The "Philly Six" quandary

Photos were posted recently on Facebook by someone named James Pero. Taken this past weekend, they show the condition of the six Philadelphia PCC cars stored behind an old factory building on Erie Avenue on the north side of the city. Their condition is not good, and the extent to which "not good" is an understatement puts me in a bit of a quandary. Most of the cars have had at least one end cut off of them within the last couple of years - three cars are missing about 10' from the back end of the car, another car is missing about 10' from its front end, and one car had its roof cut open as if with a giant can opener. So the question is, do these cars still belong on the PNAERC list?

Car 2760 is at the west end of the string and is missing its rear end. James Pero photo.

I'm going to say "no, they don't." I've got a few cars on the list that are missing an end, or even two. But for the most part those are relatively standard streetcars missing a platform, so the car's body is substantially intact. Furthermore, by and large, their owners acquired them knowing about their missing ends and intend to preserve them anyway. Most plan on making the cars whole again someday. 

Car 2141 is missing its front end, roughly from the bolster forward. James Pero photo.

The six PCC cars in Philadelphia are not like this. They've been privately owned since they were sold by SEPTA in 1996. For a few years they were stored on the south side of the city in a lot at the corner of Swanson and Wolf. In 2004 all six cars were carted up to Erie Avenue, where they were set behind a large building, just along the north side of the Northeast Corridor. They've sat there for 16 years in steadily deteriorating condition. As recently as 2017 they were listed for sale online.

Car 2171 has had its rear end removed and you can see daylight through the body. James Pero photo.

Recently the six cars have started to lose large pieces. The care and consistency with which sections are being removed from these cars suggests that components are being removed for a purpose, likely for reuse somewhere else. There are a couple of transit agencies (including SEPTA itself) with Philadelphia PCC's in daily use so perhaps these cars are being cannibalized for wreck repair or similar purposes. I don't know. But more to the point, there's virtually no chance that any of the PCC cars in Philadephia that have had big pieces removed will ultimately survive. They're not very historically significant; it would be a lot of work to make the cars whole again; and the cars are not being kept around for the purpose of ultimate preservation anyway.

Car 2760 still has both of its ends but its roof has been torn open for reasons unknown. James Pero photo.

As such, I'm removing five of the six cars from the PNAERC roster. The sixth, car 2717, still appears to be largely complete (albeit in wretched shape) so it's being kept on the list for now. It is unlikely that it will survive for too long, but I suppose you never know. The five remaining cars have been removed from the list: 2141, which had its front end removed; 2171, 2761, and 2796, all with their back ends removed; and 2760, which had its roof torn up. All were built by St. Louis Car Company in 1947-1948. More than 70 similar or identical examples exist elsewhere, either in regular transit use or in museums. While these five cars are still in existence, of a sort, my opinion is that they no longer qualify as "preserved" nor do they stand a reasonable chance of long-term survival.

Car 2760, at the east end of the string, had its back end removed. James Pero photo.