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.
I have received word from a friend of mine who volunteers at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum that the “streetcar graveyard” in Winber, PA will be scrapping most if not all the cars on the property in the near future.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, that's very interesting! I wonder whether there are plans to move any of the equipment there to other locations. There are a few cars stored indoors that may be worth saving, including most notably Johnstown Traction 362, which is complete.
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