Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC)
Car #2711

Current Photo, Date and Credit (Photo © PTM) In Service, Date and Credit (Photo © PTM)

 

Car Number 2711 Car Builder St. Louis Car Company
Year Built 1947 Year Acquired 2000
Type Single-end PCC Seats 45
Length 46'8" Width 8'5"
Height 10'3" Weight 38,060 lbs (19 tons)
Max Speed 42 mph Status In operation

Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) had a large fleet of PCC streamliners, of which 2711 (with sister car 2723) represents one of the more recent.  Originally built for service on the busy 23-Germantown Avenue line, the car came equipped for 2-man operation - almost unheard of in 1947, but traffic on the route more than covered the extra operating cost.

As PTC gave way to SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) in 1968, the 2700s continued in service and remained after several trolley lines had been discontinued.  Because of their age, many cars went through a general overhaul rebuilding in the 1980s to extend their useful life another ten years, including the replacement of the hand-cranked windows with windows from school buses, and seating from scrapped former transit buses.  But once that time was up and new cars were acquired, the cars were surplus.

2711 was acquired by PTM and rebuilt by Adtranz (Bombardier Transportation) as a handicapped-accessible car in 2000.  This was achieved by modifying the outward-opening center doors of the car with a removable center support, making it possible to accommodate an external wheelchair lift.  The interior of the car was also reconfigured to provide longitudinal bench seating in the front half of the car, which can be folded up to carry as many as ten wheelchairs at a time.  A folding table was also mounted in the car, allowing PTM to use this car for birthday parties, charters and other special events.  The exterior of the car was repainted to reflect its as-delivered paint scheme for PTC (green and cream, separated by a maroon belt rail).

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Last updated October 17, 2005
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