News Roundup

Unusually enough, there's news today from a few different directions, and on a few different topics.

First off, thanks to Bill Wall for passing along the news that Seashore has again updated their "re-homing list."

Most of the cars on it are the same as the last edition, but there are three new additions that the museum has decided to deaccession. The first, pictured above in a photo taken way back in 1998, is Knoxville Power & Light 410. This is a single-truck curve-side car built by Cincinnati in 1924 and retired in 1939. It's a body, of course, and is in rough shape if the 28-year-old photo is any indication. This car is a bit odd in that it's simultaneously rare and, yet, not rare. There are only six Cincinnati curve-side cars in existence, however three of them are Knoxville single-truck bodies identical to car 410. And the other two are in much better condition than car 410: car 416 has been fully (albeit non-operationally) restored in its hometown, while car 419 is unrestored but preserved in solid condition at IRM as a body.

The other two additions to the re-homing list are true oddballs on the PNAERC list. They're both diminutive rail grinders built in 1913 by the Goldschmidt Thermit Company for the Boston Elevated Railway. Above is MBTA 0517, which has certainly seen better days.

And here's MBTA 3234 (both of these photos were taken within the past few months and were printed in the new re-homing list). I'll confess, I recall seeing these cars sitting off on a siding at Seashore for many years but not until now did I know which one was which! Anyway, there was a time that small, purpose-built rail grinders like this were not uncommon on street railways. They're exceedingly rare now, though; my best guess is that they were just exceedingly uninteresting to the fans running the trolley museums back in the 1950s. Most surviving rail grinders were rebuilt from streetcars or, at the very least, had interesting car bodies. Besides these two, I think the only rail grinder of this general outline on the PNAERC list is the Kerwin-built example preserved in Mexico City.

There are now a total of 34 cars at Seashore on the PNAERC roster that have been deaccessioned, offered to other organizations, or designated for disposal. That's about 18% of their traction collection.

And now, let's proceed a few miles to the southwest and visit another one of the "three sisters," the Connecticut Trolley Museum.

The news from CTM is the precise opposite of the news from Seashore: in this case, a car is being re-accessioned. The car in question is Long Island Rail Road 4153, an MP54A1 commuter car built by AC&F in 1930. Way back in 2018, CTM deaccessioned this car and made it available to other organizations. It hasn't found a taker. However, the museum has now elected to retain it for their historic collection after all. This is good from an historical standpoint because there are very few MP54's still remaining in anything resembling original condition; in fact, I'd say there are only two, this car and sister car 1149 in Syracuse (and I don't know how complete that car is). I'm also pretty sure 4153 is the most recent MP54 to operate, as it did run at CTM during the 1970s, and maybe more recently. Many thanks to [correction!] Andy Borst of CTM for letting me know about 4153's status change.

And finally, a few more miles to the southwest, some disconcerting news comes tonight from our friends at the Rockhill Trolley Museum. They've announced on their Facebook page (full text of the announcement is below, for the record) that they have lost the use of their railroad except on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. The other four days of the week, and the mornings of these three days, their line has been requisitioned by the East Broad Top for use by a railbike operation.

The EBT has always owned the land under RTM's railroad, but for some 60 years the two organizations have operated side-by-side in what has seemed like a mutually beneficial arrangement. I'm not sure exactly what to extrapolate from this news, but I hope that the EBT finds somewhere else to put their railbikes and that they return to the past state of equilibrium with the trolley museum.

Announcement text:

Rockhill Trolley Museum would like to extend a sincere apology to our valued visitors for an upcoming change to our operating schedule.

Beginning July 1, 2026, East Broad Top Railroad will be operating standard-gauge rail bikes on our trolley line Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Friday through Sunday from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM.

Due to the change being out of our control, we are required to limit trolley rides to Friday through Sunday with departures at: 12:45 PM, 2:00 PM, 3:15 PM, and 4:30 PM. Museum store hours are being finalized and will be announced as soon as they are updated.

Purchasing trolley tickets can still be done in our museum store or online at rockhilltrolley.org and are valid for unlimited rides on the date they are redeemed. Please note our tickets are no longer available through East Broad Top Railroad at the station or online.

We understand schedule changes can be disappointing, and we sincerely regret any inconveniences. Your continued support is greatly appreciated as our volunteers continue to provide a welcoming and educational visitor experience. We look forward to seeing you this season!

Two Cars for Rockhill

Back in November, it was reported here that two cars from the Middletown & Hummelstown were headed to the Rockhill Trolley Museum. Those cars both headed to Rockhill Furnace today and were unloaded this afternoon. Thanks to Joel Salomon of RTM for the photos and update! The first car, shown above after being un-tarped, is Lewistown & Reedsville 23, a unique and historically significant center-entrance car that ran most of its service life very close to Rockhill Furnace. The second car, shown below on the Silk Road trailer, is York Railways 162. This is a Brill-built curve-sider identical to car 163, already restored and operational at RTM, and the museum evidently intends to preserve car 162 as a house to depict post-service uses of electric car bodies.

With this transfer, the collections of both RTM and M&H stand at 22 cars on the PNAERC list. The M&H collection will continue to shrink, though; a few of the basket cases are intended for scrapping, while some other cars will likely go to new homes at other trolley museums.

Two More M&H Cars Heading to a New Home

More good news about cars at the Middletown & Hummelstown finding new homes: the Rockhill Trolley Museum has announced on their website that they are planning to acquire two of the more historic cars in the M&H collection.

