Twin City Rapid Transit 322



Facts and Figures


Current Number322
Railway RepresentedTwin City Rapid Transit
BuilderSt. Louis Car Company
Built In1946
Builder's order id1653
Currently in (State)Minnesota
--(Locality)Minneapolis
Totally out of svc date1990
(Initial retirement date)1982
Car Typestreetcar
-subtypePCC, postwar
-designation
Statusoperated occasionally
More infohttp://www.trolleyride.org/CHSL_Main/roster/tcrt322.html
Gauge4'8.5"
Constructionsteel
Roof typeAR
EndedSE
Length46'5"
Width9'0"
Height10'2"
Weight37900
#Seats54
#Wheels/Conf.8
Total HP220
TrucksClark B2
BrakesElectric
Compressorn/a
ControlGE 17KM12N2
MotorsGE 1220E1 (4)
Voltage (if not 600DC)

Car 322 in operation at MSM on the Como-Harriet line in 2021
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jterry618/51365109097/

Car 322 in operation at MSM on the Como-Harriet line in 2021
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23711298@N07/51271296362/
Car History by Frank Hicks


Twin Cities Rapid Transit 322
The only Minneapolis PCC car preserved as such is this car. TCRT 322 was part of the first large-scale order of PCC's built for the Minneapolis/St. Paul streetcar network. Built for two-man operation, 322 was converted to one-man configuration within five years after construction. The car's career in Minnesota was fairly short-lived: by 1953 TCRT had replaced all of its streetcars with buses and put its PCC's up for sale. Thirty of them were bought by PSNJ, which decided to upgrade the 18-year old Newark City Subway rather than replace it with bus service. Car 322, now PSNJ 3, spent the next 25 years of its life shuttling back and forth along the four-mile Newark subway route until it was bought by the Cleveland RTA for service on the Shaker Heights line. In this capacity it was used largely as a back-up for the older Shaker Heights PCC's, which were failing frequently, and for the new Breda light rail vehicles that were just being delivered. After 1982 the PCC's retained by the RTA were only rarely used, and in 1990 car 3 was acquired by MTM and moved to Minneapolis. Between 1992 and 2000 the car underwent a complete rebuilding and restoration to original condition, and since that project was completed has been in regular service at MTM's Como-Harriet Streetcar Line.

Ownership History


OwnerCar NumFromToPreservation?Loan?
Twin City Rapid Transit (Minnesota, St. Paul)3221946 1953 NO NO
Public Service Coordinated Transport (New Jersey, Newark)31953 1971 NO NO
Transport of New Jersey (New Jersey, Newark)31971 1977 NO NO
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (Ohio, Cleveland)31977 1990 NO NO
Minnesota Transportation Museum (Minnesota, St. Paul)3221990 2005 YES NO
Minnesota Streetcar Museum (Minnesota, Minneapolis)3222005 present YES NO

Additional Media

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Car 322 in operation on the Como-Harriet line at MSM in 2011
YouTube
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9y2PanUgE