Newly operational cars

This past weekend I was at the Illinois Railway Museum for the museum's annual Members Day operations and there was some equipment that ran for the first time at the museum and/or for the first time in many years. Milwaukee streetcar 972 operated for the first time since 1999 and the first time in revenue service since perhaps 1978. Chicago elevated gate car 24, which is nearing the end of a complete restoration which includes back-dating to its 1914 condition, operated as a motor for the first time since it suffered a motor flash-over while operating to IRM under power over the North Shore Line in 1958 (it was used as a control trailer during the 1970s though). And the first public operation of Illinois Central "Highliner" double-deck MU cars took place with cars 1630 and 1637 making a few short demonstration trips. I suspect that this is the first-ever museum operation of a double-deck electric car in this country - though only if you exclude European cars that have been imported.

Another CTA car added

The latest addition to the blog is CTA 2347, a 1969 Budd-built 2200-series car that was discovered to be in storage in Fairfield, Ohio. It's owned by Jungle Jim's International Market, which seems like a pretty odd place judging from the website. They bought it in 2014 but apparently haven't put it to use in any capacity, as it's currently stored at an RV lot just a block up the road. You can see it on an aerial photo here. Cars like this are only kind of preserved, but it appears to be intact (rather than hollowed out in some way) so for the moment at least it's on the list.