One of the first CERA logos, circa 1942.

The current CERA logo, designed by CERA member Thomas A. Carpenter, depicts the handle of an electric interurban multiple unit car controller.

Logo Contest

CERA’s current logo has served us well since the late 1960s, but with this being our 75th anniversary year, the Directors have decided to hold a contest for a new one. We have some very talented, imaginative members, and are curious to see just what they might come up with.

We can continue, of course, to use our current logo as much as we want, but as we look ahead to CERA’s next 75 years, a fresh look might be a good idea. If we find a new logo that we really like, we will unveil the winner at CERA’s 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program. Tickets are on salehere. (You can also buy tickets to our fantrips to visit the Kenosha streetcars, the Illinois Railway Museum, and Fox River Trolley Museum.)

Submissions should reflect CERA’s mission to encourage the study of the history, equipment and operation of urban, suburban and mainline electric railways. There are two ways you can enter the contest. First, you can e-mail us a high-resolution image file to: cerablog1@gmail.com.

Second, you can send your original artwork (no larger than 11×14″) to:

CERA
PO Box 503
Chicago, IL
60690-0503

All submitted logos will become the property of Central Electric Railfans’ Association and may be used by the organization for promotional purposes. Contest submissions are non-returnable.

Good luck, and may the best submission win!

June Program Well Received

Last Friday night’s CERA program, featuring digitized movies of Chicago’s rapid transit lines taken in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s by the late Bill Hoffman, was very well received. The films were very professionally transferred and put together by Jeff Wien and Bradley Criss, and were presented courtesy of the Wien-Criss Archive. A good crowd was on hand.

There were a number of very rare shots, including films of the Garfield Park “L” temporary trackage on Van Buren, the Kenwood, Normal Park, and Stockyards branches, the Lake Street “L” running at ground level, and Evanston with overhead wire. North Shore Line trains popped up from time to time, including the Electroliners, and there were some very rare scenes of CA&E trains running on the Garfield Park “L”.

We even got to see CA&E car 409 at the head of one train in Chicago. 60 years later, this car is still operable at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. I am sure car 409 will be in action this July 6th at IRM’s Trolley Pageant, where the museum will celebrate 60 years by running 60 cars.

Since there are no plans at present to market these rare archival films to the public, the only way you can see such things is to attend one of our 10 annual programs. The organization traditionally takes off the months of July and August, so our next such program will be held on Friday, September 27th. The subject is to be announced. Admission is free for current CERA members and costs $5.00 for non-members.

Chicago Surface Lines streetcar 3142 at the IRM Trolley Pageant in 2012. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Trolley Sparks Special #1

We are just putting the finishing touches on our special 75th Anniversary commemorative publication, Trolley Sparks Special #1, which will be available starting this September 21st. Everyone who attends our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program will receive a copy. Quantities are limited, and this special 80-page color book (which is not part of our regular membership entitlement) is sure to become a collector’s item.

Even if you are unable to attend our banquet, you can still pre-order the book here.

Our New Look

Based on feedback from our members, we’ve given the CERA Members Blog an attractive new look. Some readers said they had difficulty reading white text on a black background. Now that we have nearly 50 posts under our belt, we also figured it was time to sort them out by categories for easier viewing. We also have a new, shorter URL: http://www.cerablog.com

-David Sadowski