"Hey," you say, "that's not an electric car." And it surely isn't. It's the LEV2, a British railbus constructed in 1980 by Leyland/Wickham and intended as a prototype for the American market. But railbuses were never as popular in the US as they were in Britain and this unloved example bounced around a bit before landing at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, CT.
It was one of several pieces of equipment deaccessed by CTM in 2018 and offered for sale. As outlined in this blog post, the sale also included six pieces of electric equipment: both of the museum's North Shore interurban cars, a Long Island Railroad MP54 commuter coach, a Canadian National boxcab electric locomotive, and two Chicago 4000-series 'L' cars.
The reason this post features the LEV2 is that it has come to light within the past week that the British railbus is no more. Despite efforts to buy it from CTM and possibly repatriate it to the UK, the museum has apparently cut it up. Rumor has it that at least one of the North Shore cars may also have been cut up, despite offers from other museum groups to acquire that car as a parts source for other restoration projects. So the question is: can anyone confirm what electric cars, if any, have been scrapped at Warehouse Point in the last couple of years? Are any of the six electrics offered up for sale in 2018 still available for sale? Any information is greatly appreciated.
UPDATE: this question has more-or-less been answered.
Not surprised. Several years ago this organization destroyed a restorable link and pin boxcar without notice to the railroad preservation community.
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