Join the discussion on the following article:
Bowser HO scale Presidents Conference Committee streetcar
Bought the CTA model…looks great. Excellent slow speeds right out of the box. I expect to add traction sound system and it looks like there is plenty of room to do so. Having no interior affords enough room for decoder & speaker. Nice job Bowser!
My memory must have slipped. The cars of the PE I remember were numbered from 5000 up. Details easily corrected/added: shrouds over the trolley base, skirting over the wheels, and opening up the skirting front and rear for MU coupler s. Not so easy would be on the windows, PE did not have the upper windows, and the number of window and making the body double ended/along with another set of double doors – without splicing another body. But of course someone, not me, will probably do it. I’ll be happy just to do the easy stuff, skirting changes and shrouds over working poles. I think it is still a great model, and of course it is based on the Philadelphia Transit order. Even better, I can get it for a great and affordable price, justifying a small fleet.
Unfortunately, the model does not “accurately model” the Pacific Electric version of the PCC car. The PE version was produced by Pullman-Standard, did not have the standee windows, and the skirts were not cut out for the trucks (pseudo cutouts were painted on the skirts). The PE cars were double-ended (the second photo above indicates that the Bowser car is not double-ended although it is equipped with two trolley poles) and equipped with couplers for multiple-unit operation. Thirty cars were delivered, numbered 5000 to 5029.
I’m wondering how the Con-Cor PCC car will stand up. I haven’t seen the car (I don’t have a picture of it in front of me) but, according to their advertisements, the Los Angeles Transit Lines version will be 3-foot gauge. Unfortunately, the LA Railway/LA Transit Lines/LAMTA was a 3-foot 6-inch gauge street car line. Numbers 3001 through 3125 (125 cars) did not have standee windows, but the postwar versions, numbers 3126 through 3165 (40 cars), did have standee windows. The cars were single-ended, requiring that turning loops be constructed on those lines using the PCC cars.
The Bachmann version of the LA Transit Lines Peter Witt cars (they had only two of the cars) has too many problems to enumerate here, the main one being that it was standard gauge.
Of course, I fully understand that the manufacturers, in order to get a return on their investment, have to produce a generic car that can be painted and lettered for many different lines. So we, the modeler, just have to live with that. And the Bowser PCC is clearly advertised as those now running in San Francisco and representing the various versions that once ran across the country.
Jim Case
Cedar City, Utah
Although I model O scale traction, I bought the Bowser F-Market PCC for my display case. I chose the San Francisco MUNI ex-SEPTA all-electric PCC streamliner in Philadelphia Transportation Co. green and cream livery with red belt rail. The factory finishing is crisp and accurate. This is a fantastic job by Bowser and should expand interest in HO trolley modeling. It’s two rail DC which avoids the complications of erecting scale overhead trolley wire. The Bowser plastic injection PCC could simply be used as an adjunct to a model railroad layout. Scenic tip: In St. Louis Car Co. days, PCCs were delivered to customers on railroad flatcars. These days, they are moved by tractor-trailer highway rigs with low-boy trailers. This is how MUNI sent its ex-Newark PCCs to Brookville Equipment Co. in Pennsylvania for rehabilitation. So take your pick, depending on layout era, should you not wish to build separate HO trolley track.
San Francisco’s present-day Muni put second poles on the Philadelphia PCC cars it bought, for operational reasons. They didn’t have two poles each in Philly.
When I rode one of the restored cars in San Francisco a few years ago, I discovered that if I stepped on the lowest step next to the center doors the doors opened. One of my brothers reminded me that that happened in Philadelphia; it didn’t on the PCC cars used in Boston.
I haven’t seen one of Bowser’s models except in photos, so I’ll reserve judgment.
Can you believe this Bowser Co.? Their based in Pa, and no PCC car representing one of the largest Street Car fleet in the Country.
The city of Pittsburgh, in Pa.
Can someone please tell me why there’s a pole on both end. This is NOT a double end trolley. I grew up in Philly and the PTC had these cars. Why didn’t MR pick up on this?
The front pole is used for non-revenue yard movement when the PCC has to BACKUP.
