 100) in 1950, and Cleveland (70 + 18 double-ended) in 1952. Chicago's first 200 cars were entirely new, but in 1953 they started using components salvaged from new, but no longer needed, streetcars. Toronto, on the committee, initially considered buying the cars, but increased metal prices due to the Korean War made them prohibitively costly.^[27] Brooklyn, who had bought the first five prototype trainsets, also did not buy any production trainsets.

240 PCC rapid transit cars were built in four years, from 1948 to 1952, then 438 cars with non-PCC trucks until 1957, the last of Chicago's 570 cars built with salvaged components were delivered in 1958. Some Chicago cars were in regular service in 1990, car number 30 made its last revenue run in 1999.^{[28][29][30][31]}

The PCC license was used worldwide after World War II had ended which resulted in adaptations based on the American PCC design. Two such licensees were successful, namely the Belgian company La Brugeoise et Nivelles (since 1988 a subsidiary of Bombardier Transportation, itself since 2021 a subsidiary of the French Alstom), who built both standard-gauge and meter-gauge cars based on the PCC license for many networks in Belgium, France and the Netherlands; and particularly the Czech ČKD Tatra, who built the largest number of the PCC type in the world, supplying a number of Central and Eastern European countries. Trams such as the Tatra T3 and its variant Tatra T4, together the most numerous of any tram model ever produced, are still in service today in many of the regions where they were first introduced. Modern variants of the Tatra T3 are still produced today by some manufacturers, such as KOS Krnov. The Polish Konstal 13N was not built under license. Only models with direct references to the original American PCC streetcar are included here. Later models of a particular series such as the Tatra T5 were adapted and modernized further.

Note that the country listed only covers areas where the cars were initially delivered; references for these areas can be found in the text.

• Brilliner – a competing streetcar design
• Two spiritual successors developed by UMTA the 1970s
  • State-of-the-Art Car (SOAC) – demonstrated contemporary technologies for use in rapid transit systems
  • US Standard Light Rail Vehicle (SLRV) – designed as a replacement for PCCs and intended to modernize legacy streetcar systems
• KTM-1 and MTV-82 – similarly standardized and mass-produced trams in the Soviet Union
• Streetcars in North America