Pittsburgh PCC numbering history corrected

The latest post on Bruce Wells' "Weakly Reporting" blog has some interesting information on the Pittsburgh PCC preserved at the Schoolhouse Arts & History Center in Pittsburgh. The car was retired in 2000, some 13 years after it was completely remanufactured as PAT 4007. The Pittsburgh 4000s were said to be rebuilt PCC cars but most of their components, including most of the exterior sheathing and most or all of the electrical and mechanical equipment under the floor, was constructed new in the 1980s. However as I understand it each car did receive some vital components from a particular 1700-series 1949-built predecessor.

A while back I tracked down a roster showing which 1700-series car had been turned into which 4000-series car. But there were some oddities and at least one 4000-series car didn't have a predecessor listed at all. For car 4007 the original number listed was 1729, and apparently earlier this year when the car at the Schoolhouse Arts & History Center was repainted from later PAT livery into earlier Pittsburgh Railways livery, Bruce and the PTM crew (who helped with this cosmetic makeover) used the same source material I did because the car ended up numbered as 1729.

However it appears this is wrong! Documentation from the 1980s has since turned up which suggests that car 1719, not 1729, was the one heavily rebuilt as PAT 4007. So the car's record on the PNAERC list has been updated and Bruce's post states the car itself will be renumbered next year.

Pittsburgh PCC repainted

A Pittsburgh 4000-series PCC rebuild, car 4007, has been repainted in its "prehistory" Pittsburgh Railways colors of red and cream and has been given back its original number, PRys 1729. This is one of the cars that was heavily overhauled in the 1980s and acquired a mostly-new body and new trucks among other things at that time. However the car retained some core components from predecessor car 1729, so it has been classified on the PNAERC roster as a heavy rebuild rather than a new-build. Regardless, the car has been plinthed at the Schoolhouse Arts & History Center (formerly listed on PNAERC as the Schoolhouse Art Center) in suburban Bethel Park near Pittsburgh since 2000. It lost its number early in its static display career, though, at the request of a family whose relative had been killed in an accident that involved this car. Presmably, repainting it into Pittsburgh Railways colors and returning it to its earlier number doesn't conflict with this request.