Chicago Surface Lines #4021 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

This PCC Car was built in 1936 by the St. Louis Car Co. It is 50 feet long and seats 61. In 1929, the presidents of several North American streetcar systems formed the Electric Railway Presidents Conference Committee to design a new standard modern streetcar to be used in cities across North America. The result was the Presidents Conference Committee Car, or PCC Car. The first of these cars were built in 1936, and by the time the last were built in 1952, over 5000 had been produced. They were used in many major cities throughout the United States and Canada, and many remained in service for many years, some moving from city to city as streetcar lines were replaced by buses. Chicago Surface Lines became part of the Chicago Transit Authority in 1947, and the last streetcar lines in Chicago were replaced with buses in 1958. #4021 is one of the only surviving Chicago PCC cars, all of which are at IRM.

Continue to Chicago Transit Authority Cars…