I was raised in the Baynesville area of Baltimore County (Loch Raven Boulevard and Joppa Road).  Traveling downtown was always a treat as a small child, especially before the #3 bus was extended from Northwood and terminated in Baynesville.  Prior to the #3-Bayneville Baltimore Transit Company (BTC) bus, residents of Baynesville had to take the #45 bus from there which terminated at York Road and Lake Avenue.  The route of the bus was southbound on Loch Raven Boulevard then west on Lake Avenue, part of which is now Northern Parkway.  Upon alighting from the little BTC Ford bus at York Road, with transfer in my small hand, transferring passengers would wait for either a northbound or southbound #8 streetcar.

I was traveling towards downtown, so we boarded a southbound car as our destination was the Eye, Eye, Nose and Throat specialist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Once aboard, I always tried to sit in the seat next to the front doors to watch the operator.  And busy indeed was that man!  If he wasn't making change, putting money in the fare box and making it make that whirring sound [registering the coins and tokens], he was either pushing down those three pedals to move or stop the car or pushing those little buttons which opened the doors and even rang the gong!  Having rode on that route a few times, I noticed certain things about the streetcars I rode.  I thought that the lever mounted on the floor next to the operator was the car's gear shift.  I also figured out that the far right pedal that the operator pushed with his foot was the accelerator and the next one to the left was the brake.  But what was that far left pedal on which the operator left foot rested and never moved?  Was it the clutch?  Finally, I even thought that I knew what some of the indicator lights and switches did on the dash board.  The green light must have meant that someone was leaving the car by the back door and that the large silver switch on the dash board steered the car.

After a period of time, the operator called out North Avenue where I would have to get off and transfer to an eastbound #13 streetcar to complete the trip to Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Standing at the north side of Greenmount Cemetery, it did not take long for the #13 to show up.  Upon entering the car, I noticed that this particular car seemed to be a little different and older than the car on from which I got off.  Taking my usual seat next to the front doors, I noticed that the operator moved and stopped the car with levers manipulated by his hands.  The car rode a bit harder, too, and there were popping sounds that came from under the front seats.  I even noticed that looking through the glass of the front doors (to watch the street go by which I liked to do), the glass had wire in it, not like the clear glass in the newer car I had just rode.  All too soon, the trip ended at Johns Hopkins, but there was always the anticipation of the return trip home!

Ten years later, streetcars would disappear from Baltimore's streets on November 3, 1963.  About 3 weeks prior to that, I had the opportunity to take one last ride, albeit a short one on the #8 line from 33rd Street to Belvedere Avenue.  One memory that stands out was the decrepit condition of the car.  The seats were a bit tattered and the rubber flooring was loose.  It seemed like a good idea that the streetcars were soon to be replaced by those "modern" buses.  At that time, I had no real sense that those days were the closing ones of 104 years of street railway history in Baltimore.

Almost twenty five years later, I had a renewed interest in Baltimore's streetcar history, through a lot of reading.  My wife suggested that I should put this interest to use by becoming a member of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.  As they say, "the rest is history."  I became first involved in working in the Museum's shop and a few months later, I would take training classes to learn how to properly operate the Museum's streetcars, two of which were like the ones I rode on York Road and North Avenue in the early 1950's.  I actually found out that some of the things I observed as a small child were correct!

The Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) cars on the #8 line had accelerator, brake and dead man pedals.  The dead man pedal was the clutch pedal.  The purpose of the dead man was that it was a safety device which stopped the car if the operator's foot came off the pedal in case he became incapacitated (sick, fell off the seat, etc.).  The green light on the dashboard did mean that the center doors were open, but it can also indicated low air pressure for the brakes, too.  The lever under the right side of the operator was indeed like a gear shift.  It's called the reverser and selects the direction of travel of the car.  There are three positions.  Straight up allows the car to travel forward, all the way back allows the car to either travel backward or the lever to be removed so the car can be locked and the all the way forward allows an emergency application of the cars braking system.  Finally, I did also found out what the large silver switch on the dash board did.  It's the track switch.  It enables the operator to change the direction of an electric track switch in the street so that the streetcar can make a turn, rather than travel straight.  (Oh well!  So it doesn't steer the car, but it does help it to make turns.)

The Peter Witt cars on North Avenue were a bit different than the PCC cars.  The operator had to keep his two hands on the controller to accelerate or decelerate the car and the brake handle to stop the car and open the door.  There were really popping sounds that came from under the front seats.  Actually, it was the front seat on the left side of the car.  Some of air operated relays for the car's braking system are actually there.  Finally, the Peter Witt car did have "wire glass" in its doors.

It's amazing how one's memories are jostled when stimulated by the real object once again!  The Museum's PCC car (#7407) and Peter Witt car (6119) certainly made it possible to relive those memories.  Here I am, a member of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum for more than 11 years now and never realized how involved I have become with preserving Baltimore's streetcar history.  I don't get a change too much to really work on the cars in the shop department these days, which was really fun.  I miss that.  My duties now include being the Museum's business manager and I coordinate the training of the Museum's operating staff, amongst other things.  But there is always something I can take time for: my childhood memories of riding Baltimore's streetcars.  P.S.  I can prove my membership at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.  That's my picture below!