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Traction Models

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 14:25:46 GMT

For the first time ever, the CERA Blog is featuring traction models and will be presenting additional pieces on this topic in upcoming editions.

This month we are featuring the model traction work of Larry Konsbruck (1962-2019). Larry was an incredibly gifted model builder and painter whose services were highly sought after. He was adept at building traction models (1:48 scale) in either brass or (his favored medium) in Strathmore laminations. Larry was also a custom painter for several decades, working for hobby shops, model importers, and individual customers. He was known for his historical accuracy and it was common for him to rebuild commercial models to proper specifications. Larry’s color selections were generally accepted as being as close as possible to those of the prototypes he modeled. Below we offer a sampling of Larry’s work (all in 1:48 scale):

Chicago PCC cars wore a number of liveries over the years. In this lineup, prewar No. 4021 wears its original Buckingham Gray with “tiger stripes” added in later years to emphasize the width of these cars to motorists. No. 4018 is in an experimental scheme from 1944 when several prewar PCCs were painted in several schemes to determine the best one to adopt for the coming order of postwar cars. Pullman-built 4158 is in the adopted livery of Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange. And, in a “what-might-have-been” paint scheme, 4371 shows how the cars might have appeared had they survived well into later decades on the CTA.

Larry liked to pose his completed work on specially-built modules and would then photograph them in natural sunlight. Chicago Surface Lines No. 2762, a 1903 St. Louis Car Company product, is posed on one of the modules. This is a Strathmore model scratchbuilt and painted by Larry. Often such a project involved hundreds of hours until completion.

This broadside view is of another 1903 St. Louis Car Company model built and painted by Larry.

In what could have been a shop scene on the Illinois Terminal in Decatur, No. 277 awaits attention from the shop crew while flanked by parlor-observation Cerro Gordo and a Class B. The passenger cars were originally imported by GHB International while the Class B was from Car Works.

IT “Alton” car No. 101 poses on Ralph Nelson’s traction layout. The model, now owned by Bruce Moffat, was originally a limited-edition Ken Kidder import. Larry rebuilt the end windows to proper dimensions, then detailed and painted the model.

Three examples of Illinois Terminal equipment pose for photographers on Ralph’s layout. They are (left-to-right) No. 277 with its original arch windows, No. 101, and Class B 1569, one of the few electric locomotives repainted in “apple green.” The latter is a Car Works import.

In 1939 the Des Moines & Central Iowa purchased three Jewett-built interurbans (Nos. 170, 179, and 180) from the defunct Lake Shore Electric, where they continued in service for another decade. Larry modified a Locomotive Workshop brass kit by adding baggage doors on each side, truss rods, DM&CI’s imposing snow plow, and the roof-mounted bell common to many Iowa interurbans. This beautifully detailed and painted model is now owned by Ralph Nelson.

The Indianapolis & Southeastern Railroad purchased ten Cincinnati curved-side cars in 1928, each with its own unique paint scheme. Larry painted a Car Works import as I&SE No. 200. All striping and scrollwork were accomplished solely by means of very skillful masking. When I&SE ended operation in 1932, the cars became “boomers,” going to such diverse properties as Beech Grove (Indiana), Inter City at Canton, Ohio, and Shaker Heights, which later sold their five cars to the Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail in 1949.

One can imagine oneself walking along Fox Street in South Elgin as one of the Aurora Elgin & Fox River Electric 300-series cars rolls past on its southbound schedule to Aurora. This model was a Ken Kidder import offered in both AE&FRE and Shaker Heights versions. Larry painted this particular model as an AE&FRE car with sunburst ends and made several corrections to the Kidder model.

CTA No. 4 was one of four high-performance experimental cars (Nos. 1-4) built by St. Louis Car Company in 1960. Owing to their experimental nature, there were variations of control, motors, and trucks. No. 4 and its three sister cars were modified for Skokie Swift service upon the line’s opening in 1964. The model is shown at Ralph Nelson’s layout. Current could actually be collected through the bow trolleys, but this particular run “came a cropper” as the overhead was not built for pan operation. The model holds down service via “third rail” on Bruce Moffat’s Moffat Electric Lines. Larry used automotive lacquer for most of his work and many of these colors, such a Mercury Green, Colorado Spruce Green, and Swamp Holly Orange were carried by DuPont and Ditzler (PPG) under those names.

Painting a PCC car means lots of curves and lots of stripes. Cleveland (represented here by No. 4266) adopted a paint scheme designed by Raymond Loewy. Simple it is not, but Larry brought if off beautifully on this Car Works product. There are subtle differences in line width and curvature designed to give nightmares to any custom painter. Larry appeared not to have been fazed.

Cincinnati had the only PCC cars equipped with twin trolley poles. The prototype, No, 1169, was delivered in August 1947 by St. Louis Car Company and featured an attractive paint scheme featuring three stripes running below the belt rail. Larry modified a Car Works all-electric PCC, adding the two poles and oversized housing as well as an superbly executed paint job.

Larry painted the same prewar PCC in five different ways. The first shows No. 4021 in the Buckingham Gray with “tiger stripes.” The others show four of the six experimental paint schemes adopted by Chicago Surface Lines in 1944, each a possible candidate as the standard livery for the anticipated postwar cars. The primary color for each car is as follows: 4035—orange with maroon V-front; 4022—Clipper Blue; 4018—Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, Swamp Holly Orange (colors eventually adopted); 4050—Coronado Tan. Photos of all six variations (executed by St. Petersburg Tram Collection) can be found on page 12 of CERA Bulletin 146.

The Blog is Back! Photos of Robert Konsbruck

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 20:01:07 GMT

After a long hiatus, CERA’s Blog has returned.

Every three-to-four weeks we will present photos and articles from our archives as well as current news in the field of electric railways. Please feel free to contribute—we can be reached through our email: ceraoffice@gmail.com.

The photos of Robert Konsbruck

CERA was fortunate to be allowed to scan the slides, prints and negatives from the collection of the late Robert Konsbruck. It is a slow process to scan, clean, and correct the color on each slide.

Today, we’re offering a few photos that Bob either took or were kept in his collection.

By 1953 the handwriting was on the wall for streetcars in Cleveland. With the conversion of the St. Clair line to bus in 1951 and the Euclid and Lorain lines in 1952, the Cleveland Transit System deemed its 75 PCC cars to be surplus and sold them to Toronto in October 1952. The remaining lines were served by an aging fleet of Peter Witt cars until the last line—Madison—was converted to bus on January 23, 1954. Madison was the only line remaining when Bob went out to Cleveland in late 1953 to photograph the cars one last time.

Before: This photo shows the appearance of the slides when we began restoring them.

After: This and subsequent slides were run through Photo Shop where exposure and color were corrected and the images were cleaned of any dirt and dust. The top view shows Witt 4142 near the Spring Garden wye on the Madison line. The following photo shows a typical scene along the line in the last weeks of streetcar operation.

Knowing the end was near, local fans rode and photographed the cars while they could. One group chartered 4117 for a fantrip. The car is shown at Public Square and out along the line on Madison.

Peter Witt 4138 is heading east on Madison on its way to Public Square.

One wonders how many buses were required to handle the same number of riders as the Witts. Their large capacity is demonstrated in this scene as 4145 loads regular riders and shoppers in front of Cleveland’s famed department store, Higbee’s, on Public Square.

Bob found an ideal photo site from the Cleveland Union Terminal tower where he recorded this view. By then only the Madison streetcars called at Public Square.

South Bend streetcars had less than three weeks to run when CERA operated Inspection Trip No. 20 on Memorial Day 1940. Members arrived in South Bend via the South Shore Line where they then traveled over the streets of South Bend on Chicago South Bend and Northern Indiana Railway No. 216, a St. Louis Car Company product built originally for the St. Joseph Valley Railway. The last streetcar in South Bend ran on June 15, 1940.

Both Hershey Transit and the Fairmount Park trolley in Philadelphia remained in operation until 1946. These three photos are probably from the early ‘40s.

Hershey Transit 18 and 7 meet at Hershey Square where crews were changed. The former car was built for the company by Brill in 1915 while No. 7 was one of three cars purchased in 1930 from the Lebanon Street Railway. Built by Cincinnati Car Company in 1914, the car has survived and is undergoing restoration in Hershey.

Brill-built No. 11 lays over at the picturesque Hershey Hotel terminal.

The Fairmount Park trolley operated a meandering line through its namesake park in Philadelphia until 1946. Riding in one of its open cars was a pleasant way to seek relief from Philadelphia’s hot and humid summers. Open car No. 81 basks in the sun outside of the line’s Belmont Avenue car house.

Bob went out to photograph the North Shore Line as often as time permitted in the early 1960s. This view shows a southbound freight headed by battery-electric No. 455 as it approaches Berkeley Avenue just north of the Briergate station.

Mundelein-bound train passes under I-94 at Greenhouse.

A southbound Silverliner pauses at Highmoor on a crisp sunny day.

A Chicago-bound train with equipment substituting for an Electroliner approaches a rural grade crossing north of Racine. Tavern-lounge car No. 415 provided meal and beverage service on this run.

The other double-sash Silverliner—No. 409—was behind 757 on a northbound train at South Upton Junction.

In Memoriam: Roy G. Benedict

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 19:47:26 GMT

Roy G. Benedict

We rail preservationists and historians have lost an important member of our community. Roy G. Benedict, prolific writer and historian active with several rail organizations over the course of 60+ years, passed away unexpectedly. He was 78.

Among other activities, Roy was long involved with CERA publications and also served a term as editor of First & Fastest, published by the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society. His historic research and writings were meticulous, thorough and accurate. A native of Chicago's South Side, he was considered a 'walking encyclopedia' of Chicago Surface Lines routes and operations.

Roy was a bachelor who lived alone on Chicago's Northwest Side. He was employed as a schoolteacher. After retiring, he started Roy G. Benedict Publisher's Services as a sole proprietorship. He did not own a car and used public transportation to get wherever he needed to go, traveling frequently to Indiana to observe NICTD board meetings or to distant libraries to research electric railways. When invited to ride with others to railroad museums, model meets, and other events not accessible by bus or train, Roy was always grateful for the opportunity to tag along.

The accompanying photo below shows Roy enjoying Bob Olson's South Bend Electric Railway in October of 2016.

There will be no funeral service. Roy bequeathed his collection to the Illinois Railway Museum's Strahorn Library.

--Eric Bronsky

Chicago Transit Digest Number 6905

(Past member) — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 16:44:33 GMT

THE 6000s ARE BACK!

CTA has reached agreement with the Fox River Trolley Museum to repurchase
cars 6101-02 for its Heritage Fleet.

The Fox River board approved the sale at its July 8 meeting. CTA signed off
on the terms Monday.

"We've done our part for historic preservation, which is our mission," said
museum President Edward Konecki. "Now it's time for them to go home."

CTA will move the cars Aug. 14-15. The married pair features a set of
outside conductor's controls and twin headlights, which makes them unique
among surviving 6000s.

Fox River has long-term historic preservation in mind. The contract
includes a clause that gives the museum a 90-day right of first refusal to
regain possession of the cars, should CTA decide to terminate its Heritage
Fleet program. they must be returned in fully operable condition.

The cars were never used in public operations at Fox River because of
restrictions written into the contact between the museum and CTA in the
1990s. Essentially, Fox River could not carry paying passengers on the cars.

CTA hopes to unveil the cars to the public in October, but it is hoped to
have them operable for CTAs rail Jamboree Aug. 26.

The Return of Talgo

(Past member) — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 17:23:50 GMT

Returns to central city plant here, will service and repairs trains for U.S. customers.

By Graham Kilmer - Jul 17th, 2017 04:30 pm

Subway cars inside Talgo facility. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Many will remember when the last train from Talgo, the international train manufacturer based in Spain, left town as the company closed its shop in central city Milwaukee. Well, the company has now returned to its old facility at 3533 N. 27th St, in the Century City Business Park, formerly the site of A.O Smith, and last week held a grand reopening of sorts, with city officials there to celebrate.

While Talgo specializes in manufacturing high-speed and transit trains around the world, the plant will handle the repair and maintenance of trains, at least for now. The facility will also has the capacity to manufacture trains, and will be the first production facility for Talgo in the US. They also have a maintenance facility in Seattle, Washington.

The reopened Talgo facility and its production capacity gives the company a stronger foothold in the U.S. market. It recently secured a contract with The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to repair subway cars. For Milwaukee officials, it was an opportunity to bring jobs to a long blighted part of the city.

Antonio Perez

For the next 56 months Tango employees here will work to fulfill the Los Angeles contract, which is worth $72.9 million. Perez said the company estimates that the yearly market for the kind of work they are doing at the Milwaukee plant is more than $180 million.

“There are like 25 different transit agencies in the United States,” Perez said. “We have won the contract of only one.”

Theoretically, if Talgo is awarded more contracts, the facility in Milwaukee will grow and bring on more employees.

“This is a good start,” said the local Ald. Khalif Rainey, hoping the plant will continue to grow and hire more employees from his district. Rainey added that he hopes having an international firm like Talgo in his district will send the message to other corporations that there is a “ready and willing” workforce, as Mayor Tom Barrett put it, in central Milwaukee.

“We can actually have a work, live, play model right here in a, hopefully, soon-to-be-formerly distressed neighborhood,” Rainey said.

Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux was among those that maintained a relationship with the Spanish firm after state lawmakers shuttered a deal with the firm in a series of decisions that cost the state $50 million. He said there’s a “myth” about Talgo’s new neighborhood, that the workforce has been sitting idly by, waiting for jobs to return; rather, he said, they’re skilled and working, but “want an opportunity at that same family-supporting job that they used to have.”

Perez concurred. Along with the location being logistically promising, he said the available “skilled workforce” was an important part of the deal.

“We’re doing everything we can to breathe life back into this location,” Barrett said. As an old industrial-area of the city, the Talgo plant sits on “dozens and dozens of acres of land,” Barrett said. “So when people talk about skills gap, in some ways it’s a geography gap. We’ve got that land here and we’ve got the people that want to do the work.”

Barrett said the city was “very pleased to welcome Talgo back to the community,” — especially after Gov. Scott Walker rejected the high-speed rail project, for which Talgo would have supplied the trains. And after Republican legislators decided not to honor a contract with the manufacturer for new trains on the Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago.

Taxpayers ultimately footed the bill on a settlement with Talgo that cost millions more than the original contract was worth.

“The City of Milwaukee never ever ended our relationship or let it get acrimonious,” Barrett said, later adding, “Even though the state burned their bridge, and tried to burn it again, and burn it again, and burn it again.”

Perez said transit maintenance and even production has a far more stable funding stream in the US, whereas the “high speed train business” has “a political bias,” as he put it. “The Democrats they think one way, the Republicans think a different way.”

Inside Talgo

More about the History of Talgo in Milwaukee

The Return of Talgo - Graham Kilmer - Jul 17th, 2017
Plenty of Horne: Welcome Back, Talgo USA! - Michael Horne - Nov 25th, 2016
Eyes on Milwaukee: Talgo Coming Back to Milwaukee - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 26th, 2016
Op-Ed: Walker’s High Speed Folly - Spencer Black - May 26th, 2016
Murphy’s Law: The Twisted Tale of Talgo - Bruce Murphy - Aug 25th, 2015
The Last Train from Talgo - Bruce Murphy - May 29th, 2014
Back in the News: Michigan May Get Talgo Trains - Bruce Murphy - Apr 14th, 2014
Plenty of Horne: State Delays on Talgo Claim - Michael Horne - Dec 12th, 2013
Back in the News: Talgo Files Claim Against State - Bruce Murphy - Nov 8th, 2013
Murphy’s Law: Did the State Screw Talgo? - Bruce Murphy - May 31st, 2012
Eyes on Milwaukee: Tour the Talgo Trains You Might Never Ride - Jeramey Jannene - May 17th, 2012
The train is gone, why does Talgo have to go with it? - Patti Wenzel - Dec 13th, 2010
Talgo Location Choice a No-Brainer – Milwaukee - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 30th, 2009

Milwaukee Streetcar Construction Enters Next Phase

(Past member) — Mon, 22 May 2017 15:00:28 GMT

The Milwaukee Streetcar construction along St. Paul Avenue is in the "most advanced stage" according to construction officials, as crews poured the first concrete along the line setting the rails Wednesday.

"We're on schedule, spring work can present challenges because you get all types of weather in spring,” said Construction Manager Carolynn Gellings. “All of this work is very weather dependent."

In Detroit last weekend the city opened the "Q-Line," a system largely designed by the same company and uses the same vehicles from Brookfield Equipment Corporation as the Milwaukee line does. TODAY'S TMJ4 sister station WXYZ-Detroit reports a few hiccups with the launch.

Long wait times, mechanical problems, and a car having to be towed from the tracks were reported.

OT::Milwaukee - KITI-TV: welding of steel rail for streetcar begins

(Past member) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 18:02:19 GMT

MILWAUKEE -- Sparks were flying in downtown Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 4th
as the controversial streetcar project moves forward. Some special
equipment arrived, marking a big milestone.

On Tuesday, workers moved the steel rails, and welded them into a long
piece of track.

"It looks like it really is a huge project," Brianne Harris said.

"Walk down the street to class and all of a sudden there is huge equipment
there and sparks flying everywhere. It's kind of cool," Josh Maas said.

On MSOE's campus Tuesday, students got a firsthand lesson.

"I'm a construction management major, so it's fun for me. I don't know how
other students feel about it," Harris said.

For the first time, welding was underway on the controversial streetcar
project, with 80-foot sticks of steel eventually becoming a 320-foot piece
of track.

The line that will eventually run from the Intermodal Station through the
Third Ward, Cathedral Square and the Lower East Side was being put together.

A city spokeswoman said there are few pieces of equipment in the country
that can do this kind of work, and it was in Milwaukee Tuesday, along with
some inconveniences.

"It's hard for studying with construction going on," an MSOE student said.

"I'm kind of excited to see it in action. That's for sure," Maas said.

CLICK HERE <http://www.themilwaukeestreetcar.com/> to learn more about the
streetcar project.

OT: Milwaukee - "urban milwaukee": streetcar rail has arrived for downtown

(Past member) — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 14:43:01 GMT

Mar 16th, 2017 05:05 pm

By Jeramey Jannene

The first shipments of steel that will form the actual track for the
Milwaukee Streetcar have arrived.

The segments, 52 rails delivered via flat-bed truck from Indiana, are being
stored in the curb lane near the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/government/wisconsin-department-of-transportation>
office at 1001 W. St. Paul Ave.

Ultimately the city will accept delivery of 474 80-foot long, 3,067 pound
segments that will be stored at five spots in the curb lane on city
streets.

Those steel rails will then be welded together into 320-foot long spans by
a nationally-traveling team that specializes in electric flash butt welding
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_welding>.

The steel is expected to be fully delivered by the end of the month.

The first construction of the guideway system is planned for April on a
stretch of W. St. Paul Ave. from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/buildings/milwaukee-intermodal-station> to N.
Plankinton Ave.

Construction work will involve cutting an 8-foot wide and 2-foot deep
segment of the street out and installing the steel rails and new concrete.

On streets like W. St. Paul Ave. where the streetcar will operate in both
directions two cuts will be made, while N. Milwaukee St. and N. Broadway
will only see one cut because the streetcar will only operate in one
direction.

Construction on the streetcar system is being led by Kiewet Infrastructure.

Utility work in advance of the actual streetcar guideway construction is
already well underway, with crews hired by We Energies
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/businesses/we-energies> and other utilities
working at a number of spots along the route.

Public operation on the initial route connecting the Milwaukee Intermodal
Station and Westown <http://urbanmilwaukee.com/neighborhoods/westown> with
the Historic Third Ward
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/neighborhoods/historic-third-ward>, East Town
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/neighborhoods/east-town> and the Lower East Side
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/neighborhoods/lower-east-side> is scheduled to
begin in the fourth quarter of 2018 following route testing.

The lakefront line extension is expected to begin operating in the fourth
quarter of 2019.

For more information on the project’s construction timeline and details see
our February article “Streetcar Construction Starts in April
<http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/02/17/eyes-on-milwaukee-streetcar-track-construction-starts-in-april/

First step to new CTA rail cars: Build the factory in Chicago

(Past member) — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 19:14:50 GMT

Construction is expected to begin this week on a Chinese state-owned rail company's assembly plant that will produce up to 846 new rail cars for the Chicago Transit Authority.

The project will return CTA rail car manufacturing to Chicago after a 50-year absence, according to the city. CRRC Sifang's American subsidiary, CRRC Sifang North America, won the $1.3 billion contract last year to build the new 7000 Series over 10 years. The cars will have a combination of forward- and rear-facing seats as well as single seats and some facing the aisle.

CRRC Sifang will invest $100 million in building a 380,944-square-foot manufacturing facility on 45 acres in Chicago's Hegewisch neighborhood on the Southeast Side.

Production will begin in early 2019. The facility will begin testing the new car prototype later that year and the cars will hit the rails by 2020.

The facility will employ about 170 workers, according to a statement from CCRC. The company will spend $7.2 million to train the workforce, according to a statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office.

The Chicago assembly plant is part of the company's larger plan to "become internationalized," said Li Yongle, vice president of CRRC Qingdao Sifang, under the CRRC corporate umbrella.

"We recognize the United States as an important and strategic market for the Sifang," he said through an interpreter. "It will support other project plans in the U.S., including projects for metro cars and high-speed trains."

The company already has a contract to build rail cars for Boston's transit system and aims to use the new Chicago plant if it wins bids to manufacture rail cars for San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit system, known as BART, and a double-decker coach car project for Metra, Li said.

The company plans to assemble "major components" of the cars at the plant, including the trucks, doors, the heating and cooling system, brakes, stainless steel car body shell and a new propulsion system designed for a smoother, quieter ride. Assembly parts will be sourced from the U.S., China and other areas, according to Li.

The CTA's first order of 400 new cars will replace its oldest rail cars, which date back more than 30 years. Once the new cars are in service, the CTA will have one of the youngest fleets of any U.S. transit agency, according to the CTA.

The Chinese company's $1.309 billion bid came in $226 million lower than one submitted by Canadian-based Bombardier, which appealed the CTA's decision to pick the Chinese firm. The decision was upheld last year after being reviewed by the CTA.

"This new facility represents a major investment in Chicago that will bring economic development to the Southeast Side, while creating good-paying jobs for hundreds of workers," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a news release.

The new rail cars will have LED lighting and 37 or 38 seats each and be a hybrid of the previous 5000 Series and the 3200 Series currently seen on the Brown and Orange lines. Both federal and local funds will pay for the project, with the local money coming from a previous bond issue.

Li said his company still is negotiating possible tax incentives for building the facility in Chicago. A spokesman from the mayor's office said there are no city incentives but the company could be eligible for a county property tax credit. crshropshire@chicagotribune.com

CTA to Reroute Some Red Line Trains During 95th Street Station Work

(Past member) — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:17:30 GMT

The $280 million 95th Street terminal project is expected to be completed in late 2018. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Mary Wisniewski Contact ReporterChicago Tribune

The CTA plans to reroute some weekday rush-hour Red Line "L" trains onto the Green Line starting next month to allow for more construction at the 95th Street station.

The next construction phase will include work on the tracks, the existing station platform and the foundations of the new north and south terminal buildings, CTA spokesman Jeff Tolman said. To do the work, the CTA will have to close the east and west sides of the tracks at 95th, at separate times.

What does this mean for South Side commuters? The work will affect off-peak trains during the morning and afternoon weekday rush hours, so riders will have to make sure they get on the right train.

From 7:56 a.m. to 9:14 a.m., every other southbound Red Line train starting at Howard Street will be rerouted after the Roosevelt station to the Ashland/63rd Green Line stop, the CTA said.

From 4:40 p.m. to 5:58 p.m., every other Howard-bound train entering the Loop from south of Roosevelt will start at the Ashland/63rd Green Line station.

Depending on riders' location, some customers going in the off-peak direction may have to wait a few extra minutes, Tolman said.

The rerouting, which will affect about 10 percent of all Red Line trains, begins April 2 and will continue until fall.

All trains will be marked with destination signs, showing Ashland/63rd, 95th/Dan Ryan or Howard, and announcements will be made at stations, CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said.

CTA to get $1.1 billion federal grant to upgrade Red Line

"This was necessary so we can do two things — maintain Red Line service and keep 95th Street open," Chase said.

Motorists on the Dan Ryan Expressway also will see the extended closure of the northbound left lane near 95th Street beginning as soon as March 18, depending on the weather, and continuing into the fall. The lane also was closed last fall.

The $280 million 95th Street terminal project, expected to be completed in late 2018, involves completely rebuilding the Red Line South's busiest station, which sees 20,000 passengers and 1,000 bus trips a day. The station is the southernmost stop on the Red Line — the agency plans to extend the line south to 130th Street, but has not yet acquired the funding.

OT: Milwaukee - "urban milwaukee": Kiewit to hire workers to build streetcare line

(Past member) — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 18:00:41 GMT

Kiewit Infrastructure, the firm that will build the MILWAUKEE modern
streetcar line in Wisconsin's largest city, will be hiring workers for
track installation that will start in the coming months, the "urban
milwaukee dot com" site reports. Utility relocation already is underway.
The city is buying dual-mode Brookville Equipment "Liberty" model
streetcars for the project -- the same type operating at Dallas-Oak Cliff,
being delivered to Detroit Q Line and ordered by Oklahoma City. Milwaukee
expects delivery of its first Brookville streetcar in December 2017. Five
will be acquired: four for the starter line and one for the wire-free
Lakefront extension to a planned high rise development. The next phase
would be a 4th Street extension north to a planned sports arena. The
Milwaukee Bucks NBA professional basketball team plans the arena as part of
an entertainment complex.

The Electroliner Restoration Project

(Past member) — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 20:18:10 GMT

Progress continues on the Electroliner restoration project. This is a very large, complex multi year project that began in 2013. In the past three and one half years, hundreds of individuals (including a significant number of NEW IRM members) have donated over $850,000 and a small crew of dedicated workers have worked weekly on interior restoration (more hands are needed - if interested, contact Ed Oslowski at (773) 710-3226.)

The motors are at a contractor and a number have been rebuilt/repaired and returned to Union. Four new wheels have been fabricated, the others have been turned to the original NSL profile, and the trucks are nearing complete tear down and restoration (with some new parts) at Avalon Car Company in Milwaukee. Reupholstering of seats is ongoing. These projects have been very expensive and taken much of the money that has been donated.

Major projects remain, especially restoring the air conditioning system. We have several members with expertise in HVAC who we hope will help with this project.

Our estimated need to complete the restoration of the Electroliner, hopefully to operational condition by the end of 2017 and full restoration by the end of 2020, is $1.2 million. That is a very ambitious goal! We have applied for and received a number of grants and more requests are being planned for the next few months. We have also received several extremely generous donations and bequeaths, which were unexpected but allowed us to begin the "heavy" work described above.

In order to continue our work, especially on the air conditioning, we need to keep money coming in. As we approach the end of the year we ask that you consider a special donation to the Electroliner fund by the end of December. We will continue to report on our progress - look for at least one story and pictures in one of the upcoming RAIL & WIRE issues in 2017!

Donations can be made with a credit card by visiting www.irm.org and going to the “Museum Store” (look under “Bestsellers” “$25 NSL . . .” or by sending a check (IRM Electroliner Fund) or your credit card information to: IRM, PO Box 427, Union IL 60180. You can also call during normal business hours (815) 923 4391 #2.

Historic Michigan Avenue Sign to Light Up Again at the Illinois Railway Museum in McHenry County

(Past member) — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 15:03:24 GMT

Historic Michigan Avenue Sign to Light Up Again at the Illinois Railway Museum in McHenry County

Union, IL - A giant piece of Chicago history is coming back to life at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, McHenry County. On October 29, 2016 at 5:00pm the 70-foot long illuminated SANTA FE sign which for decades sat atop the Railway Exchange Building at 224 South Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago will be re-lit following an extensive restoration effort. The sign was acquired by the museum in 2012, when it was removed from the building and donated by the building's owners, Hamilton Partners. Restoration of the sign, which was constructed in 1982 to replace an earlier 1962 version, took place in 2016 courtesy of a grant from the BNSF Foundation.

Restoration of the enormous sign was conducted by MK Signs Chicago. "Over 260 man-hours went into this project," said Dave Diamond, head of the museum's Buildings & Grounds Department. "The work included cleaning and repairing polycarbonate surfaces, wiring replacement, and installation of over 1400 energy-efficient LED modules to illuminate the letters." Steel supports were installed near the museum entrance, where the SANTA FE letters will be easily visible from passing cars. The sign joins other restored railroad signs at the museum including examples from the North Shore Line, South Shore Line, Illinois Central Railroad, and Chicago Transit Authority.

WA: Seattle's George Benson Waterfront Trolleys to Roll in St. Louis

(Past member) — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 21:50:33 GMT

Alan Berner On Oct 25, 2016

Source: McClatchy

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Oct. 25--The George Benson Waterfront Streetcars will clang, clang, clang again after more than a decade in storage -- but not in Seattle.

This Northwest Wanderings took me to St. Louis, Mo., the city I grew up in, and to The Loop, the neighborhood where I lived.

That city bought three of the vintage cars for $200,000 and will run them on a 2.2-mile route, mainly in The Loop area along Delmar Boulevard. The Loop is named after the turnaround point for streetcars that stopped running there in 1966.

In a window display, the old Seattle waterfront trolleys are seen running in the Loop area in St. Louis. The tracks are laid and the actual trolleys will begin running in early 2017. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Getting streetcars along the Seattle waterfront was the signature accomplishment of the late Councilmember George Benson.

He traveled to Melbourne, Australia, and secured five streetcars that date to the 1920s. The waterfront line stopped service in 2005, one year after Benson died. Two cars remain in storage here.

The interiors of the vintage cars feature Tasmanian mahogany, white ash and brass hardware.

Native St. Louisan Joe Edwards has driven their streetcar project and the revitalization of The Loop.

He says it's been designated one of the 10 great streets by the American Planning Association.

"It's racially diverse, economically diverse and age diverse," says Edwards.

Just as Seattle's hometown rock 'n' roll legend Jimi Hendrix has a statue on Capitol Hill, The Loop has local, living legend Chuck Berry about to go into his famous duckwalk, while playing guitar, depicted in an 8-foot statue.

"He's just kicking it up," says Edwards, along the Walk of Fame on the sidewalk in The Loop, a series of brass stars and bronze plaques celebrating those from that city or creatively formed by that city.

Down the center of the street, the tracks are laid and overhead wires are being strung.

Edwards says, "People trust the fixed track. It's clean electric transit, the prototype of how to connect one neighborhood to another.

"We've very grateful to Seattle, salute Seattle. Here, they have a good home and we respect that type of transit in a good way."

The cars are on track to begin testing next month and carrying passengers next year.

Alan Berner: 206-464-8133 or aberner@seattletimes.com

In: South Shore to Explain Plans to Speed up the Ride

(Past member) — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 14:23:35 GMT

Andrew Steele On Oct 3, 2016

Source: McClatchy

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Oct. 03--Operators of the South Shore Line will give the public a look at a project they say would slash commute times to Chicago at three workshops this week.

The project would add a second track to the commuter railroad and upgrade five stations between Gary and Michigan City in an effort to speed the trip to Chicago. The estimated cost of the project, dubbed Double Track NWI, is $210 million.

According to estimates included in a new Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority strategic plan, almost half an hour would be sliced off the ride from Michigan City, with total trip time dropping to an hour and 11 minutes compared to the current hour and 39 minutes. The ride from Miller would be cut by 18 minutes, with total trip time dropping to 49 minutes from the current hour and seven minutes.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District received the go-ahead from the Federal Transit Administration earlier this year to begin planning the project. It has hired the engineering firm HDR to do the initial environmental and engineering work for $4 million.

"We are well underway in conducting the significant engineering and environmental work required by the federal process," NICTD President Michael Noland told the railroad's board of trustees at its September meeting.

'A real urgency'

NICTD is meeting with a variety of agencies and companies to discuss Double Track NWI's impact, including NIPSCO, the National Park Service, the Indiana Department of Transportation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The railroad is also in discussions with South Shore Freight Railroad, which shares tracks with the commuter railroad, concerning two potential bottlenecks, Noland said. One is in west Gary and the other in the area of ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor steel mill and the Bailly Generating Station.

The Miller neighborhood in Gary and Michigan City would see the most noticeable evidence of the project.

In Miller, the plan requires the realignment of U.S. 12 "so we can keep our station in Gary right near Lake Street," Noland said. The point where U.S. 12 merges with U.S. 20 would be moved east, and a stretch of U.S. 12 between Clay Street and the South Howard Street area eliminated.

The work will allow a smoother track alignment, a full, high-level platform and new parking garage at the station.

In Michigan City, where tracks have run down the middle of streets for more than a century, NICTD is discussing new track and station layouts with city officials, Noland said. The mid-street tracks would be replaced by roadside tracks.

The initial environmental and engineering work needs to be done in less than a year, to keep the project on track for construction in 2019 and 2020.

Submitting the project to the federal government in August would make it eligible for inclusion in the federal budget the next fiscal year.

"There is a real urgency getting into the federal pipeline," Noland said. "It's a competitive process. We're well served by getting this to the FTA in August."

Federal funding would cover half the project cost, leaving the other half to state and local sources. NICTD officials hope to have the state and local sources determined by next summer.

"We've been gaining significant traction" in earning support from state officials, Noland said.

The railroad is establishing a website for information about the project, set to be available after Tuesday, at www.DoubleTrackNWI.com.

Talgo will return to Milwaukee to refurbish trains for Los Angeles

(Past member) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 03:04:23 GMT

See Sean Ryan's Full Real Estate Inc. article

Train manufacturer Talgo Inc. will return to Milwaukee’s Century City Business Park to refurbish trains under a $73 million contract with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority.

It marks a return for the Spanish train manufacturer, which left Milwaukee in spring 2014 after a lengthy battle with state officials over canceled contracts to manufacture and maintain trains. Talgo will move back into the building it formerly leased from the city of Milwaukee in the Century City Business Park.

Metra Receives Final Metra Electric Highliners

(Past member) — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 15:18:15 GMT

Metra recently received the final two cars of its 160-car order for the Metra Electric Line, completing a 2010 purchase to outfit the line with a completely new and modern fleet.

The new cars use the latest technology and have a variety of new features, including larger windows, better seats with reversible seatbacks, brighter lighting, non-skid floors and an improved public address system. They also have power outlets for customer use. Most notably, half of the new Highliner cars have bathrooms, meaning that every train on the Metra Electric line will have at least one bathroom – a first for the line.

“Modernizing the Electric District’s fleet has been a priority for Metra for more than a decade,” said Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “With the delivery of the final cars, we are celebrating the completion of a major investment that has enabled us to provide our customers with more comfortable and reliable service.”

Since 1984, Metra has invested $1.6 billion in the Metra Electric – the most of any of Metra’s lines in the agency’s six-county service area.

The push to replace the original 40-plus-year-old Highliners with a more modern fleet began with an order for 26 stainless steel Highliner cars in 2004. The cars, delivered to Metra in 2006, were purchased with $76 million in funding provided through the state’s Illinois FIRST bond program. Another state bond program allowed Metra to move forward with the purchase of 160 more Highliners in 2010 when the Metra Board approved $585 million contract with Sumitomo Corp. of America/Nippon Sharyo.

The order from Metra spurred Nippon Sharyo to invest $35 million to build a new railcar factory in Rochelle, Ill., that employs hundreds of people while Illinois added a $12 million business investment package to support the new facility.

Highliners are electric, self-propelled cars unique to the Metra Electric Line. The new cars are propelled by alternating current (AC), which supplies more power and requires less maintenance that the direct current (DC) propulsion used by the original Highliners.

Although the Metra Electric Line cars cannot be used on the diesel lines, Metra has designed these cars so that, where possible, they share parts with those used on diesel bi-level cars.

The old Highliner fleet dated from the 1970s – before Metra was created – and the last six cars carried their final passengers from Chicago to University Park on Feb. 12, 2016. Twenty-four of the original Highliner cars have been sent to museums, including Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill.; Union Depot Railroad Museum in Mendota, Ill.; Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad/James H. Andrew Museum in Boone, Iowa; and the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana.

OT: Milwaulkee - Lead Contractor Hired for Streetcar; Work Starts this Fall

(Past member) — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 22:53:03 GMT

The city of MILWAUKEE has hired Kiewit Infrastructure of Omaha, Neb., as

lead contractor for its downtown modern streetcar line and construction

could could begin this fall, Milwaukee Business Journal reports:

< https://twitter.com/milwstreetcar>

< *http://tinyurl.com/heghdvv >*

Milwaukee hires lead streetcar contractor, allowing work to begin as early

as fall

Aug 19, 2016, 2:24pm CDT

*Sean Ryan*

Reporter*Milwaukee Business Journal*

Kiewit Infrastructure Co. of Omaha, Neb., was selected for the estimated

$60 million contract to lead the first phases of Milwaukee’s streetcar

construction.

The international contractor has extensive experience in transportation

projects, which weighed heavily in its selection for the Milwaukee

streetcar, said

Milwaukee Department of Public Works

commissioner Ghassan Korban

That experience shows Kiewit Infrastructure’s ability to minimize impacts

on businesses along the route, he said.

