Removals

I decided it was time for a bit of spring cleaning on the PNAERC roster - and that means removing cars that probably shouldn't be on the list. First up is Tidewater Power Company 108, which has been on the list for a few years under the ownership of the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History in Wrightsville, NC. I'd added this car (with a notation that one end was missing) based on some less-than-ideal photos taken at the WBMoH, however I just came across this video which shows - at about the 1:40 mark - that in fact a lot more of the car than just one end is missing! It looks like the only parts there are one end and about half of one side of the car. Oops. There are a few cars on the list that have had their length reduced, or are missing an end, but if three-quarters of the car is gone then it doesn't qualify.

And then we come to a handful of cars that are parts of diners. The first is Bamberger 128, shown at the top of this post. This was one of the "Bullet" cars built for the Fonda Johnstown & Gloversville in 1932 and resold in 1939 to the Bamberger. Car 128 was one of three or four that were moved to the Trolley Square mall in 1972, but then in 1986 they were evicted when they'd outlived their usefulness. Car 128 was moved to Springville, UT, and became the Art City Trolley Restaurant. It's been on the PNAERC list forever, but it's been bothering me because by all rights it shouldn't be there - I don't consider cars that are part of buildings to be "preserved" even if their traction heritage is played up. And this one has been modified more than some. So for the sake of consistency, car 128 is now off the list, leaving just two of the Bamberger "Bullets" considered to be preserved.

And finally - for now - are Skagit River Railway 18 and 21, two ex-Oregon Electric wood interurban cars ensconced in a restaurant in Seattle. On the same note as Bamberger 128, these don't really qualify as "preserved" by the standards I've been using, any more than other "trolley diners" scattered around the country do. One of the cars especially is really buried in the building. Perhaps they will be rescued by a museum someday, but until then, they're off the list.

So there you go. But fear not! I'm still tracking these cars, and various others that don't qualify as "preserved," on my relatively new "non-preserved electric cars" Google sheet. If you know of an electric car body in your neck of the woods (or any other neck of the woods) that is missing from this list, drop me a line.

And if you notice another car on the list that doesn't seem like it fits the criteria, let me know about that too. Diners and the like - buildings that are built out of electric cars - generally don't qualify. However if the car is complete enough to still be on trucks, or if it's a museum display (think Tupelo or Gardner), then I consider it preserved.