A brand new streetcar for Christmas

Merry Christmas! For 2019, how would you like a brand new 101-year-old streetcar?

It was only slightly more than a year ago than this item was posted about a streetcar that had been retrieved from inside a house and acquired by the City of Windsor in Ontario. The car in question, Sandwich Windsor & Amherstburg 351, is a very historic piece of equipment. It's the more intact (believe it or not) of only two streetcars in existence to have run on Staten Island and is one of only a few streetcars built for the U.S. War Board during WWI. It was built to a Public Service of New Jersey design by the Cincinnati Car Company, though this series may have actually been shipped as kits and assembled in New Jersey, and as such it carries some PSNJ spotting features like high-mounted side windows with arched tops, deep letterboards over the end windows, and perhaps most unusually the "monitor" roof that PSNJ used that was something of a cross between a deck roof and a Stillwell roof. The car ran on Staten Island for only eight years before it went to Ontario, where it saw a further 13 years of use until it was retired in 1939.

And that leads us to RM Auto Restoration of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. RM was contracted by the City of Windsor to rebuild car 351 as a display piece for the town and the result is turning out to be what is almost certainly the most extensive and meticulous historical restoration of a streetcar ever attempted on this continent. Mario Van Raay of RM, with whom I was put in contact by Bill Wall of Branford, has supplied a number of photos that detail the progress of this remarkable restoration up to the present time. The project is also being tracked on a City of Windsor web page which among other things includes an in-service photo of an identical car.

 When car 351 arrived at RM in late 2017 it was rough, to say the least.

 Much of one vestibule and nearly half of one side of the car had been completely removed when it was a house. This had to be no small operation; the car was built with steel girders extending halfway up the sides of the car beneath the windows.

 The car's interior wasn't any better.

This photo shows pretty well the unusual roof profile of these cars. This type of monitor roof was virtually unique to Public Service Coordinated Transport of New Jersey, so this is an extremely rare example of a non-PSCT car with the design.

By January 2018, RM was well into the tear-down process, making sure to very carefully document the original fabric of the car at every step. This is where their experience in high-end automobile restoration has to have come in quite handy.

Not much left of the car's platform, but certainly the evidence of long-gone controllers and brake piping will be invaluable when it comes time to install replacements for those items

The interior seating arrangement of the car was changed during its service life, probably when it went to Windsor from Staten Island, and those changes were visible in the holes left over from seat pedestals long since removed.

The roof structure is interesting; I'm honestly not sure exactly what was here, but I'm guessing that the steel roof ribs were covered with a Masonite-like material.

By May 2018 the car was torn down completely, reducing it to its steel frame and girder sides. 

Note the section of girder on the left that was chopped away during the car's use as a house.

Presto - new steel sides! Quite a bit of structural steel work was done to the car's framing.

By July it was time to get the rebuilt frame painted and to start the reassembly process.

If that isn't the nicest-looking streetcar frame I've ever seen I don't know what is.

 All new roof ribs ready to reinstall...

 ...sandwiching the original steel car lines, which have been cleaned up and painted.

And here's one of the bulkheads with quite a lot of new wood.

And that brings us to the present day. The photo at the top of this article shows car 351 as it looks now, with a virtually all-new superstructure and an incredible amount of custom-made new wooden framing.

Note in the above photo that there's a cut-out in the platform; I believe this is where a treadle step goes, and it's since been installed as shown in the photo at the top of this post.

I'm running out of superlatives to describe this project, but you can judge for yourself. Many thanks to Mario and to Bill for sending along these photos. I can't wait to see the finished product - it will really be a stunner.

Connecticut Company 65 restored to operation

I'm a little bit late on this, but about a month ago in November Connecticut Company 65 was restored to operation by the Connecticut Trolley Museum as reported by their shop blog. The car has been out of service for many years but is largely complete and, following refurbishment of its roof including installation of a rubber roof membrane, trolley boards and poles were fitted to make it possible for the car to move under power again. Car 65 is an historic piece: it's the first car acquired by CTM, back in 1941, making it one of the earliest streetcars in the country to be preserved in a museum. It was built by Wason in 1906 for Consolidated, the predecessor to ConnCo, for service on the Norwich to Putnam line. It ran up until 1941 and then became the "mother car" for CTM. In its overall design it's very similar to a number of other ConnCo double-truck suburban cars preserved at CTM, Branford, and Seashore, but there aren't any other cars from its exact order preserved. Its status has been updated to reflect that it is now operational.