"The streetcar vehicles are being manufactured by Brookville

Equipment Corp. in Pennsylvania, and the first one will arrive in Milwaukee

in December 2017."

“They understand what it takes to build an urban rail system in the middle

of a downtown,” Korban said.

Kiewit Infrastructure was among seven companies that competed for the

Milwaukee streetcar contract. Its projects include subway work in Toronto,

a $350 million light rail project in Denver and Aurora, Colo., and rail

projects for the Chicago Transit Authority.

Kiewit Infrastructure will be construction manager for the initial downtown

loop of the streetcar, and the spur leading to the downtown lakefront. It

also will oversee construction of an operations and maintenance facility

for the streetcar vehicles on Fourth Street, underneath the interstate

bridges. The initial streetcar phase will open for service in 2018, and the

lakefront spur will start service in 2019.

Kiewit’s selection means construction work could begin in late fall on the

streetcar system, Korban said.

“The kind of work we would choose to move forward with would have to not be

impacted by inclement weather,” Korban said.

The company will coordinate project scheduling with the city in the coming

months, he said, including timing for ordering major materials such as

streetcar rails.

“They bring their insight, bring their experience to allow some tweaking to

help expedite or bring greater efficiency to the project,” Korban said.

In addition to experience, Kiewit Infrastructure committed to completing

the project within the city’s allotted budget, Korban said. It has shown a

“tremendous understanding of the local market,” to meet the city’s 21

percent goal for participation of disadvantaged business enterprises, he

said. The contractor also showed good understanding of the training

programs to help meet the city’s resident hiring programs on the

construction work.

Milwaukee residents in the Residents Preference Program are to work 40

percent of the hours on the construction project.

“They’ve shown full understanding and commitment to adhere to those

requirements,” Korban said.

------------

Edward B. Havens

Tucson, Ariz,.

Bradley Criss

(Past member) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 17:44:31 GMT

Bradley Criss, aged 53, passed away quietly on the morning of June 29, 2016, after an extended illness. Bradley was an active member of CERA for many years and was a former member of the board of directors.

He is best known to CERA members for his layout and design work on Bulletin 146, Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era, 1936-1958. Bradley was also a talented audio/visual editor whose works included the DVD Chicago Streetcar Memories and the DVD Tribute to the North Shore Line (both with Jeff Wien). The latter was shown at CERA’s January 2013 meeting to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the railway’s abandonment. Most evident in the DVD was his talent for wedding sound bites to film clips and digitizing old film into a clean, professionally-edited digitized presentation.

Bradley’s North Shore Line program will be reprised for the January 2017 CERA meeting. Those who have previously seen (or heard about) this well-made production will agree that this program was not only a fitting tribute to the North Shore Line but is also a tribute to Bradley’s memory as well that can be shared by all of us.

Oh, Canada! Toronto Beats Chicago on Transit with More Riders, Funding

(Past member) — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 14:32:33 GMT

Oh, Canada! Toronto Beats Chicago
on Transit with More Riders, Funding

A streetcar makes its way through traffic along King street at Bay.

(Richard Lautens / Toronto Star)

Mary Wisniewski Contact ReporterChicago Tribune

Toronto is a Great Lakes city like Chicago in many ways: It has about the same population, hot summers, freezing winters and a colorful patchwork of ethnic neighborhoods.

But there are differences north of the border. The money is prettier. Crime is less violent. Milk comes in plastic bags.

One major contrast is in the sister cities' transit systems. Despite having fewer rail lines and stations, Toronto's public transit ridership has seen years of steady passenger growth — up 15 percent from 2008 to 2015, while the CTA's is down 1.6 percent over the same period. With 2.7 million daily boardings compared with the CTA's 1.6 million, the Toronto Transit Commission, or TTC, has become the busiest system in North America, after New York City and Mexico City.

TTC also is getting billions in capital dollars from the province of Ontario for service expansion, while Springfield lacks a current capital program. The entire Toronto region is undergoing a transit revolution and offers an example of what can be done for transit, if the political will and money are available.

Yonah Freemark, project manager of Chicago's Metropolitan Planning Council, said that continued investments in improving service, coupled with a growing population and development planning that links residents to transit lines, all are boosting use of Toronto's system.

"We really need to campaign for the state to provide more funding for transit services — buses and rail," Freemark said. The council has been pushing for $43 billion in new capital funding for transportation infrastructure over the next decade.

The capital connection

Unlike Illinois, which has no current capital plan because of the state budget impasse, Ontario has committed $8.4 billion in support of new transit in Toronto. The province is putting $31.5 billion in capital investments over 10 years to build an integrated provincial transportation network. The total package includes improvements to roads and bridges and to the frequency of GO trains — Toronto's equivalent to Metra.

Canada is poised to become North America's new cannabis capital

The money specifically for the TTC includes $5.3 billion for the Eglinton Crosstown, an 11.8-mile light rail line that will be the largest transit expansion in the city's history, to be completed in 2021.

An additional $2.1 billion is going to two other light rail lines. The TTC and the city are in the early stages of planning a new "relief" subway line to manage subway congestion downtown, and an extension to the Scarborough area, which will cost $3.56 billion in city, provincial and federal funds.

Due to open late next year is a 5.3-mile extension on the city's main Yonge-University line, built with provincial, federal and local funds.

New project funding is separate from the TTC's $9 billion 10-year capital program for maintaining the system, building elevators and buying streetcars, TTC spokesman Brad Ross said. The TTC is $2.7 billion shy for this program but proceeding as it can.

In contrast, the CTA needs $13 billion over the next 10 years to keep its much older system in a state of good repair. Its last all-new line, the Orange Line, opened in 1993.

Hate center-facing? Take a seat on 130 years of 'L' trains

The CTA committed $5 billion in the last five years to rehabbing stations and other improvements. It wants to invest more to improve service — a big initiative is the $2.13 billion Red and Purple Line modernization project to rebuild tracks that are more than a century old.

But the agency lacks a reliable source of capital funding. It has a pledge of $1 billion in federal money, but that isn't guaranteed without a local match.

CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said the stop-and-start nature of capital funding makes it difficult to plan effectively.

"You have to constantly hope and work for funding, and you don't have the stable funding stream," Chase said.

The Toronto way

Toronto's system is slightly more expensive to ride than Chicago's. The adult cash price is $3.25 in Canadian dollars or about $2.52 in U.S. dollars, compared with $2.25 for the Chicago "L." Most Toronto riders use a monthly Metropass for $141.50, or about $110 in U.S. currency. The CTA 30-day pass costs $100.

TTC transfers are free, as are rides for children younger than 12, and there's a discount for college students. Fares cover about two-thirds of operations, while the city covers the other third, plus most good repair projects.

TTC's rail system is smaller — with four lines and 69 stations compared with the CTA's eight lines and 145 stations. TTC rail does not extend into the suburbs as the CTA does, and shuts down at night for maintenance, unlike CTA Blue and Red line trains, which run 24 hours.

The TTC can seem oddly inadequate — rail stations don't open until 8 a.m. on Sundays.

But Toronto does have a larger network of bus and streetcar service with about 170 routes, said Ross, compared with the CTA's 130 bus routes. Night service is offered through a network of buses and streetcars.

Ross noted that TTC service was cut under the former mayor, the controversial Rob Ford, who died earlier this year. The current mayor, John Tory, reinstated service that was cut. He also wants a separate initiative called SmartTrack, which would adapt a commuter rail corridor for urban use, with electrification and more stops.

TTC growth

One reason TTC's ridership is growing is because the city is. Toronto has 2.86 million people, according to the World Population Review, up from 2.5 million in 2006. Chicago's population has slipped to 2.72 million, according to U.S. Census data.

Toronto also has less highway capacity than Chicago, and rush hour traffic is horrendous.

"Because Toronto has fewer highways, it's encouraging people to take transit," Freemark said. About 68 percent of Toronto morning commuters use transit, said chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat. That's compared with 28 percent of Chicago commuters, according to 2014 Census figures. Of Toronto public transit commuters, 85 percent use the TTC, Ross said.

Another factor is Toronto's strategy of linking new development with transit corridors, Keesmaat said. Transit-oriented development — putting dense retail and residential development near train stations to encourage people to ditch their cars — is starting to happen in Chicago, with high-rises springing up near "L" stations.

But in Toronto, high-density development near transit corridors is part of a 10-year-old plan, Keesmaat said. The city has reduced requirements for parking spaces, and 80 percent of growth is on main transit corridors.

"As we grow, we want to not add cars but provide the option for people to primarily get around on transit," Keesmaat said. "We've linked our transit capital building projects to the vision of the city we're trying to create."

Freemark said improved bus service also is a factor in TTC's progress. CTA bus ridership has dropped while its rail ridership has gone up.

The TTC can be too popular, and rush hour trains and streetcars get "squishy," which shows the need for more capacity, Keesmaat said.

Besides the line expansions, the TTC is growing space for riders through investing in new train control technology that will allow more trains to run per hour, and adding new streetcars and trains with more room onboard, Ross said.

For example, newer trains on the system lack doors between cars, which allows riders to look down the entire train from end to end. This allows for about 10 percent more capacity, Ross said.

There are some hard choices ahead. Metrolinx, Ontario's regional transit agency, has been developing a plan to merge the fare systems of the Toronto region's transit operators.

A possible scenario would be to change the TTC's flat fare model, similar to the CTA's, to a distance-based model. But the TTC says this would require major renovations, and community activists fear it would result in big fare hikes.

A recent softening of TTC ridership may be caused by the economy slowing, or some people peeling off to take Uber or biking, Ross said. TTC riders gripe about their system just like CTA riders do. They complain about overcrowding, system breakdowns, riders who evade fares, and those who talk too loud or eat smelly food on the trains.

But TTC riders do have something to look forward to — big expansions to a system that most residents depend on every day.

"There's a big modernization effort going on," Ross said. "It does take time, though. It's a big ship to turn around."

Kyle Whitehead, campaign director for the Active Transportation Alliance, said the Chicago region needs to imitate Toronto in thinking bigger about transit improvement and expansion.

"There's been such stagnation in recent decades, I think a lot of people in Chicago think that's the way it is and that's the way it's always going to be," Whitehead said.

"If we can move forward with projects like Ashland Avenue bus rapid transit service, and other expansion projects, people will see the improvements and see more areas clamoring for improvements," Whitehead said. "I think that's what's happening in Toronto."

mwisniewski@tribpub.com

Proposed Fares, Operating Schedule Announced for Milwaukee Streetcar

(Past member) — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 13:46:29 GMT

Milwaukee News

Proposed Fares, Operating Schedule
Announced for Milwaukee Streetcar

Rides for the Milwaukee streetcar will cost $1, and the car will operate from 5 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Credit: Brookville Equipment Corp.

5:21 p.m.

16 Comments

By Hannah Schwarz of the Journal Sentinel

Officials with the city and business community announced Thursday the proposed fares and operating hours of the city's planned streetcar — and said part of the lakefront route may go off-wire.

Officials also defended themselves against criticism that the project is unnecessary and too expensive.

The streetcar is to be completed by late 2019.

Rides will cost $1 per ride, and the streetcar will operate from 5 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, officials said at a Milwaukee Press Club luncheon. The wait time between cars will be around 10 to 15 minutes, officials said. There will be 21 stops along the line.

"This is one important critical aspect of building a competitive city," said Beth Weirick, the CEO of downtown's Business Improvement District No. 21 and a member of Thursday's panel.

"There's a war for talent going on in this country," and to attract growing businesses, the city needs to pick up on what other metropolitan areas are doing, she said.

"We are such a car-centric city," but people in cities across the U.S. are increasingly shifting away from vehicles, Weirick said, adding that 30% of the 22,000 residents who live in downtown Milwaukee don't own cars.

Groundbreaking for the streetcar will be this fall, and the first vehicle will be delivered in December 2017. The first route will be completed by the end of 2018, and the second route will be completed by the end of 2019, officials said.

Each car will hold up to 150 passengers, and will include 32 seats, said Ashley Booth, planning and technical services director at HNTB, the firm consulting with the city on the streetcar project. Each car will be wheelchair accessible.

Part of the lakefront route will likely be off-wire, but only if the streets can accommodate an exclusive lane for the streetcar, said City Engineer Jeffrey Polenske. When off-wire, the streetcar would run on battery power.

Most of the first three years of operation will be funded by a grant from the federal government, but how the city will pay for operating costs — aside from fares — hasn't yet been determined, Polenske said.

The city is looking into developing sponsorship and advertising programs, he added. Once the streetcar is in operation for a couple of years, the city will be eligible for more federal funding.

Milwaukee doesn't have a dedicated revenue source for transportation, making it unusual among metropolitan areas, Booth said.

Booth addressed concerns about low ridership by pointing to Kansas City, Mo., where ridership at 6,000 per day is more than three times what city officials projected.

The streetcar's 2.5-mile route will encompass the downtown area and a loop around the lakefront.

CTA to renovate historic Quincy station in Loop

(Past member) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 13:30:48 GMT

CTA to renovate historic Quincy station in Loop

The Quincy "L" station, seen in this artist's rendering, will undergo renovations, including the addition of elevators for the disabled, CTA President Dorval Carter said June 8, 2016. (CTA / Handout)

Mary Wisniewski
Contact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

In 1897, William McKinley was in the White House, aviator Amelia Earhart was a baby and the Quincy "L" station was built in Chicago's downtown.

Some 119 years later, the stop at Quincy and Wells streets in Chicago's Loop is still one of the busiest stations on the CTA system, located near the financial district and Willis Tower, with 2.2 million rides annually on the Brown, Orange, Pink and Purple lines. It's also one of the most attractive, with pressed metal wreaths and polished wood in the stationhouse, a ticket agent booth replicated in the 1980s based on original 1897 plans and old-time posters on the platform.

But even the best-preserved among us need the occasional makeover. So on Wednesday, the CTA board approved a contract for station renovations, which will include adding two elevators to make the station accessible to customers with disabilities.

The $18.2 million renovation also will include stair replacement, painting and lighting improvements, but it will preserve the appearance of the station, according to the CTA. The board awarded an $11.7 million contract to Park Ridge-based Ragnar Benson Construction LLC, which has done previous work for the CTA. That includes the Loop track renewal project in 2012, which replaced more than 2 miles of elevated rail and track components downtown, said CTA spokesman Jeffrey Tolman.

The Quincy CTA station at Quincy and Wells streets in Chicago's Loop, seen here in December 2014, will undergo renovations as the agency continues to preserve and restore several historic CTA locations. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

The rest of the Quincy project will be handled in-house, Tolman said. The station, which is expected to remain open during construction, was last renovated in 1988.

"It's a very busy station for us, and I think it will be a tremendous improvement to our customers and particularly to our disabled customers," CTA President Dorval Carter told reporters after the meeting. Work on the station is expected to begin later this year, though no date was immediately available.

The CTA is also looking to better preserve its historic cars and equipment through a Heritage Fleet program announced last week. The fleet consists of a selection of retired railcars and buses, including two 1923 orange-and-brown 4000-series railcars, along with buses from the 1960s with their original markings.

CTA adds Bus Tracker displays at 51 rail stops

The program will set guidelines for future preservation, maintenance and repair of the vehicles, with funding from revenue generated by the CTA's online gift store and private charters of the vehicles. The agency also plans to show off the historic vehicles at city events and activities.

After Wednesday's meeting, Carter also noted that the state of Illinois' continued budget impasse means that the agency still is not receiving its annual $28 million subsidy for reduced and free fares. Such fares are provided for students, senior citizens, members of the military and people with disabilities.

"It's not having an immediate impact on service or anything like that," Carter said. He said the agency's budget is big enough to deal with the delay in funding.

But he noted it is a growing cost for the CTA, and he is looking forward to the continuing commitment from the state.

CTA to test prepaid boarding on Belmont buses

The CTA also announced that it had received its first perfect score in its triennial review from the Federal Transit Administration, the oversight agency for transit systems. The FTA reviewed 17 areas, including safety, finance, maintenance and public input.

The FTA looked at nearly 600 transit agencies between 2013 and 2016 and found an average of eight deficiencies in each, CTA spokesman Brian Steele said. An FTA representative was not immediately available for comment.

"It is very rare, especially for a transit agency of this size, to get a perfect score," Carter said in a statement. He said the score is a testament to the attention paid by CTA employees to federal regulations.
mwisniewski@tribpub.com

Ask Geoffrey: A Look Back at Chicago's Streetcar Era

(Past member) — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:53:56 GMT

Why was the streetcar system scrapped in Chicago? Was there a streetcar tunnel under the Chicago River? And are there any remnants from the Brookfield Zoo streetcar? Geoffrey Baer tracks down answers for these three questions about Chicago's bygone streetcar heyday.

I read that Chicago once had the largest street railway system in the world. Why was the system scrapped? Were the tracks pulled up or covered over?

– Martin Rowe, Lincolnwood

Chicago at one time did claim to have the largest streetcar system in the world, with a fleet of over 3,200 passenger cars and over 1,000 miles of track – a claim backed up in several sources we found.

It all started in 1859 with a horse-drawn car running along a single rail track down State Street. By the 1880s, a handful of different streetcar companies were in operation across the city. Gradually, the horse-drawn lines were replaced with cable cars – so called because they hooked to a constantly moving cable underneath the street. Electric streetcars powered by an overhead trolley line gradually replaced the cable cars.

In 1914, the streetcar companies unified under a new name: Chicago Surface Lines. A nickel would get you a ride to just about anywhere in the city.

The advent of affordable automobiles in the 1920s caused streetcar ridership to decline – but streetcar operators weren’t going to just give up. In 1929 they formed the Presidents’ Conference Committee, or PCC, which determined that the way to stop the decline in ridership was to make streetcars as fast, smooth, convenient and comfortable as the family car.

Chicago was chosen as the guinea pig city to test two experimental designs. The winning design became known as the PCC car and was used in cities all over the country. Chicago ordered 600 of them in 1945 and 1946. Here they were nicknamed Green Hornet streetcars because of their speed and the Chicago Surface Lines’ green paint job.

At almost the same time the Chicago Surface Lines and the ‘L’ were consolidated as the CTA – and the CTA’s general manager Walter McCarter wasn’t a fan of streetcars and their unsightly web of overhead wires. He oversaw phasing out streetcars in favor of buses starting in 1947, just a year after the Green Hornets went into service. The last Chicago streetcar click-clacked down Vincennes Avenue on June 21, 1958.

There are still lasting vestiges of the streetcar system in Chicago. Many of today’s CTA bus routes and route numbers are the same as they were in the days of streetcars. And as for the tracks – a few of the streets had the tracks pulled up, but most were covered with asphalt and are still in the streets under pavement.

PCC streetcars are still in operation in a number of places including Kenosha, Wisconsin; San Francisco and at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Our key source for this answer was “Chicago Streetcar Pictorial,” a book just released by the Central Electric Railfans’ Association. It details just about everything you could want to know about Chicago PCC streetcars.

I am 84 years old. I grew up in Chicago and have a memory of riding on a street car as it went through a tunnel under the Chicago River. Is the memory of this old man accurate or a fantasy?

– Ron Graham, Bensenville

We’ve actually done this question before, but we thought we’d bring it back for this segment. Our viewer’s memory is 100 percent accurate – there were in fact three tunnels under the river.

The tunnels were proposed in the mid-1800s to solve a traffic problem. There were so many ships traveling up and down the river that the old swing bridges were constantly opening, causing huge traffic jams on land.

The first tunnel opened in 1869 on Washington Street. The LaSalle Street tunnel opened in 1871, just before the Chicago Fire. It became a vital escape route for people fleeing the fire after the wooden bridges burned.

The tunnels originally were for carriages and pedestrians. Later, the cable car companies ran tracks through the tunnels because they couldn’t run cables across movable bridges.

A third tunnel was built at Van Buren Street specifically for streetcars.

When the river was reversed in 1900, the current in the river exposed the tunnels that had been 18 feet below the riverbed so new tunnels had to be built at a lower depth.

The LaSalle Street tunnel was fabricated of steel above ground, then floated into place and then lowered into a trench in the river bottom. You can still see the entrance of that tunnel today north of the river, but it now leads to a parking area. That tunnel was closed to traffic in 1939.

The Van Buren tunnel closed in 1924, and the last one at Washington Street closed in 1954 as the streetcar era came to a close.

During WW II there was a streetcar route that went into the Brookfield Zoo from the east side. I believe that it originated from a terminal at Archer Avenue and 55th Street. Are there remnants of this line existing today?

– Frank Coyle, Romeoville

The line that ran beginning in the 1920s to Brookfield Zoo was not a Chicago Surface Lines streetcar, but was operated by the Chicago & West Towns Railway.

It ran from Cermak and Kenton in Cicero and passed through what were then the somewhat rural suburbs of Berwyn and North Riverside, past Brookfield Zoo and ending in LaGrange. The streetcar one was replaced with a motor bus in 1947.

According to the Central Electric Railfans Association, today’s PACE buses follow the same route to the zoo.

As far as physical relics there are concrete bridge piers where the streetcar line once ran over Salt Creek.

A restored blue and white 1924 streetcar, #141, is at theIllinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. A different railway historical society had purchased the car in 1959 but it sat unrestored under a tarp in Lisle for more than 10 years until a rail enthusiast named Frank Sirinek stumbled on it.

It took 30 years to restore the car, using parts like a controller found in Milan, Italy, and a fare register found in San Diego. Other parts were re-manufactured based on original schematics. The restored car made its first run in 65 years at the Railway Museum on March 3, 2013 with Frank Sirinek as motorman.

Photographed: Frank Sirinek

For more information and to watch the entire Ask Geoffrey segment please click here.

OT: Washington, D.C. - U.S. Streetcars Making Comeback After Nearly Going Extinct

(Past member) — Wed, 18 May 2016 20:48:54 GMT

OT: Washington, D.C. - U.S. streetcars making comeback after nearly going extinct

Tue May 17, 2016 7:10 pm (PDT) . Posted by: "Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000

A Capital News Service story published Tuesday on the "frederick news post dot com" site says U.S. streetcars are making a nationwide comeback after nearly going extinct:

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[image: DDOT maintains that streetcars should be ready to go by the end of
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Streetcars, once nearly extinct, enjoying a comeback

- By AUBURN MANN
<https://www.fredericknewspost.com/users/profile/jdever>
- Capital News Service
<https://www.fredericknewspost.com/users/profile/jdever>
- (Tuesday, May 17, 2016)

WASHINGTON — With the February opening of streetcar service along the 2.4-mile H Street-Benning Road corridor, Washington joined a national trend of major cities rebooting what was once considered an antiquated mode of urban transportation.

Far from being an exercise in nostalgia, the rekindled love affair with the streetcar is not only bringing public transportation to under-served areas, but is also aimed at stimulating economic growth in key commercial districts.

Since 2000, seven major cities in the United States have installed streetcars. Besides Washington, the cities are Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; Dallas; Tucson, Arizona; and Atlanta. Several others are in the planning or construction phases.

All seven systems are modern, second-generation streetcars on new lines, not part of so-called “legacy” systems that in some cases, such as New Orleans and San Francisco, have been running for more than a century. Nor are the second-generation streetcars throwbacks to a bygone age, such as CityLYNX Gold Line, in Charlotte, North Carolina, which opened in 2015 using replica historic streetcar models known as heritage cars (they are slated to be replaced in about three years).

Streetcars are a type of “light rail” service. Each system uses single cars that run along city streets on tracks, usually in mixed traffic, as opposed to exclusive rights of way.

Each of the new DC Streetcar vehicles is 66 feet long and 8 feet wide, capable of holding approximately 157 passengers.

The streetcar service runs Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to midnight and on Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m., with no current Sunday service. It will be free to all riders for the first few months of its introductory period.

An average weekday in April saw 2,285 passengers on the DC Streetcar. Saturday ridership averaged 3,235.

Washington had streetcars for 100 years, from 1862 until 1962. Initially drawn by horses, the cars switched to electric power in 1888.

Only a few years after the last streetcar rumbled down Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington began construction on a new heavy rail/subway system known as Metrorail, administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which also runs the regional bus system.

“From 1890 to 1930, the streetcar was prevalent throughout urban America before going through a decline the following 40 years with the advent of the automotive age,” said Art Guzzetti, vice president of policy at the American Public Transportation Association.

Mass transit networks incorporating commuter railroads, subways and bus systems accompanied the expanded use of cars.

But streetcars like Washington’s are filling in transit gaps. The H Street segment is envisioned as the first part of a larger streetcar system that the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) plans to construct in coming years.

In an era with diverse mass transit options in cities throughout the country, the need for streetcars might not be as apparent to the casual commuter. But Guzzetti said that streetcars offer added value to urban transit.

“The premise is to provide the ridership capacity of a larger train for a manageable route of a bus service,” Guzzetti said.

Unlike the farther reaches of light rail and heavy rail networks that connect suburbs to central cities, streetcars “will circulate around downtown or commercial districts,” Guzzetti said.

Experts argue that there is also a psychological boost, as well as potential increases in real estate values, in communities that become part of a streetcar system.

“A streetcar, or trolley, communicates a message of permanence,” said Ken Rucker, president of the National Capital Trolley Museum. “The tangibility of tracks expresses commitment to an individual transit corridor.”

Portland began operating replica vintage streetcars in 1991. But when it came time to replace them, the city decided to buy modern cars that were equivalent in expense but higher-tech.

The Pacific Northwest city opened its new line in 2001, becoming the first North American city to have a second-generation streetcar system.

“The city of Portland, as well as several prominent business owners and developers, saw a need to also provide circulation within the core of Portland, as there was not the high-capacity, permanent transit available once you were downtown,” said Julie Gustafson, a spokeswoman for Portland Streetcar.

Using the same Czech-inspired United Streetcar (now built by Oregon Iron Works) vehicle brand as Washington would later implement, Portland chose cars that are approximately 20 meters (more than 60 feet) long and 8 feet wide, with low floors that make it easy to board and exit and are accessible to disabled passengers.

“City leaders saw what streetcar systems had done in the past as well as what they continue to do in Europe and believed that this vision fit well with the desire to increase density in the central city of Portland,” Gustafson said.

Fifteen years in, Portland Streetcar has an average ridership of 15,000 a week. As of December 2014, $4.5 billion worth of new development had sprung up along the line.

Washington’s plan was similar. In 2003, the city began plotting the streetcar system routes to serve several economically depressed neighborhoods.

The DC Streetcar website states that “fixed rail lines have demonstrated they can be catalysts to attract investments in housing, retail and commercial properties.”

According to the District of Columbia Transit Alternatives Analysis published in 2005, traffic was another factor. The bus services, in particular, were not ideal for transporting heavy amounts of people through active thoroughfares, thus contributing to further congestion.

Although Washington has had Metrorail and bus service, both were reaching their maximum capacities.

The current line runs through slowly gentrifying areas east of Washington’s Union Station.

Because of delays over funding, planning and several changes in city administrations, the DDOT spent more than $200 million on the project.

Washington could possibly look to Atlanta for insight concerning the assets and liabilities of a modern streetcar system. The Georgia capital opened its streetcars in December 2014, 65 years after closing its original streetcar network.

“The Atlanta Streetcar project has received the majority of its subsidization from city and federal governments, while the downtown business community has also pitched in with a total commitment of $20 million over 20 years, including $6 million towards construction costs,” said A.J. Robinson, president of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.

So far, the Atlanta Streetcar makes a 2.7-mile loop through downtown. The addition to the city’s transit network has boosted real estate values, increased tax revenue and helped create jobs, Robinson said.

“We’re tracking more than $2 billion of new and planned real estate investment within a five-minute walk of the track alignment,” he said.

“Many businesses have invested in new renovations to area real estate right around the time it was announced that the city would be moving forward with the streetcar,” Robinson added.

Atlanta has dealt with safety issues, instances of the homeless taking shelter in the cars, and recent ridership drops as the streetcars started collecting fares at the beginning of this year.

“We don’t have space in the urban core to support more or altered bus routes,” Robinson said.

“Atlanta is historically a car-dominated community,” he added. “To see this kind of innovation in transit is something new.”

New York City has recently proposed joining this trend, with Mayor Bill de Blasio formally unveiling a plan in February to build a new streetcar line dubbed the BQX: the Brooklyn-Queens Connector that is supposed to connect the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

The line would run on a 16-mile circuit along the East River waterfront, which lacks sufficient access to public transportation. The streetcar would cost about $2.5 billion, far cheaper than digging a new subway line through the densely populated boroughs.

“The BQX will be a state-of-the-art streetcar that ... has the potential to generate over $25 billion of economic activity for our city over 30 years,” de Blasio said.

Unlike some other Northeastern cities, New York had shut down its last streetcars by the 1950s for mass transit options that addressed its high-density sprawl. Competition from the car and bus, as well as other factors, helped kill the city’s once-ubiquitous streetcars.

But cities such as Boston and Philadelphia were able to preserve their streetcars, integrating them with their heavy rail and subway systems.

Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which includes legacy and heritage vehicles, boasts the nation’s largest streetcar system by route mileage. Its eight legacy streetcar routes (two of which venture out into the suburbs) are unique in that “they operate as a hybrid of trolley and high-capacity commuter rail,” according to SEPTA’s director of innovation, Erik Johanson.

“Although they have their [rights of way] the majority of their trips, once they arrive in Center City they function as traditional trolley services like a bus on rails before funneling into subway tunnels,” Johanson explained.

Philadephia’s Girard Avenue Line is the city’s only heritage line, using rebuilt 1947 PCC II-type streetcars. “We are actually looking to modernize many of our trolleys to meet current [disability] standards,” Johanson said. “One of our major goals is full accessibility throughout the system.”
[end text]
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Edward B. Havens
Tucson, Ariz.

Milwaukee Seeks $20 Million Grant for Streetcar Extension

(Past member) — Tue, 10 May 2016 13:51:13 GMT

Milwaukee News

Milwaukee Seeks $20 Million Grant for Streetcar Extension

This is a rendering of a Brookville streetcar in Milwaukee's Third Ward. The city is applying for a $20 million federal grant to extend the Milwaukee Streetcar north along 4th St. Credit: Brookville Equipment Corp.

April 29, 2016

114 Comments

By Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel

The city is applying for a $20million federal grant to extend the Milwaukee streetcar north to the new Bucks arena.

The route extension would run on N. 4th St. from W. St. Paul Ave. to W. Highland Ave.
"We're taking one extension at a time," said Ghassan Korban, Milwaukee's Department of Public Works commissioner.

He said the proposed extension would also move the streetcar route closer to Bronzeville.

The earliest the extension would open would be 2020, Korban said. The downtown streetcar route is expected to be open for passenger service in 2018, with the lakefront loop opening in 2019.

Korban said that the federal grant announcements are typically made in late September, and he expects the same this year.

The northern end of the planned extension would reach the "doorstep" of the new Milwaukee Bucks arena, which is expected to break ground this summer.

Korban said the city is excited about the extension because it would be shovel-ready, and will connect key attractions such as existing hotels as well as planned attractions.

"The idea all along has been that the original route needs extensions to make the streetcar route more successful and efficient," Korban said. "And this is the first next step in terms of having a meaningful extension to add to the success of the streetcar increasing connectivity downtown."

He said that if the city receives the $20 million grant, it would cover about 50% of the estimated costs for that extension. The city could cover the rest using a tax incremental financing district, like how it financed the first phase and lakefront loop.

"We're very excited about this opportunity, and trying to keep the momentum going," Korban said.

The federal grant money would come from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant program.

The city in November picked Brookville Equipment Corp. to build its first four streetcars.
Earlier this month, the city opened bidding for companies hoping to oversee the streetcar project. Contractors have until June 1 to submit proposals to lead the project, which would involve serving as construction manager and general contractor for the 2.5-mile downtown streetcar route and lakefront loop.

City Opens Bidding to Lead Milwaukee Streetcar Construction Project

(Past member) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 17:05:29 GMT

Milwaukee News

City Opens Bidding to Lead Milwaukee Streetcar Construction Project

Service for the initial downtown Milwaukee street car route is expected to begin in the fall of 2018.

1:13 p.m.

By Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel

The city has opened bidding for companies hoping to oversee the Milwaukee streetcar project.

Contractors have until June 1 to submit proposals to lead the project, which would involve serving as construction manager and general contractor for the 2.5-mile downtown streetcar route and lakefront loop.

The winning company will oversee all the construction activities for the first phase of the streetcar project. That will include installing the track, building the overhead contact system, and handling all necessary civil and road work for streetcar stops and the operations and maintenance facility.

City officials say construction for this phase of the streetcar and the maintenance facility will begin in late summer or early fall, and will continue until 2018.
The first streetcar, which is being built by Brookville Equipment Corp., is scheduled to arrive in Milwaukee in December 2017. The $18.6 million contract calls for Brookville to initially build four cars, but the company may be tapped to make a fifth vehicle for the lakefront line in the near future. City officials say the company could eventually manufacture as many as 24 vehicles for Milwaukee.

Service for the initial downtown route is expected to begin in fall 2018, and the lakefront line is expected to start operating in 2019.

The streetcar plan, which aims to connect the Milwaukee Intermodal Station with the city's lower east side, was approved by the Common Council last year. The project's capital budget is about $128 million for a 2.5-mile route, with an estimated $3.2 million operating and maintenance budget.

The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works said the contractor would be chosen based on price, qualifications and approach to the project.

This request for proposals can be found online, and companies interested should call (414) 286-3314.

Proposals are due by 4 p.m. June 1.

East Troy (Wis.) Railroad Is Going Big In 2016

(Past member) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:13:37 GMT

Former electric interurban line says it will operate more trains on a longer route

March 22, 2016

RELATED TOPICS: MIDWEST | STEAM/PRESERVATION | RAILFANING | TOURIST RAILROADS | OPERATIONS

East Troy Electric Railroad's former Chicago South Shore & South Bend cars carry a load of passengers eastward on a Christmas-themed train in December 2015.

Steve Sweeney

EAST TROY, Wis. — Photographers and railfans will be able to enjoy more trains and a longer train ride at the East Troy Railroad Museum in Wisconsin this year. The railroad recently unveiled its 2016 schedule that will include more trains, added dinner trains, and a longer operating route that features a stop at Indianhead Park in Mukwonago, Wis.

The new schedule is part of the railroad’s 2016 season that officially opens for regular business on April 30. The museum will operate up to seven daily departures each Saturday and Sunday from East Troy. Trains will also be departing from Indianhead Park this season.

In addition to its regular weekend schedule, the railroad says that its popular dinner and pizza trains will continue in addition to several new “theme trains” designed to appeal to different food heritages. Italian, Mexican, German, and classic American foods will be among some of the dinner items on board the special theme trains in 2016.

A series of special events are also on the itinerary for 2016, including a Railfan Day on June 25 that will feature different sets of railroad cars.

More information is available on the railroad's website.

CTA Board Approves Contract to Replace Half of Rail Cars

(Past member) — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 14:36:55 GMT

The Chicago Transit Authority board voted Wednesday to approve a $1.3 billion contract for 846 rail cars — representing about half of the CTA's total fleet. Mary Wisniewski, Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Transit Authority Board voted Wednesday to approve a $1.3 billion contract for 846 rail cars — the biggest rail car purchase in the agency's history, representing about half of its total fleet. The contract also will create a manufacturing facility on the Southeast Side, the first of its kind in the city in 35 years.

The winning bidder to build the 7000 Series cars is CSR Sifang America, whose partners include the Chinese state-owned rail car manufacturing company CRRC Qingdao Sifang and CSR America, which handles North American operations. The same manufacturer is currently building cars for the Boston transit system.

The last batch of CTA rail cars, known as the 5000 Series, were designed in the last decade and built by Bombardier Transportation, which lost this year's bid.

The new cars will replace 2600 Series cars produced in the 1980s.
The 7000 Series cars will have a different seating arrangement than the 5000 Series cars, which have mostly aisle-facing seats. The wider, New York-subway-style aisles were intended to provide more standing room during rush hour, but have proved unpopular with some riders, who do not like getting their feet stepped on while seated, or having their views blocked by standing passengers.

The new cars, with LED lighting and 37 to 38 seats each, will be a hybrid of the 5000 Series and the 3200 Series currently seen on the Brown and Orange Lines. The front of the cars will have aisle-facing seats to maximize standing space and make it easier for passengers to get on and off, while the rest of the car will have a mix of forward and rear-facing seat pairs and the popular single seats.

The contract is expected to create 169 jobs — employing mostly union, high-skilled, sheet metal and electrical workers — at an assembly facility at 135th Street and Torrence Avenue, city officials said. The facility is expected to build the 7000 Series cars over 10 years — with prototypes coming out in 2019, and cars going into the system in 2020, said CTA spokesman Brian Steele.

The facility would be the first rail-car assembly facility in Chicago since the Pullman-Standard plant closed in 1981.

In a buoyant news conference at CTA headquarters after the board's vote, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the deal historic and said he hoped the facility could also be used for other rail car orders from around the country. He expects suppliers to be drawn to the Hegewisch facility, bringing even more jobs. He said the deal was an example of the city using its purchasing power to create local employment, as it did when Chicago Police ordered its new cars from the South Side Ford plant.
"It's one thing to order new cars and the customers will get a great experience. It's another thing to order those cars and create great manufacturing jobs in the city of Chicago, and bring back rail-car manufacturing to its proper home," Emanuel said.

