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It turned out that, unlike many other things produced by committees, the PCC streetcar had a very good basic design. Many railways altered the car in various ways to fit their own needs, but most cars retained a very normal appearance. The first batch of 100 cars was built in 1936. In all, 4978 streetcars were produced, with the last PCC cars built in the early 1950s. The cars were very sturdy and many have lasted a long time. A handful still remain in service alongside modern vehicles, though most of the functional PCC cars in existence today are operated by museums and heritage railways.

The early, pre- World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough versions of these vehicles were known as air cars and used a belt-driven air compressorA gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. Compression of a gas naturally produces heat. Compressors are loosely related to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the f to provide the capability to open doors and operate brakeThis article discusses the mechanical brake. For the type of ferns known as brakes, see brake (fern . For the type of sheet metal benders known as brakes, see brake (box and pan For the city in Germany, see Brake, Germany A brake is a device for slowing os. Later models were entirely electric, doing away with the noisy compressor and air brakeOn railways an air brake is a brake operated by compressed air. A safer air brake was patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1872. Westinghouse's invention revolutionized the railroad industry, making stopping reliable and thus permitting trains to ts by replacing them with dynamic brakes to provide most of the stopping power instead (though brake pads were available if an emergency stop was required).

PCC cars were initially built in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in by the St. Louis Car Company , Pullman Standard , and the J.G. Brill Company . PCC cars for CanadianCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe cities were built jointly by St. Louis Car Co. and Canadian Car and Foundry in MontrealMontreal (/mVn. tri"Al/ in English, /mO~. re"al/ in French) is the largest city in the province of Quebec, Canada, where it also constitutes an administrative region. It is Canada's second most populous city after Toronto ( Statistics Canada), and the sec, Quebec. The PCC technology was also exported to Europe, with the company La Brugeoise et Nivelles of Bruges, Belgium building several hundred streetcars which saw service in the cities of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, The Hague, Saint Etienne, Marseille and Belgrade (the latter city buying vehicles initially used by the Belgian Vicinal Railways ).

The first PCC cars in Canada were operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1937. By 1954 Toronto had the largest PCC fleet in the world, having purchased many second hand from U.S. cities that had abandoned street car service following WWII. A number of different models of Toronto PCC cars are on display at the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Society museum known as the Halton County Radial Railway near Rockwood, Ontario . Several are in operating condition and rides are available to the public.