Final rebuilt El Paso PCC delivered

The last of the El Paso prewar PCC cars to be rebuilt by Brookville, car 1511, was delivered back to its home city on Wednesday the 19th according to the El Paso Times website. It's the second car to be painted in National City Lines "fruit salad" livery of yellow, green, and white and the sixth car overall to be remanufactured for service on the city's new heritage line. That means that half of the surviving El Paso PCC cars are back in service in the city, with three of the remaining cars in storage for possible eventual rebuilding. The three renegades include a fired-damaged car currently for sale in California, a car eking out an existence as a shop in El Paso, and a car sent back east to represent a long-gone series of Baltimore cars.

Ottawa 696 restoration progress

Thanks to Bill Wall of Branford and Gerry Gaugl of the OTC 696 Restoration Group, which is currently working on a full restoration of Ottawa Transportation Commission 696. The car was built by Ottawa in 1917 and is the oldest double-truck car from the city in preservation. It's currently owned by the local transit agency, OC Transpo, and a group of volunteers have been making steady progress on a major rebuild of the deteriorated car that has been going on for some 15 years now. They've sent along some recent progress photos. Caption info is generally from Gerry with a few asides from yours truly. Enjoy!

This was the car on December 8th. Project worker Rhéaume painted the carbody “poppy red” and window band its first coat of “sunflower yellow”. [The car in the background is OTC 905, the newest Ottawa streetcar preserved, built in 1933 and acquired as a body in 2004 - FH]

Project volunteers Zen (not pictured), Komie, and Ted have been working on windows for the past year and are ready to install them once the glass arrives.

The upper windows being fitted to the car. It was more work than meets the eye redoing these windows, the outboard side had to be primed, then painted brown, the insides, stained and varnished along with adding to the bottoms a quarter inch felt strip, held in position with a steel strap. [Note that these cars had upper sash nearly as tall as the lower sash, a bit unusual -FH]

The bottom window ready to be fitted, like the upper windows, the lowers had to be painted (outside) and stained(inside). Next the brass hardware (cleaned & polished by Zen & Komie) had to be installed. They sure look great!

Project worker Bernd was busy fitting the clerestory windows and vents on the car.

Vents and windows are fitted. The molding is temporary, just being used as a guide, new molding will be made from a sample that salvaged from the old 696 interior.

Bernd has also been helping Rhéaume with the doors and the housing for the motors. Earlier in the project Gerry checked out the motors and replaced the diaphragms, happy to report that they were in good working order.

The removed side panel shows where the window side of the seat frame is to be mounted. After seat brackets are installed, project worker Paul will cut the panel to fit around the bracket.

The seat brackets have been installed, the panels cut and fitted.  The conduit and junction box are to carry the wiring for the car's heaters(non-functioning) and will be painted green to match the panels.  The pile of seat parts have been primed and will be assembled and painted after the windows, sills, bell cord are installed and the floor's finish completed.

One cross seat has been installed; every other row has a heater under it, with the wire connected to the "T" and conduit.

The bench seat frames seemed to fair better than the row seats frames; on those Gerry had to replace 80% of the steel.  Under the two front bench seats are the sand boxes which have to be fit before installation of the bench seat frame.  The seat cushions will have to be made "easily removable" in order to access the hoppers.

The sand boxes are in very sad shape and need much work.

Rhéaume has been working very hard on the front doors and step mechanisms.  Again everything is snug but not tightened because once the door motors are connected to the air, adjustments will have to be made.  

Doors closed...

...and doors open! Yahoo, they work!

Thanks again to Gerry for all of the great photos and information!