CTA president Dorval Carter said the purchase will give the CTA one of the country's youngest rail fleets — with the average age of a car dropping from 26 years in 2011 to 11 years once all the cars are delivered — and save $7 million annually in maintenance costs.
While the board approved a $1.3 billion contract, the cost over time could be about $1.4 billion because of inflation as the CTA exercises its options to go beyond an initial purchase of 400 cars, Steele said.
The CSR Sifang America bid came in $226 million lower than Bombardier's.

Like the 5000 Series cars, the new cars will also convert the direct current supplied by the rails to an alternating current for propulsion, which provides a quieter, smoother ride, Steele said.

The new cars will be bought with a mix of federal and local funds, the latter provided by a bond issue.

The CTA first asked for proposals for the rail cars in February 2013, but the next year rejected the initial bids as incompatible with the 5000 Series. The agency then asked for the bids again, dropping the compatibility requirement and including a "U.S. Employment provision," asking bidders to provide the number and type of new jobs they planned to create.

Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said he hopes Metra would also consider using the facility for rail car manufacture.

mwisniewski@tribpub.com

Texas Museum to Turn Chicago Highliners Into High-Tech Classrooms

(Past member) — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:15:51 GMT

RELATED TOPICS: RAILFANING | COMMUTER RAILROADS

Frisco, Texas
Google Maps
FRISCO, Texas — A Texas museum might be the last place you’d expect to find ex-Illinois Central Highliner electric commuter cars from Chicago, but the Museum of the American Railroad has just acquired 10 of them. Instead of static displays, the museum intends to use the cars as immersion classrooms at its museum in Frisco.

While two cars will be preserved in their original state, plans call for others to be outfitted with the latest technology to assist with classroom instruction. Select cars will receive audio-visual enhancements, digital learning spaces, and interactive exhibits. The museum is currently seeking funding and sponsorships for the improvements.

The Highliners will be branded the Stream-Liner, an acronym emphasizing science, technology, railroading, engineering, arts, and mathematics components of the Museum’s educational programming. Construction of the first three of ten exhibit tracks totaling 6,000 feet is underway. Upon completion, the cars will be placed on Track No. 7 for permanent display and use.

The museum acknowledged the generosity of Metra Electric in assisting with the cars acquisition. BNSF Railway provided reduced rate transportation of the cars from Chicago to Texas.

The St. Louis Car Co. built the original 130 Highliners for the Illinois Central in 1971-72. More information is available from the museum's website.

Metra Electric’s Original Highliner Cars Officially Retired

(Past member) — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 21:51:07 GMT

Final Train Makes Last Run

(Feb. 12, 2016) – Forty-four years after the debut of the original Highliner cars on the Metra Electric Line, the last six of them carried their final passengers today from Chicago to University Park. State Senator Martin Sandoval, State Representative Al Riley, Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno, members of the Metra Board of Directors and other guests took part in the official send-off from Millennium Station.
“These cars have served us well and have been a central part of the history of the Illinois Central and Metra’s Electric service,” said Orseno. “But while letting them go is somewhat bittersweet, it’s time. The new Highliners enable Metra to provide our customers with more reliable service, better amenities and reduced maintenance costs.”
The original Highliner cars began serving customers on the Illinois Central (IC), now the Metra Electric Line, on May 31, 1971. The cars were purchased in two separate orders. The first 130 cars were purchased from the St. Louis Car Company by the newly formed Chicago South Suburban Mass Transit District and leased back to the IC. Federal funds covered two-thirds of the $40 million cost and the IC paid the rest. In 1978-1979, the newly formed Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) bought the second order of 36 cars from Bombardier Inc. for $28 million. Metra took ownership of the railroad and the Highliners in 1987, rehabbing the cars and changing the color scheme from orange and brown to silver and blue.
The original Highliners offered air-conditioning to customers accustomed to riding in cars with open windows during the summer months, and cushioned seats rather than the wicker benches provided in the 1920s-era cars they replaced. However, the original Highliners did not have onboard restrooms and their carbon steel construction proved less durable than the stainless steel cars that became the industry standard.
The push to replace the original Highliners with more modern and durable cars began with the delivery of the first 26 new generation stainless steel Highliner cars in 2006, purchased with $76 million in funding provided through the state’s Illinois FIRST bond program. In August 2010, the Metra Board approved a contract with Sumitomo Corp of America/Nippon Sharyo to purchase 160 more Highliner cars. Funding for this purchase totaling $585 million was provided through another state bond program.
The new cars are propelled by alternating current (AC), which supplies more power and requires less maintenance that the direct current (DC) propulsion used by the original Highliners. About half of the new Highliner cars are equipped with restrooms and every train on the Metra Electric now has at least one bathroom.
After today’s final run, museums will be the only place that rail fans will be able to view the original Highliner equipment. Twenty-four Highliner cars have been sent to museums including: Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill.; Union Depot Railroad Museum in Mendota, Ill.; Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad/James H. Andrew Museum in Boone, Iowa; and the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Ind.

City picks streetcar manufacturer

(Past member) — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 12:57:47 GMT

A rendering of a Brookville streetcar in Milwaukee's Third Ward. Milwaukee's streetcars will be manufactured by U.S.-based Brookville Equipment Corp.

By Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 13, 2015

The City of Milwaukee has chosen a company to build the first four vehicles for its streetcar project.

Brookville Equipment Corp., a nearly 100-year-old Pennsylvania-based company that manufactures streetcars as well as locomotives and mining equipment, was picked in a Friday vote by the city's streetcar committee.

The $18.6 million contract calls for Brookville to initially build four cars. The company could be tapped to make a fifth vehicle for the streetcar's Lakefront Line in the near future, and may eventually manufacture as many as 24 total vehicles for Milwaukee.

Mayor Tom Barrett celebrated the news as "another major milestone" for the streetcar project.

"We had a thorough review, and we're moving forward," Barrett said Friday.

Each streetcar will be 66 feet long and 8 feet 8 inches wide, have 32 seats and hold up to 150 passengers. The vehicles will have two doors on each side, provide access for wheelchairs and bicycles to be transported, and at some point could be equipped to offer Wi-Fi. The cars will each weigh about 79,000 pounds when empty.

The contract calls for the first vehicle to be delivered to Milwaukee in about 24 months.

Michael White, a sales manager for Brookville, said the company's streetcar projects include New Orleans, San Francisco, Dallas and Disneyland.

White said 70 Brookville streetcars are in operation.

The car, known as the Liberty Modern Streetcar, is a "very safe car" and is designed to have a "30-year life," White said. The maximum speed is 42 miles per hour, but it could go higher in the future, he said.

The streetcars will be manufactured at the company's Pennsylvania plant.

The vote by the Joint Committee on Downtown Streetcar Implementation to authorize the contract with Brookville came about three weeks after Ghassan Korban, commissioner of the city's Department of Public Works, said the city was close to finalizing a deal with its preferred vendor.

The proposals were evaluated using four criteria: budget, qualifications, technical capabilities and aesthetics. Korban said Brookville's proposal was deemed to be the "best value," and was also the cheapest overall.

He praised the "modern and sleek" look of the cars, and said he was confident in their safety and performance.

"We are very confident that this vehicle will be able to run 365 days a year in Milwaukee," Korban said. "So during the hottest days, and during the coldest and snowiest days."

The agreement came less than a month after the city was awarded a $14.2 million federal grant for construction of a line connecting the streetcar with the lakefront.

The streetcar plan, which aims to connect the Milwaukee Intermodal Station with the city's lower east side, was approved by the Common Council in February. The project's capital budget is $128 million for a 2.5-mile route, with an estimated $3.2 million operating and maintenance budget.

Late last month, local and federal officials announced the city had been awarded a $14.2 million federal grant for construction of the spur connecting the streetcar with the lakefront. The award was from the federal TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) program. The Lakefront Line, which was approved by the Common Council along with the first phase of the streetcar in February, would connect Cathedral Square to the lakefront using Broadway and Milwaukee, Michigan and Clybourn streets. It will also link the streetcar to the Couture development, which has a stop planned.

Initially, it was anticipated that the city would break ground on the project by late 2015, but the groundbreaking now is expected to occur sometime in spring 2016. The streetcars are expected to start running in fall 2018.

The streetcar project has faced some vocal opponents who question the cost and how many riders it might have. Barrett repeatedly has touted the key role it will play as development projects spring up throughout downtown.

"We think this is going to have a positive impact on property values and economic development," the mayor said Friday.

Barrett added that a millions of dollars in federal grants being used for the project were awarded years ago, and cannot be used for other expenses.

Also on Friday, Jeffrey Kober, the CEO and president of Cudahy-based Milwaukee Composites, announced that his company was donating flooring for the four vehicles.

Brookville was one of four companies that submitted proposals. The three other companies were Inekon Trams, in the Czech Republic, and German companies Siemens and Vossloh, Korban said.

RAILFAN Magazine review of CERA's Chicago Streetcar Pictorial

(Past member) — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 18:35:39 GMT

Please click the following link to see the RAILFAN Magazine review of CERA's Chicago Streetcar Pictorial
/resources/Documents/CERAB146RAILFANREVIEW115.pdf

City gets $14.2 million federal grant for streetcar expansion

(Past member) — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 19:13:52 GMT

The City of Milwaukee has been awarded a $14.2 million federal grant for construction of a spur connecting the streetcar with the lakefront. The streetcar plan is depicted in this rendering.

By Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel

Oct. 26, 2015 3:26 p.m.

   The City of Milwaukee has been awarded a $14.2 million federal grant for construction of a spur connecting the streetcar with the lakefront.
   The U.S. Department of Transportation grant was announced Monday by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.).
The Lakefront Line, which was approved by the Common Council along with the first phase of the streetcar in February, aims to connect Cathedral Square to the lakefront using Broadway and Milwaukee, Michigan and Clybourn streets.
   It will link the streetcar to the Couture development, which has a stop planned.
"This critical federal grant for the Milwaukee Streetcar will bring thousands of residents and visitors to major attractions and new developments on Milwaukee's lakefront," Barrett said in a statement. "This announcement builds on the positive momentum we're experiencing in the heart of the city and will also have a significant impact on our neighborhoods, creating hundreds of construction jobs and better connecting our neighborhoods to downtown."
   The city is close to signing a contract with a streetcar-manufacturing company. "This is a strong federal investment in 21st-century Wisconsin infrastructure that will put people to work," Baldwin said. "The Milwaukee Streetcar will also help spur significant economic development and improve the quality of life for Milwaukee residents."
   Moore also praised the project, saying it would expand Milwaukee's public transportation options while boosting local economic growth. "Economic mobility is vital to our city's future," Moore said. "That's why I've dedicated so much time and effort in securing this multimillion federal grant for the Milwaukee Streetcar project. With this funding, we can expand our city's public transportation options while fostering local economic growth and development."
   The grant will be used to build the Lakefront Line and to purchase a streetcar that will operate on the line, Barrett said. Some of the money also will be used to add a second track on St. Paul Ave., between N. 2nd and 5th streets. The extension aims to give riders more flexibility and allow the Lakefront Line to run between the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and the lakefront during special events, such as Summerfest and the Fourth of July, the mayor said.

El Paso streetcar nearing construction, vehicle rebuilding start-up

John Nicholson — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 19:23:44 GMT

From Railway Age (9-09-15):

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief

El Paso City Lines PCC, circa 1963

Transportation officials in El Paso, Tex., are finalizing agreements with two firms to build a $97 million, 4.8-mile streetcar line approved by City Council in 2014. The state-funded project involves refurbishing and placing back into service historic El Paso City Lines PCC cars that operated until the 1970s.

TheCamino Real Regional Mobility Authority, which is overseeing the project, in late August 2015 selected Paso del Norte Trackworks, a joint venture of California-basedGranite Construction Inc.and New York-basedRailWorks Track Systems, andBrookville Equipment Corp. to build the infrastructure and rebuild the PCC cars, respectively. Paso del Norte Trackworks will be responsible for tracks, maintenance and storage facilities, power stations and catenary wires. Brookville will be responsible for resurrecting El Paso’s old PCCs, which have sat dormant for decades in the Texas desert.

Work could begin on the streetcar line, which was designed byAECOM, as early as January 2016. Last year, the Granite/RailWorks joint venture completed a $197 million modern streetcar line in Tucson, Ariz., that opened in July 2014. That system sparked a downtown renaissance, spurring $1.5 billion in private and public development along the route, Tucson city officials and business groups have said.

The El Paso streetcar will run from the Paso del Norte Port of Entry to the West El Paso neighborhood that is home to a campus of El Paso Community College, the University of Texas at El Paso and several hospitals. Construction will be complex, as the route passes through the arts, business, government, entertainment and shopping districts in downtown El Paso, Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority Executive Director Raymond Telles told local media. “We are going to affect a lot of people with this project, so we want to make it as painless as possible,” he said.

Six of El Paso’s vintage PCCs will be transported to Brookville Equipment’s facilities in Pennsylvania and remanufactured and modernized. Originally, plans called for seven PCCs, but the cost of restoring the streetcars was greater than expected, $3.1 million per car, officials said. They hope to eventually add a seventh car using contingency funds that could be freed up when the project is complete.

Brookville, which has remanufactured PCC cars for SEPTA and other transit authorities, will upgrade the 1938-built vehicles with modern propulsion equipment, air conditioning, and pantographs for current collection. The cars will also be ADA-compliant. PCC No. 1511, which was painted by renowned artist Jose Cisneros, will be restored, artwork and all, according to Telles.

IN: South Shore Ready for Bikes Next Spring

(Past member) — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 20:54:51 GMT

This article is written by Carole Carlson on Aug 4, 2015 of the Merrillville, IN Post Tribune

SOURCE: POST-TRIBUNE, MERRILLVILLE, IND.

Aug. 03--The South Shore Railroad is gearing up to carry bicycles on trains next spring, kick starting the transit plan years earlier than a previous timeline.

South Shore General Manager Mike Noland unveiled prototypes of two bicycle racks at Friday's Northern Indiana Commuter Transit board meeting and the board approved a one-year pilot program set to start in April. The racks were designed by SportWorks, a Seattle-based transit design company.

Advocates have been pushing the initiative for about 10 years. Bike supporters say the South Shore is the only commuter railroad in the nation that bans bicycles on its trains because its cars aren't configured to hold them.

The pilot program approved Friday will outfit three cars with specially-made bike racks. Bike owners will sit next to their bikes.

Noland said three cars will be equipped with about 25 to 30 bike racks each. The racks will be attached to the car's metal heating system. Each rack costs $500 to $600. No final cost estimate for the pilot program was available.

The pilot bike program will only run on weekends and cyclists must get on and off at stations with high-level boarding platforms, Noland said. It's also not intended as a permanent solution.

At a public hearing last month, officials presented a bikes on trains plan that's dependent on the purchase of new cars within five years. NICTD then plans to retrofit five existing cars at a price tag of about $10 million. When bike advocates and even some NICTD board members heard the program likely wouldn't start until 2021, they complained and officials began to look for a short-term solution.

"We heard the board loud and clear to accelerate the process prior to the next train car order," Noland said. He said cars purchased in 2009 were finally performing well and anchoring the fleet, allowing the railroad the opportunity to look at modifying its older cars.

Noland acknowledged the South Shore's shortcomings. "Metra has more space than we do. We have no room for anything but seats, that's the fundamental difference."

NICTD board member and Lake County Commissioner Mike Repay thanked Noland for quick action. "I commend you for listening to what was being said. I think this is the right way to do it. I know there are still bugs... Folks who really want their bikes on trains will be hospitable."

Advocates, including Save the Dunes Council and the National Parks Conservation Association, immediately praised the action.

"Save the Dunes has taken a leadership role in the project as part of our desire to increasenon-motorized access to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park, yetclearly the benefits would be experienced region-wide," the Save the Dunes Council stated in a release.

"This decision has been a long time coming and today's vote by the NICTD board is a welcome change and one that we look forward to seeing through," said LeAaron Foley, an outreach coordinator with the National Parks Conservation Association.

Contact Carole Carlson at ccarlson@post-trib.com.

South Shore declares express service a success

(Past member) — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:52:53 GMT

A Chicago-bound train at Ogden Dunes, Ind.

This article was pulled from http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/07/south-shore-declares-express-service-a-success

July 13, 2015

Brian Schmidt

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District says the South Shore Sunshine Express is a success just four months after its implementation. The express trains get South Bend commuters to Chicago in fewer than two hours by making only two other stops. The agency is now working to add more express trains to its schedule.

According to a NICTD, the South Shore is averaging roughly 100 more passengers per day traveling to Chicago from the served stations. NICTD General Manager Mike Noland says they had hoped the service would attract at least 100 new riders between the three express stops. “So far, I would deem this train a success,” Noland tells WSBT-TV.

“We are hearing from other riders about how excited they are about how there is an express train. They want one on their stop as well. But they understand there are things that we need to put in place to get there,” Noland says.

Among the changes Noland hopes to implement to add more express trains include:

Moving the South Shore depot to the west side of the South Bend airport, cutting 10 minutes of travel time.
Adding double track in the areas that are currently single track with the goal of cutting South Bend – Chicago time to 90 minutes.
Reducing travel time in Michigan City.

“We need to fix Michigan City,” Noland says. “Right now to go through Michigan City through the streets is a very slow ride through the middle of town. So we need to straighten those tracks out.

“We think within four to five years we can drive the times down to 90 minutes out of South Bend, 60 minutes out of Michigan City, and 45 minutes from Ogden Dunes,” Noland adds.

Noland says the South Shore is working to get federal grants to make some of the improvements. The railroad will also be doing more advertising for the Express Train to increase ridership.

MILWAUKEE STREETCAR DEVELOPMENTS

(Past member) — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 16:46:59 GMT

The following is from a yahoo groups blog, by "Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000

Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:11 am (PDT) .

MILWAUKEE will begin construction of its downtown modern streetcar line in
October and changes to the route alignment have reduced utility relocation
costs, the "urban milwaukee dot com" site reports. "Not a single track has
been laid, but final engineering work has already reduced the utilities
relocation bill on the Milwaukee Streetcar project by over $1 million.
During a streetcar task force meeting Friday morning project consultants *Tim
Clancy* <http://urbanmilwaukee.com/people/tim-clancy/> of The Concord Group
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/business/the-concord-group/> and *Ashley Booth
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/people/ashley-booth>* of HNTB
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/businesses/hntb> detailed their firms’ work on
negotiating with the utilities and procuring the vehicles. ... Bids have
been received for the streetcar vehicles. The consulting team declined to
identify how many or who the bidders are. They did announce that they
intend to award the contract in September, following final review and
interviews with the bidding teams." Here is the route map before changes to
lower utility relocaion costs. The article says that a : "more than $1
million reduction in costs was realized from minor route modifications as
well as swapping E. Wells St. for E. Kilbourn Ave. and relocating
north-bound tracks to N. Jackson St. from N. Van Buren St."
< http://www.trolleyville.com/tv/times/may2015/headline05.html>
Here is a later map:
< http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=277190&page=16>
<
*http://tinyurl.com/ncy53h4 <http://tinyurl.com/ncy53h4>>"*Streetcar
Construction Starts in October
On-going engineering work continues to save millions of dollars. And
anti-streetcar group has given up trying to stop the starter line.
By Jeramey Jannene <http://urbanmilwaukee.com/author/jeramey/>
Jul 10th, 2015 05:48 pm

[image: The streetcar as it meets Broadway in the Third Ward.]
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/rendering2_lg.jpg>

The streetcar as it meets Broadway in the Third Ward.

Not a single track has been laid, but final engineering work has already
reduced the utilities relocation bill on the Milwaukee Streetcar project by
over $1 million.

During a streetcar task force meeting Friday morning project consultants *Tim
Clancy* <http://urbanmilwaukee.com/people/tim-clancy/> of The Concord Group
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/business/the-concord-group/> and *Ashley Booth
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/people/ashley-booth>* of HNTB
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/businesses/hntb> detailed their firms’ work on
negotiating with the utilities and procuring the vehicles.

More work between the engineering team and We Energies
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/businesses/we-energies> has been finalized, and
more than $1 million reduction in costs was realized from minor route
modifications as well as swapping E. Wells St. for E. Kilbourn Ave. and
relocating north-bound tracks to N. Jackson St. from N. Van Buren St.

Now that the route is locked in, pending expected federal approval, design
work is beginning on the overhead contact system.

That work is expected to be completed by November, with contracts for
construction of the system awarded in January 2016.

Construction would start in April and be completed by February 2018.

Following final testing, the general public could start riding the system
in July 2018.

Construction work on the utilities will begin in advance of the track and
overhead wire system, with design work being completed next month for the
public utilities.

Contracts will be awarded for that work in September. The first streetcar
project shovels will go into the ground in October. The utility work is
expected to be completed in August 2016.

Bids have been received for the streetcar vehicles. The consulting team
declined to identify how many or who the bidders are.

They did announce that they intend to award the contract in September,
following final review and interviews with the bidding teams.

Once the specifications of the winning bidder’s vehicles are known,
planning will commence for the construction of the Operations and
Maintenance Facility
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/building/milwaukee-streetcar-operations-and-maintenance-facility/>.

That facility is planned to be built underneath Interstate 794.

The lakefront extension of the streetcar to the Henry Maier Festival
Grounds and proposed The Couture
< http://urbanmilwaukee.com/buildings/the-couture> is also undergoing survey
work currently.

That extension was approved with the starter line, but will be constructed
later than the starter line because of the engineering work still required.
Utilities Cost Issue.

by "Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000

Obituary for Alan R. Lind

John Nicholson — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 16:58:04 GMT

Alan R. Lind

1940 – 2015

We were saddened to learn of the passing of noted transportation historian and former CERA director Alan R. Lind of Park Forest on May 30, 2015, at the age of 75. Mr. Lind was the co-author of From Zephyr to Amtrak (1972) and Monarchs of Mid-America (1973). He was the author of From Horsecars to Streamliners (1978), but is probably best remembered among traction enthusiasts for Chicago Surface Lines: An Illustrated History. First published in 1974, it was revised and expanded over the years culminating in an all-encompassing third edition issued in 1979.

For a city that once boasted the world’s largest streetcar system under one management, there had been surprisingly little material published about Chicago’s streetcars. In 1964 James D. Johnson published A Century of Chicago Streetcars, a nostalgic look at Chicago’s system through the photographs of Tom Desnoyers (credited as “Thomas Hollister” in the book). Published only six years after Chicago’s last streetcar ran, this was largely a photo album that appealed to both the ardent fan and the casual reader whose memories of the cars in their neighborhoods and their daily lives were still fresh.

Mr. Lind’s work on Chicago’s streetcars was much greater in scope. The first edition appeared in 1974, twenty years after the last of the red car lines had been converted to bus. Not so much a narrative history, it provided a detailed account of practically every component of the Chicago Surface Lines. Written for the serious fan (or “rivet counter” in railfan argot) one found valuable information on all types of Chicago streetcars, their routes, route histories, carbarns, shops, and other facilities. For decades this has been the “go to” book for the Chicago streetcar enthusiast.

Mr. Lind passed away three weeks before the 57th anniversary of the closing of the last streetcar line in Chicago. Many of us who rode these last streetcars as children are now collecting social security and most of the adults who took us on these rides are no longer with us. Alan Lind’s major contribution was to collect and present this wealth of information on Chicago’s streetcars, preserving it for the enjoyment and education of both the traction fan and serious transit historian. Because of Mr. Lind’s efforts, both old and young readers can marvel at the size and magnificence of this once vast streetcar network. The older ones can take satisfaction at having ridden on these cars while the younger ones will wish they had.

Alan Lind will be missed by all of us.

John Nicholson

Life Time Membership Awarded

(Past member) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:24:42 GMT

Please congratulate Raymond DeGroote, Jr., as he was awarded a Life Time membership on June 26, 2015 in recognition of his contributions to the organization over the years.

B-146 currently shipping

(Past member) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 15:36:48 GMT

Update: The printer has stated that it will begin mailing out copies of the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial, B-146, to all recipients starting the week of June 15, 2015, and we understand some have already received their copies.

For any questions or concerns related to your delivery, please email ceraoffice@gmail.com.

Thank you,
Jeff

CERA at Printers Row Lit Fest this Saturday and Sunday

(Past member) — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 16:32:38 GMT

CERA will have a booth at the Chicago Tribune Printers Row LitFest 2015 on Saturday, June 6th and Sunday, June 7th. We'll be there between 10am to 6pm - if you're going, come say hello to the CERA staff. The booth is identified as Tent KK which will be located near the intersection of Polk and Dearborn.

If you're unfamiliar with Lit Fest, here's a short overview:

"As part of its ongoing commitment to the written word and its support of literacy and literary endeavor, the Chicago Tribune purchased the Printers Row Book Fair in 2002 from the Near South Planning Board. Recently renamed to be the Printer's Row Lit Fest, it is considered the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest-drawing more than 150,000 book lovers to the two-day showcase."

Hope to see you there.

Chicago Green Hornet Streetcars

(Past member) — Thu, 21 May 2015 16:44:19 GMT

Our soon to be issued and available publication. Following is the dust jacket cover sure to tempt all lovers of the Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago Surface Lines Green Hornet streetcars.

Kansas City, St. Louis - streetcar projects at two Missouri cities

(Past member) — Fri, 15 May 2015 20:44:05 GMT

Fri May 15, 2015 9:47 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000 of the Philly_Traction Yahoo Group

KANSAS CITY and St. Louis are the two Missouri cities with streetcar line construction projects underway but they differ because one is a modern streetcar and the other a heritage trolley, the "re journals dot com" site reports. The real estate industry publication says economic development is taking place along the car lines even though neither is in operation yet:

<
*http://tinyurl.com/k9ntxo5 <http://tinyurl.com/k9ntxo5>>"*Clang! Clang!
The trolley — and streetcar — are coming to provide a boost to Midwest
cities
< http://www.rejournals.com/2015/05/15/clang-clang-the-trolley-and-streetcar-are-coming-to-provide-a-boost-to-midwest-cities/>
May 15, 2015
< http://www.rejournals.com/2015/05/15/clang-clang-the-trolley-and-streetcar-are-coming-to-provide-a-boost-to-midwest-cities/>
Dan Rafter
< http://www.rejournals.com/2015/05/15/clang-clang-the-trolley-and-streetcar-are-coming-to-provide-a-boost-to-midwest-cities/>
[image: kansas city streetcar image]
< http://www.rejournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/kansas-city-streetcar-image.jpg>

A rendering of the Kansas City streetcar in action.

Husch Blackwell attorneys Doug Stone and David Richardson have learned a
lot about streetcars and trolleys.

They can tell you why a streetcar isn’t the same thing as a cable car and
why a trolley isn’t the same thing as a trolley coach.

Richardson and Stone aren’t trolley buffs. The attorneys learned their
streetcar trivia through hard work.

Stone and Richardson have each played key roles in guiding streetcar and
trolley projects to the construction phase in the St. Louis and Kansas
City, Missouri, areas, with Stone providing key legal advice to city
officials in Kansas City and Richardson doing the same in St. Louis.

It’s not easy to guide urban public-transportation projects from the
planning to the construction phases.

But the projects in the St. Louis and Kansas City markets have cleared the
legal hurdles that could have scuttled each of them.

That’s good news. Both Stone and Richardson say that these
public-transportation projects will provide an economic boost to the cities
through which they will travel.

“Frankly, I think that most of the economic development community in Kansas
City will tell you that the streetcar is a game-changer,” Stone said.

“Kansas City has been flirting with a variety of light-rail, streetcar-type
projects since the mid-1990s but has not been able to get the citywide
support necessary. Now it is becoming a reality, and it is going to make a
major impact.”

And in St. Louis?

“The hope is that this will be an economic development engine,” Richardson
said. “We are already seeing signs of that.”

*The power of light-rail*

St. Louis and Kansas City aren’t the only Midwest cities to turn to
light-rail public-transportation projects for an economic boost.

In Detroit, construction crews are building the M-1 RAIL streetcar project
that city officials hope will speed economic recovery efforts in the city.

And in Minneapolis, the city’s new light-rail system is earning praise for
creating jobs and bringing new development to previously under-served
neighborhoods.

The hope is that the Kansas City and St. Louis pojects will drive new
development — encouraging new retailers, restaurants and offices — along
their lines.
[image: Here's what the St. Louis Loop Trolley will look like.]
< http://www.rejournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/st.-louis-loop-trolley-image-2.jpg>

Here’s what the St. Louis Loop Trolley will look like.

Stone said that since the announcement of the Kansas City streetcar
project, the city has seen $100 million in development that is solely or
partly attributable to the new streetcar line.

Stone said that new residential developments are already under
construction. New enterainment venues are opening, and hotels are being
built, all in downtown Kansas City.

“When I first moved to Kansas City in 1993, the downtown was a ghost town,”
Stone said.

“There’s been a steady drive to rejuvenate the downtown since, and it’s
paying off. This is building upon itself with the advent of the streetcar
project.

"There is a huge buzz surrounding the downtown. Developers are coming to us
from other cities. Just 10 years ago, that never would have happened.”

Richardson said that the Loop Trolley project in St. Louis is causing some
of the excitement in both St. Louis and neighboring University City, the
two metropolises in which the trolley line runs.

Construction on the St. Louis line started in late March.

But since the announcement of the new line, Washington University has
finished construction on a new student-housing project with a first-floor
grocery store and restaurant, and other restaurants are popping up along
the trolley’s route.

Developers and investors have been buying up real estate in the areas
served by the trolley, Richardson said, and have plans for their own new
projects.

“We had a period in which we had a lot of historic rehab projects going on
with loft spaces,” Richardson said.

“We had a good run of eight years or so for that. Then 2008 and the
recession slowed us down. Now we are seeing downtown rehab projects
starting up again. It’s good to see this activity.”

*On schedule*

Both the Kansas City and St. Louis projects are moving along on schedule.

In Kansas City as of May 1, 71 percent of the track for the streetcar
project is built, with 15,430 feet complete out of 21,771 total feet needed
for the project.

The city has announced, too, that 96 percent of water and sewer
replacements and upgrades are complete, while more than 100 power poles
have been installed.

Construction crews have buld the line’s first streetcar stop at 16th and
Main streets.

All construction is scheduled to wrap in the fall of 2015.

The streetcar system will then go through a run of testing. City officials
say that the line will open to the public in 2016.

Construction on St. Louis’ Loop Trolley project is in the earlier phases.

But the work is proceeding on schedule.

Once complete, the new trolleys — designed to look like historic trolley
cars — will travel a 2.2-mile fixed-route line linking University City and
Forest Park in St. Louis.

The line will include 10 stops, including a big one at the Missouri History
Museum.

Construction of this line began March 23 with the installation of a
permanent roundabout on Delmar Blvd. in University City.

Trolley track construction was scheduled to begin late in May. City
officials say that the line will begin service in late 2016.

Gaining approval for each of the projects was not an easy task.

Stone and Richardson helped in this process, assisting the city on a wide
range of financial and planning matters.

In Kansas City, the streetcar project is funded through a sales tax paid by
consumers and special assessments paid by the property owners and
commercial tenants in a limited special district.

Earning the support of the property and business owners in this district
took time, with Stone saying that planners and city officials went through
almost a year’s worth of meetings with the business community.

The meetings were necesssary to convince the business community that the
streetcar project would provide them with a significant economic boost.

“We had some convincing to do,” Stone said.

“Luckily, we were right about the positive impact that the streetcar
project would have.

"At this point there is some sentiment among the business community that
perhaps we should expand the line. I think if you spoke to the business
owners who were at first wary of the plan, you’d find almost unanimously
that they now think this was the right decision.”

In St. Louis, gaining the funding for the project was a challenge,
Richardson said. The Loop Trolley is a $48 million project. The federal
government provided some small grants to get the project started, providing
about $25 million. The city created a TIF district for the St. Louis
portion of the route that added an additional $4 million of funding.

Then project officials turned to the New Markets Tax Credit program to
provide yet more funding, Richardson said. This program, created in 2000 to
spur reinvestment in low-income or struggling communities, was created as
part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. There weren’t
examples, though, of this program being used to fund public-transportation
projects.

But in St. Louis, the New Markets Tax Credit program provided millions of
needed dollars for the trolley project.

“That was a very innovative and unconventional approach,” Richardson said.

Today, both Richardson and Stone are waiting to see the full impact that
the cities’ new public-transportation projects will have.

But already, the attorneys are seeing benefits.

The time is right for new public transportation because so many people
today want to move into the hearts of cities.

Already, there is more activity — and more residents moving in — in the
middle of St. Louis and Kansas City.

“I went to downtown Kansas City the other night and it was like New York
City,” Stone said.

“The streetcar project will only help spread that activity throughout the
center of the city.”

*[end text]------*

*Edward B. Havens*

*Tucson, Ariz

Coal-fired SS Badger set to resume service after retrofit

(Past member) — Fri, 15 May 2015 16:09:00 GMT

Sue Pischke, AP

Operators of a 63-year-old coal-fired passenger ferry that carries people and cars across Lake Michigan between Wisconsin and Michigan have made the necessary environmental improvements to keep the vintage vessel in service, U.S. regulators announced Thursday.

The 410-foot SS Badger launched in 1952 can carry 600 passengers and 180 vehicles. It's the last coal-fired steamship operating on the Great Lakes and normally runs from May to October. It is scheduled to resume service Friday between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

SS Badger, last of coal-fired steamships in U.S. waters, gets new lease on life

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said inspectors this week confirmed that Lake Michigan Carferry Service Inc. "has taken all the steps necessary to permanently stop the discharge of coal ash" into the lake.

In September 2013, the EPA had given the Badger's operators until this year to stop dumping ash into the lake. Operators have spent about $2.4 million on an onboard system to move ash from the ship's four boilers to four retention bins on the car deck, the EPA said in a statement.
"The Badger car ferry is now in compliance with the Clean Water Act and will no longer discharge coal ash to Lake Michigan," EPA regional Administrator Susan Hedman said in a statement. "EPA is pleased that we were able to find a solution that protects Lake Michigan and preserves jobs along the Michigan and Wisconsin shoreline."
Previously, ash was transported from the boiler to an onboard retention area, mixed with Lake Michigan water and discharged in a slurry into the lake. The ash will be sold for use in cement-making, according to Chuck Leonard, vice president of Lake Michigan Carferry.
The Badger was built to the standards of its day, which once allowed trash and sewage of all lake vessels to be jettisoned overboard, Chuck Cart, chief engineer on the Badger for 19 years, said in January. It's been modified as new standards have come into place, he said.

The S.S. Badger is the last coal fired steamship in the Northern Hemisphere, not just the Great Lakes.

History of Chicago Surface Lines 2843

(Past member) — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 16:15:39 GMT

Used with permission of Frank Hicks from the April 9, 2015 Hicks Car Works Blog.

History of Chicago Surface Lines 2843

TO THE STEEL MILLS AND THE STATE LINECSL 2843 and the South Chicago City Railway By Frank Hicks

Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
South Chicago and the Southeast Side
The Jewetts
South Side Lines
Surface Service
Preservation
Appendix A: Original Specifications
Appendix B: In-Service Modifications
Bibliography

FOREWORD
The Illinois Railway Museum has the largest and most complete collection of surviving equipment from the Chicago Surface Lines, the famed system that operated more than 3,000 streetcars over 1,000 miles of track spread out across the city. The CSL was the nation’s largest street railway company but today only a dozen or so streetcars exist as memorials. Of those, car 2843 is something of a gem hidden in plain sight. It was built more than a decade before the CSL came into being, for predecessor South Chicago City Railway, and it was retired from passenger service quite early. Through various tricks of fate it has survived to the present day yet its history is largely unknown. As a member of a small and largely unremarked series of cars its story has not been widely told, and as an unrestored artifact it has garnered little attention among the museum’s vast roster. Yet car 2843 stands out in the Chicago streetcar collection as a fascinating example of car design in the years before the city standardized its surface fleet, an exemplar of the car builder’s art of the time, and an artifact remarkable in how original it has remained.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This account would not have been written without the invaluable input of Roy G. Benedict, who lived much of his life on the southeast side and provided historical descriptions of the South Chicago streetcar lines and the Jewetts in particular as well as photos and proofreading assistance. Art Peterson and George Kanary supplied in-service photos of the Jewetts while Ray Piesciuk and Joe Stupar located and scanned original photos and car diagrams of the cars.

SOUTH CHICAGO AND THE SOUTHEAST SIDE
Ten miles south of the Loop, along the Lake Michigan shore near the mouth of the Calumet River, sits the commercial center of South Chicago surrounded by the neighborhoods that make up the southeast side of Chicago. Just west of the mouth of the Calumet, South Chicago long served as the focal point of this area with its thriving downtown at 92nd & Commercial and its neighborhoods housing the thousands of workers who earned a living at the giant US Steel plant on the lakeshore. Clustered around South Chicago are the neighborhoods of South Shore to the north, Calumet Heights just to the west across the old Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads, South Deering with its industries along the Calumet River south of that, and East Side to the southeast hugging the Indiana state line.

Before South Chicago was a neighborhood it was a city. Known as Ainsworth when it was first settled around 1833, it was known as South Chicago by the time it was annexed into Hyde Park Township in 1867. The 1870s saw efforts to dredge the Calumet River to make it usable for ships and in 1881 the North Chicago Rolling Mill, later to become the US Steel South Works, opened on 91st Street at the mouth of the river. More steel mills and other heavy industry sprang up along both sides of the Calumet River and the population of South Chicago steadily rose. In 1889 Hyde Park Township was annexed by Chicago, including South Chicago and the other neighborhoods of the southeast side.

