504 CRUNCH

One evening near midnight (early eighties) PCC 4508 was operating eastbound on King Street when it was struck head-on by a tractor trailer as it entered the Atlantic/Shaw St. railway underpass. The tractor trailer unit was driven the wrong way through the subway by a drunk driver. The truck climbed the PCC superstructure and crumpled the streetcar sheet metal. A split second before impact, the female operator had the presence of mind to jump free of the operators seat towards the front door well. Her foot was trapped in the wreck and she sustained some injuries. There was nothing left of the truck's tractor and the driver was seriously injured.

Common wisdom was that if it was any experienced operator, they would have likely set the brakes and stayed in their seat for the collision. It isn't often that streetcars got crumpled in such a manner. Had the operator of PCC 4508 stayed in her seat, there isn't any way she could have survived. Even the passenger seat directly behind the operator was completely crushed.

The streetcar had to be pushed back on the rails before it could be towed away. Due to it's structural integrity, it had a walking escort to the Hillcrest shops in order to ensure it stayed on the rails.

These photographs courtesy Tony Komljanec.

In the early 1990s, the PCCs were on the way out. Those that weren't rebuilt were taken to the scrap dealer. Here's 4510 being taken away from Hillcrest. Photograph by Tony Komljanec.

Also at Hillcrest, another PCC being taken away, while trolley buses that would soon follow look on. Photograph by Tony Komljanec.

GM New Look 8945 nurses a crunched fender at Hillcrest. It will soon be beaten back into shape. Photo by George Davidson.

ALRV 4236 got a little hot under the collar and had to be taken to Hillcrest to be fixed. It was soon on the road again. Photo by George Davidson.

Old Western Flyer rebuild trolley bus 9240, the Last Trolley Bus in Toronto, sits in a yard and suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous vandalism. Photo by Mike Vainchtein.

Another view of trolley bus 9240. Photo by Mike Vainchtein.