Minnesota Streetcar Museum updates

Many thanks to Aaron Isaacs, who has sent along some updates regarding the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. First off, the organization has swapped two of its restored streetcars. Duluth Street Railway 265 (pictured above in an MSM photo), which for many years has operated at MSM's Como-Harriet line, was just recently moved a few miles away to the organization's Excelsior streetcar line. In turn, Twin City Rapid Transit 1239, which was the subject of a major restoration effort completed in 2004, was moved from its longtime home at Excelsior to the Como-Harriet site. This very neatly groups all three of the organization's TCRT cars together in TCRT territory at Como-Harriet while the four cars at Excelsior are non-TCRT equipment: two Duluth cars (car 265 joins considerably older Duluth car 78), recently-restored Winona 10, and MSM's only interurban car, Mesaba Railway 10.

Aaron also states that the Mesaba car will be the subject of some stabilization and cosmetic restoration attention in the very near future. The plan is to place it on correct-type curved-equalizer MCB trucks acquired some years back from Japan, complete a basic exterior cosmetic restoration, and open the interior of the car for walk-through exhibit. Other current projects at MSM include a major overhaul of car 1239's trucks, which are ex-CTA 'L' car trucks that are being modified to more closely resemble the Baldwin #5 trucks the car originally had, and some motor work on car 1300 and Winona 10. Both of those cars will be running in 2019.

Bethlehem Steel changes

One of the most difficult types of equipment on the PNAERC list about which to find information is industrial electric equipment. Electric locomotives and cars that were in captive plant service, especially if they were of an odd gauge, are just not all that interesting to most people and they're difficult to track down. Included in this count is the collection of wide-gauge (very wide gauge!) ore cars preserved and displayed at the Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, PA.

I came across the above photo recently showing an ore motor numbered F. This thing wasn't on my list previously but it confirms the roster here that suggests that two of these things, D and F, accompany four ore motors with actual numbers that are on public display in Bethlehem. As such I've added car D and car F to the roster. At the same time I've removed three of the numbered ore motors, 1, 4, and 8, from the roster because aerial photos suggest there are only four of the numbered ore cars on site and I've been able to find photos of the four cars that are still there. These three may still be in storage somewhere on the site but it's equally likely that they were just scrapped when the site was made into a public park and historic site. For the time being, the PNAERC roster listing for the National Museum of Industrial History - which manages the historic site - includes only the six cars whose presence can be confirmed.

Portland Traction line car scrapped

It was, perhaps, inevitable: Portland Traction 1058, the wooden line car pictured above (Dave's Rail Pix photo) when it was still in service in the 1950s, has been scrapped in Snoqualmie, Washington by the Northwest Railway Museum. It is a significant loss from an historical standpoint, albeit probably unavoidable at this late date. The car began life as an interurban coach built by Niles in 1903 for Jersey City Traction, making it the last existing interurban car from the state of New Jersey. It didn't stay in the Garden State long though; in 1906 it was sold to Oregon Water Power as its car 58, later becoming Portland Railway Light & Power 1058. In 1929 it was rebuilt as a line car and lasted in that form until the end of electric service on Portland Traction in 1958. When it was retired, it was complete and in reasonably good shape, but it was sold to an individual who moved it to a siding in the Snoqualmie rain forest near the Northwest Railway Museum. There among the trees it mouldered for sixty years until the car, and a couple of others on the same siding, was donated to NWRM. Car 1058 was judged too far gone to save and has now been scrapped, with its Brill 27 trucks and GE Type M control equipment going to the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society in Brooks, Oregon. Thanks to David Johnston for the update.

UPDATE: A photo taken of this car in August 2018 can be found here. A very unfortunate loss!

SECOND UPDATE: It seems that final disassembly of this car didn't take place until May 2019, when many of its mechanical components were removed and what was left of the car's body was finally disposed of. Either way, it's gone now.

Electric cars at CTM go up for sale

The Connecticut Trolley Museum has announced that they are deaccessing a number of pieces of equipment in their collection. Among these are six electric cars: two interurban cars, a heavy electric, two rapid transit cars, and a locomotive. Among CTM's collection, this eclectic mix comprises some of the least historic and least restorable (in terms of current condition) cars so it's understandable why they are taking this step.