By that time South Chicago was already developing its own infrastructure, including that modern convenience, the horse car line. The Ewing Avenue Horse Railway began service in 1885 running along 92nd Street and south along Ewing Avenue to the east and along Commercial to the west of downtown South Chicago. Then in 1890, soon after annexation, a new mode of transportation arrived in South Chicago. On October 5th of that year the Calumet Electric Street Railway Company became the operator of the very first electric streetcar to run in Chicago. The CESR line looped downtown South Chicago and headed west along 93rd Street two miles through Calumet Heights to Stony Island Avenue, where the car house and generating station were located. Part of the line’s purpose was to spur housing development in Calumet Heights, but the line also served as a testbed for this exciting new technology. The Chicago city fathers, who had previously barred electric cars from the dense city core due to safety concerns, eventually were convinced and Chicago ended up with the largest unified electric street railway system in the country.

The owners of the Ewing Avenue Horse Railway saw the writing on the wall and elected to expand and upgrade, changing the name of the company to the South Chicago City Railway (SCCR). Under the direction of civil engineer James R. Chapman they bought 25 new electric streetcars and built an impressive new brick complex along Ewing just south of the Calumet River bridge that included a repair shop, car house, generating plant and offices. On March 4, 1893 they converted to electric power, and without any formal training at all the teamsters immediately became motormen. Fortunately some newly-hired conductors had experience with electric cars and the two-man crews figured out how to get the cars moving.

An example of the SCCR fleet from the turn of the century is car 109, a single-trucker built by St. Louis Car Company in 1902.
CESR and SCCR soon expanded to the north, with both companies building extensions to 63rd Street. The reason was twofold. First, the Columbian Exposition was being held at Jackson Park, drawing millions of people from all over the world to the fairgrounds along the east side of Stony Island Avenue between 56th and 67th. Second, South Side Rapid Transit, Chicago’s first elevated line, was completed to 63rd Street and Jackson Park in May 1893. This provided southeast side residents a direct ride to the Loop and a convenient and less inexpensive alternative to the Illinois Central Railroad.

These track maps, drawn from 1908 valuation reports, show the SCCR and CESR at the final development of their route mileage. Not drawn to scale.
The two competing streetcar companies continued to expand. SCCR painted its cars vermilion (red) with chrome yellow above and went by the nickname “Red Lines,” while CESR painted its cars yellow with orange above and was given unflattering monikers like the “yellow peril.” During the 1890s and early 1900s both lines vied for advantage, expanding into new neighborhoods like East Side and South Deering. CESR built a line east from downtown South Chicago to the gates of the US Steel South Works at 89th Street as well as a line down Avenue L as far as 109th that served the residential communities in East Side. The SCCR lines went as far south as 106th Street, where the cars ran from the state line through East Side across the Calumet as far west as Torrence Avenue in South Deering. This allowed the line to serve Wisconsin Steel, which occupied both banks of the Calumet south of 106th. SCCR also served Iroquois Steel, located along the lake just south of the Calumet River, and continued down Ewing through the heart of East Side. Eventually the car lines would stretch south along Green Bay Avenue, Burley and Carondelet as far as the neighborhood of Hegewisch. In 1896 SCCR began through service to Hammond and Whiting in Indiana over the Hammond Whiting & East Chicago, with the connection made at 106th & Indiana. By the early 1900s, the decade-old single-truck cars that had inaugurated electric service on the southeast side were fast becoming obsolescent, particularly for the longer and longer runs over the expanding car lines. Both CESR and SCCR looked to acquire larger, more modern double-truck cars. The Red Lines were first.

In the fall of 1902 the SCCR built five cars in its own shops on Ewing. They were large cars, 45’ in length, and had a seating capacity of 54. They were single-ended, though there were poles and controls at each end, and passengers boarded and alit at a single entrance at the right rear corner. They were also spartan, with bowling-alley seating, and were essentially lengthened versions of the single-truck cars then holding down service. Within months the competing CESR had matched the SCCR by ordering eight new off-the-rack semi-convertibles from the J.G. Brill Company of Philadelphia. These cars were designed for double-end operation, with doors at the front left and right rear, and sat 44 passengers in relative comfort on cross seats. Brill was the best streetcar builder in the industry and these CESR cars were better built than the five cars constructed on Ewing. But before 1903 was out the Red Lines would boast of new cars to match those fielded by the Calumet line.

THE JEWETTS
The five cars ordered by SCCR in 1903 from the Jewett Car Company of Newark, Ohio were not the first double-truck electric cars in Chicago, nor were they the largest or the best-known. But they were among the finest and, in the words of Chicago traction historian James Buckley, they were “probably the best constructed wooden cars ever to operate” on Chicago’s streets.

Car 321, the first of the series, is shown in public operation around 1905. The end of the car nearest the photographer is the rear end. Note the truss rods and script lettering on the car side. Fred J. Borchert photo, James Buckley Collection.

SCCR cars 321-325 were built on lot 148, Jewett plan 134T, and cost $12,936.87 for the order. Jewett had built some single-truckers for SCCR in 1900 but the firm was best known for building large interurban cars. While the new cars were undoubtedly streetcars, there was a definite interurban influence in their design as well. In part this was because they were designed for through service to Hammond and Whiting in Indiana over the tracks of the Hammond Whiting & East Chicago, a 14-mile route that made for a jarring ride on a bouncing single-trucker. The SCCR was designed with single-ended cars in mind, unlike the bigger streetcar lines that ran to downtown Chicago, and in keeping with this the Jewetts were built with a front and a rear end. However they had controls and conductor’s bells at each end and could be operated in either direction if needed.

The new Jewetts were 42’3” over the bumpers, much larger than the older single-truckers they supplanted. They sat 44 passengers on a mixture of cross seats and longitudinal bench seats, all of them upholstered in rattan. The cars had a separate smoking compartment at the front which seated 12 on bench seats and they had only a single passenger entrance, at the right rear of the car, plus a second door at the left front. Heat was provided by a coal-fired water heater located on the front platform to the motorman’s right. The cars had tongue-and-groove sheathing, truss rods, short 4’ deep platforms, and paired side windows (actually in a two-two-three-two-two arrangement), all features more common to interurbans than streetcars. The cars’ interiors were beautiful: varnished mahogany walls with inlay, quartered oak veneer ceilings, and Pantasote windows shades.

This drawing from a 1908 valuation report depicts the original floor plan for the Jewetts. The front end of the car is to the right, with the round water heater on the platform and longitudinal seats in the smoking compartment.

The cars were mounted on Taylor HSB2 trucks, the same as the homebuilt 1902 cars, and had GE 80 motors with K28F controllers. They were fitted with couplers, either for being towed or for hauling trailers; a Berg fender at the front; a Berg hand brake; and Van Dorn track scrapers. The conductor, who in these days before prepayment roved the car body to collect from passengers, used a Sterling-Meaker #5 to ring up fares.

The cars were painted in standard SCCR colors: vermilion (red) sides and letterboards, chrome yellow along the windows, and varnished window sash. Letting included pin-striping, “South Chicago City Railway Company” spelled out along the car sides in ornate script, car numbers on the end painted in Roman typeface and – anachronistically – car numbers on the sides in old-fashioned shadowed lettering. The Jewetts presented an unusual marriage of modern car with antiquated livery.

SOUTH SIDE LINES
The new Jewetts were the pride of the fleet for SCCR and initially were assigned to the Interstate routes, originating at 63rd Street near the ‘L’ terminus and traveling through downtown South Chicago on their way to Hammond or Whiting. But as well-built as they were, their reign as the flagships of the fleet was short-lived. In late 1907 the Ewing shops began construction on a new series of 11 homebuilt cars. These cars, numbered 332-342, had even more interurban features than the Jewetts. In fact, by most standards they were more like interurban cars than streetcars, with railroad roofs and steep step wells. Their layout was generally similar to the Jewetts but changes were made to the smoking compartment at the front of the car, with removable (or “convertible”) wall sections for better ventilation during the summer and cross seats replacing the longitudinal seats in the smokers on the Jewetts. The biggest difference was that the rear platform was only partly enclosed, and rather than side doors had Minneapolis-style gates across the steps on the right side.

The new cars, built especially for through service to Indiana, were dubbed “Interstates.” But the Jewetts were still modern and attractive cars and continued in daily service on the Indiana through routes and other heavy southeast side lines. Around 1906-1907 the SCCR color scheme changed; the familiar vermilion and chrome yellow livery was retained but the lettering was simplified, with Roman car numbers and plainer pin-striping. A round “Red Lines” emblem centered on the side of the car taking the place of the company name spelled out in script.

This image from a 1908 valuation report on the SCCR shows what the Jewetts looked like after five years of service. The livery has been simplified, with the script lettering replaced by a “Red Lines” roundel.

But SCCR was only to last a few months after the “Interstates” entered service. In May 1908 the “Red Lines” merged with its longtime competitor, the Calumet Electric Street Railway, to form the Calumet & South Chicago Railway (C&SC). With this, competing trackage – in some cases two lines just a block apart – could be rationalized and the schedules and fleets of the two lines could be combined to the best possible advantage. The company was managed from the large ex-CESR Burnside car house complex at 93rd & Drexel, which still stands as of this writing. The fleet was repainted, with dull Pullman green replacing the vibrant red-and-yellow of SCCR and yellow-and-orange of CESR, and the 321-325-series SCCR Jewetts were renumbered 826-830.

The Chicago streetcar companies, slowly but inexorably, were consolidating. Under the direction of the Board of Supervising Engineers created by the city in 1907, changes were being made to improve and standardize the operating practices and facilities of the major streetcar companies in the city. By 1908, when C&SC was formed, there were only two other major streetcar companies in Chicago, Chicago Railways on the north side and Chicago City Railways (CCR) on the south side. And shortly after the merger management, though not ownership, of the C&SC was transferred to CCR.

The new unified management of the “south side lines” – the CCR, C&SC and the relatively diminutive Southern Street Railway line on Cermak Road – began to rationalize and improve the C&SC operation immediately. Fifteen large double-truck Robertson-style cars were purchased from CCR to modernize the fleet, still largely made up by old single-truckers. All operations were moved to Burnside and the SCCR complex on Ewing and the car house on Coles Avenue in Cheltenham were sold. And the existing C&SC fleet was rebuilt and modernized.

In 1910 the five Jewetts went through rebuilding. Though significant changes were made, the basic structure of the car was unchanged. They were converted to double-end cars, though they had already been capable of double-end operation. Doors were added at the left side of each end, giving the cars identical folding doors at all four corners. The cars had their truss rods removed (a testament to the cars’ sturdy design) and angled dashers were added to the ends. The couplers were removed, the original basket-type fenders replaced with trip-gate lifeguards, and wooden guards were added to the trucks. The original Stanwood steps were replaced with folding steps, the metal safety rods on the windows were replaced with ornate “south side style” mesh window guards, and sign boxes mounted in the end and side windows replaced the rooftop brackets for mounting wooden destination signs.

This plan from 1914 depicts the Jewetts as they were following their 1910 rebuild. The smoking compartment bulkhead is gone, all four corners are fitted with doors (though no longer with step wells), and the entire car has cross seats except for the corners of the body. Illinois Railway Museum Collection.

The cars’ interiors were modernized too. Heating was changed from hot water heat to electric heat and the stove on the front platform was taken out. The bulkhead between the smoking and non-smoking compartments was removed and seating was changed to all cross seats, with longitudinal seats only at the corners of the body. International fare registers replaced the old Sterling-Meaker type with which the cars had been built. The interiors kept their original mahogany finish and appointments, though, including the two-panel sliding doors in the end bulkheads.

This is what the Jewetts looked like after rebuilding, though the photos date from five years later after the Chicago Surface Lines unification (note that the old C&SC emblems and numbers have been painted over on the car side). Illinois Railway Museum Collection.

In the meantime, the trend towards consolidating Chicago’s street railways that had begun in the 1890s continued. In 1910 the C&SC’s ownership stake in the Hammond Whiting & East Chicago was sold, though through service continued as before. At about the same time more through service was instituted, but this time going north instead of east. Through routes were being established all over Chicago, linking together the various component companies of the south side lines that were now under common management. And with the Unification Ordinance that went into effect on February 1, 1914, the city of Chicago reached the culmination of its consolidation trend. On that date the operations of the two big streetcar companies, CCR and Chicago Railways, were combined into one company: the Chicago Surface Lines.

SURFACE SERVICE
The Chicago Surface Lines, or CSL, was the operating company for the Chicago streetcar system and ownership of the fleet and property remained with the underlying companies, including C&SC. But with unification came further standardization and rationalization of car assignments. The Jewetts had recently been rebuilt to CCR specifications and were still rather new cars. But pay-as-you-enter (PAYE) fare collection, where a stationary conductor collected fares as passengers entered instead of roving the car seeking them out, had emerged as the safest and most efficient way to collect fares. So in 1914 the Jewetts were fitted for a conductor position on the rear platform, with a foot pedal to ring up fares, and the right-side door at each end was fitted with a crank so that the motorman could open the door for exiting passengers without arising. At some point, either in 1914 or in the years thereafter, the cars also acquired Utility ventilators. Some had their tongue-and-groove siding covered over with sheet metal panels.

This original CSL blueprint shows planned changes to the layout of the Jewetts to permit their conversion to Pay-As-You-Enter fare collection. IRM Collection.

The Jewetts also received a new coat of paint, with the CSL herald replacing the C&SC herald, and they received new numbers: C&SC 826-30 (originally SCCR 321-325) became CSL 2841-2845, with all five cars remaining in perfect numerical order. The cars remained in service on the southeast side, primarily seeing use on the ex-SCCR lines through South Chicago and operating out of Burnside car house, for the first several years following unification. But in 1921 changes began to come to the Jewett fleet. First, along with the rest of CSL’s cars they were repainted into the new fleet colors of carmine red with cream along the windows – a nearly identical livery to that they had worn in their first five years on SCCR. Second, they departed their old South Chicago territory with new assignments.

The biggest drawback of the Jewetts was their short platform length. With platforms only 4’ deep and side entry doors 2’5” wide, compared with 6’1” wide entryways on the 1908-vintage “Old Pullmans” built for Chicago Railways, the cars were inefficiently designed for passenger entry and exit. Newer PAYE cars like the “Old Pullmans” could board a crowd waiting at a car stop and be on their way while passengers stood on the platform fishing for change, but the Jewetts needed to wait while passengers boarded single-file and passed the conductor just inside the rear door. This made them much slower than the newer and larger PAYE cars and made them unsuitable for the increasingly popular lines through South Chicago and onward to East Side and the interstate through routes. In 1921 they were transferred to other, more lightly-patronized east-west routes on the far south side, the 106th, 115th and 119th Street lines.

These were short routes, all less than two miles long, that only used one or two cars each in regular service. But while the CSL had just recently obtained permission to begin operating one-man cars (the first were a handful of single-truck Birneys delivered in 1920), these south side lines all crossed at least one steam railroad at grade. That meant that a conductor had to be carried so that he could precede the car onto the railroad crossing and flag it across. For five years, until November 1926, the Jewetts operated on these lightly-used lines in the East Side and Pullman neighborhoods on the periphery of the old C&SC territory.

Car 2843 is shown as it appeared for much of its time in service on the CSL, in carmine red and cream with later modifications like Utility roof ventilators and metal sheathing on the sides. This photo, likely from the 1930s, was taken at Lawndale Car House. Krambles-Peterson Archive.

In December 1926 the CSL converted the 103rd Street line, a 2.5-mile long ex-CESR route along its namesake street between Cottage Grove at the east end and Vincennes at the west, to one-man operation. Though it was lightly-traveled by CSL standards it used three or four cars and had one at-grade steam railroad crossing (the route stopped just short of the Rock Island line paralleling Vincennes, avoiding a railroad grade crossing). And here was where the Surface Lines saw its opportunity to save money: they hired a single flagman stationed at the Chicago & Western Indiana crossing on 103rd & Eggleston and dispensed with three or four streetcar conductors who had been needed to flag the cars across the crossing. The Jewetts were put into one-man service on 103rd Street at the end of 1926.

But their short platforms continued to plague the five cars. With conversion to one-man operation, all passengers entered and exited via the congested front platform, slowing down the cars even further. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, ridership on the CSL decreased and newer cars that had been constructed with one-man service in mind became available for 103rd Street. In January of 1931 the five Jewetts were pulled out of service and put into storage. After 28 years of continual service their passenger carrying days had ended.

Car 2841 is pictured on September 12, 1942. Though unmodified from its passenger-carrying days, the 11 years it has spent in storage is obvious from the poor condition of the paint. In six months the car would be rebuilt for further service. Joe Diaz photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive.

The Jewetts remained in dead storage for a decade. At the time CSL management, which was rather forward-thinking, tended to keep unneeded equipment around “just in case” for years and even decades. Single-truck cars from the turn of the century that hadn’t been used since the teens were stored until the Depression; center-door trailers retired around 1930 were still around into the 1950s in many cases. And so it was with the Jewetts, which hung around mothballed until World War II. With the surging economy and the rationing of gas and rubber, ridership on the CSL exploded and management went looking for more cars to add to capacity. Fortunately the Jewetts were available.

In October 1942 one of the Jewetts, car 2844, was rehabilitated at South Shops and sent to Burnside car house for service. The station superintendent there wanted nothing to do with the car; even as stretched as the Surface Lines was, an aged car poorly suited for one-man operations was not what was desired. So the car was sent back to South Shops and the decision was made that the Jewetts instead would be converted into salt cars.

About a decade earlier the CSL had begun using salt as a major component of snow removal operations when it converted about 50 old Chicago Union Traction cars into salt spreaders. In April 1943 the Jewetts had their seats removed and salt bins added along with chutes and holes in the floor for spreading the salt onto the track. They entered seasonal service helping to keep the south side lines clear of snow.

Soon after repainting in work car green, car 2843 is pictured stored at Archer Car House on November 12, 1945. By this time it has been in salt car service for over two years. To the right is another one of the Jewetts in work car green. Tom Desnoyers photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive.

And this is what kept these unusual cars around for a few more precious years. All five lasted until the takeover of the CSL by the Chicago Transit Authority in 1947, after which salt cars were renumbered into the AA work cars series. Cars 2841-2845 were, for one final time, renumbered in proper sequence as a group, this time as salt cars AA93-AA97. As Chicago’s street railway system rapidly contracted during the early CTA years, the Jewetts were scrapped between 1951 and 1958. All, that is, except one: car AA95.

PRESERVATION
That one car, AA95, was squirreled away on a storage track at South Shops along with a few other relics and oddballs including one of the ex-SCCR “Interstate” cars built at Ewing in 1907 and some ex-Chicago Union Traction (CUT) cars. And there it sat, surrounded by hundreds of newer streetcars being burned and cut up for scrap metal, until by early 1958 nearly the entire Chicago streetcar fleet had vanished. That year the Electric Railway Historical Society (ERHS) began buying up the few old wood cars that hadn’t been scrapped. ERHS was a small group of streetcar fans that had elected to begin their own trolley museum after the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, located on a small plot of leased land in North Chicago, had declined to acquire more than one Chicago streetcar (that car was CSL 144, one of the 1908 Chicago Railways “Old Pullmans”). So the ERHS bought the cars on that storage track at South Shops, beginning with ex-CUT “bowling alley” 1467 in early 1958, and moved them to a farm in west suburban Downers Grove. “Matchbox” 1374 was bought later in 1958 and the two ex-SCCR cars – “Interstate” 2846 (work car number AA98) and then Jewett 2843 (AA95) – arrived in December. All four cars had been converted for salt car service and had lost their seats but otherwise were acquired intact with the exception of car 2846, which was acquired sans trucks.

Salt car AA94, formerly 2842, is seen in storage at 77th Street on July 2, 1949. Bags of salt can be seen piled up over the bolsters through the windows. Though owned by CTA the car still wears CSL emblems. Tom Desnoyers photo, Krambles-Peterson Archives.

The Jewett, 2843, was pretty much left alone. A sturdy storage barn was built by ERHS around the small collection of Chicago streetcars (several other cars joined the original four salt cars in the ensuing years), protecting the 2843 from the weather. In 1973 the ERHS was dissolved and its entire collection was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum, which by now had moved from North Chicago to Union and had the space and resources to acquire and house the varied collection of Chicago streetcars from Downers Grove. Part of the agreement was indoor storage for these cars in Union, so car 2843 was moved from its barn at the ERHS site into a barn at IRM. By the 1980s it had found its way to Barn 7, where IRM put its collection of Chicago streetcars (most of them from ERHS) on display, and there it has sat since.

This is what car 2843 looks like today, on public display in Barn 7 in work car green. Photo copyright Paige Miller, authorized for use on Hicks Car Works.
Car 2843 was given a coat of work car green paint years ago and was returned to its WWII-era CSL number, but other than that and the recent restoration of its 1910-era “south side style” window guards, it has been left essentially untouched since 1958. The car retains its trucks and motors, all of its control and air brake equipment save for its air compressor, and its interior is basically intact except for seats. Its condition is almost entirely unchanged since it was converted for salt car service in 1943. It still retains its in-service canvas roof in good condition, and still has the metal side panels that were screwed over the tongue-and-groove siding (the 1920s-era red paint and pin-striping can clearly be seen under the green paint on the metal panels; what older paint may remain on the siding underneath them is unknown). But the car’s condition suffered from years of salt car service, causing extensive corrosion to the floor and frame of the car. The precise extent of the deterioration is unknown but it is likely similar to what was found on “Matchbox” 1374, which was used in similar service, during a restoration effort in the 1980s that stretched to over a decade.

These photos show some of what car 2843’s interior looks like today, though the car is used for storage and much of its interior is inaccessible. The photo of the platform shows controller, brake stand and hand brake still in place; the handle over the brake wheel was installed in 1914 when the car was converted to PAYE fare collection. The photo of the end bulkhead shows the car number and the mounting bracket for the fare register. To the right of it can be seen where a second fare register, for ringing up Indiana fares during interstate service prior to 1921, was once mounted. IRM Collection.

Is car 2843 restorable? Yes, of course – with enough time and money, virtually anything at IRM is. The SCCR Jewett is a better candidate than some due to its completeness but likely a worse candidate than others due to its years as a salt car. For now, it is significant as one of the oldest Chicago streetcars at IRM and as a relatively little-modified artifact from before the Board of Supervising Engineers era. It is stored indoors, on public display, and is preserved for the future. For now, this proud product of Jewett and jewel of the South Chicago fleet patiently waits.

APPENDIX A: ORIGINAL SPECIFICATIONS
Cost new: $2,992
Double-truck, 4’9” wheel base, 33” wheels
Length overall 42’3”
Length over body 31’7”
Width 8’4”
Height floor to ceiling 8’2”
Height rail to trolley board 12’1”
Truck centers 19’6”

Seating capacity 44
Number and type, 10 reversible (Hale & Kilburn), 6 fixed longitudinal
Material, rattan

Side sills, 5”x7” yellow pine reinforced with ½”x7” steel plate
End sills, 5”x7” oak
Corner posts, 4”x4” ash
Center posts, 2”x4-3/4” ash (6 piers on each side)
Sheathing, poplar
Car lines, ash
Roofing, canvas
Ceiling, quartered oak veneer
Floor, yellow pine with ash strips
Interior woodwork, mahogany

Side windows, double, drop sash – lower sash 26-1/2”x28”, upper 15”x28”
Side doors, two-panel folding, 29” opening
Body end doors, double sliding, 37” opening
Partition doors, single sliding, 26” opening

Hand brakes, Berg patent ratchet, single end

Fare register, Sterling-Meaker #5, operated by rod

Track scrapers, one pair Van Dorn & Dutton

Interior finish, shellac and varnish
Exterior finish, vermilion below the belt, chrome yellow orange above

APPENDIX B: IN-SERVICE MODIFICATIONS
1910 CCRy rebuilding:
-removal of couplers
-heating system changed from hot water to electric
-left side doors added at each end
-fender at front replaced with H-B Universal Lifeguards at both ends
-smoker partition removed
-seating arrangement changed
-truck fenders (guards) added
-original step wells (“Stanwood” type) replaced with folding steps
-sign box installed at rear end of car
-upper sash sign boxes added at middle of car
-rooftop sign brackets removed
-addition of angled dasher panels
-trolley base changed
-truss rods removed
-window guards changed to “south side lines” style
-Sterling Meaker fare registers replaced with International registers
-track scrapers removed
1914 PAYE rebuilding:
-hand crank added for opening right side doors at each end
-conductor’s stool and foot pedal for fare register added to platforms
c1915: permanent dash headlights installed, plugs for arc headlights removed
c1915-1920: addition of Utility style ventilators in roof
1921: duplicate fare register for interstate service removed
c1920s: tongue-and-groove siding below belt rail sheathed with sheet metal
c1920s: air compressor changed to National A4
1943 salt car rebuilding:
-all seats removed
-bins for salt installed
-chutes and holes in floor added

Liveries
1903-c1907 – SCCR 323 - vermilion body with chrome yellow along windows, varnished windows and doors, “South Chicago City Railway Company” in script lettering on car side, end numbers in script, side numbers in shadowed typeface, double striping

c1907-1908 – SCCR 323 – vermilion body with chrome yellow along windows, varnished windows and doors, “Red Lines” emblem centered on car side, end and side numbers in script, single striping

1908-1914 – C&SC 828 – Pullman green body, varnished or brown windows and doors, C&SC emblem centered on car side, numbers in Roman, single striping

1914-c1923 – CSL 2843 – Pullman green body, brown windows and doors, CSL emblem centered on car side, numbers in Roman, single striping

c1923-1943 – CSL 2843 – carmine red body with cream along windows, brown windows and doors, CSL emblem centered on car side, numbers in Roman, single striping

1943-1947 – CSL 2843 [salt car] – dark green body, brown windows and doors, CSL emblem centered on car side, numbers in Roman

1947-1958 – CTA AA95 [salt car] – dark green body, brown windows and doors, CSL emblem centered on car side, numbers in Roman

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arnold, Bion J. and George Weston. Detailed Exhibits of the Physical Property and Intangible Values of the Calumet Electric Street Railway. Chicago, IL: Traction Valuation Commission, 1908.

Arnold, Bion J. and George Weston. Detailed Exhibits of the Physical Property and Intangible Values of the South Chicago City Railway. Chicago, IL: Traction Valuation Commission, 1908.

Benedict, Roy G. Streetcars Among Chicago Streets Named With Numbers and Letters. Unpublished essay, 2014.

Brough, Lawrence A. and James H. Graebner. From Small Town to Downtown: A History of the Jewett Car Company, 1893-1919. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004.

Buckley, James J. and Roy G. Benedict. Chicago Surface Lines Cars 2841-2845. Unpublished essay, 2014.

Calumet & South Chicago Railway. “D.T. Pasenger Cars Series #826-830.” Blueprint, 1914.

“Chicago Approves Consolidation – Other Affairs,” Street Railway Journal 11 April 1908: 623.

Chicago Surface Lines. “Proposed P.A.Y.E. Floor Plan, Car Series #2841-2845 (Old #826-30).” Blueprint, c1914.

Hicks, Randall, “The Electric Railway Historical Society: An Illustrated History,” Hicks Car Works, accessed March 15, 2015. http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2009/01/erhs.html

Lind, Alan R. Chicago Surface Lines: An Illustrated History, Third Edition. Park Forest, IL: Transport History Press, 1986.

Moody, John. “Calumet and South Chicago Railway.” Moody’s Analysis of Investments, Volume II, Public Utilities and Industrials. 1916.

Sellers, Rod. Chicago’s Southeast Side Industrial History. Chicago, IL: Southeast Historical Society, 2006.

March @CERA: Celebrating the Centennial of George Krambles

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:02:27 GMT

Our Next Program:

Friday, March 27, 2015
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center (Map)
525 S State St Fl 2
Chicago, Illinois
One block north of Harrison Street Red Line station

Celebrating the Centennial of George Krambles
My Uncle George
By Art Peterson

Come join us for an evening with Art Peterson as we celebrate the centennial of the birth of his uncle,George Krambles. We’ll take an intimate biographical look and celebrate the life of one of CERA’s founders and former CTA executive director.

How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Another Fine Mess

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 19:38:27 GMT

Originally posted on Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more):

In 2001 Piet Schreuders wrote to me from his home in Amsterdam postulating (correctly) about the tunnel appearing at the conclusion of Laurel and Hardy’s 1930 comedy short Another Fine Mess. Apart from being an internationally acclaimed graphic designer, and creator of Furore Magazine, Piet’s amazing list of accomplishments include writing The Beatles’ London, a guide to The Beatles’ shooting and filming locations; co-founding The Beau Hunks music ensemble, which recreates the LeRoy Shield musical scores played during the Hal Roach Studio comedies; and creating a virtual reality computer model of downtown Culver City as it appeared when Laurel and Hardy filmed there so frequently in the 1930s. Piet has also…

View original 1,233 more words

Click to enlarge each image. 1930 vs. 1958. Stan and Ollie (well, their stunt doubles) ride south down Sunset Blvd. from Grand at the conclusion of Another Fine Mess. Palmer Conner Collection.

February @ CERA: Pittsburgh Area Traction

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 21:20:39 GMT

Our Next Program:

Pittsburgh Area Traction

Annual Meeting

Friday, February 27, 2015
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

We will visit and view traction operations in the Pittsburgh area. Electric traction in Pennsylvania proved to be an enduring institution, with many lines surviving into the 1950s. Even today, we can still ride electric cars in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas.

Pittsburgh Railways PCC 1467, built in 1941 by St. Louis Car Company, is preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.

Two DVDs will be shows, with footage transferred from movies.Pittsburgh Railways 16 mm color footage from 1951 to 1963, features interurbans, suburban, and city lines back in a time when it seemed that streetcars could be found everywhere in Pittsburgh. A combination of PCC cars and older equipment will make this trip back into the past an enjoyable experience.

West Penn Railways features Greensburg to Uniontown main line and the branch to Latrobe. Tight curves, spectacular bridges, and steep grades were all part of the West Penn experience that made is so memorable.

Our Annual Meeting will take place between showing of the two DVDs. Three candidates will be elected to the CERA Board of Directors, and administrative reports will be presented.

PS- CERA Bulletin 145, published in 2012, covers the Pittsburgh Railways story in great detail:

Transit in the Triangle Volume 1
A Century Look at Pittsburgh Public Transit
by Blaine S. Hays and James A. Toman

You can purchase a copy here.

Pittsburgh Railways had a very attractive logo, as seen on PCC 1711 at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

West Penn Railways car 739, now preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

North Shore Line Encore

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 21:28:36 GMT

The Lake Room, University Center

525 S. State St, Chicago, IL

July 25, 2015, marks the 60^th anniversary of the North Shore Line’s “Shore Line Route” abandonment. January 21, 2015 marks the 52^nd anniversary of the total abandonment of the railroad.

Tonight we will view various aspects of the beloved North Shore Line through an encore presentation of the 50^th Anniversary North Shore Line Program which was originally presented at CERA on January 25, 2013. North Shore enthusiasts never tire of seeing visual representations of their beloved interurban when all was still operational and every day was “business as usual” even in the shadow of protracted abandonment proceedings. If you missed this program the first time around, here is your chance to see this famous and colorful interurban brought back to life in an engrossing collection of digitized and restored black-and-white and color film.

Join us for an evening on the North Shore Line. Crying towels are in limited supply and available upon request.

The Annual Membership Meeting has been postponed until February. The Audit Committee requires additional time to complete its review of CERA’s finances and issue an up-to-date report on the organization’s financial state to its members.

Also, there are three Board of Directors positions up for election, but to date we only have the names of two candidates to place on the ballot. If you would like to give of your time to CERA and are interested in serving on the Board, please contact Nominations Committee Chairman Raymond DeGroote by email at rdg6018ray@yahoo.com.

Note: Current estimates are that B-146 will be released sometime in February 2015—a very welcome event to bring in the New Year

Myles A. Jarrow Memorial Service 12-30-14

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 21:31:37 GMT

Myles’ burial took place on Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota. The memorial service will be held on Tuesday, December 30, at 11:30 AM at North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Road, Glencoe, IL. Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice.Directions: Take the Edens Expressway (I-94 / US Route 41) to Lake Cook Road. Turn east (heading towards Lake Michigan). Continue approximately 1.6 mi. Lake Cook merges into Sheridan Road. The entrance to the parking lot is on the left approximately 700 ft. after the road turns southward.For additional information, please contact Goldman Funeral Group, (847) 478-1600.—Eric Bronsky

Myles A. Jarrow

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 21:34:34 GMT

During his childhood, Myles Jarrow traveled to many places with his family using streetcars, interurbans, and intercity trains. His earliest memories of riding streetcars in Chicago dated back to the mid-1920s. Among other local attractions, he enjoyed visiting the Balaban & Katz movie palaces, the various museums, and the Municipal Pier (now called Navy Pier). But observing and riding the colorful streetcars mesmerized him more than anything else.

Outside of Chicago, Myles was fortunate to experience firsthand many of the streetcar and interurban lines that still operated during the early years of the Depression. Decades later, he would lament not having gotten into photography. But Myles’ photographic memory did a fine job of preserving intricate details from those trips. He prudently saved timetables, brochures, and other memorabilia from his travels.

Apart from being involved in his family’s company which manufactured refrigerator door gaskets, Myles dabbled briefly in transportation. He and his friend Frank Butts operated a small bus company in Lincoln, Illinois after World War II.

Myles joined the fledgling Central Electric Railfans’ Association back in 1938. Remarkably, his involvement with CERA would span three-quarters of a century! As Member #23, he was the last surviving member to attend the early meetings. Myles was a gifted speaker who would pair his lucid memories with images from various photographers. He gave several excellent, memorable programs at CERA through the years.

Myles’ passion for travel continued well into the 21st Century with trips to Europe as well as visits to USA cities with streetcars and light rail. Reduced mobility in later years did not deter him from attending CERA meetings, visiting IRM, or enjoying social visits with friends. His energy and youthful spirit transcended his 92 years. On a more personal level, Myles was a longtime friend. We will miss his always-upbeat attitude, companionship, enthusiasm for the hobby, and great sense of humor. A walking ‘time capsule’ of Chicago in the ’30s and later, Myles was an interviewee for the book Downtown Chicago in Transition, co-authored by Eric Bronsky and Neal Samors.

Myles passed away on Sunday, December 21. He bequeathed his extensive collection of books and paper items to the Illinois Railway Museum. A memorial service is being planned for Tuesday, December 30 at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois. Details are forthcoming.

— Eric Bronsky

One Moment Please...

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:38:36 GMT

The CERA Members Blog will be back up and running in 2015. In the meantime the organization’s main target will be to have the completed B-146 off to the printer this month so it will be ready for distribution to members and purchasers in mid January 2015. We wish you all the best for a happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you again in the New Year.

Another Milestone

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 21:39:43 GMT

There was a time, not so long ago really, in February 2013 when we started writing this blog, and we had practically no readers. It seemed that, no matter how good the posts were (and some of the early posts were very good), nobody was paying very much attention.

We would tell people about the blog, and their usual reaction was, “What is a blog?”

I am glad to report the situation has changed. We set a new record yesterday with 2,091 page views in a single day, and 13,976 for the month of November. The previous record for page views in a day was 944 and that was just a couple weeks back.

The 1989 movie Field of Dreams espoused the philosophy, “build it, and they will come.” In the film, Kevin Costner constructs a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield, and pretty soon the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson comes out of the shadows.

While we can’t claim Shoeless Joe as one of our followers, something similar may be at work here. Over time, as our posts accumulate, there is more and more available here for people to read. Readership has been going up lately, even though there are fewer posts this year than last.

But we’ll take new readers wherever we can get them. If you have just recently discovered this blog, we’ll do our best to keep up the good work, and keep you both informed and entertained while covering transportation history and current goings-on. IMHO, our best posts use pictures to help tell a story.

And if, as a result, you discover the group that’s behind it all, Central Electric Railfans’ Association, that’s even better.

I don’t expect to be seeing the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson anytime soon, but you never know. Stranger things have happened.

Thanks.

-Ye Olde Editor

PS- Just so this post is not entirely devoid of transit-related information, we’ll post a list of the 10 foundung members of the Illinois Railway Museum, courtesy of Carl Lantz:

Howard R. Blackburn
Robert W. Gibson
Charles V. Hess
Meredith (Butch) Hunter
Malcolm D. McCarter
J. W. McDonough
Howard A. Odinius
Eugene Van Dusen
David J. Williams III
Harry Zillmer

As Mr. Lantz notes, each contributed $100 to bring Indiana Railroad car 65 to Illinois. Malcolm McCarter is the lone surviving founder, and he still sells railroad photos, as he has been doing since 1942.

You can read more about IR car 65 in A Tale of Two High Speeds, one of our posts from last year.

December @CERA: Going Down Under

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:41:44 GMT

Our Next Program:

Friday, December 26, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

ESCAPE THE POLAR VORTEX, WE’RE GOING DOWN UNDER!

December is sure to bring with it much in the way of cold weather and the possibility of snow and ice. However, in Australia and New Zealand, in the Land Down Under, December is the height of Summer. Long, warm days with lots of sunshine await us Down Under.

