Car
636 / Petunia
- Car 636 was part of an order for 25 streetcars for the Dallas Railway Co. from the J. G. Brill Co.
- Petunia, a "Birney Safety Car," (or Birney, for short) is named after its designer, Charles O. Birney of the Stone & Webster Co.
- The design incorporated numerous operational and safety improvements over earlier streetcars that permitted one man operation and thereby allowed street railway companies to reduce their expenses.
- Birneys were known for their bouncy riding qualities and were never very popular with the Dallas riding public.
- Nevertheless, 636 ran in Dallas until 1947 when she was replaced by more modern equipment.
- She was stripped of her wheels, motors, and electrical equipment before being sold to serve as a residence for 30 years.
- When Ed Landrum acquired the car in the 1970s it contained a bed, sink, stove, refrigerator, easy chair and blue curtains.
- Ed and Frank Schultz spent 8 years restoring the car to its original condition before donating it to MATA.
- MATA designed and built 636's current 8' truck using parts from the extra Melbourne trucks purchased along with Car 369.
- The only plans and guides were undimensioned photographs of the Fort Collins, Colorado, Birney truck.
- Petunia's new truck utilizes two 40 HP motors driving 27" diameter wheels.
- MATA later added shock absorbers to smooth out the Birney's characteristic bouncy ride.
- 636 is 26' long and weighs 10 tons.
- The car is the only one in MATA's fleet that uses trolley wheels. The other three cars use insert slides to collect power from the overhead wire.
- Petunia was nicknamed, so the story goes, for "her petite size and generally sweet nature."
- 636 is sponsored by Cityplace Corp.