Welcome Back

Wesley Paulson is now the official research arm of PNAERC; he keeps digging, finding more information, and solving more mysteries!

First for today, Wesley has confirmed that Pennsylvania Railroad MP54 450 is, in fact, still in existence and in storage at the Wilmington & Western. It's been out of use since the 1990s and is in rough shape, but it's still very much there. So, after recently being removed, it's now back.

A second car that's back on the list is pictured above in a 2009 photo. This is Bellingham Birney 219, confirmed to be in existence by Olin Anderson. The car is listed along with the Historic Railway Restoration collection, but only because it's physically located there - it's privately owned, I believe by someone from Acme, WA, which is where the above photo was taken. This car had been on the PNAERC list until recently, then was taken off, and now is back on. At least until more information turns up...

And finally, Wesley found evidence that Alabama Power Company 103, a 1922 Cincinnati-built Birney that ran in Anniston, has been scrapped. It and one other car - a mystery Southern-built APC single-trucker that was removed from the list last year - were located on private property in Gadsden, Alabama. But the owner sold the property, and the streetcar bodies with it, and it sounds like the new owner has demolished the two cars (which were, to be sure, in rough shape). Car 103 has been taken off the list, reducing the total number of electric cars preserved in Alabama to four, one of which is currently up for auction.

Many thanks to Wesley for all this information!