Friday Reads: PCC: The Car that Fought Back

Dr. Stanley has an impressive collection of trolley/streetcar books, and today he tells us about one of them: PCC: The Car That Fought Back by Stephen P. Carlson, Fred W. Schneider III.

I recently had a reference question that dealt with a hobby of mine: streetcars (or trolleys). It’s
been a while since I looked through my collection but it made me remember how people got
from one place to another before cars. Trolleys were the mode of transportation for most people
to get to work, to shop, to visit friends or relatives. As cars became more affordable to the middle
class the trolley systems were dismantled just about everywhere. In a last-ditch effort to halt the
migration to cars and buses the PCC, or Presidents’ Conference Committee car, was designed. It
proved to be a saving grace for a few of the cities that used them. But since time marches on
their use continued to dwindle. Interestingly enough, many cities are now looking back to
installing trolley lines as a 21st century mode of public transportation. The pendulum swings both
ways!