Equipment Information

Chicago Surface Lines 4001 is the last surviving pre-PCC streamliner. During the early 1930s the Electric Railway Presidents Conference Committee, or PCC, worked to develop a modern streetcar. Chicago ordered car 4001 and one other as prototypes to test modern technologies. Car 4001 was all-aluminum, to save weight, and used a variety of new control and braking features. It was retired after World War II and put to use as a storage shed. It is preserved as acquired, with trucks and interior missing but with much of its electrical gear intact.

Chicago Surface Lines 4001 Details

Builder: Pullman-Standard
Year Built: 1934
Seats: 58
Length: 50ft 5in
Width: 8ft 6in
Height: 10ft 4in
Weight: 29600 lbs
Brakes: Air-electric
Motors: 4 WH 1430D
Control: WH XD223
Compressor: R-10
Trucks: Special
Description: Single End / Double Truck / Arch Roof / Experimental Streamliner
Arrived: 1970
Condition: Incomplete / unrestored / not operational

Read more about the history of this car in Rail & Wire #256 and #258

Photo gallery

CSL 4001 Ownership History

1934-1947 – Chicago Surface Lines
1947-1970 – Chicago Transit Authority
1970-1973 – Electric Railway Historical Society, Downers Grove, IL
1973-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

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