Manufactruring Collectable Model Trains since 1962
Con-Cor's "HO" PCC car hits the
streets !
Wow, here is a photo of our new PCC car on
Rick Abramson's terrific layout. And they say a picture is only worth a 1,000 words!
And here are pictures of the first batch that have arrived !
Los Angeles Car (left) Philly Cream Cheese (right)
Brooklyn Car (left) Chicago Car (right)
Pittsburgh Car (left) Civil Defense Car (right)
Pacific Electric Car(left) Boston Car (right)
Here are some more pictures of the finished Los Angeles Car.
If you look close you can see the photo etched fender under the front of the car.
Here is "night time" shot of PCC car. We know it is a bit grainy because it had to be shot in a
dark room, but pretty neat don't you think. Note Motorman figure inside car is easily visible. Also note lighted destination board.
First shipment of HO PCC's arriving to our warehouse week of June 28th
we will begin shipping
few days after that.. thanks for your patience this has turned into out to be a is a fantastic model, we feel one of the best we have ever done.
Many dealers have not bothered to order these PCC cars,as they tell us "no one" is interested in this sort of model. Bunk ! We get a constant stream of inquiries from modelers anxious to buy one. If your
dealer does not get it for you, you can order it direct from Con-Cor. Please spread the word about this model to your modeler friends who have interests
in Traction or Trolley modeling.
FLASH ! Sound Decoder for the "PCC" cars !
Con-Cor has been working with DigiTrax to bring you a Sound Decoder to fit into our brand new "HO" PCC cars.
The DigiTrax decoder that will fit the best is SDN144PS, and then you can download the Peter Dewitt Streetcar
sounds off the DigiTrax web site, these are very close to actual PCC sounds.
If you wish to buy the PCC car with a SDN144PS installed directly from Con-Cor, then you only pay for the PCC car, and the Decoder. Then Con-Cor staff will download
the sounds for you and pre-program the decoder, AND INSTALL THE DECODER in your PCC car at no additional charge for labor for you. This free Installation is a $25.00 value !
Please contact Vinnie in our Customer Service Depatment if you are interested in this service.
...1-888-255-7826 Monday-Friday 8am till 3:45 pm
Still time to Order yours Now ! We are almost sold out on the first batch of roadnames, no more till early 2011.
**** 2nd Group of roadnames still on schedule for late Fall. (scroll down the page to see the City
Names being delivered in this first batch, and those scheduled for the Fall.
We are still accepting Pre-Orders for the selection of City Names due for the Fall Batch as well as
the HOn3 versions in all City Names. So don't delay, Pre-Order today !
(Layaway Plan also available, pay for one in easy payments !)
Note, while the Guaranteed "Pre-Order" cut off date has passed, we do have a few of each City cars left to Pre-sell. So you can check with our office
(Contact information show at bottom of this page) to find out if we might have one left of your favorite.
Flash ! Con-Cor will offer some of the PCC cars in also with an HOn3 drive.
The Boss had a secret and that was he had them build an HOn3
mechanism for the PCC cars, but we were not sure it would be ready at the same time, but now we know it will.
Also he plans to announce the HOn3 version at the upcoming
National Narrow Gauge Convention in Colorado Springs in Sept.. so he said it was OK to leak the news.
At first the Hon3 versions will be offered with the same
decorated bodies as the HO. But it will run on of course HOn3 track, which will allow for a tighter turning radius, and allow those of
you who just have an HOn3 layout to have some fun with a PCC Streetcar as well.
PCC cars did run in the suburban areas outside many cities
and some had runs as long as 15-20 miles outside of town.
The "Hon3" versions will be delivered at the same time as
the "HO" versions late this fall.
More Photos of the Actual Paint schemes can be seen by clicking link below !
We do not have the final paint scheme samples on all of the
models as yet, but you can click to this link to see those the factory has sent us for Preliminary approval. Please note: these are not
the "final" vesions on most of these, and some are the body only and do not have all the windows, trolley poles, and other add-on parts mounted.
We are just showing you, so you know we are making progress.
Go to the bottom of this page to see a link for a Video of an Engineering sample of our PCC Car. Now Accepting Reservations for the "HO" PCC Streetcars !!
Pre-Order yours Now ! For details on how our "No Obligation" Pre-Order
system works, just Click on Order Link below.
