47D Drake

PCC 4001 47D Drake shuttle trolley close up.

Pittsburgh PCC 4001 as a static display in front of the South Hills Village depot, 2004.

to South Hills Junction 47D Drake service to Downtown Pittsburgh (1984-1993) Gateway Wood Street To Penn Station Steel Plaza Panhandle Tunnel I-376 / US 22 / US 30 (Penn Lincoln Parkway) Trinity River 52 Allentown PA 837 West Carson Street Station Square Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel 52 Allentown South Hills Junction Overbrook line Boggs Morse Steps McKinley Park Bon Air Edgebrook PA 51 Saw Mill Run Blvd. Ansonia South Bank Central Inglewood Glenbury Paris McNeilly Pittsburgh Castle Shannon Spinning Wheels Killarney Cooley Linden Grove Memorial Hall Poplar Avenue Municipal Building Castle Shannon loop 47D Castle Shannon 42C/42S/47D to South Hills Junction via Overbrook (served 1984-1993) Martin Villa 42S/47S/47D/47L St. Anne's 42S/47S/47L Smith Road 42S/47S/47D/47L Washington Junction loop 47D Washington Junction 42S/47S/47D/47L  47L  to Library Mine 3 Interurban Casswell 42S/47S/47D Highland 42S/47S/47D Santa Barbara 42S/47S/47D Bethel Village loop 47D Bethel Village 42S/47S/47D Dorchester 42S/47S/47D South Hills Village 42S/47S Bethel Church 47D Fort Couch Road 47D End of surviving electrification Brookside 47D Brookside Farms 47D Walthers 47D Drake Loop 47D Interurban to Washington closed 1953
Key
47D Drake 47L Library via Overbrook 47S South Hills Village via Overbrook 47S (former service) 42S South Hills Village via Beechview 42S (former service)

The 47 Drake (often abbreviated as the 47D) was a PCC trolley line that was part of the Pittsburgh Light Rail system.

History

The 47D was the last line in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to be used solely for PCC streetcars. It originally was part of an interurban trolley line that ran from Pittsburgh to Washington, PA until 1953, when the service was cut back to the Allegheny County border at Drake and all trolleys turned using the newly constructed loop, situated below the trestle. The line to Drake became part of the 36 Shannon-Drake until the 1980s. After the 1993 closure of the Overbrook route the service became a shuttle between Castle Shannon and Drake and was renumbered 47D Drake shuttle. The line closed on September 4, 1999.

As of June 2014, most of the Drake Line still exists. The stretch of track from the Drake Loop to the "S" curve near the former Walthers stop was removed not long after the line was discontinued. When the Authority took delivery of new LRVs for use on the rebuilt Overbrook line in 2004, the new cars were tested on the Drake line prior to entering revenue service.

Fleet

Main article: Port Authority 4000 Series PCC

During the final years of operation, three PCCs were used with a fourth kept as reserve. Car #4004 was donated to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum where it has become part of a collection of historic streetcars and trolleys from all across the United States and other nations. San Francisco MUNI acquired #4008 and #4009 in an internet auction in 2002 for $5,000 each. However, they are low on the priority list for a return to service as they need to be re-gaged and differ significantly from other MUNI PCCs.