The two interurban cars are both North Shore Line cars: car 162, shown above in a 2010 photo, and car 710. The former is a 1915 Brill, part of the line's first order for steel coaches, and although badly deteriorated it is by far the better of the two - which is to say that it's probably salvageable for someone with enough money and determination (2015 photo here). The latter is a 1926 Cincinnati product and is in wretched condition, its roof having collapsed several years ago and the car's interior (and, for that matter, underbody) having been exposed to the weather for some time. At this point it is probably further gone than most car bodies in museums. Neither car is unique in preservation; the 1915 order is represented by car 160 at IRM while the 1926 order is represented just an hour down the road by car 709 at Branford. As a point of curiosity, both of these cars came to CTM from the never-opened American Museum of Electricity in Niskayuna, New York.

The heavy electric is Long Island Railroad 4153, an MP-54 built in 1930 by the Pennsy. Built to run on 600vDC, it was fitted with a trolley pole by CTM back in the 1970s and may have briefly run there. It's not unique in preservation either, with other examples of the type preserved at Seashore and in Syracuse, New York. This car was the subject of a cosmetic restoration at CTM just a few years back but it suffers from the same body rot problems that all other MP-54 types in preservation have. It's also far too big to be practical at CTM and to my knowledge it won't fit in any of their barns.

And speaking of "not unique" that brings us to the two rapid transit cars on the list, Chicago 4000-series elevated car 4175 and car 4409. The former is a 1915 "Baldy" motor car; the type is also represented by car 4103 at Fox River and car 4146 at IRM. The car is listed on the CTM site as a trailer and the reason is that when they acquired it back in 1985, it made a brief side trip to IRM where its motor truck was swapped out for a trailer truck. CTM wanted a Chicago trailer for whatever reason (the last 4000-series trailer is car 4043 at Northern Ohio) so they de-motored this one. Some work was done on car 4175 to backdate it but the work didn't get very far and it has mouldered for many years now (2015 photo here). Its highest and best use may be as a parts source to outfit Fox River's car. Car 4409, built in 1924, is one of three "plushies" that CTM acquired in the 1970s and is in the worst condition of the three. The other two are being retained by the museum. The commonality of this type need not be described.

And finally there's the locomotive, Canadian National 6714, built by GE in 1917. This was one of the 3000vDC electrics that ran Montreal commuter service until the early 1990s, an impressive tenure. It's one of four preserved (the other three are in Canada) so on its own it's not very historically significant, particularly given the somewhat unique nature of its construction. It has never operated at CTM and, like the Long Island car, cannot fit into any of the barns; it's basically been plinthed at the museum entrance for the 22 years it's been there. (I should mention that some other equipment, including trolley buses and a few steam road pieces, is also being deaccessioned as part of this move.)

On the whole, I think CTM is to be applauded for rationalizing their collection. None of this equipment is of strong historic significance, much less local significance, and none is likely to be restored to operation at CTM anytime soon. Their plan is to offer this equipment first to nonprofits and then to for-profit organizations, possibly scrappers although that's not really clear and may instead suggest individuals. They've also stated that preference will be given to preservation offers, as opposed to "parting out" offers. Some of this equipment - notably the North Shore cars - has been unofficially for sale for many years, but at an extremely high price that has squelched any serious interest. What offers will be entertained for this equipment at the present time remains to be seen.

Progress on the Lake Shore car

Many thanks to Bob Harris, who has sent along some more photos of restoration progress on Chicago Lake Shore & South Bend 73. The car is being worked on in Murphysboro, Illinois and work is progressing at a steady pace.

The latest progress is that the copper sheathing is going onto the roof. The what? It turns out that the CLS&LS cars had wooden roofs sheathed with copper instead of covered with canvas. This seems improbable on an electric car but there were evidently a few lines that did this and of course electric cars with steel or, later, aluminum roofs weren't at all uncommon. Evidence suggests that the CLS&SB left the roofs unpainted so that the finish would end up with an oxidized copper look. It should be quite striking when done. Above and below, Glenn is working on installing the copper sheets on the end of the car.

