Friday, March 31, 2023

Cleveland Transit System 109 Runs

Congratulations to the Northern Ohio Railway Museum on getting their fourth car, and second passenger car, running. They announced on their Facebook page (no log-in required) that Cleveland Transit System 109 was made operational under its own power this week for the first time since arriving at NORM in 2013. The photo above is from the museum's Facebook post. Car 109's status has been updated in the PNAERC roster.

CTS 109 is one of 18 single-unit "Bluebird" cars built for the opening of the system's heavy rail rapid transit line in 1955 by St. Louis Car Company (there were also 35 married-pair sets of largely identical cars in the 200-series). Three of the single-unit cars still exist: 112, which has been at NORM for 35 years and is complete but deteriorated; 113, an ex-Trolleyville car now at Seashore in similar condition; and car 109. This example, by far the nicest of the preserved "Bluebirds," was retained by its home system as a historic car and was stored in good repair under Terminal Tower for many years. It came to NORM in 2013 along with two of the museum's other three operating cars, Shaker Heights historic car 12 and Shaker Heights line car 024. And kudos to NORM on their plan to retain 109's pantograph (though it will need to be raised) rather than replacing it with trolley poles.

Friday, March 24, 2023

Another round of Seashore deaccessions

Seashore is continuing with a program of thinning their collection. Following the deaccession of two cars in July and a third in November, they've just announced plans to "re-home" an additional six cars. So get your shopping lists ready - here's what's slated to leave Kennebunkport, one way or another:
First up is Laconia Street Railway 17, shown here in a photo from the Seashore announcement taken within the past week. It's the body of a double-truck wooden streetcar built in 1901 by - you guessed it - hometown car builder Laconia, and according to my notes is technically privately owned but has been stored on the ground at Seashore since 2001. At one time it was a very nice example of an early double-truck New England city car (in-service photo here) but as can easily be seen, it's in rough shape. Supposedly it's one of two Laconia Street Railway cars in existence, but the status of the other - a Birney body at Warehouse Point - is uncertain and that car may have been scrapped.
Next up is Newport & Providence 9, shown here in a 2019 Scott Linscott photo. Open car bodies are always kind of insubstantial, but this one is less solid than most, and sources suggest it collapsed over one of its trucks last year. Another Laconia product, it was built in 1904 and was a house in Newport after retirement. It was at the Old Colony & Fall River Railroad Museum for a time in the 1980s and came to Seashore in 1990. Oddly enough, sister car 8 was also turned into a house and is not only still in situ, it's an AirBnB!
Virginia Electric Power 194 is next, shown here in a 2022 photo from the Seashore announcement. This car was built in 1911 by the Southern Car Company for the Richmond & Henrico, joining the Richmond city system three years later. It's one of just five Southern electric cars still in existence and the only surviving streetcar from Richmond that isn't a Birney. Its design is a bit unusual, sporting an early arched roof and all-wood construction but with steel-sheathed sides (in-service photo of identical car). It's also a body, though, and is pretty badly wracked in addition to missing most of one end.
Next on the list is another car from the Old South, Mobile Light & Railroad 49, shown here in a 2022 photo from the Seashore announcement. It's the body of a single-truck streetcar built in 1930 by Perley Thomas. It's unfortunate that the car is in such wretched shape because it's kind of significant, actually. Seashore says it's the last single-truck streetcar ever built in the U.S., which I believe. It's also a rare example of a single-truck Perley Thomas car and it's the only streetcar preserved from Mobile I've been able to identify (a second car is supposed to be stored in a warehouse in its home city but I haven't been able to find much information on it). If you're wondering what exactly you're looking at in the above photo, the end of the car fell off or was removed and has been stowed inside the body. An in-service photo of this series can be found here.
Things could be worse, though. Next on the list is Ottawa Transportation Commission 825, shown here in a 2020 photo from the Seashore announcement. A once-handsome deck-roof double-truck car built in 1923 by (who else) Ottawa Car Manufacturing Company, today car 825 is just a shell - and not much of a shell at that. The car's deck roof collapsed into the car body sometime in the late 2010s and the Seashore announcement notes that the car's frame is broken. Like N&P 9, this car probably isn't leaving Kennebunkport intact. This car is the only example of its series preserved, however Ottawa cars 854 and 859 are extremely similar and are preserved intact in Canada.
The last electric being "re-homed" in this round is Boston Elevated Railway 3608, a side dump motor built by Differential in 1926. It's one of three side-dump motors from Boston in the Seashore collection and is a bit unusual; built using equipment from an older dump car, it has Taylor trucks rather than the usual Diffco arch bars. It's the only car in this deaccession round that isn't a body, the only one that is a work car, and the only one from Boston. It's been at Seashore since 1954, longer than most trolley museums have existed.

