South Shore car leaves Noblesville

The rapid exodus from the former Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville continues. On Wednesday the car to leave was Chicago South Shore & South Bend 205, which departed for a temporary storage location where it will be stripped for parts and scrapped.

Car 205 was built in 1927 by Pullman and lengthened in later years. Its preservation-era history is a little muddled but it was acquired first by the National Park Service and then later by ITM. It's been stored static in Noblesville for many years. Of some half a dozen South Shore 200-series trailers initially preserved, 205 is the second-to-last. Soon only car 203 at East Troy will be left as an example of the type. Components from car 205 will go towards the restoration of Lake Shore 73 as well as other preserved cars from the South Shore Line. Thanks to Bob Harris for the information.

I should also mention, in connection with car 205, that a correction has been made to one of the organizations listed in PNAERC. RAIL Foundation, which has been listed as the owner of several pieces of equipment, is actually not an active organization any more. Equipment listed under their ownership in recent years is actually owned by one person who was a principal of the former organization. That equipment has been updated to "Private Owner - Michigan City."

The traction collection in Noblesville now stands at eight cars, down from 24 at the beginning of ITM's dissolution.