Toronto Transit Commission #4608

Background

Service History

The Toronto PCC car arrived at OPT on June 19, 1996. Toronto PCC 4608 was one of the 17 Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) cars that went out of service at midnight, Friday, December 8, 1995. Old Pueblo Trolley, an active member of the Association of Railroad Museums (ARM), was contacted the first week of December 1995 by Tom Twigge of the Halton County Radial Railway Society Museum about interest in purchasing one of the Toronto cars.

OPT responded with a yes to Tom and set forth to give him a list of US ARM member museums interested in purchasing the PCC's. At that time we also arranged to purchase one of the cars for Phoenix. OPT COO Dick Guthrie flew to Toronto in early April to make the final arrangements with the TTC for bringing the two PCC's to Arizona. Tom Twigge had devoted almost the entire time between December 1995 and July 1996 to the effort to have the 17 TTC PCC's find homes in operating museums. His was the work which opened the opportunities for the rest of us and, without Tom's great work, the story may have been significantly altered.

The two Arizona cars were shipped in May 1996 arriving in mid-June with Car 4607 destined for display at the City of Phoenix Transit Systems new Central Station, and Car 4608 destined for Tucson. Car 4608 was unloaded on a section of wide gauge snap track located at our shop area on June 20, 1996. Tom flew down to Tucson as our guest the first weekend of August 1996. OPT volunteers closed the street in front of our "barn" and connected up 115.5 feet of wide gauge snap track and a long 600 volt extension cord and we spent most of the day under Tom's guidance operating the PCC.

Post-Service History

Unfortunately, because of the single-ended design of the PCC, #4608 could not be used as part of the OPT fleet during streetcar operations. In the years since acquisition, #4608 was also heavily vandalized while at OPT’s previous outdoor lot. The desert climate has likewise been unkind. It is now indoors, but there are currently no plans of restoration.