The "re-homing" document also includes South Shore 32, which was part of the July 2022 deaccession round, but doesn't include LIRR 4137 or MBTA 3283, also deaccessed in 2022. I'm not sure whether they've found takers or whether they've already been disposed of. And there are some non-electric pieces in the latest deaccession round, including a 46-foot long wooden caboose and a URTX reefer.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Historic Railway Restoration

Many thanks to Vince Mendenhall, co-owner of Historic Railway Restoration, for sending a full roster of their collection. I'm very appreciative of the chance to correct some errors and omissions I had; coming up with solid information on privately owned collections can be difficult, so this is a big help.

The short version is, the HRR roster has gone from four cars to six. One car formerly listed, Tacoma Birney 219, has been removed; it appears that was an erroneous listing. Another car that's been on the list for a while, Tacoma Birney 326, was formerly at the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society but is now owned by HRR, so its owner has been updated.

Then we get to the fun stuff: additions to the list! The first car at HRR that hadn't been on the list previously is Everett, WA Birney 5, a very early example of the type built in 1917 by American. Everett actually ended up with the very first Birney ever built (at least, according to the late Dr. Harold Cox, the authority on Birneys), a car built in late 1916, and car 5 was constructed just a year later. It ran in its home city for just six years, after which it was transferred to Tacoma. It's the only streetcar from Everett known to be preserved.

The second newly added HRR car is Tacoma "turtleback" 202, a double-truck city car built in 1912 by Cincinnati. I believe it's the car pictured in this article from about 15 years ago, suggesting it's not in great shape. It is significant, though; of four Tacoma streetcars on the PNAERC list, this is the only one that isn't a Birney. (That said, there's a mystery "turtleback" body stored at the Ballard Terminal Railroad in Seattle that I haven't been able to identify, so that could be a second Tacoma car of this type.)

It should also be mentioned that HRR has been involved with a couple of cosmetic restoration projects involving Washington state electric cars. Bellingham Birney 360, formerly listed (erroneously) as having been restored for the Helen Loggie Museum, was actually restored cosmetically by HRR for the City of Bellingham and is now in storage there awaiting completion of a display building. Tacoma Birney 324 is the car actually restored for the Helen Loggie Museum by HRR (post-restoration photo above courtesy Vince Mendenhall), and it has been moved to Bellingham for storage while "The Loggie" constructs a display pavilion.

Monday, March 6, 2023

Bellingham Birney Moves

Many thanks to Olin Anderson, who has passed along updated information on Puget Sound Traction Light & Power 360, one of two surviving Bellingham (Washington) Birneys dating to 1917. This particular car was in an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant in Seattle until 2017, and was then acquired by Historic Railway Restoration. Olin reports that the car has been cosmetically restored by HRR and moved back home to the Helen Loggie Museum of Art in Bellingham, which is located in the oldest extant brick building in Washington state. The car isn't on public display yet; apparently it's stored in a warehouse near the museum until a shelter can be constructed to display it. The photo above dates to 2020, at which point the car was stored at the Port of Bellingham, but Olin says it has since been repainted in PSTL&P green and has been placed on a homebuilt truck. Its status on the PNAERC list has been appropriately updated, including adding "The Loggie" to the list of electric car owners.

EDIT: See this post for corrected info on car 360 (which actually went to the City of Bellingham) and car 324 (which went to "The Loggie").

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Three streetcars acquired by Western Railway Museum

Many thanks to David Johnston for confirming that the Western Railway Museum has acquired three streetcar bodies formerly owned by the (now defunct) Friends of Light Rail group in Sacramento. Described in detail in this post from December, the three cars are Pacific Gas & Electric 18, a rope brake streetcar; Sacramento Northern 27, an "Elverta scoot" suburban car; and Pacific Gas & Electric 65, a "Christmas present" lightweight streetcar. The three cars are shown at their new home, under tarps, in the above photo sent by David. Congratulations to WRM on saving these three historic cars.

A fourth car, Pacific Gas & Electric 36, was in extremely poor condition and is currently being dismantled in Sacramento. As noted in the December post linked above, it's identical to car 35, which is fully restored and still safe and sound at the Sacramento light rail shops. This car has been removed from the PNAERC list, thus closing out Friends of Light Rail as an ownership group.