Postcard from Kennebunkport

Many thanks to Bill Wulfert, who participated in this past weekend's Winterfest event at the Seashore Trolley Museum. It sounds like the event was well attended, with some 180 or so people from various museums. There were quite a few seminars and discussions that were scheduled in advance; the museum's new model railroad was up and running; some cars were staged for nighttime photo shows; and there were operations, of course, provided by two electric cars (ConnCo 1160 and Claremont 4), a diesel, and a speeder. Fortunately for roster aficionados like myself, though, Bill mostly pointed his camera toward the less often photographed cars in the Seashore collection. Enjoy!

First, a few photos of South Shore 32, which is on the deaccession list for obvious reasons.

Next up is CTA 6600, part of the furthest-east pair of "spam cans" in preservation.

Dallas Railway & Terminal 608 is a standard Dallas double-end PCC, but it has the distinction of being the only one of its type that has been backdated to original appearance. This was done by Seashore some years ago and the car still looks quite nice, though the inside seems to be suffering a bit.

The two below photos show Boston 3019, built in 1941, one of the oldest PCC cars from the Hub City. It's stored in an open-ended barn, hence the protective tarp over its front end. This car never had a low monitor roof like most of the city's PCCs had.

Another "flat top" PCC from Boston is MBTA 3037, shown here, a 1944 "wartime" car which is also on the deaccession list.

MBTA 3069 is from the same 1944 order as 3037. It's been displayed mounted on the "highway monster," Seashore's infamous car-moving trailer, for at least 25 years. In recent years, though, it's been tarped. Like 3037, it's on the deaccession list.

MBTA 3083 is another wartime car, though from a different order than the previous two cars.

One thing I really appreciate is that in at least some cases, Seashore labels their tarps. MBTA 3327 is a Dallas double-ender that was heavily rebuilt for work car service, including a big baggage door in the middle of the car side. It's on the deaccession list.

MBTA 3332, another ex-Dallas car, was also in work service late in its career. It, too, is on the deaccession list.

In addition to backdated Dallas car 608, shown earlier, double-end car 3340 is the other car of this type Seashore has restored. This one is in Boston MTA colors to represent this type's early years after arriving in the northeast. For a while in the 2010s, I believe this car was the "gate guardian," but if I'm not mistaken that role is currently filled by an MBTA dump motor.

Bill wasn't certain which car this was, but was pretty sure it was a Montreal car. So, I'm guessing this is the interior of Montreal Tramways 2052, a 1927 Wason product originally built for Springfield, MA.

Pittsburgh Railways 1440 represents that city in Seashore's collection. It's a 1942 prewar car. Bill points out that in the second photo, you can see the unusual (unique?) slotted step treads.

Philadelphia PCC 2289 is an ex-Kansas City car that had an unusual preservation career. It entered preservation early, in 1967, when it went to Trolley Valhalla. Sometime after that group gave way to the Buckingham Valley group, 2289 was sold to a private owner, who stored it outside for 30 or 35 years. It came to Seashore in 2012 with the unique distinction, I believe, of being the only Philadelphia PCC in preservation that never ran for SEPTA.

A far more typical Philadelphia PCC is this car, SEPTA 2709, a run-of-the-mill GOH car.

Tired of PCCs? Cleanse your pallet with this shot of York Utilities 82, a 1919 American-built Birney that comprised one half of the Denver & South Platte roster before being sold for service in Maine in 1927. It and its fellow D&SP car came to Seashore in 1946.