BROOKVILLE, Pa. – The first of six vintage 1937 Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars returned to the City of El Paso on March 19, 2018, following a detailed restoration and modernization program at Brookville Equipment Corporation’s (BROOKVILLE) manufacturing facility in Western Pennsylvania.
The streetcars were removed from service in 1974 and kept in outdoor storage for decades before the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) and BROOKVILLE agreed to a deal in 2015 to restore the vehicles to new condition, including repairing and replacing structural carbody components, new propulsion systems, a complete rewiring, new interiors, and door system upgrades. The project also included the integration of key modern features and amenities, including HVAC systems, pantographs, and mobility device lifting system, among others.
The first vehicle is painted in a light blue, red, and white color scheme, identical to the one used for the El Paso fleet from the late 1960s through 1974. Other vehicles in the order will include finishes from El Paso’s fleet during the 1950s (green, orange and white) and 1960s (blue, green and white). Each of the three color schemes will be applied to two of the six vehicles.
The delivery marks the completion of BROOKVILLE’s 43rd PCC streetcar restoration, including 18 vehicles for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia and a total of 24 delivered restorations for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). In addition to the five remaining vehicles for El Paso, BROOKVILLE is currently working through a progressive rebuild with SFMTA and has delivered eight of 16 total units to San Francisco. At the completion of the two orders, BROOKVILLE will have made contributions to a total of 56 PCC streetcars and a total of 88 heritage streetcars, inclusive of propulsion systems and trucks provided for 31 Perley A. Thomas red cars for New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and the restoration of SFTMA’s Streetcar No. 1.
Deliveries of the five additional El Paso streetcar vehicles will continue throughout 2018. The vehicles will undergo on-site testing prior to entering revenue service. The CRRMA is overseeing construction of the El Paso Streetcar Project – including system infrastructure and restoration of the six PCC vehicles. Streetcar service will be operated by the City of El Paso’s Mass Transit Department, known locally as Sun Metro.
ABOUT BROOKVILLE EQUIPMENT CORPORATION – STREETCAR DIVISION
Headquartered in Brookville, Pa., in the scenic foothills of the Allegheny forests, Brookville Equipment Corporation is a world class American manufacturer of innovative powered transportation solutions for the mining/tunneling, rail freight and passenger transportation industries. BROOKVILLE contributed to the first American manufactured streetcars since the 1950s in 2001 and has modernized, manufactured and remanufactured PCC and heritage streetcars and trolleys for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). Building upon the company’s 95 years of rail-mounted vehicle manufacturing experience and over a decade of streetcar manufacturing, BROOKVILLE introduced the innovative Liberty Streetcar design in 2012, with the pilot order delivered to Dallas, Texas in 2015. Later in 2015, the Liberty Streetcar onboard energy storage system (OESS) was honored with the LRTA’s Global Light Rail Award for ‘Technical Innovation of the Year.’ Additional Liberty Streetcars have been ordered by or delivered to M-1 RAIL in Detroit, the City of Oklahoma City, the City of Milwaukee, Valley Metro (Tempe Streetcar), and Sound Transit (Tacoma Link)