December 26th, Boxing Day in both Australia and New Zealand, promises to bring you exciting videos of the electric trams and cable trams of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and time permitting, recent videos of the current trolley bus operation in Wellington, New Zealand which is slated for abandonment on June 30, 2017.

Melbourne has the third largest streetcar system in the World, and Wellington has the only left hand trolley buses on the face of the Earth.

Since CERA will be celebrating the Boxing Day holiday on the night of our program, admission will be free to all attendees as CERA’s holiday gift.

A grand union in Melbourne. (Jeff Wien Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

Melbourne articulated car 3014. (Jeff Wien Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

B-146 Update: Barring any unforeseen problems with our printer, we hope to have B-146 in the hands of our members by the middle of January 2015.

Lighting Up Kenosha

From Brad Preston:

Downtown Kenosha’s 2014 Lightin’ Up and City Tree Lighting event with Kenosha Streetcars 4606 & 4609 (the Chicago and Pittsburgh cars) decorated and filled to capacity!

Tonight @CERA - The North Side "l"

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 21:51:48 GMT

Our Next Program:

Friday, November 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center (Map)

The North Side “L” by Bruce Moffat

Long-time CERA member and author Bruce Moffat recounts the history of Chicago’s North Side “L” in this informative and entertaining program. He will trace its development, beginning with Charles Yerkes‘ battle with the City to extend rapid transit into the north side, followed by upgrading a steam railroad to extend “L” trains into the suburbs. Joint operations with steam- powered freights, electric interurbans and the “L”‘s own electric freight are also covered.

Mr. Moffat’s books include Forty Feet Below – The Story of Chicago’s Freight Tunnels, The Chicago Tunnel Story: Exploring the Railroad “Forty Feet Below” (CERA B-135), and The “L”: The Development of Chicago’s Rapid Transit System, 1888-1932 (CERA B-131). In addition, he has also authored Shore Line Interurban Historical SocietyDispatches 1 and 5: Cooperation Moves the Public, and The Chicago “L’s” Great Steel Fleet – The Baldies.

Giving Thanks - Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 21:54:49 GMT

In this Thanksgiving post, we are grateful for the North Shore Line, that fabled interurban that sped between Chicago and Milwaukee, giving faithful service right up until the early morning hours of January 21, 1963.

CNS&M 744 and 803-804 on a June 17, 1962 CERA fantrip. Can this be the Mundelein branch? (CERA Archives)

Central Electric Railfans’ Association had a long, mutually beneficial relationship with the CNS&M, going back to 1938. The North Shore Line allowed CERA to use car 300 as a “club car,” for meetings and excursions, until the wartime cutbacks made this impossible. In the final years, there were many CERA fantrips on the North Shore Line, using a variety of different consists.

Traditionally, January’s CERA program celebrates the North Shore Line, and 2015 will be no exception. Looking forward to that event, we offer a selection of rare images of the North Shore Line, plus a few additional interesting documents.

While cold winds may howl outside, there will always be a warm place in our hearts for the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee. We’ve even included a few pictures showing the Electroliners’ “reincarnation” on the Philadelphia & Western as Liberty Liners. We hope that you will enjoy them along with your turkey, stuffing, and cranberries, albeit in lieu of Electroburgers.

-Ye Olde Editor

For further reading:

Descriptive Data on Electroliners (Issued by CNS&M on July 21, 1945)

An Overview of the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad (Issued by CNS&M on July 1, 1944)

According to this brochure, the first volume in CERA’s famed North Shore Line series appeared just a few months before abandonment.

CNS&M 158 street running. Can one of our keen-eyed readers help identify the location? (CERA Archives)

A two-car North Shore train at speed along the Skokie Valley Route. (CERA Archives)

An Electroliner berthed at the North Shore Line’s Milwaukee terminal- one of “38 fast trains daily.” (CERA Archives)

CNS&M 156 leads up an outbound six car train just north of Howard, going into the Skokie Valley Route. This came from a “superslide,” shot on size 828 Kodachrome roll film, yielding an image slightly larger than 35mm. (W. H. Higginbotham Photo – CERA Archives)

CNS&M 160 leads a six car train. This car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (CERA Archives)

A North Shore Line freight train, headed up by loco 456, in Lake Bluff. (CERA Archives)

North Shore combine 250 heads up this train on the Lake Street leg of the Loop “L”. We are looking north on LaSalle Street, and the cars date the picture to about 1958. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “250 was built by Jewett in 1917. It had its seating reduced from 40 to 28 on July 28, 1925.”

Electroliner 803-804 at the same location as one of our other pictures, near the Acme Hotel at 809 South State. From a 4×5 negative. (CERA Archives)

The sign on the Acme Hotel identifies this location as being just south of the Loop “L”, at about 800 South. The cars date the picture to about 1958. From a 4×5 negative. (CERA Archives)

Electroliner 801-802 on the Lake Street leg of Chicago’s Loop “L”, circa 1958, with a good view of Discount Records at right. From a 4×5 negative. (CERA Archives)

The Red Arrow logo being applied to a newly christened “Liberty Liner” on January 4, 1964. (David H. Cope Photo – CERA Archives)

Celebrating the introduction of the Liberty Liners on January 26, 1964 in front of the press. Could that man be Merritt H. Taylor Jr., president of the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co.? (David H. Cope Photo – CERA Archives)

A Liberty Liner on the Red Arrow Lines at 69th Street, parked next to crane R6. (CERA Archives)

On a Personal Note

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 16:31:26 GMT

FYI, as of November 11th, I have stepped down from the CERA Board, the position of president, and the archivist for CERA. My personal health has caused me to take these actions as well as the declining health of my elderly mother who is in her 80s. I will continue to perform whatever functions the CERA Board decides that it would like me to perform. Thanks for your support of CERA and our Blog.

-David Sadowski

Chicago Subway Plans From 1911

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 19:41:43 GMT

Chicago’s first subway opened 71 years ago, during World War II. But the planning for subways goes back at least 30 years earlier.

We received a call the other day from Beverly Petzhold, the widow of Charlie Petzhold. Charlie was well known to the CERA community and frequently gave “newscast” updates at meetings on various projects he was working on for the CTA as an engineer. Sadly, he passed away 20 years ago.

Mrs. Petzhold has generously donated Charlie’s collection of historic documents to the CERA Archives. Many of these detail the planning, engineering and construction of the Chicago subways over the decades. We took note of her gift here.

Mrs. Petzhold found another book to add to our collection- General Plans for a Passenger Subway System in Chicago by Bion J. Arnold, published in January 1911.

It’s instructive to consider the life and career of Bion J. Arnold, who is largely forgotten today, but was a giant in the transportation field in his time. Arnold was involved in designing the very successful IRT subway in New York.

Following this he acted as a consultant to various cities in developing their own plans for subway construction. It is not Arnold’s fault that many of these plans became mere pipe dreams for a long time. As he wrote in his introduction to the Chicago plan book:

No attempt has been made to show in this report the necessity for subways, for it is taken for granted that on account of the present congestion, at times, of the surface line cars and elevated trains in the business district, as well as the apparent demand for the removal of the elevated loop structure, that subways are desired regardless of whether they can be justified from a financial standpoint or not.

Arnold also noted that the existence of the Chicago Tunnel Co. freight system complicated the routing of new subways, as most of the tunnels were at a depth of 33 feet (this in spite of the title of Bruce Moffat’s book Forty Feet Below). As things turned out, during actual construction, the freight tunnels were used to remove excavated materials, so they were a benefit. But since the new tunnels bisected the freight system in many areas, they hastened the decline and eventual demise of the system.

Less than a generation after the completion of the Chicago Loop “L” structure in 1897, there were calls to remove it and replace it with subways. These plans influenced civic planning all the way up until the administrations of Mayors Michael Bilandic and Jane Byrne in the late 1970s.

The perceived need to replace the Loop “L” in stages had a major influence on these subway plans. In a similar fashion, the existence of streetcar tunnels under the Chicago River strongly influenced plans for Downtown streetcar subways. These plans even outlasted the streetcars, since the CTA and City of Chicago were still hoping to build just such a bus subway along Washington Street into the 1960s.

Although many changes were made in the Arnold plan for Chicago subways, you can draw a straight line between those plans, and what was eventually built.

Since the Loop “L” connected with lines going to the north, south, and west, any subway that hoped to replace the Loop would have to go in these same directions. North and south could be through-routed and State Street was quickly identified as the prime location for Chicago’s first subway. Construction almost began in 1931, but was halted due to some lawsuits regarding funding and the Great Depression. But the project was revived, and with the addition of Federal aid through the PWA, actual construction started in 1938, and the subway opened in 1943.

Connections to the Lake Street and Metropolitan “L”s to the west would have to contend with Lake Michigan on the east, and the Arnold plan envisioned a subway under Michigan Avenue connecting them. Portions of this rapid transit subway were intended to run side-by-side with streetcars, for a total of four tracks.

By 1937, the City of Chicago’s streetcar subway plans called for two underground turning loops east of Michigan Avenue. There also would have been an underground car barn. Although never built, these are the locations where underground parking garages later appeared.

By the mid-1920s, subway plans had evolved to where the Number 2 tube would have gone in Clark Street. On the south end, the plan was to connect to a new subway going off to the southwest. This side of the City did not get such service until the Orange Line “L” opened in the early 1990s.

In 1937, the City of Chicago, lobbying for Federal work project funds, issued a comprehensive plan for transportation, commonly referred to as the “Green Book.” This included the State Street subway and also the two east-west streetcar subways.

The PWA, under the direction of Harold L. Ickes, who also served as Secretary of the Interior, had other ideas. While accepting the necessity of the State Street tube, Ickes advocated for a second subway on Dearborn Street. This was a better location than Clark, since it permitted an easier transfer to State Street trains.

Ickes also preferred construction of an expressway along Congress Street, necessitating the relocation of the Garfield Park “L” into its median. Garfield/Congress trains would be routed into the Dearborn subway, which would then continue the northwest along Milwaukee Avenue to connect up with the Met Logan Square branch. Construction started in 1938, but wartime shortages delayed the opening of this second subway until 1951.

Even Samuel Insull had realized the advantages of a rapid transit line going Downtown along Milwaukee Avenue, in the 1920s, but if he had built it, it would have been an “L”. Subways were too costly, and would have to be built by cities.

The streetcar subways were put onto the back burner, but continued to appears in the City’s plans for years afterward. They were never built, but if they had been, it’s possible they would have facilitated the continued use of streetcars in Chicago, as they have done in other cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco.

Even with two subway tunnels open by 1951, it was still not enough to allow for the razing of the Loop “L”, although it certainly did help reduce congestion. This would require additional subways. In final form, by the 1970s, there were plans for a Monroe Distributor that you can read about here. These plans were scrapped due to their high cost.

Thus Chicago’s Loop “L”, unloved and unwanted for much of its history, emerged as a survivor, and continues today as a cherished icon and landmark of the City. But the wheels that set that in motion began turning more than 100 years ago.

What became of Bion J. Arnold? Eventually, he controlled the Elgin and Belvidere Electric Company, which ran an interurban along 36 miles of track between those two Illinois cities. This venture failed by 1930, taking with it much of Arnold’s personal fortune.

But even that had a legacy, as several miles of the abandoned Elgin and Belvidere right-of-way are now owned by the Illinois Railway Museum, and are used as it’s Main Line.

-Ye Olde Editor

PS- The CERA Members Blog reached a milestone the other day with 943 page views, our most ever. This blog had 75,000 page views last year, and more than 100,000 so far this year. We expect that by year’s end, this total will probably exceed 115,000, an increase of more than 50% over 2013.

We take this to mean that we must be doing something right now and then. It is our hope that as more and more articles appear on the blog, it functions as an online archive and resource for transit history. We thank you for your continued support.

A rather fanciful early 1940s postcard, showing what appears to be a New York BMT "Bluebird" train in the Chicago subway. The four experimental articulated cars 5001-5004 (later renumbered 51-54, and not to be confused with the current 5000-series) were based on the Blue bird design and were delivered in 1947-48 (CERA Archives)

CTA Met car 2785 at Lake Transfer. At this long-demolished station, closed in 1951 with the opening of the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway, passengers could transfer from the Met “L” to the Lake Street “L”, which crossed below. In 1954, a direct connection was built at this spot, which is used today by the CTA Pink Line to reach the Loop. (J. R. Williams Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA 6001-6002 at Marshfield on the Garfield Park “L” circA 1950. The first batch of 6000s, which had flat doors, were ordered for use in the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway, which opened in February 1951. At this location, trains branched off in three directions, to Logan Square/Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and Douglas Park. (J. R. Williams Photo – CERA Archives)

Giving Thanks - Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:04:09 GMT

With turkey day less than two weeks away, there is so much to be thankful for at this time of the year. Therefore, we thought it would be fitting to write a few posts this month about all the things CERA is thankful for.

As we continue to work hard at finishing up our 146th Bulletin Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era, 1936-1958, we thank our readers with a sampling of some Chicago streetcar images that, for one reason or another, did not make it into the book.

Without the help, support and donations of our CERA Members, who have been so generous in sharing with us, books like this would not be possible. We are thankful for that.

Likewise, this and other such books would be impossible to put out without the tireless efforts of our CERA volunteers, who have logged many thousands of hours in doing research, painstakingly checking and rechecking facts, locations, and a myriad of other details that go into a book such as this.

Many of the same volunteers also worked very hard going over many of these images in Photoshop, removing thousands of spots, scratches and other imperfections that have found their way into these original images over the course of 60 years. There was a time not that long ago when it would have been impossible to fix these things. But even though the technology is now available, it still takes a lot of “elbow grease” and burning the midnight oil to get the job done. And for that, we are very thankful.

Even though the photos you see here will not appear in B-146, some of these same techniques were used to undo the ravages of time. The photo from Madison and Pulaski was covered with spots, which have been removed. The picture from 81st and Halsted had a hair over the front of PCC 7211, which is now gone.

The two pictures from the Clark-Howard loop had been badly faded over the years. They were taken onAnscochrome, an early type of slide film (similar to Ektachrome) that did not have the dye stability ofKodachrome. Using computer magic, it has been possible to “get the red out” and bring back a semblance of the original colors. For this, we are also thankful.

And finally, we are thankful for everyone who has supported CERA by purchasing a Membership, for either 2014 or 2015. The number of renewals we have already received is very gratifying. Your continued support makes what we do possible.

Consider becoming a card-carrying Member of CERA today. Joining, and renewing, has never been easier. Just click on this link for further details. We thank you for your time and consideration.

-Your CERA Directors

PS- To read more about the 1956 fantrip where CTA red car 225 was rebadged as 144 for the day, go here.

CTA Pullman PCC 4076 at Madison and Pulaski in 1949, showing patches of paint of a distinctly darker hue. At one time, this was one of the busiest shopping areas in the city. (James J. Buckley Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA Pullmans 4070 and 4104 westbound at Monroe and Canal on the #20 Madison route in April 1950. (CERA Archives)

CTA St. Louis-built PCC 7211 and Pullman-built 4116, in contrasting color schemes. We are at 81st and Halsted, facing west, and the time is most likely 1952. (CERA Archives)

CSL experimental pre-PCC 7001, as it looked in 1941 after having been repainted to match the 1936 PCCs, (CERA Archives)

CTA PCC 7143 heads south on Clark Street downtown in the early 1950s. (CERA Archives)

The scrapped body shell of Pullman-built PCC 4211 in St. Louis circa 1954. (CERA Archives)

It’s December 1956, and we are looking south at the intersection of Clark, Broadway, and Diversey. Car 225 (rebadged as 144) is on a fantrip, followed by a PCC that might be 7238. (CERA Archives)

CTA Pre-war PCC 7013, retrofitted for one-man operation. (CERA Archives)

CTA Pre-war PCC 4026 near the Hotel Florence in the Pullman neighborhood in the early 1950s. retrofitted for one-man operation. (CERA Archives)

CSL PCC 7026, outfitted with experimental roof-mounted forced-air ventilation equipment, similar to that used in Boston. (CERA Archives)

It’s July 1954, a month after the end of CTA red car service. But car 597 is still on the scene here at 38th and Cottage Grove. Pre-war PCC 4033 is at right. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA PCC 7171 at the Clark-Howard loop in 1957. (CERA Archives)

CTA PCC 7165 at the Clark-Howard loop in 1957. (CERA Archives)

CTA PCC (#72xx) loaded on a flatcar in February 1957, for its trip down to St. Louis to be stripped for parts used in building rapid transit cars. (CERA Archives)

It’s March 24, 1954 at Cottage Grove and 115th. CTA PCC 4015 heads the lineup. (CERA Archives)

CERA News for November 13, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:33:31 GMT

CERA News for November 2014

Used Book Exchange

The CERA Used Book Exchange is taking this month off. The continued availability of used books is dependent on the generosity of our Members, and we thank you for both your donations and purchases.

B-146 Progress Report

We are in the home stretch of working on Bulletin 146, the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era, 1936-1958. Layout work on the book is essentially complete; the text sections for the book are finished, the nearly 1000 photos selected, locations identified, captions written and double-checked for accuracy. The DVD inserts are already at the printer, as are the reproduction 1936 CSL brochures that will accompany each copy of the book.

This book will have more pictures, and with better reproduction quality, than any previous CERA book ever.

We expect the book will soon be in the hands of the printer and 3-4 weeks later, copies will be mailed out from there. This book is a two-year entitlement for those who were CERA Members in 2012 and 2013, and we also are sending it anyone who was a Contributing or Sustaining Member in either year.

Since we stand behind what we sell, we will cheerfully offer a refund anyone who pre-ordered the book and does not want to wait any longer to receive it. Because the book is already very popular and likely to sell out quickly, we expect that very few people (if any) will take us up on this offer.

CERA Archives Update

CERA wishes to thank both Beverly Petzhold and Edward Halstead for their recent donations of material to our Archives. Mrs. Petzhold is the widow of Charlie Petzhold, who died 20 years ago. His personal collection of engineering documents will give us a leg up on required research for a book we are planning, Building Chicago’s Subways. It is hoped that this book can be published in 2018, a year full of anniversaries.

2018 will be the 80th anniversary of CERA, the 80th anniversary of when construction began on Chicago’s Initial System of Subways, the 75th anniversary of the opening of the State Street Subway,and the 60th anniversary of the opening of the CTA Congress rapid transit line (which was referred to as a “subway,” since it is below grade). It also marks 65 years since the Chicago, Aurora & Elginstopped running downtown due to expressway construction.

Therefore, considering all these anniversaries, it seems the perfect time for CERA to put out a book on this subject.

2015 Membership Cards

We thank those of you who have already renewed your CERA Memberships for 2015. If you have renewed, your Membership card will arrive in your mailbox, along with the November program notice. If you have not yet renewed your membership, we encourage you to do so. New Members are also welcome!

We thank you for your support.

-Your CERA Directors

CTA Retires the 2400s

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:35:01 GMT

CTA Retires Last Of 2400-Series Train Cars Built In 1970s

November 3, 2014 7:34 AM

CHICAGO (CBS) – The CTA is marking another milestone in the modernization of its rapid transit fleet.

While many riders may not like the 5000-series ‘L’ cars now under construction, they have allowed CTA to retire its two oldest series of rapid transit cars.

Fifteen months after retiring the last of the 2200-series ‘L’ cars built beginning in 1969, during the first Nixon presidency, CTA has retired the next-oldest group of ‘L’ cars, the 2400-series cars delivered by Boeing beginning in the fall of 1976 and christened by the first Mayor Daley two months before his death.

The 2400-series cars were seen all over its rail system until this past year. Their last assignment, oddly enough, was the Orange Line — a place they had never run till recently. The last were removed from service after the Friday morning rush hour. A couple dozen of the cars, with red-and-white stripes on the ends and sides, will remain indefinitely for maintenance purposes.

The last of the controversial 5000-series ‘L’ cars should be delivered next year. More than 550 of the planned 714 cars are now in service. CTA has released specifications for its next group of rapid transit cars, which would allow CTA to retire all cars older than the 5000 series by 2022.

CTA 2561-2562 leads the way southbound at Wabash and Van Buren on June 27, 2014 (CERA Archives)

Video of the 2400-series "L" cars in Orange Line service on June 17, 2014 (CERA Archives)

Another video

November @CERA – The North Side “L”

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:07:18 GMT

Our Next Program:

Friday, November 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center (Map)

The North Side “L” by Bruce Moffat

Mr. Moffat’s books include Forty Feet Below – The Story of Chicago’s Freight Tunnels, The Chicago Tunnel Story: Exploring the Railroad “Forty Feet Below” (CERA B-135), and The “L”: The Development of Chicago’s Rapid Transit System, 1888-1932 (CERA B-131). In addition, he has also authored Shore Line Interurban Historical Society Dispatches 1 and 5: Cooperation Moves the Public, and The Chicago “L’s” Great Steel Fleet – The Baldies.

CTA trains of 4000s and 6000s are southbound between Argyle and Lawrence in this early 1970s view. (CERA Archives)

A CTA single car unit heads south at the old Isabella station, just south of the Linden Avenue terminal in the 1960s. (CERA Archives)

A North Shore Line fantrip train at Buena Yard in the late 1950s. (Ken Spengler Photo – CERA Archives)

On a snowy winter day in the late 1950s, a southbound two car North Shore Line train, headed up by 724, navigates the local track near Sheridan Road. (CERA Archives)

CERA Used Book Exchange – List #7

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 20:11:29 GMT

Here is our seventh list of used books for sale. Copies of List #7 and an order form have been mailed to all current CERA Members.

Used books, donated by our members, are being sold to raise money to help fund CERA programs and services. Since we are a 501(c)(3) organization, such donations may be tax deductible. Do you have used traction books that you no longer need? If so, why not donate them to the CERA Used Book Exchange? We thank our donors.

HOW TO ORDER – You can pay by check through the mail using this form, or online using PayPal or acredit/debit card. Please do not send your credit card information through the mail. As items are sold or added, we will update the online version of the list here.

As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~. You can download and print out a copy of List #7 here.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you. We are in the office most weekday afternoons.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

All sales are final. Used books are sold without warranty or guarantee. No haggling or quantity discounts- the items here are priced to move. Please do not ask us to put items on “hold” for you. Books will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Current (2014) CERA Members in the United States get FREE SHIPPING. Other Domestic buyers pay $5 Shipping and Handling per book ($3 for the ERHS bulletins). International shipping is available by special request. Contact us and we will work up a quote based on actual cost.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

When using the mail-in form, in the unlikely event of an overpayment, if a book you want is no longer available, please indicate whether you would prefer a refund, or a credit that can be applied to a future purchase. If you send your order by mail, keep a copy of the form for your records.

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

CERA Used Book Exchange List #7 (Updated as of October 28, 2014):

Stock #	Description	Publisher	Date	Cover	Cond.	Price	#	Notes
UBE110	The Shore Line Electric Railway Company	CERA	2007	H	EX	$40.00	B-139	Like New
UBE131	Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio	CERA	1965	H	G	$30.00	B-108	DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE133	Not Only Passengers	CERA	1992	H	EX	$20.00	B-129
UBE134	Chicago Surface Lines	THP	1979	H	EX	$35.00		By Lind – Third Edition
UBE135	The Green Line	CERA	2000	H	EX	$25.00	B-134	Like New
UBE137	Cincinnati Streetcars v9 Streamliners and War Horses	WCC	1984	S	G	$25.00		By Wagner and Wright
UBE138	TravElectric	CERA	2009	H	G	$25.00	B-143
UBE140	How the Medal Was Won	CERA	1985	H	EX	$10.00	B-124
UBE141	The Colorful Streetcars We Rode	CERA	1986	S	G	$15.00	B-125
UBE142	Northern Indiana Railway	CERA	1998	H	EX	$20.00	B-132
UBE143	The Chicago & West Towns Railways	CERA	2006	H	EX	$30.00	B-138	Like New
UBE147	Illinois Traction System	CERA	1954	S	G	$45.00	B-98	Spiral bound
UBE153	CERA Bulletins 20-34	CERA	1977	S	G	$15.00		Reprint
UBE156	North Shore- America’s Fastest Interurban	GW	1964	H	F	$10.00		By Middleton
UBE159	Electric Railways of Indiana III	CERA	1960	S	G	$40.00	B-104	Spiral bound
UBE160	Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio	CERA	1965	H	G	$30.00	B-108	No DJ
UBE161	The NOT&L Story	CERA	1966	H	G	$30.00	B-109	Northern Ohio
UBE162	West Penn Traction	CERA	1968	H	G	$30.00	B-110	DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE163	Electrification by GE	CERA	1976	H	EX	$25.00	B-116
UBE164	Detroit’s Street Railways vI	CERA	1978	H	G	$25.00	B-117	DJ faded, otherwise OK
UBE165	Westinghouse Electric Railway Transportation	CERA	1979	H	EX	$25.00	B-118
UBE166	Detroit’s Street Railways vII	CERA	1980	H	G	$25.00	B-120	DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE167	Texas Electric	CERA	1982	H	G	$30.00	B-121	DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE168	Ft. Wayne and Wabash Valley Trolleys	CERA	1983	H	G	$20.00	B-122
UBE169	Detroit’s Street Railways vIII	CERA	1984	H	G	$25.00	B-123	DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE170	Every Hour On the Hour (WB&A)	CERA	1993	H	EX	$70.00	B-130
UBE171	The Near-Side Car; the Legacy of Thomas E. Mitten		1994	S	EX	$35.00		By Borgnis; signed
UBE172	South Shore Line – America’s Last Interurban	GW	1970	H	G	$15.00		By Middleton
UBE173	Chicago Surface Lines	THP	1974	H	G	$20.00		By Lind – First Edition, no DJ
UBE174	The Story of the Cedar Valley Road	PF	2007	S	G	$15.00		WCF&N
UBE175	100 Years of Capital Traction	TPC	1972	H	G	$40.00		By King; Worn DJ
UBE176	Trolley Sparks Special #1	CERA	2013	S	EX	$25.00	TSS1	Like New

CERA News for 10-26-2014

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 20:21:28 GMT

CERA News for 10-26-2014

We wish to thank everyone who attended Friday night’s program on the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric. A fine time was had by all, and we especially wish to thank William Shapotkin, our presenter. It’s safe to say that no one else has a collection of images like Bill’s, or his a unique sense of humor.

We were fortunate to have two used copies of Bill’s out-of-print 2004 book Faster Than the Limiteds(CERA B-137) for sale that night. Both were purchased, and autographed.

Used Book Exchange

Our next used book list was mailed to our Members on the 15th. The continued availability of used books is dependent on the generosity of our Members, and we thank you for both your donations and purchases. The list information will also be posted online (www.cerablog.com) later today. This is done to give our “snail mail” crowd more of an even chance at getting books.

Chicago PCC Weekend

We thank all those who participated in our three Chicago PCC Weekend events in late September. A very large crowd turned out for the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table (26^th). The event was videotaped for the CERA Archives.

In particular, we would like to thank our Round Table panel of experts: Roy Benedict, Ray DeGroote,Bob Heinlein, George Kanary, John Nicholson, Bernie Rossbach, David Sadowski, Ken Spengler, and Jeff Wien. Truman Hefner participated via telephone.

We still have some of the commemorative 11×17” color posters, suitable for framing, that were made for this event. If you would like to purchase one, the cost is $8.50, which includes shipping within the US. You can order these by mail or via our website (www.cera-chicago.org) starting on October 27th. Don’t hesitate, since supplies are limited.

We continued our celebration of Chicago’s PCCs streetcars on Saturday (27^th) and Sunday (28^th) withInspection Trips to the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Streetcar and the Illinois Railway Museum. We had excellent weather on both days, and a fine time was had by all. We thank MCERA Vince Allen’s Victory Bus Service for providing round-trip transportation between the Crystal Lake Metra station and IRM.

B-146 Progress Report

We are in the home stretch of working on Bulletin 146, the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era, 1936-1958. Layout work on the book is essentially complete; the text sections for the book are finished, the nearly 1000 photos selected, locations identified, captions written and double-checked for accuracy. TheDVD inserts are already at the printer, as are the reproduction 1936 CSL brochures that will accompany each copy of the book.

This book will have more pictures, and with better reproduction quality, than any previous CERA book ever.

However, when we started working on the book’s images using Photoshop, looking at the scans under high magnification, it became apparent that there were many imperfections in the 60-year-old slides and negs that require attention. Since an individual image may have upwards of a thousand “fixes” that need to be made, to make things look just as they did when the picture was originally taken, this has proven to be a time-consuming process. But this work is now almost finished.

We expect the book will be in the hands of the printer soon, and copies will be mailed out to our Members and other purchasers before the end of the year. This book is a two-year entitlement for those who were CERA Members in 2012 and 2013, and we also are sending it anyone who was a Contributing or Sustaining Member in either year.

2015 Membership Cards

We thank those of you who have already renewed your CERA Memberships for 2015. Membership cards will be mailed out along with the November program notice. If you have not yet renewed your membership, we encourage you to do so.

You can renew online, using either PayPal or a credit/debit card. You can also print out a form to use when mailing in a check.

We thank you for your continued support.

-Your CERA Directors

Here’s something you don’t see every day… a cat riding on a CTA “L” train. Looks like this couple takes their cat everywhere they go. (Blue Line, October 22, 2014)

PS- Our friends at the Illinois Railway Museum are hosting a rare fantrip on the Metra Electric on Sunday, November 9. This will be the first Metra fantrip in several years:

Snowflake Special Excursion on the Metra Electric
Sunday, November 9, 2014

This Snowflake Special Excursion is a fundraiser to acquire and preserve a set of Highliners, similar to those shown here.

Purchase tickets online now!Join the members of the Illinois Railway Museum as they tour the Metra Electric District lines. This is IRM’s first excursion on the former Illinois Central electrified suburban service since 1979. We’ll be riding aboard Highliner cars built by St. Louis Car and Bombardier from 1971-1979, which are rapidly being replaced by new Nippon Sharyo cars.

Departure: 9:40AM from Millennium Station (Randolph St.) on Michigan Ave. between Randolph and South Water Streets in downtown Chicago. Riders may also board at 55th-56th-57th St. on the Metra Electric at approximately 10:10AM. We plan to meet Metra train 8306, the 9:49 from South Chicago, and South Shore train 504, the 9:01 (EST) express from South Bend, at 55th-56th-57th St., although we cannot guarantee connections. Parking in downtown Chicago is difficult and expensive; we recommend parking in Metra, CTA, or other appropriate lots and riding the `L to Randolph/Wabash. CTA schedules and parking information are available at www.transitchicago.com, and Metra information at www.metrarail.com.

Fare: $50.00 per person.Orders received after October 25 will be held for pickup at Millennium Station. No refunds after October 25, 2014.

Lunch: 90 minutes will be given for lunch on your own in Richton Park. A list of suggested restaurants within a 10 minute walk of the station will be provided; please plan to patronize one, as seating and restrooms in the station are very limited.

The trip will conclude at Millennium Station about 4:15PM. We may be able to accommodate earlier stops upon request.

This Snowflake Special excursion is a fundraiser to acquire and preserve a set of Highliners.

Purchase tickets online now!

October @CERA: The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 20:28:42 GMT

Our Next Program:
The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric by William Shapotkin

Friday, October 24, 2014 1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center, 525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Chicago is famous for the three great “Insull Interurbans” which radiated east north and west from Chicago. The South Shore Line, of course, is famous for having survived all the other rail interurban railways — and still operating today. The North Shore Line — the famous “Route of the Electroliners” — was known for its high-speed operation through the Skokie Valley and its street operations in Milwaukee. The Chicago Aurora & Elgin (“The Great Third Rail”) provided fast, frequent electrified service between Chicago and the Fox River Valley terminals of Aurora, Batavia, Elgin and Geneva-St Charles.

Almost forgotten is the Aurora Elgin and Fox River — which operated between Carpentersville and Yorkville along the Fox River. Unlike the three “Insull Interurbans,” the AE&FR did not service Chicago. Instead, it connected the interdependent communities of Carpentersville, Dundee, Elgin, St Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Aurora, Oswego and Yorkville. The Carpentersville-Elgin and Montgomery-Yorkville portions of the line were history before the Depression. Regularly-scheduled rail passenger service ended in March 1935. Unlike its cousins the CA&E and the CNS&M, scheduled transit service six-days-a-week (Monday thru Saturday) along most if its route (Carpentersville and Aurora) still operates — albeit in the form of its rubber-tired successor, PACE. Thus, the argument could be made that the AE&FR was more of a success than either the CA&E or the CNS&M.

A short segment of the railroad (Elgin State Mental Hospital-Coleman) remained in common-carrier freight service until 1973. Even with the end of rail freight service, a short 1 1/2 mile segment of the line (in the form of the Fox River Trolley Museum) is still operating between South Elgin and Coleman…a continuously-operating railroad since the 1890s!

Come join us for this journey into the past (and present) along one of America’s most successful interurbans, the Aurora Elgin & Fox River. Our journey will include a short trip over the oft-forgotten Fox & Illinois Union between Yorkville and Morris.

Mr. Shapotkin is the author of Faster Than the Limiteds, CERA Bulletin 137 (2004) and is also Auditorium Manager of the annual Hoosier Traction meet in Indianapolis. We look forward to seeing you there!

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

A CERA fantrip on the freight-only AE&FRE (September 2, 1940). Another such trip took place in 1944. (CERA Archives)

ex-AE&FRE 306 and 304 in service on the Cleveland Rapid. The latter car now resides at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin. 306 is at the Illinois Railway Museum. (CERA Archives)

AE&FRE 304 on a CERA fantrip at the Fox River Trolley Museum on September 22, 2013. (David Sadowski Photo – CERA Archives)

A Visit to Pittsburgh, Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 20:31:58 GMT

Our recent visit to Pittsburgh (see our earlier post for part 1) centered around a fantrip on the PAT (Port Authority of Allegheny County) light rail system, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. This was said to be the first fantrip on PAT in about 15 years, since the end of PCC service on the former Drake shuttle.

2014 is the 50th anniversary of PAT taking over from Pittsburgh Railways, and to celebrate this, they have decorated one of the LRVs in Pittsburgh Railways colors. Last year, we very much enjoyed our trip to Philadelphia to ride on a fantrip celebrating the 100th anniversary of the SEPTA Media trolley, which used an LRV decorated in “Red Arrow” colors. We had been under the impression that something similar would be done in Pittsburgh.

Deciding whether to ride, or to chase a fantrip is always a difficult decision, especially when non-revenue trackage will be used, and the Pittsburgh trip was no exception. We decided to chase the two-car train (or, as Bernie Rossbach likes to say, we “motorcaded” it). It wasn’t a question of not wanting to spend the money for a ticket, since between the three of us on the trip, we had purchased four fantrip seats from PTM on the sold-out trip.

The possibility of photographing the “Pittsburgh Railways” LRV was enticing, and 125 people can get in each other’s way on photo stops, which generally need to be brief when a fantrip train is running between regular service cars. For me, the most interesting parts of the PAT system are the short stretches of street running, and photo stops in these areas would not be practical for such a large group anyway. Some of the planned photo stops were in the Downtown subway, not necessarily most photogenic of locations.

Needless to say, things did not go exactly as planned. As it turned out, the 50th Anniversary car was not used on the fantrip, but was instead parked in the subway, where the fans were assembled in front of it for a group picture. We are not sure whether the car was inoperative or what. This meant that from the standpoint of photographs, the fantrip train looked just like any other two-car set on the Pittsburgh system, except for a small sign taped to the back window.

The fantrip did operate on a few areas of non-revenue trackage, including about 600 feet (all that still has overhead wire) of the former Drake shuttle, which last ran on September 4, 1999. Apparently, once service was extended to South Hills Village in 1984, ridership on Drake evaporated, and 15 years later, the short branch line was abandoned.

The Pittsburgh system has gone through many changes since I last rode it in 1985, with the Overbrook section being completely rebuilt, and the Downtown subway extended to the new home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

We first caught up with the fantrip train at St. Anne’s and then raced to meet it again in Allentown. Here the fantrip cars used bypass trackage that goes “over the hill” instead of the usual route through the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel.

In 1985, I rode a PCC car on the Allentown trackage, which was given its own route (52) for a time. Now it is used only when the tunnel is not available.

Next, we headed to the Beechview neighborhood, where there is about a mile of street running, a fragment of an older time when Pittsburgh Railways operated a very extensive streetcar system. we caught up with the fantrip one last time at the Library station, where they had a photo stop. The configuration of the this terminal will remind Chicago fans very much of the Dempster station on the CTA Yellow Line.

We hope that you will enjoy our photos and videos of our excursion. Unless another photographer is credited, they are my work. Despite our disappointment that the 50th Anniversary car was not used on the trip, a fine time was had by all, and the Pittsburgh system has evolved into something very interesting, always worth a trip.

-David Sadowski

Video of the fantrip train at St. Anne’s

Video of the fantrip train in Allentown

Video of the fantrip train in Beechview

Video of the fantrip train at Library

PAT 4318 and 4306 meet at Shiras on Broadway Ave., October 5, 2014.

PAT 4255 inbound near St. Anne’s on October 4, 2014.

PAT 4321 outbound approaching St. Anne’s on October 4, 2014.

PAT 4308 outbound approaching St. Anne’s on October 5, 2014.