Just picked up the Bowser PCC in Boston Elevated Railway. As pointed out the original BER did not have double poles, but I realized that the Bowser PCC is modeling the restored SF Muni line currently operating, not the 1940’s-50’s street car of Boston. The destination sign is for the F line Market Street in San Franciso, I joked with my buddy that we will need to change this to Haymarket for Boston. Also, there is is a blue handicap accessible decal near the front door, definitely not 40’-50’s prototype.
Besides this, it is a very sharp trolley, which runs smoothly, though Bowser did not go through the trouble ConCor did to hide the inner workings. I have the M4T decoder on order and will let you know how that works.
John Rech (and others),
What I was told in San Francisco is that the second pole allows the cars to be backed with the second pole in the usual position relative to the direction of the cars’ motion. Backing with one pole is apt to result in dewirements and possible damage to the overhead wires supporting the one carrying the current.
Just installed the CustomTraxx/TSC DCC M4T decoder in my PCC. Relatively easy install, no need to remove the printed circuit board. You can plug the M4T into the bottom of the PCB without removing the board. When removing the dummy plug from the PCB, note the location of the #1, #8 pins. Then make sure to line up the #1 (red wire), #8 (black Wire) pins on the new decoder according to the location of the older plug.
Very smooth operation, great lighting effects. F6 stops the trolley and applies the brake likes. Looks very sharp.
Bowser has just made a remake of their much earlier version of this car. I purchased three back in the very early 1970’s for less than $35.00 each. They were die cast METAL with a high level of detail and had room to add a partial interior detailing as they used a truck mounted motor.
The casting was a little rough, but a little filing with a jewelers file in the windows handled that. I had one painted in PTC’s green and cream with red belt line accent and the other in SEPTA’s “pumpkin” scheme of orange and white with blue accents. (For those not in the “know” SEPTA is PTC"s quasi-gov. authority successor.) The third has yet to be painted. All three run very well.
If Bowser wants to paint them in PTC or SEPTA colors they should lose the front pole for authenticity, (If you’re modeling the S.F.MUNI the pole is OK.) By-the-by, I lived in Phila. and its “burbs” all my life and was an bus/trolley oper. for SEPTA (as a “post-retirement” job) for 12 years. Driving the real thing and getting PAID for it was a blast.
Oh, ref. “product raring,” is “1” good & “5” bad or vice versa? Oh well not knowing I’ll play safe a split the diff. – 3 but I’d rather say “2” or “4” whichever is towards the good.
The Pacific Electric PCC is an acurate model of the car that San Francisco MUNI operates on the F line, not an actual Pacific Electric PCC car which was double ended. What MUNI has done is represent the various cities and transit properties which operated PCC cars with basically one type of car. This makes for a very colorful fleet serving Fisherman’s Wharf to Market Street and then to the Castro District. I had the preavilage of having a ride on 1061 on a test run before it was placed in service. When the car was being backed into Geneva Yard it rolled down grade in reverse without any poles up! I could hear the new motor brushes squealing as the car coasted into position. The batteries on the car allowed the control system of this all-electric car release the brakes and let gravity do its thing. Maybe some day I get one of these fine Bowser models but right now I am too busy with the 1:1 scale prototypes.
I have been waiting for years for a nice looking model more correctly spaced above the track. Now since these PCC’s were built by the St. Louis Car Co. you would think Bowser should paint one such as the St. Louis Transit Co. used. The year is just fine. Hope they plan to do this before they move on to another project. My train display is geared toward St. Louis, and most of my railroad is Missouri Pacific. So a couple of streetcars in the city area would be nice.
Non-operating trolley poles? How about some suggestions or guidance on operating these from live overhead? I, too, like Mr English, got my start with the 1970’s diecast models that contained directions for either 2-rail or overhead connectivity. With the advent of DCC, polar correctness can mean the difference between success and a fried decoder (as noted by Mr Tello). How does one add #1250 pole – disconnect lead wire from trailing truck and connect to base of pole? Does truck matter? IS there a need to insulate? I have aged and things get more difficult.