The Con-Cor HO PCC Car Model:
Con-Cor chose to model a "Pre-War" model of the PCC car as the Los Angeles PCC #3001 car has
been preserved at the Orange Empire Railway Museum near Los Angles, this car was built in May 1937
and is still running and giving Tourists and Streetcar buffs a short ride at the Museum today, 71 years
after it was first built !
The major difference between the "Pre-WW II" PCC
and "Post-WWII" version was that those built after WW-II had the "Standee" windows above the side windows. Our model is of the
"Pre-War II" car without the standee windows. Although some of the photos shown are of "Standee" cars where we could not find good
color photos of that paint scheme on a Pre-War II car body. Please do not be confused, the only version of the PCC body we are
making is the "Pre-War II" car as shown in the photo above of the Los Angeles car.
While the PCC car was a "Standard Design" bureucrates in the individual cities that bought them
had to add some "personal" touches, such as extra lights, wider Anticlimbers etc etc. We can not
model each and every variation. So we chose to stick with the Los Angeles car which is typical in
most details to the original PCC Car design.
We wish to give a big THANK YOU to George L Huckaby, Custom Traxx, Inc. for helping
us with this project and making various trips to the Museum to gather photos and do research on
paint schemes.
Photo above is of Interior of the PCC car model. You
will notice the Printed Circuit board is high against the underside of the roof, so it is mostly hidden from the side view.
We have also hidden the motor and drive with a silvery
type material, so it works like a mirror when looking thru the side windows, If you choose to add a DCC decoder (Not supplied by Con-Cor)
it will fit inside this "hidden" part of the mechanism area. We thought this was a pretty neat idea the design team came up with. Remember
the Con-Cor PCC cars come with the wealth of interior details as shown, as well as interior lighting. So tell your friends who model Traction
and Streetcars about this neat feature from Con-Cor on our new PCC cars.
Features
DCC Ready with NMRA 8 pin plug
Space for Speaker mount
All wheel drive
Powereful 5 pole motor
Interior with lighting
Working headlights, tail lights.
Authentic paint schemes
Runs on tight 9 inch radius
Motorman figure
"Next Car Light" (Where appropriate, see comments below)
Optional DCC Sound Decoder available
** Next Car Light:
Some (but not all) cities used what they called a
"Next Car light". This was an extra Red light on the front of the PCC car which the motorman could turn on and off as needed. When
turned on, it told the passengers waiting at the next stop, that this streetcar would not be stopping, either it was "full" or "out of
service" and heading back to the car barn.
** Con-Cor is adding the "Next Car Light" to
some of the cars were appropriate, but this fuction can only be accessed in "DCC" mode when you add a DCC decoder (not
supplied with the model). And then the P-3 Function control can be used to turn the "Next Car Light" On or Off as it is
traveling down the tracks.
Of the first 12 roadnames offered, only
the Brooklyn; SF Muni; and Pacific Electric Roadnames will have a built in Next Car Light (Per Prototype). If you want to
re-paint a model for your own Railway using the "Next Car Light" we suggest using the Brooklyn car as that has the easiest
paint scheme to re-paint.
Paint Schemes:
Most cities had various paint schemes on their PCC cars over the years, we
picked out the one for the following Cities we felt best represented the Paint Scheme that
is the most well known.
We are offering these cars two ways, first version is fully Decorated with appropriate colors,
Car Number, and Transit system logo (if it was used on the car, some cities did not put a logo on
all cars.)
Note on Colors:
Very few color photos exist from the late '30s and '40s. Many that exist have
faded from true colors. Plus many of the paints used were lead or cadmium based which are
now outlawed, so we have matched paint colors as close as we can from all the information
available and taken into account photos taken in shade, cloudy days fading of paint colors due
to exposure to the sun, etc.
The 2nd group of numbers you will see listed below, are in the various city paint schemes, but no
lettering is applied, so for those of you who might want to decal a car in your own lettering scheme.
See more details below...
(01-93001 Los Angeles PCC) (01-93002 Philly "Cream Cheese Scheme") (01-93003 Brooklyn PCC)
(01-93004 Chicago "Green Hornet") (01-93005 Pittsburgh Red and Cream) (01-93006 San Fran. "Magic Carpet Scheme")
For those of you who wish to have there own "private" roadnames, you can order same paint scheme as shown above, but
without any printing, see 01-093050 series listed below.