The PAT fantrip train, led by 4213, on the Allentown “over the hill” bypass trackage on October 5, 2014. This is the former route 52.

PAT 4210 brings up the rear of the fantrip train as it traverses the Allentown “over the hill” trackage, which is not normally used in service (October 5, 2014). (Diana Koester Photo)

Outbound PAT 4237 entering street trackage at Fallowfield on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4305 inbound approaching Fallowfield station on October 5, 2014.

Outbound PAT 4237 leaves the Fallowfield station and enters a mile or so of street trackage along Broadway in the Beechview neighborhood (October 5, 2014).

Outbound PAT 4237 on Broadway near Fallowfield in the Beechview neighborhood (October 5, 2014).

Inbound PAT 4305 on Broadway approaching Fallowfield in the Beechview neighborhood (October 5, 2014).

PAT 4318 outbound on Broadway Ave. at Hampshire in the Beechview neighborhood on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4312 inbound on Broadway Ave. at Hampshire in the Beechview neighborhood on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4204 outbound on Broadway Ave. at Shiras in the Beechview neighborhood on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4204 outbound on Broadway Ave. in Beechview, preparing to enter private right-of-way on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4237 inbound on Broadway Ave. at Shiras in the Beechview neighborhood on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4318 and 4306 meet at Shiras on Broadway Ave., October 5, 2014.

The PAT fantrip train, led by 4213, prepares to depart Library station while regular service car 4225 will go into the pocket track (October 5, 2014).

PAT 4225 turning back at the end of the line at the Library station, on October 5, 2014.

Not sure why the doors were opened on both sides of car 4225, shown here at the Library station on October 5, 2014.

An unusual view of car 4225, at the Library station on October 5, 2014.

PAT 4253 at South Hills Village on October 5, 2014.

CERA's Chicago PCC Weekend - Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 20:42:08 GMT

CERA’s Chicago PCC Weekend went off without a hitch, and we thank all our Members who took part. This is the first of three posts recapping those events.

On Sunday, September 28, we visited the Illinois Railway Museum, where we chartered three different cars- the CTA “Green Hornet” PCC 4391, Chicago & West Towns 141, and Chicago, Aurora & Elgin wood car 36 (which ran by itself for the first time at IRM, instead of in a train).

The people at IRM could not have been nicer. In particular, we have to thank our operators Joel Ahrendt (4391), Frank Sirinek (141), and Randy Hicks (36), who made sure everything ran smoothly. Thanks also go out to both Nick Kallas and Joe Stupar, who made all of this possible. We also need to give a shout out to MCERA Vince Allen, who piloted our chartered bus between IRM and the Crystal Lake Metra station.

We have something of a mutual admiration society going on with the Hicks Car Works blog, and if you would like to read a bit about all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at IRM, that’s a good place to start. Our trip on the 36 gets mentioned in this post.

Our photos will give you a taste of what our trip was like. The weather couldn’t have been much better, with comfortable temps and lots of sun. We ran the 4391 and 141 for a few trips on the trolley loop, and then boarded the 36 at the 50th Avenue “L” station (which I remember using when it was still in Cicero) for a trip out on the main line, including a “run by” at Seeman Road.

CA&E 36 is 112 years old, so the fact it can still run under its own power is pretty remarkable. It has only been a few years since it came to IRM from the Trolleyville collection, and now has a bright future ahead of it. Interestingly, both the 4391 and 141 owe their survival to the Electric Railway Historical Society.

At Friday night’s CERA meting, we saw rare movie footage of C&WT cars 140 and 141 being used as storage sheds in Lisle during the early 1950s. To actually be able to ride the 141 today, lovingly restored using parts scrounged from all over the world, is nothing short of miraculous.

We have included some pictures of the regular service equipment at the museum that day, which included the CSL streetcar 3142 on the trolley loop, and Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee 714 and 749 on the main line.

Boston (ex-Dallas) double-end PCC 3334 made a cameo appearance at 50th Avenue. This car is not part of the IRM collection, but has been stored there for the McKinney Avenue crowd down in Dallas. I understand the car will be moved to Dallas soon where it will be lovingly restored. That’s fortunate, because the car is in sad shape currently, with just about every window broken, and the car covered in rust.

Once again, we tip our hats to the dedicated volunteers at IRM, who could not have been any more gracious and helpful. If you have not visited the museum lately, it’s worth the trip.

-David Sadowski

PS- Watch this space for additional posts about our Chicago PCC Weekend events. All the photos here were taken by David Sadowski.

CERA News for 9-26-2014

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 20:44:16 GMT

Tonight @CERA:
The Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table

Friday evening, September 26, 2014 – Doors open at 6:30, and the program begins promptly at 7:00 pm
University Center, 525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Chicago PCC 7213 on State Street in the early 1950s. This car would end up being the last Chicago streetcar in 1958. (CERA Archives)

Come join us for the first of three events in our “Chicago PCC Weekend.” Our program will begin with rare films of Chicago streetcars, unseen in 60 years. We will then watch excerpts from the Chicago Streetcar Memories DVD, which will be included with each copy of our forthcoming book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era, 1936-1958 (for more information, see the “CERA News” for September).

We have assembled a stellar panel for a “round table” discussion of Chicago’s PCCs, including B-146’s authors, Jeff Wien, David Sadowski, and John Nicholson; transportation historians Roy Benedict andGeorge Kanary; and legendary photographers Ray DeGroote, Truman Hefner, Bob Heinlein, Bernie Rossbach, and Ken Spengler, whose work is featured in the book. This program will be videotaped for future DVD release.

There are still plenty of seats available for tonight’s program, so don’t hesitate to come. We distributed tickets in order to make sure that our out-of-town visitors would be assured of getting in. However, unfortunately air traffic in and out of Chicago has been halted today due to a fire that damaged equipment that controls all flights in the Midwest. This means that Truman Hefner will not be able to join us as he had planned.

As a special bonus, each attendee will receive a commemorative poster, suitable for framing and autographing. These will be distributed at the end of the evening. We look forward to seeing you there!

The last Chicago streetcar at 81st and Halsted in the early morning hours of June 21, 1958. (Bill Hoffman Photo – CERA Archives)

This event is part of our Chicago PCC Weekend. We hope you will be able to join us for two special fantrips on the Kenosha Streetcar (Saturday, 9/27) and to the Illinois Railway Museum on Sunday the 28th.

To give you some of the background information on Chicago’s PCCs, here is an interesting article from the December 1936 issue of Armour Engineer and Alumnus. The Armour Institute is now the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Author Robert H. Rice was Principal Assistant Engineer in charge of the work of the Board of Supervising Engineers, a partnership between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Surface Lines.

–Your CERA Directors

FYI, we have received an update on the Eelctroliner restoration project at IRM from Tom Sharratt:

ELECTROLINER UPDATE

During the recent Museum Showcase Weekend, several of the key members working on the Electroliner project met to review our progress and re-evaluate what needs to be done. Our original goal was to have the train operational by 2016 at a cost of $500,000. Based on closer inspection of the train, we have determined that major wheel work, perhaps truck work and air brake work needs to be done. We are investigating several options of how the wheel and truck work might be done (it could involve lifting the cars off the trucks and putting them on flat cars or on the ground, which would be very expensive.) Hoses and electrical cables between the cars need to be replaced. The air conditioning system needs to be repaired or replaced. Seals in all the windows need to be replaced (window work has begun), all seats need to be reupholstered (that will start in 2015) and the interior needs to be painted. This review has led to a more realistic – and more expensive – estimate of what the renovation will cost. Optimistically, we now feel it will cost at least $750,000 and it is likely to be more. Our goal is to have the car operational sometime in 2017, and all work completed by 2020. That depends on how much money we are able to raise and such things as scheduling pit time and availability of dedicated workers. Our barn is not heated, and the pit is shared with other departments – it is in high demand. If you are interested in working, leave a message for Ed Oslowski or Rod Turner in the museum office (815) 923 4391 extension 2.

There is good news. A $25,000 Matching Grant has been approved by the 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation for the restoration of IRM’s Electroliner. In order to receive this grant, we must raise $25,000 in donations – hopefully in the next three months. If we are successful, this money, along with what has already been donated, will allow us to start work on repairing the train’s eight motors (and a spare) and hopefully have them installed late in 2016 or early 2017. Please consider making a generous donation to allow us to double your money! We are nearing the end of the year and urge you to consider a donation that can be used as a tax deduction in 2014. We have raised over $100,000 since our campaign began in July 2013. Now in just three months we can raise half that much with the use of this very generous matching grant! Send your check (memo: Electroliner Fund) to IRM, PO Box 427, Union IL 60160, or visit the IRM website (www.irm.org) and donate through the Museum Store where you can donate in $25 increments (one = $25; two = $50; etc.) Let’s get the Liner back on the mainline!

The Electroliner was open for inspection during Museum Showcase Weekend, and well over 100 visitors came through. There were a number of items for sale, and almost $900 was collected in the two days. A decision was made that the Electroliner will be open every Memorial Day Weekend and every Museum Showcase Weekend until the renovation is completed, with other special viewing dates possibly added each year. Watch the IRM website. The train will not be moved from its spot in barn 7 for these events due to the time and cost of moving the car and adding air conditioning.

A new incentive has been added. Donors who give at least $30,000 (cumulative) will receive a special 26”x34” high end giclee print of the 75th Anniversary of the Electroliner on canvas, numbered and signed. We hope that there will be a “meet and greet” event with the artist, Mitch Markovitz. These are hand run, one at a time, from a refined master file and run in eight colors as opposed to four which will be used for the print awarded to donors of at least $1000, which will also be available for purchase by the public. A very limited number of these giclee prints will be prepared, and a certificate of authenticity will be provided with each. They will be numbered and signed by the artist. Mitch was present at the Museum Showcase Weekend meeting and showed the members a draft of his work. It is a unique view of the train on the Skokie Valley Line, and all the members were impressed with the approach and are anxious to see the finished work. Mitch is well known for his unique use of colors and this is no exception. Since this is such a major project that will run for years, requiring significant amounts of money, consideration is being given to adding an incentive to the individual who is the highest donor. No final decision has been made – watch for details at some point in the future.

Tickets (meaning donations), please . . .

Chicago Surface Lines Mystery Photo Contest

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 20:47:38 GMT

2014 is the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Surface Lines, once the largest street railway system in the world. From 1914 until 1947, CSL was an umbrella agency, made up of a few constituent companies, like Chicago City Railway and Chicago Railways. It was a step along the way towards transit unification and a predecessor of today’s Chicago Transit Authority.

Here are 47 “mystery photos” from the CSL era. Can you write captions for them, with descriptive information? If so, you might win a prize.

We’re going to have a contest to see who can come up with the best “who, what, when, where, and how” about these pictures. The person who submits the best overall answers will win a copy of our new DVD data disc, the “Spirit of 76,” which collects the first 76 CERA Bulletins and more.

Just get your submission in (via e-mail to cerablog1@gmail.com) by midnight Chicago time on Tuesday, September 30th. Please use the numbers included in each caption to identify individual photos. After the contest ends, we will update this post with the best captions. Good luck!

-The Editor

PS- This Friday, CERA will celebrate Chicago’s PCC streetcars at our Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table event. Tickets are still available. This is part of our Chicago PCC Weekend, which includes fantrips to Kenosha and the Illinois Railway Museum.

#1 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#2 – Edward Frank Jr. Photo – CERA Archives

#3 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#4 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#5 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#6 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#7 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#8 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#9 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#10 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#11 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#12 – William C. Janssen Photo – CERA Archives

#13 – George Kuschel Photo – CERA Archives

#14 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#15 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#16 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#17 – CERA Archives

#18 – CERA Archives

#19 – Robert F. Collins Photo – CERA Archives

#20 – Edward Frank Jr. Photo – CERA Archives

#21 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#22 – CERA Archives

#23 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#24 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#25 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#26 – CSL Photo – CERA Archives

#27 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#28 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#29 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#30 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#31 – CERA Archives

#32 – Robert V. Mehlenbeck Photo – CERA Archives

#33 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#34 – CERA Archives

#35 – Robert W. Gibson Photo – CERA Archives

#36 – CERA Archives

#37 – CERA Archives

#38 – CERA Archives

#39 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#40 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#41 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#42 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#43 – William C. Janssen Photo – CERA Archives

#44 – Malcolm D. McCarter Photo – CERA Archives

#45 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

#46 – CERA Archives

#47 – Joe L. Diaz Photo – CERA Archives

The Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:52:04 GMT

September @CERA:

The Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table

Friday evening, September 26, 2014 – Doors open at 6:30, and the program begins promptly at 7:00 pm
University Center, 525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Post-war PCC 4140 and pre-war car 4051 at the Madison-Austin loop in July 1951. (CERA Archives)

Because we expect the demand for seats may exceed what is available, and due to the presence of many out-of-town visitors, this is a ticketed event. Admission to this once-in-a-lifetime program is free for current (2014) CERA Members, and $5 for others. You can get tickets here. After 6:45 pm, latecomers will be seated at our discretion. If the event does sell out, we will have a waiting list for tickets in case of any last-minute cancellations.

-Your CERA Directors

CTA red Pullman 594 passes Pullman PCC 4131 at Madison and Wells in 1947. There is about 40 years’ difference in ages between the cars. The PCC is a Madison car, and 594 is on a variant of the Milwaukee route. We are looking east. (CERA Archives)

The experimental PCC Model B on display at Chicago’s Navy Pier in August 1934. (Pullman Standard photo, courtessy of John Bromley)

Pre-war PCC 4008 westbound on 64th near Stony Island. (Joe L. Diaz photo, CERA Archives)

CSL PCC 4007 at Kedzie Station. (Chicago Surface Lines photo, CERA Archives)

CSL PCC 4005 on Madison Street, November 23, 1936. (Westinghouse photo, courtesy of John Bromley)

CTA PCC 7188, northbound on Dearborn at Jackson in April 1957, passes bus 8102. (Richard S. Short photo, CERA Archives)

CSL W14 towing a PCC northbound at Kedzie and Harrison in 1947. As you can see by the sign, Chicago, Aurora & Elgin trains stopped at the Kedzie “L” station on the Garfield Park line. (Joe L. Diaz photo, CERA Archives)

Become a CERA Member Today!

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:51:05 GMT

Beginning today, we are accepting payment for 2015 CERA Memberships. You can also still purchase them for 2014.

Since 1938, Central Electric Railfans’ Association has hosted programs, published books, and held fantrips. We have many exciting things planned for this, our 77th year. Your continued support makes this all possible. Join today, or renew your existing membership, and be a part of it all.

You can pay for your membership by check, or online via our web site. We accept PayPal, and you can also pay using a credit or debit card.

2015 Members will receive a book entitlement. At the present time, we expect that this book will be published in 2016. Whatever the subject, you can count on our next publication to continue a long tradition of excellence in historical transit research, while also being both informative and entertaining.

Members also get discounts on purchasing CERA books, monthly mailings (including program, product information, used book lists, and “CERA News”), plus free admission to our programs. Be a card-carrying member of CERA!

Thank you for your support.

-Your CERA Directors

PS- If you wish to mail in your payment, click these links for membership forms for 2015 or 2014.

CERA News for September 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 20:54:53 GMT

Editor’s note:

When we had our September meeting notices printed, our vendor accidentally left off the “CERA News” from the backside of the sheet. We did not discover the mistake until the notices were mailed. Here is the missing notice, exactly as it was supposed to appear in our mailing.

Our printer has prepared replacement sheets that will be mailed to our members. Since this was the printer’s mistake, this is being done at no additional cost to CERA. We apologize for the error.

References to forms are other enclosures included in the original mailing. Of course, you can still purchase tickets for our Chicago PCC Weekend events via our website. You can read more about George W. Hilton here.

CERA News for September 2014

George W. Hilton, 1925-2014

We regret to report the passing of George W. Hilton, a giant in the field of transportation history, and a longtime friend and contributor to the association. The CERA Board of Directors made Professor Hilton our first and so far only Honorary Life Member in February of this year. This honor was made possible due to a change in our By Laws, approved by membership the previous month at our Annual Meeting.

Used Book Exchange

Our next used book list will be distributed with October’s program notice. The continued availability of used books is dependent on the generosity of our Members, and we thank you for both your donations and purchases.

Chicago PCC Weekend

An order form is enclosed for this month’s events, which begin with the Chicago Streetcar PictorialRound Table on Friday evening, September 26^th. Get your Round Table tickets now, before it’s completely sold out!

We will continue our celebration of Chicago’s PCCs streetcars on Saturday (27^th) and Sunday (28^th) withInspection Trips to the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Streetcar and the Illinois Railway Museum. CERA has arranged with MCERA Vince Allen’s Victory Bus Service to provide round-trip transportation between the Crystal Lake Metra station and IRM.

Kenosha runs a half-dozen PCC streetcars over a loop of about two miles in length. On Saturday, we will ride the Chicago Tribute PCC, which rides on authentic Chicago PCC trucks, and have a shops tour. Kenosha’s Philadelphia PCC will be the regular service car on the afternoon of our trip.

The following day, we will ride the last surviving postwar Chicago PCC, CTA “Green Hornet” 4391, at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. In addition, the newly restored Chicago & West Towns car 141 andChicago, Aurora & Elgin wood car 36 are expected to be operating for your enjoyment.

Kenosha is directly accessible by Metra commuter train for Saturday’s fantrip. You can also take Metra on Sunday to the end of the line at Crystal Lake, where our charter bus will take you the rest of the way to IRM. Fantrip tickets and charter bus tickets are available either online, or by using the enclosed ticket order form. Metra offers a weekend pass good for unlimited train rides on both days for just $7, and you can purchase this at the Ogilvie Transportation Center downtown.

B-146 Progress Report

We have redoubled our efforts to complete work on Bulletin 146, the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era, 1936-1958 as soon as humanly possible. Layout work on the book is essentially complete; the text sections for the book are finished, the nearly 1000 photos selected, locations identified, captions written and double-checked for accuracy. The DVD inserts are already at the printer, as are the reproduction 1936 CSL brochures that will accompany each copy of the book.

This book will have more pictures, and with better reproduction quality, than any previous CERA book ever. However, when we started working on the book’s images using Photoshop, looking at the scans under high magnification, it became apparent that there were many imperfections in the 60-year-old slides and negs that require attention. Since an individual image may have upwards of a thousand “fixes” that need to be made, to make things look just as they did when the picture was originally taken, this has proven to be a time-consuming process. But the work is already far along, and we expect this process will be completed in a few weeks. Once the book is turned over to the printer, it will be another 3-4 weeks before the finished copies are printed. They will then be mailed out directly from the printer to you.

-Your CERA Directors

Kenosha Streetcar Day

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 20:55:50 GMT

Kenosha’s streetcar loop is about an hour’s drive from Chicago, and is always worth a visit. Last Saturday, September 6th, Kenosha Area Transit celebrated Kenosha Streetcar Day, as they have annually for some years. All the cars were running, and there were displays and presentations at the shops.

The weather was absolutely perfect, without a cloud in the sky. You couldn’t ask for better weather.

Here is a selection of the pictures I shot that day. CERA will be returning to Kenosha on September 27th, as part of our Chicago PCC Weekend events. Tickets for that fantrip are on sale here. We will be using the Chicagao Tribute PCC, and the Philadelphia car will also be running that day. We will have a shops tour as well.

We hope to see all of you there in just a few weeks. Let’s hope the weather is just like this.

-David Sadowski

Passengers board the Chicago tribute car.

Kenosha’s streetcar operators are always very courteous and friendly.

Interior of the Chicago tribute car.

The Pittsburgh tribute car.

The Koenosha Streetcar Society had a table at the shops.

A Lego PCC car.

Model trains on display.

This trolley will eventually be restored and painted as the San Francisco tribute car.

The Johnstown car, above the inspection pit.

The Philadelphia car, back in the barn.

A PCC accelerator, which works something like a dimmer switch.

Model trains on display at the shops.

A Lego version of the Franks Diner, which is a Kenosha landmark.

A side view of the Toronto car.

The Johnstown tribute car.

Car 2185 will be the regular service car on September 27th, during the CERA fantrip.

This ex-SEPTA car from Philadelphia is the latest addition to the Kenosha fleet.

The interior of the Philadelphia car.

The Toronto car (which actually ran there) prepares to turn a corner not far from the Metra depot.

Future railfans of America.

There were good crowds on hand, enjoying the ride.

The Pittsburgh tribute car.

The Cincinnati tribute car.

Seashore - Additional Photos

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 21:48:06 GMT

Seashore Contest Answers

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 21:02:26 GMT

Editor’s Note:

Frank Hicks is our contest winner. Here is his winning submission:

Interesting post, and interesting contest! I’ll take a stab at it…

1 – This is the Northampton Station off of the Boston elevated in downtown Boston. It was built in 1901 and moved to Seashore in 1988 when this section of the elevated was torn down.
2 – Boston ticket booth in the Visitors Center
3 – Montreal #2, a sightseeing car built in the company shops in 1906 and nicknamed the “Golden Chariot.” This car was acquired by Seashore in 1963 and was recently refurbished after a few years out of service.
4 – Montreal #2
5 – Montreal #2
6 – Long Island Railroad #4137, an MP54A1 heavyweight commuter coach built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1930 and retired in 1972, which is when Seashore acquired it. These cars ran on 600 volts but only operated off of third rail.
7 – Boston Elevated Railway #5821 is a “Type 5″ lightweight semi-convertible car built by Brill in 1924. These cars were used all over Boston for many years. This car was retired in 1954 and acquired by Seashore; it has been fully restored.
8 – BER #5821
9 – Connecticut Company #838, a 15-bench double-truck open car built by J.M. Jones & Sons in 1905. Originally it was Consolidated Railway #838 and then ran for ConnCo until 1948, when it was acquired by Seashore. Cars like this were famous in later years for use in taking huge crowds to the Yale Bowl in New Haven.
10 – BER #5821
11 – Connecticut Company #1160, a typical ConnCo double-truck wooden suburban car of which that company had a large fleet. This car was built by Stephenson in 1906 as Consolidated Railway #542 (renumbered #1160 by ConnCo in 1915) and ran until 1948. It was the focus of a recently-completed major restoration project.
12 – ConnCo #1160
13 – Manchester Street Railway #38, a gorgeous double-truck suburban car built in 1906 by the Laconia Car Company of New Hampshire. Originally this car ran on the Manchester & Nashua where it was car #4 and then car #32 before eventually being renumbered #38. It was one of Seashore’s first three cars, acquired by the museum in 1940 prior to WWII. It has been completely restored.
14 – MSR #38 interior
15 – BER #5821 on Visitors Center loop
16 – ConnCo #838
17 – ConnCo #838
18 – BER #5821
19 – BER #5821
20 – Tower C was built in 1901 on the Atlantic Avenue elevated structure in central Boston and was located at North Station where the Atlantic Avenue section joined with the Charlestown Elevated and the north end of the Main Line elevated. The tower was moved to Seashore in 1976 following closure of this section of the elevated, by then part of the Orange Line.
21 – Visible in this photo are MBTA “Blue Line” cars #0622-0623 (built by Hawker-Siddeley in 1979 and acquired by Seashore in 2009) to the left, LIRR #4137 (described above) in the middle, and South Shore #32 (built by Standard Steel in 1929 and brought to Seashore in 1989) to the right of it. Off to the right, beyond the caboose, are a couple of small rail grinders that were used by Boston Elevated Railway.
22 – Montreal #2
23 – MBTA #4006 is an E800 trolley bus built in 1976 by Flyer and retired in 2008.
24 – MBTA #4028 is an E800 trolley bus built in 1976 by Flyer and retired in 2008. Note the trolley bus overhead; Seashore does have a short stretch of trolley bus line which they plan to extend at some point.
25 – Portsmouth Dover & York #108 is a very attractive double-truck RPO car built by Laconia in 1904. It was later acquired by York Utilities and converted for use as a line car but has been restored to its earlier configuration by Seashore. It has been at the museum since it was retired from service in 1949.
26 – ConnCo #1160
27 – MSR #38
28 – Boston MTA #8361 is a model 45OS-102-43CX trolley bus built by Pullman-Standard in 1948. It was the first trolley bus acquired by Seashore, coming to the museum in 1963 following retirement. It is currently operational.
29 – These are the “State of the Art Cars,” the SOAC pair, built in 1972 as testbed cars. The bodies were built by St. Louis Car Company with electrical equipment provided by Boeing-Vertol. They were built to Eastern subway clearances and were test-run in New York, Philadelphia and briefly operated on the Skokie Swift in Chicago, which was the only line that could easily be modified for their extra length and width. They were acquired by Seashore in 1989.
30 – Consolidated Railway #303 is a typical 15-bench open car built by Brill in 1901. Originally it was Winchester Avenue Railway #303, then Fair Haven & Westville #303 before becoming Consolidated #303 and eventually being renumbered Connecticut Company #615. The car ran until 1948 in Yale Bowl service and has been at Seashore since then.
31 – Dunedin #105 is a cable car from New Zealand that was built in 1903 by Stansfield. It was acquired by Seashore in 1957 after retirement from service.
32 – Dunedin cable car grip
33 – Wheeling Street Railway #639 is a rare Cincinnati curve-side suburban car built by Cincinnati in 1924. Later it was owned by Co-Operative Transit and was retired in 1948. Seashore acquired the body of this car in 1957 and during the 1990s and early 2000s it was completely restored to original condition, one of several “chicken coop” restorations Seashore has done. It is currently the only operational Cincinnati curve-sider in existence.
34 – Consolidated #303 bench
35 – Consolidated #303
36 – Wheeling #639
37 – Sydney Tramways #1700 is a “compartment” streetcar built in 1925 by Meadowbank. It ran in Sydney until 1960 and was acquired by Seashore the following year.
38 – Wheeling #639 emblem
39 – Twin City Rapid Transit #1267 is a standard single-end “gate car” from that city, built by the company shops in 1907 in class H-6. It ran until 1953 and was acquired by Seashore that year. It is one of two cars of this type currently preserved, the other being car #1239 which was restored from a body and is in operation Excelsior, MN.
40 – DC Transit #1304 is a prewar PCC built by St. Louis in 1941 for Capital Transit. It ran until 1961, when it was retired and sold to General Electric for use as a test car. It was later sold to the Trolleyville museum in North Olmsted, OH, which sold it to Seashore in 1985. It has been restored to its late-1950s condition while in service in Washington DC.
41 – CNS&M #755 is one of five preserved cars from the Standard Steel order built for the North Shore in 1930. It was acquired by Seashore in 1963 following abandonment of the North Shore and still wears its “Silverliner” color scheme. This car is operational and is currently the focus of some restoration work.
42 – TCRT #1239 gate closeup showing the distinctive design used for the gates on the open back platforms of these cars
43 – Ottawa Transportation #B2 is a single-truck snow sweeper built by the Ottawa Car Manufacturing Company in 1926. Though McGuire-Cummings was the company most closely associated with snow sweepers like these, several other companies including Brill, Ottawa, and Fowler built similar sweepers. Ottawa #B2 was sold to Cornwall in 1959 and ran there until the wires came down in 1972, at which point it was acquired by Seashore.
44 – Atlantic Shore Line #100 is a unique cab-on-flat locomotive built by Laconia in 1906. It ran in revenue service on the same right-of-way currently used by Seashore for its main line and was later sold to York Utilities, where it ran until 1949. It was acquired at that time by Seashore and during the early 2000s was completely restored to original condition.
45 – Dallas Railway & Terminal #434 is the only pre-PCC city car from Dallas preserved intact. Built by Stone & Webster in 1913, it ran until 1954 and was then acquired by Seashore. It has operated at the museum regularly for years and is currently the focus of some rehabbing work.
45 – DR&T #434
46 – An overview of the Town House Restoration Shop with Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway lightweight car #7005 (built by Osgood-Bradley in 1927, later Boston Elevated Railway #4400, acquired by Seashore in 1950) in the foreground for heavy restoration and Blackpool #144 from England (homebuilt in 1925, acquired by Seashore in 1954) in the background.
47 – Town House Restoration shop with EMSR #7005 in the foreground; in the background are Bay State Street railway #4175 (built by Laconia in 1914, acquired by Seashore in 1976 and the subject of a long-term restoration), Middlesex & Boston #41 (a single-truck car built by Stephenson in 1901 and acquired as a body by Seashore in 1962), and Blackpool #144.
48 – Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority #01000 is an elevated car built by Wason in 1928 for use on the Main Line Elevated (later the Orange Line). It was acquired by Seashore in 1980 and is operational.
49 – CA&E #434 is one of two Cincinnati-built cars from the CA&E in preservation, the other being car #431 at IRM. Car #434 was bought by Seashore from the railroad in 1962 and during the 1990s was completely restored to its 1950s appearance.
50 – Chicago Surface Lines #225 was one of the cars regularly used on fan trips in Chicago during the mid-1950s and went to Seashore in 1957. It is one of three preserved “Old Pullman” cars, the other two being #144 and #460, both at IRM.
51 – CSL #225 motorman’s position
52 – CSL #225 interior
53 – CSL #225 interior
54 – CSL #225 platform interior
55 – CSL #225 number
56 – CSL #225 emblem
57 – CSL #225 number
58 – CSL #225 lettering
59 – The double-deck car is Glasgow #1274 from Scotland, a “Coronation” tram built in the company shops in 1940 and retired in 1963, when it was donated to Seashore. The single-level car is Rome #279, buitl by Tabanelli in 1914 and retired in 1960. It was the first car from continental Europe acquired by Seashore.
60 – Union Street Railway #10 is a horsecar from New Bedford, MA that was built by Brill in 1885. When service was electrified it was retained by the company as an historic relic and eventually made its way to Seashore in 1954.
61 – a Suffolk County (MA) sherriff’s wagon for transporting prisoners, acquired by Seashore in 1983.
62 – Union Street Railway #34 is a single-truck railway post office streetcar that was rebuilt in 1893 from a horsecar that had itself been built in 1880. This car was retired in 1947 and acquired by Seashore at that time.
63 – Rome car #279
64 – Mousam River Railroad #8, a street railway freight trailer built by Portland in 1893. It was in use until 1947, when it was acquired by Seashore. It is thought to be the only street railway freight trailer preserved.
65 – California Street #48 is a typical double-end cable car from the California Street line in San Francisco that was built in 1907 by Holman. It was sold to an individual in Montreal in 1955 and was later acquired by Seashore in 1970.
66 – California Street #48 number
67 – Brooklyn & Queens Transit #4547 is a double-truck, double-end semi-convertible car built in 1906 by Jewett. It ran for fifty years in Brooklyn. Cars of this type were common on B&QT and were built by a couple of different car builders. Seashore acquired #4547 in 1956.
68 – Cleveland Street Railway #1227 is one of several preserved center-door cars from Cleveland but is the only one that has been backdated to original condition. Built in 1914 by hometown car builder Kuhlman, it was sold for use on the suburban line to Shaker Heights in 1921 and was later renumbered Shaker Heights Rapid Transit #27. During its time in suburban service it was rebuilt with Westinghouse MU control and other modifications. Retired in 1960, it bounced around, from the National Capital Trolley Museum to Trolley Valhalla to Buckingham Valley Trolley Association to a private owner in Ohio. Seashore acquired the car in 1984 by which time it was reduced to a badly deteriorated body. During the early 2000s the car was completely restored to as-built condition. In 2010 Seashore acquired Cleveland center-door trailer #2365 from Trolleyville and there are plans to restore that car to match #1227.
69 – Montreal & Southern Counties #504 is a large freight motor built in 1924 by Ottawa. It was used in service out of Montreal until 1956, when it was acquired by Seashore
70 – Montreal & Southern Counties #610 is a heavy interurban car built by Ottawa in 1922, quite late for wood car construction. It saw regular operation until 1956, when it was donated to Seashore.
71 – Rome #279 emblem
72 – CA&E #434
73 – Rome #279
74 – Brooklyn & Queens Transit #4547
75 – The “City of Manchester” is arguably the most opulent car preserved at Seashore. It was built in 1898 by Briggs Carriage Company for the Manchester Street Railway. Its precise retirement date is uncertain but in 1952 the car’s body was being used as a children’s playhouse when it was acquired by Seashore. This was likely the first electric car body ever acquired by an American museum in derelict condition and the first full “chicken coop” restoration done by a U.S. trolley museum. The car was restored during the early 1960s and has run at Seashore ever since.
76 – Cleveland #1227 interior; in later years Shaker Heights Rapid Transit replaced the bench seats on the left side of the car with standard lateral seats, but Seashore backdated the car to this condition.
77 – MSR “City of Manchester” lettering
78 – Claremont Railway #4 is a homebuilt line car built by this small New Hampshire system. It was acquired by Seashore in 1955. At one point it was briefly loaned to the MBTA.
79 – Biddeford & Saco #31 was the first streetcar acquired by Seashore, in 1939, making it the first streetcar acquired by any U.S. trolley museum for preservation. It is a 12-bench double-truck open car built by Brill in 1900 and was used until the B&S was abandoned in 1939. It has been completely restored.
80 – Lehigh Valley Transit #1030 is one of two preserved ex-Indiana Railroad highspeeds. It was built by AC&F in 1931 as Indiana Railroad #55 and in 1934 was converted into a full-length parlor car. After the Indiana Railroad quit service in 1941 this car was sold to LVT, which rebuilt it with a left-side front door and a door at the rear of the car (for emergency egress on the Norristown trestle). It operated for LVT until 1951, when it was acquired by Seashore. The other ex-Indiana Railroad highspeed, car #65, went to the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City and in 1953 became the first car owned by the Illinois Railway Museum.
81 – LVT #1030 letterboard
82 – LVT #1030 letterboard
83 – LVT #1030 letterboard
84 – LVT #1030 motorman’s position; note the left-side door and trap installed by LVT.
85 – LVT #1030 interior
86 – LVT #1030 washroom
87 – LVT #1030 interior
88 – LVT #1030 motorman’s position
89 – LVT #1030 interior – old IRR number
90 – LVT #1030 interior
91 – LVT #1030 interior fan
92 – LVT #1030 interior
93 – LVT #1030 front
94 – LVT #1030 number
95 – LVT #1030 rear
96 – Overview of some of Seashore’s bus collection, with New Orleans #333 (Flxible 1967), Portland #504 (GMC 1950), Peninsula Transportation #195 (Mack 1959), Toronto #7521 (Flyer 1972), Omaha articulated #1312 (Twin Coach 1947) and others visible.
97 – Some of Seashore’s bus collection, with MBTA #9138 (Flyer 1982), MBTA #6169 (GMC 1967), New Orleans #333 (Flxible 1967), and Portland #504 (GMC 1950) visible
98 – Some of Seashore’s bus collection, with WMATA #6481 (GMC 1964), Manchester #107 (GMC 1974), Cape Ann #7804 (GMC 1979) and MBTA #9138 (Flyer 1982) visible
99 – MBTA motor bus #8400 (GMC 1985) and Swiss trolley bus #653 (FBW/EGGLI/BBC 1964) with an MBTA Red Line car in the background

Regards,

Frank Hicks

Here are some pictures from my recent trip to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine,the first time I’d been there in 35 years. Seashore (originally called the Seashore Electric Railway), founded in 1939, is the first and oldest trolley museum in the United States, and has a vast collection, truly international in scope.

We thought we would make a contest out of identifying the various cars, buses, and artifacts in the photos.First prize will be a copy of our new “Spirit of 76″ DVD collection, which includes the first 76 CERA Bulletins, issued between 1938 and 1947, plus bonus features.

To enter the contest, send us a list identifying what you see in these pictures. The best and most complete answer received at cerablog1@gmail.com by midnight Central Time on Thursday, September 4, 2014 will be the winner.

All photos were taken by me on August 16, 2014. There’s a lot to identify here, so I wish you good luck in figuring it all out. When referring to individual photos, please use the image numbers so that individual pictures can be matched to the descriptions. Once the contest ends, we will add captions to each picture.

Good luck!

-David Sadowski

The rest of the photos in next post

A Visit to Seashore (and a Contest) - Additional Photos

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 21:58:50 GMT

A Visit to Seashore (and a Contest)

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 21:55:09 GMT

Editor’s Note:

To read the winning contest answers, click here.

Good luck!

-David Sadowski

A Visit to Boston

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 22:01:06 GMT

Boston’s public transit system has seen many changes since my first visit there in 1967, but the variety of equipment operated there means it’s always worth a trip.

Boston pioneered the use of color-coded transit lines, but unlike Chicago’s, their equipment is not shared between lines. There are differences that keep Boston’s Red, Blue, and Orange Line rapid transit cars from running on each other, and the Green Line is the most different of all.

On the Green Line, the venerable PCCs and the ill-fated Boeing-Vertol LRVs have given way to today’s modern fleet of Type 7 and Type 8 trolleys, the latter with low floors. Often, Boston mixes 7s and 8s in trains so that at least some portion of each train is handicapped accessible.

It’s hard to believe, but many of the Type 7s, which first ran in 1987, are really showing their age with a lot of surface rust from those hard Boston winters. This was my first experience riding the Type 8s, and I found them to be likable, attractive cars as well.

Boston continues to use PCC streetcars, as it has for nearly 75 years, just not on the Green Line. PCCs provide all the service on the Ashmont-Mattapan line, a prototypical “light rail” line that dates back to the 1920s. Technically, this is part of the Red Line.

