Pittsburgh was one of the first and largest operators of PCCs. The streamlined streetcars so popular in San Francisco today were part of the Pittsburgh scene from 1936 until 1999, still the longest PCC presence in any city.

Dozens of lines crisscrossed the city, served by an incredible 666 PCCs on the all-time Pittsburgh roster. But the system deteriorated from lack of maintenance and was dealt a near death blow by the clear preference for buses demonstrated by Port Authority Transit, the public entity that acquired the old Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, remaining lines were converted to modern light rail vehicles. The historic streetcar tunnel from South Hills Junction under Mount Washington was paved to share with buses. In 1985, a new subway, like Muni Metro, opened under downtown Pittsburgh’s ‘Golden Triangle’ between the rivers.

One Pittsburgh streetcar oddity remains, though. The tracks that weave over Mt. Washington through Allentown, built primarily as an emergency detour in case of tunnel blockage, are still in place, and are used for about six peak-hour trips over the 52-Allentown line.

Muni acquired the last two Pittsburgh PCCs, Nos. 4008 and 4009, in 2002, thanks to the initiative of Muni’s Tony Tufo, who got them for a nominal cost on an internet auction! The cars—essentially replicas because they had been constructed from scratch by Pittsburgh shop forces in the 1980s—are Pennsylvania Broad Gauge (six inches wider than Muni), have been held in storage while Muni concentrated on renovating the ex-Newark cars. The reason none of Muni’s PCCs restored to date have been painted in Pittsburgh livery is because of the possibility that an actual Pittsburgh PCC may one day join San Francisco’s historic fleet.