The system is pretty neat. While PCCs were extremely rare in Europe, Belgium still has some in operation: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kMBxfqqEupjIpps.html Streetcars in general are still pretty much around here, and a lot of cities depend on them. There were some plans to replace them by diesel busses like in the US, and it happened in a few cities, but in general, the streetcars survived until they had their come-back in the 1990s.

Our trams (apart from the newest ones) had manual control via a big wheel or a lever, which operated the resistors. These are german streetcars from the 1960s, where you can see how it's done: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n9WIZ8iFrpzWhYk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kNeUgKmKnsWdqoU.html

True! They had air compressors and a air tank reservoir to open and close the doors. After World War 2 that had all electric doors and brakes.

You're correct!! That is car 2120.

I have no idea

I’ve never actually operated a PCC streetcar before.

You may be correct. However in Kenosha, there are no hills, and there's really no safe spot in Kenosha to have the throttle wide open. the only place that would be perfect is on 56th Street, however there are a lot of street lights and road crossings. You circumstances may be different, but in Kenosha they have gone 38MPH.

Czech derived PCC trams Tatra T3/T3SU(CS) can do even 65 km/h (41 MPH), but even more is possible, however after braking from such speed accelerator gets very hot and it can be noticed well in Tatra T3SUCS, where waste heat from accelerator can be put into passanger area to boost heating. I like that those american PCCs look as Tatra T2R :)

DB-47 not totally sure what that means, but glad u liked the video :D

​@@JoeyLovesTrains I meant that accelerator (rheostatic regulator shown at 0:53) gets very hot, if PCC trams are braking from high speed to standstill, sometimes the PCC accelerator smells like electric oven heating up :D. Czech trams T3SUCS (based on PCC concept) have special valve that allows to use waste heat from PCC to heat up tram interior in cold seasons or it can be set to blow that heat outside.

ScribblesOnNapkins Downtown Kenosha Wisconsin

Those older (non-PCC) European streetcars (like those in my links) were also quite finicky... the first thing I learned was that we must never never never throttle down. If you were driving at position 4, and you wanted to go to 2, you would have to rapidly throttle to 0, then up to 2. Never directly, because that would have leaded to arcing in the resistors, in turn destroying them. Oh, the good "old" times. ("Old" is relative here, because I learned it in the early 2000s... in Europe, you learn the old ones first, to get "the feeling").

An interesting thing when I compare European and American systems... in America, streetcars seemed to use trolley poles for a far longer time. I think they still have them in Toronto. In Europe, they used pantographs (or a predecessor, called the "Lyra Bow") since the late 1930s. The city of Hamburg was the last one in Germany which had trams with trolleys: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/irydpsKqnLDOeaM.html The streetcars were abandoned in the late 1970s, as Hamburg had by then built a heavy rail system, quite similar to the Chicago L.

The oldest DC-electric trains in Germany we had in Berlin, serving the "S-Bahn" [*] routes. They were built in the 1930s (probably for the Olympic Games 1936) and ran until the mid 2000s. They were known for three things: (1) Very uncomfortable. (2) You could open the doors at any time, even between stations. (3) Very loud, and a very distinctive sound. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h5iAZK6h3LzMlqc.html [*] In Germany, there is a distinction between "U-Bahn" (subway) and "S-Bahn". Both are very similar, but "S-Bahn" trains run mostly overground and are somewhat faster.

He sadly no longer works for the Kenosha streetcars. I definitely recommend reaching out to some people who work on the streetcars. He was an awesome dude while he worked there. His name is Brad Preston, he’s got his own KZfaq channel, but I don’t think he uploads anymore

Wasn't it a clone of the PCC? It looks pretty similar, and from what I saw in Bratislava it has pedals too.

@@wuloki Yeah it was derivate of PCC mainly electric part, design was altered, however oldest ČKD Trams (type T1 looked like almost as classic PCC). In Bratislava you could have seen their Tatra T3R.P, which were modernized with much more modern power regulator (IGBT transistor) and still have pedals. In other cities like Liberec they removed pedals and installed power regulator handle on hand

@@DB-47 It should have been the T3R.P, because I couldn't see a handle which puzzled me for a while. I know western trams (like the duewag ones) and drive them, so I have the habit of looking other drivers over the shoulder. ;)

Beyond Birthday If handle or pedals are installed depends on transport authority, our Prague T3R.P(V) have pedals only. I am also used to peep behind shoulders, as newer types like T6A5 or KT8D5.RN2P have hand steering.