Kansas City Birney under restoration

Thanks to David Wilkins for forwarding along the above photo, taken by Bob O'Neil, showing Kansas City Public Service 1533. This single-truck Birney is preserved at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis and as the photo shows it is now the focus of the museum's Trolley Volunteers restoration group. This is the group within the MOT organization that previously restored St. Louis 1743, a 1946 PCC car, and before that restored St. Louis Waterworks 10. Car 1533 is an historic car and should be well-suited to their short line. Built in 1919 at the height of the Birney fad, car 1533 ran in Kansas City for a full three decades, later than Birneys ran in most larger cities. When it was retired in 1949, it was acquired by the nascent National Museum of Transport (now MOT) and brought to St. Louis intact. Over the years it was maintained in pretty good condition, though in recent years it suffered a collapsed platform knee at one end which resulted in some damage to one platform (see below photo, taken in 2009).

But the MOT restoration crew is obviously rebuilding the framing of this platform and it looks like they will be rehabbing the rest of the car as well. Besides being the only Birney, and the only Kansas City car, at MOT, car 1533 is also in the best shape of the four pre-PCC cars from Kansas City that are in museums. It will be a great addition to the MOT operating fleet when it's done.