UPDATE: Bob has sent along two more photos, including one showing one end of car 73's roof already clad in copper sheets. Pretty sharp!

South Shore car leaves IRM

Our sister blog Hicks Car Works confirms that IRM has sold South Shore 37 to an individual in Indiana; the car left on the same truck which carried North Shore 172 to Union on the 7th. Car 37 is far from unique; it's a typical 1929-vintage un-lengthened coach built by Standard Steel and is identical to a number of other cars in preservation including car 34 which operates at IRM on occasion. Following retirement it was allocated to the City of Michigan City, which intended to use it as an office of some sort, but that never panned out and after five years it was sold to IRM to prevent it from being scrapped. Although stored inside for the last 25 years it was never accessioned and its sale permits car 172 to be immediately put into indoor storage.

The sale of car 37 is a rarity: as expansive as its collection is, IRM is not known for selling or trading traction equipment to other museums. In fact car 37 is only the second car on the PNAERC list to be a former possession of IRM, the other being an 'L' car sold all the way back in 1984. At its new home car 37 joins a handful of other South Shore cars - though no Standard Steel-built cars - and its owner's intention is to preserve and restore the car.

North Shore car acquired by IRM

The Illinois Railway Museum has announced that it has acquired North Shore 172, a standard steel coach built by Cincinnati in 1920. This is the fourth-oldest North Shore coach in existence and the only one from that line's 1920 order for cars. IRM is the car's fourth owner; after the North Shore it was very briefly owned by the Hyman-Michaels scrap company but since mid-1963 it has been owned by an ex-North Shore employee. Since the late 1960s it has been stored in Noblesville at the Indiana Transportation Museum, where in the early 1970s it was one of two cars that inaugurated public operations at that site (the other car, CA&E 308, is also at IRM). It was operated regularly until about the early 1990s at which point its deteriorating condition saw it removed from public service. Since 2000 or so it has been stored in the barn at the ITM site as shown above.

The car was moved out of Noblesville in October (for photos and more info see our sister blog, Hicks Car Works) and has been at a temporary storage location in the interim. IRM's intention is to restore the car and operate it along with the museum's fleet of other North Shore cars. With the transfer of car 172 to IRM, there are only three electrics listed on the PNAERC roster under ITM ownership: the three derelict Lackawanna MU trailers stored on the siding in Cicero.

Trenton streetcar body moved

There have been a few developments with Trenton Street Railway 288, the streetcar body that was unearthed from inside of a house a couple of months ago. According to a Facebook post (no log-in required), yesterday the car was trucked out of its former location in Hamilton, NJ and moved to a temporary storage location. It's been confirmed that it's owned by Liberty Historic Railway but that organization's previously announced plans to send the car to Iowa to be rebuilt have apparently been put on hold. However plans to preserve and, possibly, restore car 288 have not been abandoned.

The box motor is missing

Our friend Joel Salomon from the Rockhill Trolley Museum was kind enough to send along a series of photos of York Railways 010, an attractive railroad-roof box motor thought to have been built by Niles that as of 2006 was displayed on the grounds of Steam-O-Rama, a steam tractor meet location in Windsor, Pennsylvania just southeast of York. The car looks to be in reasonable condition but aerial photos taken more recently do not show it. Where did it go? It's not unlikely that it was just demolished and scrapped, but then again there are a couple of buildings on the property so it's possible that it's still there and stored inside a la CSL 1278. Any information would be appreciated; if this car is still in existence, and at Steam-O-Rama, then it qualifies for the PNAERC list.

UPDATE: Olin Anderson relates that he's learned York Railways 010 was scrapped in 2016 by Steam-O-Rama. They'd been using the car body as an admission booth, but at that time they built a structure for that purpose and decided to scrap the box motor, which they judged to be in fairly poor condition. So this one is no longer a mystery.

All photos are copyright Joel Salomon.

And Joel included this nice shot of the box motor when it was in service with York Railways. It's more of an interurban-type car than you'd expect for a city system, but then York Railways did have an interurban division.