At Ohio Railway Museum – Norman Down

Builder: St. Louis Car Co.
Description: Peter Witt
Secondary Use: None
Type: City and Suburban Streetcars
Year: 1931
Retired from Service: 1959
Acquired by the Museum: 2010
Note: The car is complete, but requires some cosmetic restoration. As of April 2017, No. 3876 was in Fairview carbarn under a tarp.
Fund: 666

Detroit Dept. of Street Railways 3876

From Detriot, Michigan

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History

Most people associate Detroit with automobiles, soul music and urban decay, but Michigan’s largest city once had a thriving trolley system. The city formed the Department of Street Railways (DSR) in 1922 when it took over the privately-owned Detroit United Railways. DSR became the first municipally owned transit system in the U.S. In 1941, DSR operated 20 streetcar lines with 910 streetcars. DSR streetcar operation ended in 1956. In 1914, Cleveland, OH Transit Commissioner Peter Witt designed a streetcar for passengers to enter at the front door and exit at a center door, paying when they passed the conductor who sat just ahead of the center door, saving time at stops. This design became known as a “Peter Witt” car. Detroit operated one of the largest fleets of Peter Witt cars. Between 1921 and 1931, DSR acquired 781 of these cars. DSR’s final “Peter Witts,” ordered in 1930, were numbered Nos. 3851 to 3980. This 130 car order is credited as being large enough to have saved St. Louis Car Co. in the Great Depression. Like most Detroit “Peter Witts,” No. 3876 has a distinctive flat sign box above the curved front. After World War II, buses and new PCC cars replaced most of DSR’s “Peter Witts,” but a dozen, including No. 3876, remained in service until 1954. After retirement, No. 3876 went to the Ohio Railway Museum in Worthington, OH. ORM rehabbed and operated the car. It later fell out of service and deteriorated. Seashore members purchased 3876 from the Ohio Railway Museum in 2010. No. 3876 joined Seashore’s other “Peter Witt” car, New York State Railways No. 1213, Baltimore Transit No. 6144 and Toronto Transit Commission No. 2890. Seashore also owns two more cars similar in heritage to No. 3876. These are Cleveland Railways Nos. 1227 and 2365 which were also designed by Peter Witt but which have a design where passengers both enter and leave by the center door.

Technical Information

Seats: 52
Control: K-35JJ
Brakes: SME (M28)
Compressor: CP-27

Trucks

Number: 2
Manufacturer: St. Louis
Model: M66

Motor

Number: 4
Manufacturer: General Electric
Model: 265

Weight and Dimensions

Length: 48’ 6.00"
Width: 8’ 6.00"
Height: 10’ 2.00"
Weight: 37203 lbs.

Additional Images

Cream and red trolley 3876 historic photo

Sister car 3959 in Detroit on 07/23/59 - Eugene Van Dusin – Joe Testagrose Colllection -newdavesrailpix.com