Twin City Rapid Transit Company
No. 322
Description
In 1944, the TCRT board of directors approved
the annual purchase of PCC streetcars to replace
the aging but well-maintained wooden fleet. PCC
No. 322 is from the initial 1946 order of 40 cars
that were delivered by the St. Louis Car Company
of St. Louis, Missouri between December 1946 and
January 1947. No. 322 arrived in December 1946
and entered service the following month.
In 1951 it was converted from two-man
to one-man operation.
A 1949 management change resulted
in abandonment of plans to acquire a large PCC fleet
to replace the wooden cars. Instead, plans were
made to abandon all streetcar service in favor of
buses. As streetcar service drew to a close, in
October 1953, No. 322 was one of thirty cars sold
to Public Service Coordinated Transport of Newark,
New Jersey for operation in the Newark City Subway.
It became their No. 3. They in turn sold it to the
Greater Cleveland RTA in April 1978, where it was
also No. 3.
In August 1990 No. 322 was purchased
by the Museum for restoration and operation. Work
was done at the Metro Transit overhaul base in St.
Paul from April 1992 until July 1997, when it was
moved to the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line for completion.
It returned to service in 2000.
Materials
The streetcar is of all-steel construction.
Photos
 |
The only known photo
of MSM's PCC No. 322 in service. On Washington
Avenue just after crossing the Mississippi River,
No. 322 is heading to St. Paul in front of Coffman
Union at the University of Minnesota in the
late 40s. Thanks to George Isaacs, his friend
Fred W. Schneider sent this photo. Click on
the image to supersize it. |
To see a series of photos documenting the 1992
- 2000 restoration of PCC No. 322, click
here.
Information from The Electric Railways
of Minnesota, by Russell L. Olson. Published
by the Minnesota Transportation Museum.
|