(01-93050 No name, Orange and Tan)
Retail Price $159.98
First Group: These are "HO" versions (Delivery June 2010)
0001-093001 Los Angeles Car # 3001 (Two Tone yellow)
0001-093002 Philadelphia (Philly Cream Cheese scheme) (Sorry Sold Out)
0001-093003 Brooklyn Car # (Tan) (Has Next Car Light)**
0001-093004 Chicago (Green Hornet Scheme)
0001-093005 Pittsburgh (Red and Cream Scheme)
0001-093007 Join Civil Defense Car (Flag Blue / white / Red)
0001-093008 Pacific Electric (Red / orange) (Has Next Car Light)**
0001-093012 Boston Elevated Railway
2nd Group (Delivery Fall 2010) These are "HO" versions
0001-093006 San Fran. Muni "Magic Carpet Scheme" (Has Next Car Light)**
0001-093009 D.C. Transit
0001-093010 Philladephia Orange/ Blue
0001-093011 Baltimore
First Group: These are "HOn3" versions (Same Body, just HOn3 Mechanisms)(Delivery delayed do to lack
of sufficent Pre-Orders)
0001-093071 Los Angeles Car # 3001 (Two Tone yellow)
0001-093073 Brooklyn Car # (Tan) (Has Next Car Light)**
0001-093074 Chicago (Green Hornet Scheme)
0001-093075 Pittsburgh (Red and Cream Scheme)
0001-093077 Join Civil Defense Car (Flag Blue / white / Red)
0001-093078 Pacific Electric (Red / orange) (Has Next Car Light)**
0001-093082 Boston Elevated Railway
2nd Group (Delivery delayed due to lack of sufficient Pre-Orers) These are "HOn3" versions (Same body just HOn3 mechanisms)
0001-093076 San Fran. Muni "Magic Carpet Scheme" (Has Next Car Light)**
0001-093072 Philadelphia (Philly Cream Cheese scheme)
0001-093079 D.C. Transit
0001-093080 Philladephia Orange/ Blue
0001-093081 Baltimore
Brief History of the origins of the "PCC" Streetcar / Trolley
In the middle of the 1930's Depression, all major cities needed to buy new streetcars, but money of course
was in short supply. So a committee was formed by the Presidents of the transit systems to design a "common"
design streetcar that could be mass produced efficiently. This group was nick-named the "Presidents Conference
Committee" or "PCC".
The design that emerged was to bring modern looks and technology to streetcars, and the basic "PCC" design
was the most sucessful streetcar ever built, 4500 PCC cars ran in 33 cities in North America, and the design was
even copied in Europe after WW II.
The Art Deco Streamlined PCC cars first appeared in 1936, and were a "hit" with the public. They were much
more smooth riding than the existing streetcars, and people would let a "old fashioned" streetcar pass on the street
and wait for one of the new PCC cars to ride on. On Sunday's some cities offered "free" rides on the transit system,
and people would ride the PCC cars to a public park for a picnic, or downtown to the civic center of the city to a
museum or civic event.
Brief History of the Longevity of the "PCC" Streetcars
The Art Deco Look of the "PCC" car probably helped their long life span, but they were well built, and simple
to maintain, so some of the PCC cars built before WW II ran in public service until late 1970's in some cities.
Cars built after WW II, can still be found running " in service" today on public transit systems in San Francisco
and Kenohsa Wisconsin amoung others. Usually painted in "Heritage" paint schemes of various cities from around
the USA and Canada.
And many, many PCC cars, both Pre-WW II and Post- WW II can be found either running or on display at
almost two dozen rail Museums around the USA.
In Summary, the PCC car is a real part of "Americanna" and was the predecessor to the "Light Rail" Transit
Systems built or proposed in many USA cities in the last 20 years.
As with all very complicated projects, this delivery date is only an educated projection. Some delay may occur on any project of this size and complexity.
Click on Link below to see a short Video the progress on our PCC car, showing a "Engineering Sample" (Engineering sample is not final model,
just a working model from early "test shots" to use to refine and tweak the design process.
Con-Cor Order Line
1-888-255-7826
M-F 8am to 4pm Mountain Time
If no local retailer
carries these items, you may order directly from Con-Cor, by
clicking on the Order button above, or fax to Con-Cor
at 520-721-8940, or by our toll free number 1-888-255-7826 which
is available Monday-Friday between 10:00am and 3:00pm Mountain
standard time , or via
regular mail to:
Con-Cor Ltd.
8101 E. Research Court
Tucson, AZ 85710-6758 USA
