Dallas Railway & Terminal Co. 608

The PCC car takes its name from the Electric Railway Presidents Conference Committee established in the early 1930s to design a modern, streamlined streetcar. It was a successful design with approximately 5000 PCC cars being built between 1936 and 1952 for systems in the U.S. and Canada. Some PCC cars built after World War II used the all-electric variation having electric brakes instead of the earlier air-operated brakes. Most older streetcars had been double ended, but most PCC cars were single ended. So, companies operating PCCs had to build loops or reversing wyes at the ends of lines. A few companies, of which Dallas Railway & Terminal was the largest, insisted on a double ended PCC configuration to avoid redesign of their tracks. In 1942, DR&T ordered 25 double ended PCCs from Pullman-Standard. Due to wartime restrictions, Pullman-Standard did not build these cars, Nos. 601-625, until 1945. DR&T used a red and cream paint scheme, later changed to mostly cream. When Dallas ended streetcar service in 1956, these cars were stored. After 1951, Boston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority had a large fleet of 321 single ended PCCs. However, the MTA still had nine old Type 5 cars running on two lines requiring double end operation. To replace these older cars, the MTA purchased eight of the Dallas double ended cars in 1958 and placed them in service in 1959. The MTA was pleased with these cars and needed additional capacity with the opening of the Riverside line. So, later in 1959, the MTA purchased the remaining 17 Dallas double ended cars, including No. 608. The MTA renumbered No. 608 to No. 3342. No. 3342 operated on the Arborway and Ashmont-Mattapan lines. The MTA applied its tangerine and cream paint scheme. The PCC cars continued under Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ownership beginning in 1964. In 1976, the MBTA began replacing the PCC cars with LRV cars such as No. 3424 which is now at Seashore. On April 23, 1978, ex-Dallas cars Nos. 3328 and 3342 toured the Green Line system on a farewell fan trip. Even after the LRVs became museum pieces, eleven PCC cars continue to run in regular service on the MBTA’s Ashmont – Mattapan line. In 1978, Seashore acquired ex-Dallas PCC car No. 3342 from the MBTA. During the 1980s and 1990s, Seashore did extensive work to restore the car to its appearance as Dallas No. 608. In 1982, Seashore acquired nine more of the former Dallas PCCs from the MBTA. These were Nos.: 3326, 3327, 3328, 3331, 3332, 3338, 3340, 3343, and 3344. Seashore intended to resell all of these except for No. 3340. Seashore has acquired representatives of each type of Boston PCC: Pre-war style (No. 3019), wartime with a flat roof (No. 3127), wartime with raised roof (No. 3083), Post-war with standee windows (No. 3221), Post-war with picture windows (Nos. 3274 and 3292), and double-ended (No. 3340). No. 608 joins Dallas Railway & Terminal No. 434, built in 1914 and acquired by Seashore in 1954.