In addition, Boston is one of a handful of cities that still use trolley buses. I was sorry to see them go from Chicago more than 40 years ago, so it was a thrill to ride one again this week.

Railfans tend to like “roster shot” types of photographs, with nary a person in sight, but the Boston system is used daily by large numbers of people, and their interactions with transit vehicles can also create interesting pictures. Boston is a very friendly city, and if you have not experienced it, consider visiting sometime. You may find yourself coming back time and time again, as I have.

Meanwhile, I hope that you will enjoy these images as souvenirs from my recent trip. They were taken on August 14-17, 2014. Boston is the kind of city that fits me to a “T!”

-David Sadowski

A mass of humanity at Park Street.

An Alewife-bound Red Line train at Park Street.

The Red Line at Alewife.

Inside a Red Line car.

Boarding the Red Line at Alewife.

The classic Harvard Square “T” station subway entrance lives on as a magazine stand. The current subway entrance is nearby.

Harvard Square.

The Harvard Square bus tunnel.

The bus tunnel provides off-street loading and unloading in the busy Harvard Square area, and is also partly responsible for the continued use of trackless trolleys in Boston.

A Route 71 trolley coach in the Harvard Square bus tunnel.

A Route 71 trackless at the end of the line in Watertown.

The back end of an MBTA Route 71 trackless along Mt. Auburn.

MBTA’s trolley coach garage on Mass Avenue.

One of MBTA’s trackless trolleys at the ir garage along Mass Avenue.

A Type 7 car in profile.

MBTA full-size mockup for a “Type 6″ car, circa 1968. You can see traces of this design in the Type 7s from the 1980s.

A fuller-length view of the same mockup. Instead of developing this car, MBTA and MUNI collaborated on the design of the Standard Light Rail Vehicle in the early 1970s.

Waiting for those doors to open on a low-floor Breda car.

The classic trolley shelter at Coolidge Corner.

Waiting for the light to change at Coolidge Corner.

Passengers board a low-floor Breda at Coolidge Corner.

Bredas at Coolidge Corner on the MBTA Green Line “C” branch.

Coolidge Corner is a very picturesque neighborhood.

The old and the new at Coolidge Corner.

The MBTA’s Beacon Street line has always been one of my favorites.

Boston’s “Type 7″ cars, to my eyes, are a cross between a PCC and the Boeing-Vertol LRVs.

Night shot, outbound at Coolidge Corner.

Night shot, inbound at Coolidge Corner.

A Green Line train, led by a Type 7 car, makes its first stop after emerging from the subway tunnel.

The Citgo sign has long been a Boston landmark, as was the Cities Service version before it, standing behind the subway portal on Beacon.

Car 3850 is one of the MBTA’s low-floor “Type 8s,” delivered between 1999 and 2008.

Boston’s fleet of Type 7s were built by Kinki-Sharyo and entered service in 1987. After more than 25 years these cars are really showing their age.

Type 7 interior.

A two-car rain at the end of MBTA’s Green Line “C” route at Cleveland Circle.

Workers switching a two-car train for the return trip from Cleveland Circle.

Bostons Type 8s are handsome cars. Despite many initial difficulties, their reliability has been greatly improved.

The interior of a Type 8, showing how portions are low-floor and thus, handicapped-accessible.

A train prepares to stop in the Green Line subway.

A Type 7 car in the Green Line subway.

Getting off the Red Line at Ashmont. Some of these riders will continue South via PCC.

PCC 3260 at Ashmont. Although none are visible in this photo, these cars actually carry lots of passengers.

Interestingly, only one bank of lights appeared to be in use in the PCC interiors.

Except for the roof-mounted air conditioner, you’d be hard-pressed to tell if this picture was taken in 1964 or 2014.

The air conditioned PCCs really look nice in classic orange and white. With their sealed windows, they remind me of Boston’s “picture window” PCCs, which were cars 3272-3321, all now retired.

PCC 3230 picks up passengers at Mattapan.

Car 3260 approaches the Mattapan terminal.

PCC 3254 arriving at Matapan.

A PCC negotiates the turnback loop at Mattapan.

PCCs at Mattapan awaiting their turn in service. PCCs have been in continuous service in Boston for nearly 75 years.

Two of the PCCs assigned to Ashmont-Mattapan service, showing their roof-mounted air conditioning units.

A PCC interior on the Ashmont-Mattapan “high speed trolley.”

A Red Line train ready to depart at Ashmont.

Boston’s famous giant tea kettle near Government Center dates to 1873 and holds 277 gallons of water. Why not visit Boston, where something big is always brewing!

George W. Hilton, 1925-2014

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 19:14:36 GMT

We are sorry to report that noted historian and author George W. Hilton has died at age 89. He was the author of many notable books, including The Electric Interurban Railways in America (with John F. Due) and The Cable Car in America.

Professor Hilton first joined CERA on March 25, 1950, as Member #1549. In February 2014, the CERA Board of Directors made George W. Hilton our first (and so far only) Honorary Life Member for his many important contributions to the study of transportation history and to CERA in particular.

CERA reprinted two of his Electric Railway Historical Society books earlier this year (Cable Railways of Chicago and The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway), as part our our Complete ERHS Collection on DVD data disc. Both had been unavailable for many years.

We especially thank him for his generous bequest to CERA some 20 years ago, which has in effect become an endowment, permitting us to issue publications like Transit in The Triangle Vol. 1, Trolley Sparks Special #1, and Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958. We owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude, and his legacy will live on for many, many years at CERA.

-The CERA Board of Directors

From Trains magazine:

Transportation historian George W. Hilton dies

Published: August 7, 2014

BALTIMORE – George Woodman Hilton, retired professor of economics at the University of California at Los Angeles, long time Trains contributor, and a prolific author of books on transportation history and economics, died on Aug. 4, 2014. He was 89 years old.Born in 1925, Hilton graduated with an A.B., summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1946, and earned an M.A. in 1950. He attended the London School of Economics from 1953 to 1955 and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1956. He was professor of economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, until his retirement.Hilton specialized in transportation economics. He practically identified himself with competitive organization of the railroads and prided himself on his contribution to the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Hilton was a frequent and insightful Trains contributor for many years, and enjoyed tremendous respect from then-editor David P. Morgan. Hilton’s versatility as a writer for Trains was never more visible than in 1972. He showed his enthusiast side in the May issue with “The View of the Viaduct From in Front of the Diner,” a witty, bittersweet memoir of riding Erie passenger trains. Then he demonstrated his power as an economist in October with “What Does the ICC Cost You and Me?”, a penetrating, no-holds-barred critique of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It’s a measure of David P. Morgan’s regard for Hilton that the editor gave the story five pages of solid text, with no illustration. It delivered a powerful message.

He wanted to be remembered best for his works on transportation history. Of his fifteen books and countless articles, many were on transportation history. Many of these are considered the definitive work on their particular subject: The Great Lakes Car Ferries, The Cable Car in America, The Ma & Pa, Eastland, Legacy of the Titanic, American Narrow Gauge Railroads, and Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers. In 2008 he received the Samuel Ward Stanton Award from the Steamship Historical Society of America for scholarship in steam navigation.

In addition to publication, Hilton contributed in other ways to transportation history. For example, he funded the work of a summer intern at the Smithsonian Institution who redrafted plans of the Detroit River railroad car ferry Lansdowne and funded the construction of an exhibit model of the Great Lakes car ferry St. Ignace.

In 1982, he endowed the George W. and Constance M. Hilton Book Award of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. This award is granted annually for an outstanding book on railroad history, and is considered by many to be the most prestigious award that a book on railroad history can receive.

Hilton had many interests beyond transportation. He was a baseball fan. For many years his car bore the license plate “Sox 06.” His sports interests extended to girls’ college volleyball.

Hilton traveled to England to celebrate the performances of Gilbert & Sullivan works. He was a fan of theatre organs. He edited the newsletter of a breweriana collectors group.

CERA Used Book Exchange - List #6

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:17:21 GMT

Here is our sixth list of used books for sale. We had previously written about the CERA Used Book Exchange here. Copies of List #6 and an order form have been mailed to all current CERA Members.

As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~. You can download and print out a copy of List #6 here.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

CERA Used Book Exchange List #6 (Updated as of August 21, 2014)

Stock #	Description	Publisher	Date	Cover	Cond.	Price	#	Notes
UBE110	The Shore Line Electric Railway Company	CERA	2007	H	EX	$40.00	B-139	Like New
UBE127	Faster Than the Limiteds	CERA	2004	H	EX	$30.00	B-137	Like New
UBE131	Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio	CERA	1965	H	G	$25.00	B-108	DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE132	The Lake Line	CERA	2011	H	EX	$50.00	B-144	Like New
UBE133	Not Only Passengers	CERA	1992	H	EX	$20.00	B-129
UBE134	Chicago Surface Lines	THP	1979	H	EX	$35.00		By Lind – Third Edition
UBE135	The Green Line	CERA	2000	H	EX	$20.00	B-134	Like New
UBE136	The Last Interurbans	CERA	2003	H	G	$30.00	B-136	By Middleton
UBE137	Cincinnati Streetcars v5 1895-1911	WCC	1971	S	G	$20.00		By Wagner and Wright
UBE138	TravElectric	CERA	2009	H	G	$30.00	B-143
UBE139	TM (The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.)	CERA	1972	H	G	$35.00	B-112	Sleeve torn, otherwise OK
UBE140	How the Medal Was Won	CERA	1985	H	EX	$10.00	B-124
UBE141	The Colorful Streetcars We Rode	CERA	1986	S	G	$15.00	B-125
UBE142	Northern Indiana Railway	CERA	1998	H	EX	$20.00	B-132
UBE143	The Chicago & West Towns Railways	CERA	2006	H	EX	$30.00	B-138	Like New
UBE144	Interurban to Milwaukee	CERA	1962	S	F	$20.00	B-106	1st printing; spiral bound, cover repaired with tape
UBE145	Route of the Electroliners	CERA	1963	S	G	$25.00	B-107	1st printing; spiral bound
UBE146	From Bullets to BART	CERA	1988	H	F	$10.00	B-127	Sleeve torn, otherwise OK
UBE147	Illinois Traction System	CERA	1954	S	G	$35.00	B-98	Spiral bound
UBE148	The Smaller Electric Railways of Illinois	CERA	1955	S	G	$35.00	B-99	Spiral bound
UBE149	Electric Railways of Iowa	CERA	1956	S	G	$35.00	B-100	Spiral bound
UBE150	Indiana Railroad	CERA	1973	S	G	$15.00	B-91	Reprint
UBE151	The North Shore Line- 30 Years Later	CERA	1985	S	G	$15.00
UBE152	Gary Railways	CERA	1975	S	G	$15.00	B-84	Reprint
UBE153	CERA Bulletins 1-19	CERA	1976	S	G	$15.00		Reprint
UBE154	The Red Arrow	HP	1985	H	G	$35.00		By DeGraw
UBE155	Trolleys of Johnstown, Cambria & Somerset Counties (PA)	BRTP	1991	S	EX	$20.00		By Rohrbeck; smaller format, spiral bound
UBE156	North Shore- America’s Fastest Interurban	GW	1964	H	F	$10.00		A few pages are loose; otherwise OK
UBE157	Ride the Red Devils Along Nostalgic Ohio Trolley Trails	TH	1971	S	F	$15.00		By Christiansen; small stain on cover
UBE158	North Shore Line Memories	DB	1980	H	EX	$25.00		By Campbell

We also have a number of original Electric Railway Historical Society bulletins available:

Stock #	Description	Cond.	Price
ERHS1	Lightweight Interurban Cars (1952)	EX	$23.00
ERHS4	Brill Magazine, May 1927 (1952)	G	$18.00
ERHS6	The Northern Indiana Railways by George K. Bradley (1953)	P	$10.00
ERHS8	The Hammond Whiting and East Chicago Ry. by James J. Buckley (1953)	EX	$23.00
ERHS13	Car Plans of the Chicago Railways Company 1911 (1954)	EX	$23.00
ERHS15	Brill Magazine, December 1914 (1954)	EX	$23.00
ERHS18	Cars of the St. Louis Car Company 1927 (1955)	EX	$23.00
ERHS19	The Biddeford and Saco Railroad by O. R. Cummings (1956)	EX	$23.00
ERHS21	Cars of the Rockford and Interurban Railway (1956)	EX	$23.00
ERHS24	Baldwin Westinghouse Electric Locomotives 1925 (1957)	EX	$23.00
ERHS26	Brill Magazine, April 1924 (1957)	EX	$23.00
ERHS27	Electric Railway Journal 1912 Convention Issue (1957)	G	$18.00
ERHS28	The Evanston Railway Co. by James J. Buckley (1958)	G	$18.00
ERHS30	Niles Cars 1914 (1958)	G	$18.00
ERHS31	Thomas Built Cars (1959)	EX	$23.00
ERHS33	Modern Lightweight Cars (1959)	EX	$23.00
ERHS34	Brill Magazine, September 1911 (1959)	EX	$23.00
ERHS35	The Manchester Street Railway by O. R. Cummings (1960)	F	$13.00
ERHS36	The Safety Car (1960)	G	$18.00
ERHS37	Brill Magazine, January 1917 (1961)	EX	$23.00
ERHS38	Car Plans of the Chicago Surface Lines (1962)	EX	$23.00
ERHS39	Railway Equipments and Locomotives in the Far West (1962)	EX	$23.00
ERHS42	The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway by George W. Hilton (1964)	G	$18.00
ERHS43	Brill Magazine, October 1912 (1964)	EX	$23.00
ERHS47	Light-Weight Cars (1965)	EX	$23.00
ERHS48	The Lee County Central Electric Railway by Philip L. Keister (1967)	G	$18.00

CERA Mailbag for August 3, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 19:18:50 GMT

John F. Bromley writes:

You may be interested in this view I picked off the internet. ID’d as Madison Street circa 1910 but no cross-street given, but it’s by Hotel Brevoort so should be easy to determine, and of course the Loop is in the background.

Thanks… I am sure our eagle-eyed readers will come up with the right answer in short order. -Ed.

Cheers

Nathan Wells writes:

I was hoping you all could help me get the word out to support a campaign I am working on with some members of Charlotte Trolley to save a historic Dallas “Turtleback” streetcar. McKinney Avenue Transit Authority no longer requires the car and must find a home for it before they clear a lot on which the car is stored. The lot has been sold to a third party and everything must be cleaned by early September.

The “Turtleback” car we are trying to save is the only known example of a “stretched-Turtleback” left in the world. Would you share the following campaign link to your followers in case any would like to support our efforts to have the car moved to Charlotte, NC where we will preserve and restore it:

http://igg.me/at/savetheturtleback

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

You’re very welcome. I encourage our readers to check out the link and contribute to this worthy cause. -Ed.

Other CERA News

Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table

Tickets are still available for our upcoming Chicago PCC Weekend events this September 26-28. Things get off to a great start on Friday evening, September 26th, with the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table. Nearly half the tickets for that event, which is free for current CERA Members, have already been distributed.

Then, on Saturday, September 27th, CERA will make a trek to Kenosha, Wisconsin to ride the Chicago Tribute PCC and have a Shops tour. The Kenosha streetcar loop is directly accessible by public transportation from Downtown Chicago, via Metra’s UP North Line trains.

Finally, on Sunday, September 28th, we have a fantrip at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. CERA is chartering CTA “Green Hornet” PCC streetcar 4391, newly restored Chicago & West Towns car 141, and the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin wood car 36. Metra’s UP Northwest Line will take you to Crystal Lake, where you can make connections with CERA’s chartered bus for the remaining 13 miles to IRM.

You can read more about these events here.

More “Before and After”

This 60-year-old slide shows a tremendous number of scratches in the “Before” image, probably damage caused by slide projectors over the years. The “After” image, the result of many hours’ work in Photoshop, has these defects corrected and shows how the image will appear in our upcoming book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958.

It’s another example of the hard work and dedication we are putting in to make this the most important book about Chicago streetcars to appear in the last 40 years. We will continue to update you with more information as it becomes available.

Summer Vacation

Everyone deserves a break now and then, even the hard-working volunteers at CERA. Therefore, our office will be closed from Tuesday, August 12th through Tuesday, the 19th. All current orders on hand will be filled by the 11th.

-Your CERA Directors

CERA News for August 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:21:38 GMT

Used Book Exchange List #6

Our latest used book list, including original CERA and ERHS bulletins, plus traction books from other publishers, has been mailed to our current Members. We will post this list here on August 5th, one week after our mailing. The one week delay gives people who do not use the Internet more of an equal chance to purchase some of these books, which usually sell out quickly.

A 1956 photo of a CA&E train similar to the type featured on our Railroad Record Club Vol. 1 audio CD. (R. F. Munroe Photo – CERA Archives)

Two New Publications

This month, we have two new CERA Archives releases, following up on the success of the Complete ERHS Collection on DVD data disc (AR-1) and the Interurban Memories audio CD (AR-2). Railroad Record Club Vol. 1 (AR-3) is an audio CD that compiles two 10” LP releases by the long-defunct Railroad Record Club of Hawkins, Wisconsin. The Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee is featured on half, with the other half split between the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and the CTA Garfield Park “L”. These classic 1956 recordings have been digitally remastered and are available on CD for the first time ever.

You asked for it- the first 76 CERA Bulletins plus extras on a DVD data disc. Our new collection “The Spirit of 76” (AR-4) celebrates CERA’s 76th anniversary by featuring all the publications from the years 1938-1947, our first decade. These can be read on any computer with a DVD disc drive. We all still need “The Spirit of 76” more than ever!

All these Archive releases can be purchased here. You can also download a form to purchase these discs by mail.

Chicago PCC Weekend Tickets

Order forms have been mailed to our Members for September’s events, which begin with the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table on Friday evening, September 26th. Get your Round Table tickets now, before it’s completely sold out!

We will continue our celebration of Chicago’s PCCs streetcars on Saturday and Sunday with Inspection Trips to the Kenosha Streetcar and the Illinois Railway Museum. CERA has arranged with MCERA Vince Allen’s Victory Bus Service to provide round-trip transportation between the Crystal Lake Metra station and IRM.

Before

After

B-146 Update

CERA is pleased to announce that each copy of Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958 will include a reproduction 1936 Chicago Surface Lines brochure, which introduced the new “Streamliners.” This we are doing at no additional cost to you. The brochures have already been printed and they look great.

We are finishing up work cleaning up the many 60-year-old images in the book using Photoshop. Since this a very labor-intensive process, we are not going to quote a firm publication date until the book actually is sent off to the printer. However, we are doing our best to get the book published prior to our September meeting. It is better to underpromise and overdeliver, than to overpromise and underdeliver!

-Your CERA Directors

CERA’s “Spirit of 76″

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 19:27:47 GMT

This is CERA’s 76th year, and we decided to do something special to show our Members that we still have the “Spirit of ’76.” Therefore, Central Electric Railfans’ Association is proud to announce the availability, starting August 1st, of our first 76 Bulletins plus bonus features on a DVD data disc. You asked for it, and now we’re giving it to you!

Our new “Spirit of 76″ collection brings together in one place, for the very first time, each and every publication from CERA’s first 10 years, covering 1938 through 1947. We intend this to be but the first in a series of such Archives releases, gradually making all out-of-print CERA bulletins available once again. Our publications gradually evolved from just a few pages to the book-length works of today, and the Spirit of 76captures the flavor and excitement of a bygone era, when the world was young and trolley cars were running practically everywhere.

This follows on the heels of our very successful Complete ERHS Collection DVD disc, released a few months ago. Like that disc, this one can be used on any computer that has a DVD drive. Files are in .PDF format, and can be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.

The Bonus Features include all the Trolley Sparks publications from our first 10 years that were issued with their own numbering system, separate from other CERA bulletins. We have even managed to track down a few of the 11 issues of Trolley Sparks that were put out by Barney Neuberger in 1944-45, predating its involvement with CERA. You can read more about the early history of Trolley Sparks here.

The “Spirit of 76″ DVD costs just $29.95, which includes shipping within the United States, making it an incredible bargain. International shipping costs just $7.50. You can order a copy online using PayPal or a credit/debit card, or send us a check. Why not reserve your copy today?

Today, more than ever, we all need the “Spirit of ’76!”

-Your CERA Board of Directors

Here is a list of the first 76 CERA Bulletins, topics covered, and the dates they were issued:

B-1	Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee RR	11/38
B-2	Chicago Rapid Transit Co, Metropolitan Division	02/39
B-3	Chicago & West Towns Railways	04/39
B-4	Chicago South Shore and South Bend RR	06/39
B-5	Chicago Aurora & Elgin RR Roster	06/39
B-6	The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Co., Roster	09/39
B-7	Annual Report of CERA for 1939	11/39
B-8	Northern Indiana Railway	12/39
B-9	Windsor, Essex & Lake Shore Cars	01/40
B-10	Texas Interurban Railway Cars	01/40
B-11	Key System Articulated Cars	02/40
B-12	Hudson Valley Railway	03/40
B-13	CNS&M RR, Modernized Car 742	03/40
B-14	Illinois Central RR, Electric Suburban	05/40
B-15	Western Ohio Railway Car 41	05/40
B-16	Des Moines Railway Car 702	06/40
B-17	Indiana Railroad System	09/40
B-18	Indianapolis Railway 100-Series Cars	09/40
B-19	Annual Report of CERA for 1940	11/40
B-20	Cincinnati & Lake Erie Car 202	01/41
B-21	Indiana Railroad RPO Cars 375-377	01/41
B-22	CNS&M RR, Electroliners 801-804	02/41
B-23	An Interurban Goes Modern	03/41
B-24	Trenton-Princeton Traction Co.	05/41
B-25	Columbus, Delaware & Marion Car 500	05/41
B-26	Seashore Electric Railway	06/41
B-27	Chicago Surface Lines Roster	07/41
B-28	Illinois Terminal RR, Class D Locomotive	09/41
B-29	CERA Official Car 300	09/41
B-30	Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction	11/41
B-31	Annual Report of CERA for 1941	11/41
B-32	Map of Traction Lines, Central States	01/42
B-33	Dayton & Western Traction Co, 1931 Timetable	01/42
B-34	Springfield (Ill) Transportation Co.	01/42
B-35	Cincinnati & Lake Erie Cars 110-129	03/42
B-36	Clinton, Davenport & Muscatine Ry	03/42
B-37	Piedmont & Northern Ry. Locomotive 5611	05/42
B-38	Roby & Northern Railroad	06/42
B-39	Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 Locomotives	06/42
B-40	Jamestown, Westfield & North Western RR	09/42
B-41	Modernization of South Shore Line Car 15	09/42
B-42	Album of Northern Indiana – Southern Michigan Rys.	11/42
B-43	Annual Report of CERA for 1942	11/42
B-44	Interurbans of Western New York State	03/43
B-45	“El Viento”, Los Angeles-Pacific Co.	05/43
B-46	Marion Railways (Indiana)	05/43
B-47	Galveston-Houston Electric Railway	05/43
B-48	Roster of Lehigh Valley Transit Co.	11/43
B-49	Annual Report of CERA for 1943	11/43
B-50	East Erie Commercial RR.	03/44
B-51	Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Ry. Car 120	07/44
B-52	Public Timetable, Lake Shore Electric Railway, 1937	07/44
B-53	Springfield (Ohio) Suburban Railroad	07/44
B-54	Emblems of Electric Railways	07/44
B-55	Album of Illinois Traction Cars 270-271	09/44
B-56	Joint Issue with Interurban New Letter	09/44
B-57	History of Double Deck Electric Ry. Cars	11/44
B-58	Annual Report of CERA for 1944	11/44
B-59	Timetables, Electric Railways of the Central States	01/45
B-60	Album of Springfield, Troy & Piqua Ry.	05/45
B-61	Album of Early Terre Haute Electric Cars	05/45
B-62	Union Traction Company of Indiana	11/45
B-63	Union Traction Company of Indiana Roster	12/45
B-64	Chicago, Aurora and Elgin RR and Its New Cars	08/46
B-65	Aroostook Valley Railroad Co.	11/46
B-66	Air Line Remembrances; Hershey Transit Co.	02/47
B-67	Holiday in Lancaster; Chautauqua Traction Co.	03/47
B-68	Cars of the North Shore Line	04/47
B-69	Texas Electric Ry.; Kewanee & Galva Ry.	04/47
B-70	Indianapolis Traction Terminal: Little Rock, AR	05/47
B-71	Princeton-Bluefield Interurban; The Harmony Route	06/47
B-72	Fort Collins Municipal Ry; Georgia Power Co.	07/47
B-73	PCC Equipment for Chicago “L”	08/47
B-74	Oklahoma Railway Lines	09/47
B-75	Montreal & Southern Counties Ry.	10/47
B-76	The South Shore Line	12/47

Remembering Edson L. Tennyson, 1922 - 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:34:11 GMT

To the Family of Ed Tennyson, we at the Central Electric Railfans’ Association wish to express our deepest sympathies upon learning about the passing of Ed on July 14th. Ed was a loyal member of CERA since he joined our organization on December 11, 1944, and was one of our longest participating members. Ed had a special place in the hearts of our members, because throughout his life he dedicated his efforts to the preservation and development of electric transit everywhere. As an outspoken advocate of the modern streetcar in American cities, Ed lead the way by promoting the development of new streetcar systems wherever he could. For that we will always hold a debt of gratitude. Words cannot express our sense of appreciation to Ed for his lifelong vigorous support of rail transportation.

Sincerely,

The CERA Board of Directors

Among his other accomplishments in his long career, Mr. Tennyson was one of the last living employees of Speedrail, which made a valiant attempt to continue rapid transit service in Milwaukee during the late 1940s.

You can read more about Edson Tennyson’s life and career here and here.

Mr. Tennyson’s family has posted an obituary here, where you may pay your respects.

Now Available – Railroad Record Club Vol. 1 Audio CD

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:29:21 GMT

The 1950s saw the introduction of mobile tape recorders and “High Fidelity” LP records. Since these were also the twilight years of steam locomotives and electric interurbans, it shouldn’t be very surprising that some enterprising individuals documented the sounds of vanishing railroads using this new technology.

In our series of Archives releases, CERA has already issued Interurban Memories on audio CD to much acclaim. Now, we are making 55 minutes of historic audio recordings available on CD for the first time, with our latest release Railroad Record Club Vol. 1.

Mr. William A. Steventon, a farmer near Hawkins, Wisconsin, issued a few dozen 10″ vinyl records in the 1950s and 1960s under the banner of the Railroad Record Club. Most of these featured steam, but there were also a number of traction titles. The club had ads in Trains and some other magazines for several years. We are told Mr. Steventon died in 1993 at age 71.

Our first volume is a “twofer,” combining Railroad Record Club releases 18 and 36. As far as we can tell, both recordings were made around 1956.

Here is a track list:

Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee (North Shore Line):

Track 1 – Interurban 724 from Mundelein to Deerpath (14:45):

Interurban 724 leaving Mundelein. There are many stops for passengers, and at one point the trolley loses its affinity for the trolley wire, requiring an extra stop to replace it. The lightly ballasted track, wheel clicks and motor hum on this branch line provides a recording of the old time interurbans.

Tracks 2-12 Trackside Scenes (11:08):

Track 2 – Interurban 754 approaching and leaving the Racine, Wisconsin station. A group of children are on hand to bid “Tommy” goodbye.
Track 3 – A southbound interurban at Racine.
Track 4 – A northbound interurban at Racine.
Track 5 – A two-car northbound train and a southbound Electroliner pass a few blocks south of the Racine station.
Track 6 – Interurban at Racine.
Track 7 – Air compressors on car 724 at Mundelein.
Track 8 – 724 and 734 leaving Mundelein.
Track 9 – 716 at Rondout.
Track 10 – 3-car train at Northbrook, Illinois.
Track 11 – 174 and 736 at a country road crossing.
Track 12 – 716 at a railroad crossing on the Mundelein branch.

Track 13 – Chicago, Aurora & Elgin car 413 heading west from DesPlaines Avenue towards Aurora on Saturday, April 28, 1956. 14:48

By April 28, 1956 the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin terminated at DesPlaines Avenue in Forest Park, with passengers riding the elevated to points east. Here car No. 413, a 1923 Pullman product, leaves the terminal and roars westward. We had hardly left the terminal before the motorman had the car really rolling. A number of road crossings gave ample opportunity for the motorman to show his skill with the whistle cord. We were in the forward smoking compartment taking in this fast run and the track and motion noise was excellent. The air horn made odd sounds against buildings as we roared past. At the first stop the crossing warning bell chatters incessantly and the motorman yells at a passing man. The warning bell fades into the distance and the motors hum with 600 volts of DC current. We pause briefly at a second stop and then continue westward with additional whistle play at a crossing.

A third stop, another crossing bell and children playing near the car. Another fast acceleration, crossing whistles and track noise. At the fourth stop the motorman throws several bundles of newspapers off the front platform and we can hear them hitting the ground. A couple of short blasts from the whistle, another fast acceleration and we’re off again. The CA&E was known for its fast acceleration and car 413 upheld that tradition on this trip. At the fifth stop a few more news bundles hit the platform, another whistle blast, a passing crossing bell, and we are headed for Aurora.

Track 14 – Chicago Transit Authority car 4452 heading east from DesPlaines Avenue via the Garfield Park “L” on Saturday, April 28, 1956. 15:08

The Garfield Park line of the Chicago Transit Authority was in full swing on April 28, 1956. Old car No. 4452 hummed through the area with many stops. The side door rattled open and closed as passengers entered or left the car. The peculiar sound of the deceleration of traction motors, which seems to be a trademark of “L” equipment, is noticeable here. At one place a nearby motorist voiced his protest to traffic with a tune on his auto horn. Next time fellow, take the “L”! Some small children in the car were awed by the recording equipment and you can hear them making sounds as they pointed at the revolving wheels. This recording is a trip on the “L”!

Total time: 55:49

This CD costs just $14.95, which includes Domestic shipping. You can order online via our website, using PayPal or credit/debit cards, or send us a check. You can use this form to order by mail.

Interestingly, some of the original illustrations used on these vinyl releases came from Central Electric Railfans’ Association.

-Your CERA Directors

The 2014 IRM Trolley Pageant – Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 19:37:57 GMT

Continuing with our coverage of last week’s 2014 Trolley Pageant at the Illinois Railway Museum, here are the videos we shot that day. We’ve edited them, combined some, brightened them up a bit, and given them image stabilization.

The result is about 18 minutes of IRM in action, and there certainly was a lot of action that day! Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

PS- There are brief descriptions of what you’re seeing if you watch the videos on YouTube, but it’s all pretty self-evident. The grade crossing shots were all taken at Olson Road.

The 2014 IRM Trolley Pageant – Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 19:49:08 GMT

We devoted a lot of attention to last year’s Trolley Pageant at the Illinois Railway Museum, and this was one of our more popular posts. This year’s event (July 5th) was a bit different, and in our opinion, more satisfying overall.

In 2013, 60 cars were brought out, but many were just given a quick run by the Depot and went straight back to the barn. This time, visitors were allowed to ride everything that was running, including some work equipment such as the South Shore Line car 1100, the line car that originally ran on the Indiana Railroad.

There were so many consists that we did not have a chance to photograph them all. Somehow we did not get pictures of Illinois Terminal 415 or 101, for example. But we did get enough good pictures to present this photo essay, as the first of two parts. The sequel will feature videos we shot that day.

We hope you had a chance to ride all the equipment you wanted that day, and that you will enjoy these snapshots of a momentous and very enjoyable day at Union.

-David Sadowski

No other museum besides IRM can field both a three-car train of CA&E woods and steels. (David Sadowski Photo)

Wooden Chicago “L” car 1268. (David Sadowski Photo)

CA&E car 36 was built by Stephenson in 1903. (David Sadowski Photo)

CA&E 36 came to IRM from the Trolleyville USA collection in 2009. (David Sadowski Photo)

Car 36 has reversible wicker seats. (David Sadowski Photo)

Vintage advertising in CA&E 36. (David Sadowski Photo)

Randy Hicks at the helm of CA&E 36. (David Sadowski Photo)

Conductor Henry A. Vincent Jr. on CA&E 36. (David Sadowski Photo)

The interior of CA&E 36. (David Sadowski Photo)

The three-car train of CA&E steel cars. (David Sadowski Photo)

The interior of CA&E car 460. (David Sadowski Photo)

Volunteer Brian J. Patterson tells us what it’s all about. (David Sadowski Photo)

CA&E 409 at the 50th Avenue “L” station. (David Sadowski Photo)

In this picture, you can clearly see the difference between CA&E curved-sided car 460 and the 431. (David Sadowski Photo)

CA&E 460 has reversible seats, but they rotate rather than folding over. (Diana Koester Photo)

CA&E 460 has overhead lighting just like a PCC car, which is not surprising, since they are contemporaries. (Diana Koester Photo)

The interior of CA&E 460. MCERA Richard Carlson is shown standing. (Diana Koester Photo)

CNS&M 749. (David Sadowski Photo)

CSL 3142 is on the Trolley Loop, while a two-car train of North Shore Line cars is berthed at the 50th Avenue station. (David Sadowski Photo)

Chicago Rapid Transit car 1024 is undergoing restoration, going back to its original number 24. (David Sadowski Photo)

Newly restored C&WT 141. (David Sadowski Photo)

At the helm of the C&WT 141. (Diana Koester Photo)

The interior of C&WT car 141. In Winter, the coal-fired stove provided heat. (David Sadowski Photo)

Chicago & West Towns 141, a recent addition to the active roster. (David Sadowski Photo)

CSL 144 on the Trolley Loop. (David Sadowski Photo)

CSL 144 is one of the “crown jewels” of IRM’s collection. (David Sadowski Photo)

Chicago Red Pullman car 144, a mainstay of the Illinois Railway Museum for decades. (David Sadowski Photo)

Frank Hicks at the controls of 144. (David Sadowski Photo)

CTA 4391 on the Trolley Loop. (David Sadowski Photo)

A two-car train of Chicago Transit Authority single car units follows the CA&E steels. (David Sadowski Photo)

CTA 30 looking resplendent. (David Sadowski Photo)

The air conditioning in CTA 2153-2154 apparently was not working that day. (David Sadowski Photo)

CTA 2243-2244, new additions to the IRM roster. (David Sadowski Photo)

CTA 2243-2244, now fitted with trolley poles, approaching Olson Road. (David Sadowski Photo)

Steam is alive and well at IRM, in the form of the “Frisco” 1630. (David Sadowski Photo)

The IC pair came out, but there was an equipment problem, so nobody got to ride. (David Sadowski Photo)

Another view of the 1920s Illinois Central suburban cars. (David Sadowski Photo)

The South Shore Line two-car train, headed up by car 34. (David Sadowski Photo)

The 2014 Trolley Pageant was a rare opportunity to ride equipment such as the CSS&SB line car 1100. (David Sadowski Photo)

According to Don’s Rail Photos, “1100 is the ultimate line car. It was built by St. Louis Car in 1926 as combine 376 for the Indiana Service Corp. It became Indiana RR 376 in 1930 and was rebuilt with an RPO compartment in 1935. After abandonment of the IRR, this car, along with 375 and 377 came to the South Shore. The other 2 cars were built into baggage trailers, but the 376 waited until 1947 to be rebuilt into the 1100.” (David Sadowski Photo)

North Shore Line merchandise dispatch car 229 was built by Cincinnati Car Co. in 1922. (David Sadowski Photo)

CNS&M 229, with the CTA 2200s at the rear. (David Sadowski Photo)

The famous North Shore Line logo on car 229. (David Sadowski Photo)

Here is the Illinois Terminal suburban car 101. It broke down west of Olson Road, and had to be towed back by the CNS&M 229. (Eric Bronsky Photo)

CERA Used Book Exchange - List #5

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 19:51:31 GMT

Here is our fifth list of used books for sale. We had previously written about the CERA Used Book Exchange here. Copies of List #5 and an order form have been mailed to all current CERA Members.