The first, shown above in 2017, is Lewistown & Reedsville 23, a center-entrance interurban car built by Brill in 1914. This is probably the single rarest car in the M&H traction collection. It was built for Jersey Central Traction in Perth Amboy, NJ, making it the last surviving New Jersey interurban car, but only ran there a brief time before it was sold to the L&R. There, it operated until retirement in 1933. For nearly 70 years it was a cottage near Lewistown but it was moved in 2002 and sat outside for a decade or so (it's visible on Street View!). When its owner sold it around 2016, it was Wendell at the M&H who snagged it. The car has been stored inside since then and the body appears to be solid. The L&R was the second-closest traction line to Orbisonia/Rockhill Furnace, so RTM is a natural home and the car is about as local for them as they're going to find.

The second car, shown here, is York Railways 162. This is a curve-side suburban car built by Brill in 1924, one of a handful of curve-siders that company built before they were compelled by Cincinnati Car Company to quit doing that. Car 162 and its identical sister, car 163, were retired in 1939 and both were turned into summer cottages. Car 163 has been beautifully restored by RTM, but nevertheless the museum plans on preserving car 162. Their plan, however, is to preserve it as a cottage rather than restore it as a streetcar.

Kudos to RTM and the M&H for working to ensure a future for both of these rather historic pieces.

Adding details

I've mentioned this plenty of times before, but I'm always looking to fill in gaps on the PNAERC roster wherever possible. There are a lot of cars on the list for which I'm missing technical information - trucks, motors, control, brakes, air compressors. Some of these are car bodies, and in certain cases that information just doesn't exist. But in many cases, it's simply that this information hasn't been published online.

I'm always appreciative of people taking the time to look up information like this and sending it to me. To that end, many thanks to Bill Wall of Branford and Joel Salomon of Rockhill for filling in a few gaps recently. Bill sent me a cache of information on NYCTA 44 (pictured above in a Dave Pirrmann photo), a unique piece of equipment with virtually no published information available online. By design, it's a box motor, but it was built for service on the New York subway system and has long been used as a subway maintenance work car. It's been in the NYCTA's historic fleet since 1988. The PNAERC list now includes this car's trucks, motors, control, dimensions, and Bill also pointed out that it was built for the BMT and not - as previously and erroneously listed - for the IND.

UPDATE: And Bill has also sent information on NYCTA 5000, another New York subway system work car that resembles a box motor. This one started out as a locomotive and was converted to a welding/tool car right at the end of its service life. In addition to mechanical and dimensional information, Bill also pointed out that it was built not for South Brooklyn Railway but rather for New York Municipal Railway, a subsidiary of Brooklyn Rapid Transit that was folded into BMT in 1923. The car is pictured above in a photo Bill took a few weeks ago when he and a few others boarded it up, in the process evicting the pigeons that had taken up residence inside 5000. Bill comments about the pigeon eviction, "There were over one hundred living inside it and were not happy at all about it. In some ways, it was like the Hitchcock movie 'The Birds'."

Meanwhile Joel sent me some information on a couple of pieces of ex-Philadelphia & Western non-revenue equipment at the Rockhill Trolley Museum, snow plow 10 and freight motor 402. Both complete and operational, car 10 is a 1916 Wason double-truck plow retired in 1988 while car 402 was built in 1920 in the shops of the Detroit United system and is one of only two surviving ex-DUR cars. Previously missing information like motors, brakes, and air compressors have now been added to these cars' listings.

You too can help! If you notice that your local museum includes cars with missing information, jot it down and send it in. Thank you!

Yonkers sweeper goes to Rockhill

Third Avenue Railway 59, a snow sweeper that had operated for TARS subsidiary Yonkers Railroad, has been sold by Branford to the Rockhill Trolley Museum. A more-or-less typical McGuire single-truck snow sweeper, number 59 was retired early, in 1952, and acquired from TARS by the museum. Unfortunately its condition deteriorated significantly over the years. It was transferred to Rockhill for use as a parts source for Iowa Terminal 3, a similar McGuire snow sweeper that spent a few years at Branford and made its way to RTM in 2012 in trade for a Washington sweeper that went to National Capital. The Iowa sweeper at Rockhill has running gear problems, but components from TARS 59 will make it operational.

A new identity for an old interurban car

The Rockhill Trolley Museum's major restoration project at the moment is Chicago Aurora & Elgin 315, its 1909 Kuhlman-built heavy interurban car. This car has been the subject of an on-again, off-again backdating and rebuilding for the past decade or so but lately the project has been very much on-again.

Work on car 315 hasn't just been limited to repairs; the car is being partially backdated to its as-built appearance in 1909. This includes removal of some modernization features like clerestory ventilators as well as reinstalling the arched stained-glass upper sash windows that the CA&E referred to as "streamer sash." Those were removed during the 1940s in a rebuilding but they're being put back in by RTM.

This past week the car received a first coat of Pullman green on much of its exterior. And with that, it ceases to be Chicago Aurora & Elgin 315 and instead becomes Aurora Elgin & Chicago 315. The AE&C was what that line was known as until a corporate reorganization in 1922. Car 315 is one of only two surviving CA&E cars to be painted in the colors of the original company and the only one of those two to have seen this level of authentic backdating. (One other CA&E car has been backdated and regained its upper-sash windows, car 320 in Iowa, but its target date is the mid-1920s after the corporate reorganization.)

As an aside, of the 11 ex-AE&C wood passenger cars preserved, there is an astonishing variety of liveries represented: two cars in the original Pullman green, one in 1920s dark red, two in 1930s maroon, four in 1940s blue, and two in 1950s crimson. Quite the circus fleet!