Second car leaves Noblesville for preservation

A second car has left the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville for preservation. This time it's Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee 606, later Chicago Transit Authority S-606, a wooden line car built for the railroad in 1923 and shown above in service in a 1952 Don Ross photo.

It doesn't look quite so good now. After the North Shore quit the 606 was sold to the CTA, which renumbered it S-606 and rebuilt it somewhat for use as a line car for its Skokie and Evanston lines that still used overhead wire at the time. Around 1975 the car suffered a grievous fire which led to its immediate retirement and in 1978 the hulk was sold to ITM and moved to Noblesville. It has been stored there in steadily worsening condition since (the above photo is from 2001).

Its new owner is RAIL Foundation, which has moved the 606's body (really more of a stripped frame at this point) to Murphysboro, Illinois where the organization is rebuilding South Shore wooden interurban combine 73. The trucks and mechanical components have been put into off-site storage. The eventual plan is to recreate the 606's body, using the original frame and what metal components can be salvaged, and restore the trucks and equipment for use under the car. It's a daunting prospect but if it happens this really will be a phoenix story like few others in rail preservation.