As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~. You can download and print out a copy of List #5 here.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

Current (2014) CERA Members in the United States get FREE SHIPPING. Other Domestic buyers pay $5 Shipping and Handling per book. International shipping is available by special request. Contact us and we will work up a quote based on actual cost.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

CERA Used Book Exchange List #5 (Updated as of July 15, 2014)

Stock # Description Publisher Date Cover Cond. Price # Notes

UBE101 Chicago’s Motor Coaches-V1: CTA Rolling Stock 1947-1973 CF 1973 S G $60.00 By Kristopans- worn, but a rare book
UBE102 Electric Railways of Wisconsin CERA 1953 S G $30.00 B-97 1st version (pre-flood)
UBE103 Chicago Surface Lines THP 1979 H EX $40.00 By Lind – Third Edition
UBE104 Faster Than the Limiteds CERA 2004 H EX $30.00 B-137 Like New
UBE105 Street Railways of Trenton COX 1986 S G $15.00 By Gummere
UBE106 Cable Car Carnival GH 1951 H F $20.00 By Beebe and Clegg – DJ worn
UBE107 The “L” (1888-1932) – Bruce Moffat CERA 1995 H EX $40.00 B-131 Like New
UBE108 Houston North Shore CERA 2000 H EX $35.00 B-133 Like New
UBE109 The Lake Line CERA 2011 H EX $50.00 B-144 Like New
UBE110 The Shore Line Electric Railway Company CERA 2007 H EX $40.00 B-139 Like New
UBE111 Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio CERA 1965 H G $25.00 B-108 No DJ
UBE112 Electric Railways of Indiana III CERA 1960 S G $40.00 B-104 Spiral bound
UBE113 Not Only Passengers CERA 1992 H EX $20.00 B-129 Like New
UBE114 Keystone Traction CERA 2009 H EX $30.00 B-142 Like New
UBE115 The Colorful Streetcars We Rode CERA 1986 H G $25.00 B-125
UBE116 Indiana Railroad – The Magic Interurban CERA 1991 H EX $20.00 B-128 Like New, no DJ
UBE117 40 Feet Below IS 1982 S G $20.00 By Moffat
UBE118 The Electric Railroads of Washington State CERA 1951 S G $20.00 B-95 Spiral bound
UBE119 Chicago’s Rapid Transit v1 Rolling Stock 1892-1947 CERA 1973 H F $20.00 B-113
UBE120 Ride the Big Red Cars (PE) TA 1977 H G $20.00 By Crump
UBE121 Iowa Trolleys CERA 1975 H F $20.00 B-114 DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE122 The Story of the Cedar Valley Road PF 2007 S G $15.00 WCF&N
UBE123 Lehigh Valley Transit 1934-1953 BR 2001 S EX $20.00 By Rohrbeck – Smaller size, spiral bound
UBE124 Destination Loop SGP 1982 H G $15.00 Signed by author Cudahy
UBE125 Touring Pittsburgh by Trolley QP 1992 S G $15.00 By Smith
UBE126 Pacific Electric in Color V1 MS 1997 H F $40.00 By Copeland
UBE127 Faster Than the Limiteds CERA 2004 H EX $30.00 B-137 Like New
UBE128 The Cable Car Book RH 1987 H G $15.00
UBE129 Buses, Trolleys, and Trams PH 1967 H G $15.00
UBE130 From Railway to Freeway (PE) IP 1984 H G $20.00 By Bail

CERA’s Chicago PCC Weekend – September 26-28, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 19:55:30 GMT

Announcing the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table and the Chicago PCC Weekend in September. CERA is pulling out all the stops as we celebrate Chicago’s PCCs this September 26th, 27th, and 28th.

Our next book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958 will be published in August. To commemorate this, we are inviting all the living photographers who have work in the book to take part in a moderated discussion that will be videotaped for eventual DVD release. Meet the authors in person and get your copy of B-146 signed at this once-in-a-lifetime “oral history” event.

See rare films and images of Chicago PCC streetcars. There will be displays of memorabilia and a question-and-answer session as well.

Since we expect the demand for seats to far exceed the supply, we are distributing printed tickets. Be sure to join us for a unique, entertaining and informative slice of Chicago history. Get your tickets online or by mail before this event is completely “sold out!”

Current (2014) CERA Members can each request one ticket for the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table event for themselves at no charge. To request your free member ticket online, simply send a note to: ceraoffice@gmail.com

Additional non-member tickets are $5 each. Once tickets are sold out, we will establish a waiting list. If your seat is unclaimed, we reserve the right to give it to someone on the waiting list.

Please note: Due to space limitations, no vendor tables will be available.

Friday, September 26, 2014 1900 hrs / 7:00pm University Center, 525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

The famous CSL logo, from the November 1929 Surface Service magazine. (CERA Archives)

A Chicago Surface Lines brochure, circa 1937. (CERA Archives)

Chicago’s first PCCs, shown on the 20-Madison route in 1937. (CERA Archives)

Most of the Kenosha PCC fleet, lined up at the Joseph McCarthy Transit Center. (Diana Koester Photo – CERA Archives)

Kenosha streetcar 4606 is painted in Surface Lines colors, as a tribute to Chicago’s PCCs. (Diana Koester Photo – CERA Archives)

Special Fantrips

On Saturday, September 27^th, we will go to Kenosha, Wisconsin to ride the Chicago Tribute PCC 4606 streetcar and have a Shops Tour. Kenosha Area Transit operates several vintage PCC streetcars in regular service along a 2-mile loop.

CTA “Green Hornet” PCC 4391 at the Illinois Railway Museum in the mid-1980s. Also visible are CTA trolley coach 9631 and North Shore Line interurban car 160. (David Sadowski Photo – CERA Archives)

Chicago & West Towns Railway car 141 at the Illinois Railway Museum on June 1, 2014. (Jeff Wien Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

On Sunday, September 28^th, we will visit the Illinois Railway Museum in Union to ride “Green Hornet” CTA PCC 4391, the only surviving postwar Chicago streetcar. In addition, we will also operate newly restored Chicago and West Towns Railway car 141, which was also used on a CERA fantrip on April 23, 1939. Chicago, Aurora & Elgin wood car 36, built in 1903 and also newly restored, will operate too.

We encourage the use of public transportation to reach our fantrips. A Metra weekend pass costs just $7 and can be used on both Saturday and Sunday. Metra’s UP North Line has direct service to the Kenosha streetcar. Take the train from Downtown at 10:35 am and arrive in Kenosha at 12:15 pm. The return trip leaves Kenosha at 6:48 pm and arrives Downtown at 8:29 pm.

The following day, take the Metra UP Northwest Line train leaving Downtown at 10:30 am, which arrives in Crystal Lake at 11:51 am. Purchase a Round-Trip Bus Ticket in advance, and we will transport you round-trip between Crystal Lake and Union (a distance of 13 miles each way). Our bus will leave IRM promptly at 4:15 pm. The return train trip leaves Crystal Lake at 5:00 pm and arrives Downtown at 6:23 pm.

Tickets for all events can be purchased by mail or online via our web site and are non-refundable. The Round-Trip Taxicab Ticket does not include the $7 Metra Weekend Pass, which you can purchase yourself at the Ogilvie Transportation Center. For further information on Metra fares and schedules, go to: http://www.metrarail.com

We look forward to seeing you at this once-in-a-lifetime celebration!

-Your CERA Board of Directors

From the June 1934 Surface Service. (CERA Archives)

The interior of the PCC Model “B,” from the September 1934 Surface Service. (CERA Archives)

From the March 1937 Surface Service magazine. (CERA Archives)

Renumbered Chicago PCCs (Transit Trivia #5)

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 19:58:07 GMT

On page 20 of Dr. Harold E. Cox’s classic 1963 book PCC Cars of North America, we find the following statement about Chicago’s PCCs:

“Approximately 12 cars are believed to have been renumbered but renumberings are not known.”

The story we’ve heard goes like this. CTA contracted with the St. Louis Car Company, starting in 1953, to take parts off of 570 postwar PCC streetcars, so they could be used in building an equivalent number of new rapid transit cars. CTA sold the PCCs to St. Louis in numbered blocks, and there were several such contracts.

The original contract, which involved the Pullman-built cars, did not make provisions for substitutions of cars, but later contracts did. Apparently, when the time came to send some of the Pullmans down to St. Louis, CTA discovered that a few cars, which were involved in accidents, could not be moved, since there was either pending litigation or insurance claims that were not yet settled.

Once the contracts permitted such substitutions, CTA simply renumbered another car to take the place of the one that could not be sent immediately. The three photos posted here are documentary evidence of at least one such renumbering, since the “7270” on this car has been stenciled on, in a manner unlike any car seen in service. We are fortunate that the late Bill Hoffman took these photos, and thank the Wien-Criss Archive for sharing them with us.

So, as part of our ongoing “Transit Trivia” series, we will hold a contest for our readers. Which cars were renumbered, and why?

We will award a prize for the best answer received by midnight Chicago time on July 7, 2014. The winner with the best overall answer will receive a copy of our new Complete ERHS Collection on DVD data disc.

The photos do seem to back up the idea that these renumberings involved cars damaged in accidents, since the front end of “7270” has been bashed in.

-The Editor

Renumbered Chicago PCC 7270, as it looked on February 10, 1957 at South Shops. The car is ready for shipment to St. Louis Car Company. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

Another view of “new” 7270, loaded on a flatcar on February 10, 1957. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

7270 at South Shops on February 10, 1957, surrounded by work equipment. (Bil Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

7/9/2014 Update

We must have stumped everybody, since there were no entries in this contest. So, here is the list of renumbered postwar Chicago PCC cars. The information comes from the files of the late James J. Buckley, and was shared courtesy of Roy Benedict.

A Tale of Two Awards

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:01:26 GMT

The 1923 “Insull Trophy”

At our June 18th meeting, your CERA Directors presented Jeff Wien with a token of our appreciation for his 26 years of continuous service as a Board member. We do not know all the details behind the 1923 “Insull Trophy,” pictured below, but it was inscribed to C. H. McCormick as part of a construction team.

The original medal is about the size of a quarter, and has both a ribbon and a watch fob. We assume the “E” stands for excellence, always a hallmark of the Samuel Insull empire, which at one time owned all three major Chicago interurbans, plus the rapid transit system, Commonwealth Edison, and that’s just locally. There is also a horseshoe, which we presume is there for good luck.

If anyone can shed any additional light on the story behind this medal, please contact us at:

cerablog1@gmail.com

Thanks.

The newly restored Chicago & West Towns car 141 at its dedication ceremony at IRM on June 1, 2014. (Diana Koester Photo – CERA Archives)

Driehaus Preservation Award Nomination

Each year, Landmarks Illinois presents its’ annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards. This year, CERA has joined with others in nominating Frank Sirinek and the Illinois Railway Museum for the 2014 award. Here is a copy of our nomination letter:

Central Electric Railfans’ Association, founded in 1938, is an educational, technical not-for-profit organization incorporated in the State of Illinois. We have published 145 bulletins about the history of electric railways, and host 10 programs each year. We have also held more than 200 fantrips worldwide.

While not directly involved in the preservation of railroad equipment, CERA is very supportive of “sister” organizations like the Illinois Railway Museum that are on the forefront of these efforts. And at IRM, Frank Sirinek has been a leader for more than 40 years, working to preserve unique examples of historical equipment such as the Chicago & West Towns Railway car 141, and the Chicago Transit Authority “Green Hornet” streetcar 4391.

C&WT car 141 was used by CERA on a fantrip that took place on April 23, 1939, over 75 years ago. After the West Towns discontinued rail service in 1948, the 141 became the sole survivor of the fleet, and even then, was in a very dilapidated and incomplete condition. The idea that it might ever run again seemed far-fetched. Practically no one but Frank Sirinek thought it could be possible.

After the 141 came to IRM in 1973, Frank took charge of the project. Authentic parts for the car were sought and obtained from all over the world.

Due to Mr. Sirinek’s steadfastness and dedication, 40 years later, the project reached a successful conclusion. This beautiful 1920s streetcar, now fully and faithfully restored to its former glory, was formally dedicated at IRM on June 1, 2014. It now serves as a living example of the early 20th century history of Chicago’s western suburbs, where the car once ran in towns like Oak Park, Forest Park, Berwyn, Cicero, LaGrange, Riverside, and Brookfield. People can now ride the car at IRM, as they once did to the old Western Electric plant, or to the Brookfield Zoo.

The Illinois Railway Museum, founded in 1953, also deserves special honor as the largest and most extensive institution of its type in the entire United States. The restoration of car 141 is but one of many such success stories at the museum.

For all these reasons, and many more we do not have space to provide, I nominate Frank Sirinek and the Illinois Railway Museum for the Driehaus Preservation Award on behalf of CERA. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of such an honor.

Sincerely,

-David Sadowski
President

Two Important Anniversaries

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 20:05:57 GMT

When you hear talk of 99 years nowadays, it’s usually in the context of something like Chicago giving a private operator a 99-year lease to run the City’s parking meters. But today, we have something else in mind.

The 1964 book by James D. Johnson called it “A Century of Chicago Streetcars,” but it was really 99 years, since the first horsecar ran on April 25, 1859, and the last PCC on June 21, 1958. Last weekend was the 56th anniversary of the latter event, which means you would have to be at least 60 years old to remember much about Chicago streetcars.

It was a double anniversary, in fact, since the Illinois Terminal abandoned its suburban line between St. Louis and Granite City on June 21, 1958 as well, marking the end of street railway service in Illinois, just about 12 hours after Chicago.

At its peak, Chicago had the largest street railway system in the world, and what took 90 years to build up, took only about 10 years to dismantle. In the opinion of this author, the nation “threw out the baby with the bath water,” and now has to spend large sums of money to bring back a miniscule portion of the transit network we once had, and could have kept, if there had been the public will.

Today, the IT line between St. Louis and Granite City would be considered “light rail,” and would be a cherished asset if it had survived. Streetcar service ended in St. Louis in 1966, but by 1993, the MetroLink light rail system began serving the area, and now covers 46 miles of trackage. So, what goes around sometimes does come around.

Chicago did flirt with light rail a few times, most notably with the aborted plan to build a Downtown“Circulator” in the 1980s and 1990s, but for the foreseeable future, it seems that local transit will either be commuter rail, rapid transit, or bus.

We will celebrate Chicago’s iconic red streetcars this Friday at the June CERA meeting hosted by longtime member Bernard Rossbach. We hope you can join us.

In a short time, CERA will release Bulletin 146, Chicago Streetcar Pictorial The PCC Car Era 1936-1958. Copies are available now for pre-order.

Illinois Terminal was the subject of our January program given by Robert Heinlein, with additional material by Ray DeGroote.

Until then, we pay tribute to Chicago streetcars and the Illinois Terminal Railroad with this photo essay.

-David Sadowski

In CTA colors, pre-war PCC 4047 prepares to leave the turnback loop at Cottage Grove and 72nd in this June 1955 photo, just before the end of streetcar service on route 4. (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

PS- From the 1937 Chicago Surface Lines Rules for Conductors, Motormen and Operators:

Providing efficient transportation for a great city is a most essential industry. Those engaged in it are performing a public service second to none.

This fact should be uppermost in the mind of each street railway employee.

He should never forget that he is a public servant, responsible for the safety and comfort of those who use street cars and buses and whose fares pay his wages.

If he is a good public servant he will be courteous, neat in appearance, careful in the performance of his duties and always on the alert for an opportunity to render an extra measure of service.

The trainman’s work is exacting. It calls for patience and resourcefulness. Demonstration of these qualities is essential to success in street car and bus operation.

The rules given in this book are the result of years of experience and the best judgment of practical men. It is necessary that trainmen familiarize themselves with them and adhere to them consistently.

-GUY A. RICHARDSON
President.

The famous CSL logo, from the 1937 rule book.

The caption reads “Sunbeam,” ex-party car. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

Cook County #1 was used by the Surface Lines to transport mental patients to the institution called Dunning on the city’s northwest side. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

City car 2802 on a “Railfan Special.” (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

One-man city car 1416. Note the classic gas pumps at right. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

CSL city car 2802. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

One-man car 3098. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

CSL city car 2808. (Slyford Photo – CERA Archives)

CSL 6069 on the Elston route. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

Pullman-built experimental pre-PCC car 4001 at South shops in the late 1930s. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

Experimental CSL pre-PCC 7001 at Clark and Schreiber by the Devon Station (carbarn) in the late 1930s. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

Pre-war PCC 7021 at Madison and Austin circa 1940. (R. J. Anderson Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA streetcars 4015 and 4029 are part of the same 1936 CSL order for 83 cars, yet look much different. 4015 is still in its CSL “tiger stripes,” meant to alert motorists that these cars were wider than previous ones, while 4029 is in the newer CTA green and creme. This picture was probably taken early in 1952. The scene is 63rd and Narragansett, the west end of the line.

Pre-war PCC 4012 heads east at 63rd and Harvard in this June 1950 view.

CTA 3167, the regular service car, prepares to go out ahead of 473 and 479, the fantrip cars, in this May 16, 1954 scene at the west end of the route 21 Cermak line. The famous Western Electric plant is at left. These cars looked much better in CSL red than they did in CTA green.

At the south end of the long 36-Broadway-State line, Pullman-built PCC 4067 prepares to make the turn at 120th and Halsted on March 21, 1954. Tracks of the former Chicago and Interurban Traction Company are in the foreground.

CTA 4027 and a lineup of pre-war PCCs at Devon Station (car barn) in January 1956. These cars were used on route 49-Western from June 18, 1955 to June 17, 1956.

Car 7180, northbound at Clark and Wells on route 22, discharges passengers near Lincoln Park in the mid-1950s.

Car 4169 crosses the PRR Panhandle at Halsted and 119th, while the conductor acts as flagman, in this 1950s view.

Post-war PCC 7195 on the wye at 81st and Halsted. Chicago’s PCCs were unique in having three sets of doors, which allowed them to scoop up lots of passengers. The conductor would then collect fares while the car was moving.

Post-war PCC 4321 negotiates shoo-fly trackage on Halsted, related to construction of the Congress Expressway, in this 1952 scene.

CTA pre-war PCC 7016 on Cottage Grove looking north toward 95th street. The car will enter private right-of-way paralleling the roadway just behind the photographer.

Some cities commemorated the end of trolley service with parades, ceremonies, pomp and circumstance. An example is Lehigh Valley Transit’s car 912, the “last car” in service in Allentown PA on June 8, 1953. Chicago took no special note of the end of streetcar service five years later. (Charles Houser Photo – CERA Archives)

It’s September 10, 1959, and there has been no Chicago streetcar service for more than a year, yet a few forlorn cars remain on the property at South Shops. Visible are cars 7001 (the experimental 1934 Brill pre-PCC), a post-war car, 4021, and at least one additional prewar car. (Clark Frazier Photo – CERA Archives)

Barely two years after the last streetcar ran on State Street, the urban landscape has changed so much that you would hardly know there ever was such a thing as a streetcar. The “preying mantis” street lights, apparently ready to defend the city against giant caterpillars, are a prominent feature in this December 1959 view.

State Street at night in December 1959.

Illinois Terminal 453 at North Market and Broadway in October 1953. Today, we would consider this “light rail.”

Illinois Terminal double-end PCC 452 at 12th and Washington in St. Louis, leaving the short subway on its way to Granite City on October 12, 1952.

IT 456 is St. Louis-bound in this October 12, 1956 photo taken in Granite City. Hundley Pontiac, seen at left, was a fixture of the city for many years.

PCC 4391 in service at Union in the mid-1980s. (David Sadowski Photo – CERA Archives)

A Rare Find!

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 20:09:57 GMT

Editor’s Note- Today’s guest columnist is Jeffrey L. Wien, longtime MCERAand an active railfan since the mid-1950s. Jeff has been a CERA Directorsince 1988 and is also one of the authors of our Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era 1936-1958, to be published in August as Bulletin 146. Jeff has presented many fine CERA programs throughout the years, and is also well-known for the Wien-Criss Archive. 2014 photos are by Bradley Criss.

The Insull-era North Shore Line station at Dempster in Skokie is still with us, although it has been moved about 100 feet to the east and is now aStarbucks. But at least you can still board a train there, although it’s now theCTA’s Yellow Line instead of the North Shore Line.

Pictured are a series of photographs of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee ticket cabinet from theDempster Street, Skokie Station which I purchased in mid-March 2014. To me, this ticket cabinet has a special meaning because it is virtually the same type I used as a North Shore Line ticket seller from June 12 to mid-September 1961. During that period of time, I was on summer break in college, and took a job with the North Shore Line working as ticket seller relief at Adams and Wabash, North Chicago Junction, and Edison Court, Waukegan.

The majority of my time with the North Shore Line was spent at the Adams and Wabash Station, where I either worked the telephone, answering questions regarding North Shore Line services, or I worked the ticket counter. As a railfan, this job was really a lot of fun. I knew the North Shore Line services like the back of my hand, so I was able to answer almost any kind of questions presented to me simply because of my knowledge about the railroad and its history.

I recall being impressed with the Navy uniforms worn by the guys going to Great Lakes from Adams and Wabash and ultimately joined the Naval Reserve in August 1961. As an aside, I took the North Shore Line to Great Lakes in December 1961 when I went to boot camp there. During the Summer of 1961, the jukebox at Adams and Wabash was playing virtually non-stop and the top song of the day was “Runaway“by Del Shannon. I learned the words by heart!

Getting back to the ticket cabinet from Skokie, the various tickets bring back a lot of memories of the days when I sold tickets to the various destinations. I have been told that not many of these have survived. I know of one in Milwaukee, and have been told that similar cabinets from Waukegan and North Chicagohave been preserved by a former North Shore Line employee. I have also been told that others were given to museums in Kenosha and several communities along the line, although I am not aware of their existence today. It is reported that the Illinois Railway Museum also has a North Shore ticket cabinet.

The Skokie ticket cabinet is unique, because of course the station building has been preserved and one can still go by rail from the Chicago Loop, Belmont, Wilson and Howard to Skokie! An audit of the tickets has disclosed that there are no Skokie-Kenosha roundtrip tickets included, although similar tickets are in the cabinet to Great Lakes, Waukegan, Racine and Milwaukee. There are also no one-way or round-trip tickets between Skokie and Libertyville or Mundelein.

For the most part, the tickets in the ticket cabinet are about as complete as one might hope some 51 years after the line closed. Of special interest is the brass padlock inscribed with the letters C.N.S. & M.R.R. That in itself is a collectors’ item.

To me, this bit of North Shore memorabilia is indeed a rare find!

-Jeff Wien

A view of the Dempster station as it looked in October 1961, with just over a year of North Shore Line service remaining. To the south of the Insull-era building, you can see the remnants of the high-level platform that would have been used for CRT Niles Center service. These were removed by CTA and a new, very basic platform was built for Swift service. (CERA Archives)

CERA News for June 15, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 20:18:53 GMT

Used Book Exchange List #5

FYI, our next used used book list will be mailed on July 1st, and uploaded to our blog one week later. This will provide more of a level playing field between our “snail mail” types and the Internet-savvy crowd.

Our latest list will include mainly CERA books, but also a smattering from other publishers, and also some original ERHS bulletins.

IRM 2014 Trolley Pageant

This just in from IRM President Joe Stupar:

Following on the heels of last year’s 60 cars for 60 years event, the Illinois Railway Museum is proud to announce the first all-day trolley parade event ever! On Saturday, July 5th, starting with the 10:30 AM departure, all parade equipment will operate in revenue service with passengers on board. That’s right: each consist will enter the main depot and board passengers. You might say, “Thats going to take all day…” And you may be right. If there is something unique that you always wanted ride but couldn’t, this is the day. In addition to the main line, several streetcars will also be operating on the streetcar loop.

This timetable is for informational purposes only. The usual disclaimers apply: This event is subject to weather, mechanical condition of equipment, and anything else that may happen between now and then.

10:30 AM CA&E 36-308-309
10:45 AM CRT 1797-1268
11:00 AM Coach Train #1
11:30 AM CA&E 409-431-460
11:45 AM CNS&M 714-160
12:00 PM CNS&M 229
12:15 PM IT 101
12:30 PM CTA 4290-4412
12:45 PM TM D13
1:00 PM Coach Train #2
1:30 PM CNS&M 251-749
1:45 PM CTA 41-30
2:00 PM CTA 2153-2154
2:15 PM CTA 2200s
2:25 PM Demonstration Freight Train
2:45 PM CA&E 409-431-460
3:00 PM Coach Train #3
3:15 PM CSS&SB 1100
3:45 PM CSS&SB 34-40
4:15 PM IC 1380-1198
5:00 PM Coach Train #4

Second Chance Program

Our January program on the Illinois Terminal Railroad was very well received, but due to the cold weather, there were several CERA members who were unable to attend. We are pleased to report that everyone will have a second chance to see the program, thanks to the Railroad Club and Shortlines Society of Chicago:

Illinois Terminal
by Robert Heinlein and Ray Piesczuk, with additional material by Ray DeGroote

7:30 pm, Friday, June 20, 2014

Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago

RSCC presents an Illinois Terminal program. This program was presented last winter at CERA, but weather discouraged some people from attending. There will be additional material on freight service after the end of passenger service.

We meet at
Chicago Union Station
500 W. Jackson Blvd., Room 107A
Chicago, Illinois

Please enter at 500 W Jackson Blvd between Clinton and Canal. Main waiting room may be closed for a private party.
Call 312 725-0432 during meeting for assistance.

Phone number for program announcements: 312 725-0432

For program announcements by email, send a blank message to:
schs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For more information about Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago
http://rscc.dhke.com/
shortlinechicagoHS@hotmail.com
—
posted by Adam Kerman, Club president

Interurban Memories (and CERA News for June 13, 2014)

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 20:19:50 GMT

Interurban Memories
Available for the first time on Audio CD
From the CERA Archives

Interurban Memories, recorded in 1960 and 1961, features Hi-Fi stereo recordings of two of the last three Interurbans in the US- Pacific Electric and the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, aka the North Shore Line. First issued on LP in 1961, Interurban Memories has been out of print and almost impossible to find for decades. Now, Central Electric Railfans’ Association has digitally remastered these historic recordings, and they sound better than ever.

Hear the sounds of these fabled electric railways in their twilight years. With the original liner notes by Ira Swett.

Order online or order by mail

B-146 Update

We are now putting the finishing touches on our next book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era 1936-1958 before sending it off to be printed. The good news is CERA has decided to go “all in” and the book has been expanded another 16 pages, to a total of 448- fully twice the number of B-145.

However, in order to add these extra pages, and make the approximately 700 images in the book look as good as they can be, we simply need a bit more time to finish the job. As of the moment, we expect that the book will ship in August. This will give our talented designer the additional time he needs to remove the imperfections from 60-year-old images, and match colors from shot to shot.

We know our members will be very understanding, since B-146 has to stand the test of time, as the most important book about Chicago streetcars to appear in the last 40 years.

This book is a two-year entitlement for those who were CERA members in both 2012 and 2013. We gave those who were members in only one of the two years a chance to “step up” and make up for the missing year so they could receive the book. Many of you did so, and the deadline for this was June 1^st.

Those who were members in only one of the two years will receive copies of How the Medal Was Wonand A Rainbow of Traction as their entitlement- in other words, two books for the one year. By the time you read this, all those books will have been shipped.

Our pre-order for B-146 has also been quite successful, and as a result, fully 2/3rds of the entire expanded print run has already been spoken for. Like many CERA books, we expect this one will sell out in a short period of time, and will quickly become a collector’s item that will increase in value over the years. Don’t miss out! Reserve your copy today, if you have not already done so.

Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table

CERA plans something truly spectacular for our September 26^th program- the Chicago Streetcar Pictorial Round Table. We are inviting all the living photographers who are represented in B-146 to take part in amoderated discussion about their work and their interest in documenting Chicago streetcars. We will showcase their images and there will be a question-and-answer session as well.

This will be a unique, once-in-a-lifetime “oral history” event that will be videotaped for future release. Since we expect this program to be completely “sold out,” we will give our current members (and others who have pre-ordered B-146) first crack at attending. More information will follow soon by mail on how to get your tickets. Get to meet these legendary photographers in person, talk to them and ask them questions.

ERHS Collection Update

The demand for AR-1, our Complete ERHS Collection DVD, has been very strong, and to date, we have sold nearly 200 copies. This collection features all 49 bulletins from the Electric Railway Historical Society on a single data disc that can be viewed on a computer. In addition to the 1,826 pages in these bulletins, there is an additional 113 pages of bonus material- an incredible bargain!

It has taken us time to get caught up with the demand, but by the time you read this, all current orders will have been shipped. So far, we have received reports of just five defective discs, all of which were promptly replaced. We thank you for your patience.

-Your CERA Directors

June @CERA: A Farewell Fantrip on Chicago’s Red Streetcars

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 20:27:48 GMT

A Farewell Fantrip on Chicago’s Red Streetcars by Bernard Rossbach

On May 30, 1954, 60 years ago, Chicago’s iconic red streetcars were retired from regular service, and simultaneously, trolley service ended on five CTA routes. To commemorate the occasion, CERA ran a red car fantrip two weeks earlier on these lines. This was the first of its kind, and longtime CERA MemberBernard Rossbach organized it. For our June program, Bernie will revisit that celebrated sojourn in detail.

There were other later red car fantrips to be sure, up to just a few weeks before the end of streetcar service in Chicago in June 1958, but this one was special since it used the cars for one last time on the final routes where they ran in regular service. Be sure to join us for an entertaining and informative slice of Chicago history.

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

Friday, June 27, 2014
University Center
525 S State St
Chicago, IL 60605
1900 hrs / 7:00pm

Bernie Rossbach hangs out of the 479 on 38th Place west of Halsted. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

A CTA #80 trolley bus, running on parallel wire, passes the fantrip cars on Irving Park Road just west of the North side “L”. There were very few sections of shared wire between streetcars and trolley coaches on the CTA system. Note the grade crossing underneath the “L”, leading to Buena Yard. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

A photo stop on Irving Park Road near Graceland Cemetery. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

The 473 at Cermak and Kenton, the end of Route 21. Just a few years earlier, passengers would transfer from Chicago Surface Lines streetcars to those of the Chicago & West Towns Railways. Since the abandonment of West Towns trolley service in 1948, the area behind the red Pullman has been paved as a bus loading/unloading area. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

A photo stop at around 2000 S. Clark. Fans climb up a railroad embankment for a better shot. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

The famous CERA drumhead. (Bill Hoffman Photo – Wien-Criss Archive)

PCC 4113 passes the fantrip cars at Clark and Cermak. (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

473 at 79th Place and Emerald. (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

At 38th Place west of Halsted, fans ride a piece of work equipment in the background. This is the same location as the photo at the top of our post. (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA snowplow E50 at 38th Station. (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

“Special trackage north of Chicago Avenue at Montgomery Ward.” (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

Another work car, the CTA EE10. (Richard C. Cerne Photo – CERA Archives)

473 on the fantrip, location unknown. (CERA Archives)

473 northbound on Western, approaching 31st. (CERA Archives)

479, at Cermak and Kenton, lets the regular service car go out ahead of it. The Western Electric plant is in the background. (CERA Archives)

473 on the fantrip, at an unknown location. (CERA Archives)

IRM Dedicates Chicago & West Towns Car 141

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 20:30:55 GMT

On Sunday, June 1st, newly restored Chicago & West Towns Railways car 141 was formally dedicated at the Illinois Railway Museum.

We previously featured the West Towns in a two-part series here and here. In addition, CERA published the definitive book on the railway in 2006, by the late James J. Buckley, and edited by Richard W. Aaron. It’s still in print.

Finally, we recently issued The Complete ERHS Collection on DVD, which includes a 1952 short book on the Chicago & West Towns written by the late Robert W. Gibson.

There are historical connections to car 141 that bring together CERA, ERHS, and the Illinois Railway Museum. The car was used on an early CERA fantrip in 1939. Later, after the West Towns had converted to buses in 1948, car 141 became a storage shed, minus its running gear. It was saved from destruction in 1959 by the Electric Railway Historical Society, and was hauled to the ERHS site in Downers Grove, where it remained until 1973.

Then, it became part of the IRM collection. The long process of restoration started in 1997 and continued until 2013, under the direction of longtime volunteer Frank Sirinek. You can read more about that processhere. Although the journey was long, the results are magnificent and speak wonders about the tireless dedication of the museum’s volunteers.

C&WT 141, ready for dedication.

IRM did things up right on Sunday to honor Mr. Sirinek and formally introduce the West Towns car, the only survivor of its fleet, into revenue service. The event took place at the 50th Avenue “L” station, which came from Cicero, in West Towns territory.

A 1944 Ford motor bus, which although not from the West Towns has been restored as number “343,” one number higher than the actual sequence, was on hand to greet the trolley. A sharp-looking 1948 Chrysler was also on hand. After a few brief speeches, Frank Sirinek took the controls and began taking passengers around the IRM trolley loop. An accordion player added musical accompaniment onboard the train.

IRM volunteers passed out souvenir flyers, reproduced below, along with reproduction transfers. Car 141 is also featured in the latest issue of Rail and Wire, the museum’s magazine.

You can sample the flavor of the event in the photos posted below. In addition, we have three videos for your enjoyment:

DSCF0279

DSCF0285

DSCF0298

-David Sadowski

PS- All 2014 photos by David Sadowski

Chicago & West Towns Railways 141 on a CERA fantrip, April 23, 1939. (Lamar M. Kelley Photo)

141 as it appeared in September, 1959. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

Perhaps CSL streetcar 3142, also out on the trolley loop, used to meet up with C&WT 141 at Cermak and Kenton.

A 1948 Chrysler parked outside the IRM Diner.

Montebello Municipal Lines 17, repainted as the Chicago and West Towns 343, was built by Ford in 1944.

The dedication ceremony, fittingly, took place at 50th Avenue “L” station, which was transplanted to IRM from Cicero.

Although not an actual C&WT bus, the “343” is the closest possible recreation of the real thing, and was spotted at the 50th Avenue station for the event.

The C&WT logo on the “343.”

The sign on 343 harkens back to the signage West Towns used on streetcars and buses in 1948, when trolley service ended.

A rear view of the 1944 Ford bus.

Wooden “L” car 1797, awaiting the arrival of C&WT 141 at 50th Avenue.

Along with the Ford bus, a 1948 Chrysler added to the history of the occasion.

From left: IRM President Joe Stupar, Frank Sirinek, Barbara Lanphier.

From left: Frank Sirinek, Barbara Lanphier, Gwen Stupar, Joe Stupar.

George Kanary with car 141, representing the Electric Railway Historical Society.

Car 141, ready for its close-up.

A nice view of the motorman’s stool in the 141.

C&WT 141 meets the 1944 Ford bus at 50th Avenue.

The 1948 Chrysler sedan, complete with optional sun visor.

C&WT 141 has been beautifully restored.

Fans board the 141 for its first trip in revenue service since 1948.

Enthusiastic fans aboard 141. Note the stove, used to heat the car in winter.

Fans on 141 were serenaded by an accordion player.

141, ready to head out on its first official trip in IRM service.

Car 141 is fittingly decorated with period photos and signage.

A close-up view of the stove aboard 141.

141, signed for La Grange.

The West Towns served Brookfield Zoo, which opened on July 1, 1934.

Frank Sirinek at the controls of 141. He spearheaded the decades-long restoration of the car.

Passengers disembark from 141 after completing its first trip after the dedication.

A side view of the 1948 Chrysler parked in front of the IRM Diner.

CERA News for May 30, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 30 May 2014 20:38:09 GMT

Red Chicago Streetcars- 60 Years Gone

May 30, 2014 marks 60 years since the end of Red streetcar service in Chicago, thus closing a chapter of local history. CERA ran a fantrip on the five lines that were being converted to buses just two weeks before this. There were 102 people on that trip, and of these, perhaps only a dozen or so are still living.

CTA Red Pullmans 479 and 473 on the May 16, 1954 farewell fantrip. (CERA Archives)

Longtime CERA Member Bernard Rossbach organized this fantrip, which was the first of its kind for the CTA. We are honored that Mr. Rossbach will help us commemorate the anniversary on June 27th, when he will present a program about that historic fantrip. We will post more information about that program closer to the event.

Street railway service began in Chicago in 1859, with horsecars. Over the next 90 years, the Chicago system was gradually built up into arguably the greatest in the world. Unfortunately, it took only 10 years to dismantle that system, and the last Chicago streetcar, a PCC, ran on June 21, 1958.

2014 also marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Chicago Surface Lines. We will pay tribute to CSL in upcoming posts during June.

ERHS Update

FYI, there was a delay of approximately three weeks in shipping our new release, the Complete ERHS Collection on DVD. This had originally been scheduled for shipment on May 1st.

We had originally been under the impression that there were perhaps 600-700 pages of material in the 49 bulletins issued by the Electric Railway Historical Society between 1952 and 1967. Ultimately, there were 1,826 pages, and to this we have added an additional 113 pages of bonus material for a grand total of 1,939.

This makes the collection an even greater bargain than ever at a total cost to you of just $29.95, including domestic shipping.

Apparently, many people agree with us, since we have received about 165 orders for the DVDs in little more than a month, a very encouraging response. We have been shipping discs all this week, and it will take us about one more week to get completely caught up on all the orders.

We thank you for your patience and hope you will be pleased with the results. We thought we might sell a few of these, and have been pleasantly surprised that the initial demand has exceeded all expectations.

The DVD cover art is designed to resemble those of the ERHS bulletins, and we are producing them in a variety of colors, just like the original publications.

We looked for cover photos that would tie ERHS and CERA together, and were fortunate to find some. ERHS bulletin #3 offers a history of the Chicago and West Towns Railway, and the organization preserved car 141 between 1959 and 1973.

Car 141 was also used on a CERA fantrip on April 23, 1939, just over 75 years ago. Our cover photos show that car in use on that excursion.

Interestingly, now that C&WT 141 has been restored to operating condition at its current home, the Illinois Railway Museum, it will be formally dedicated at an event this Sunday (June 1st) at 1:00 pm. We hope to see you there.

-Your CERA Directors

Chicago and West Towns 141 on an April 23, 1939 CERA fantrip. (Lamar M. Kelley Photo – CERA Archives)

May @CERA: Transit in North Africa

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 15 May 2014 20:40:20 GMT

Our Next Program:

Transit in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia by Ray DeGroote

CERA goes international for our May program. Our resident world traveler and raconteur Ray DeGrootehas been giving his passport a workout lately, and hopes to expand your horizons as well.

Five light rail lines opened in North Africa in the last three years: Rabat and Casablanca in Morocco andAlgiers; Oran and Constantine in Algeria. In addition Algiers opened a metro line, the second in all of Africa (Cairo was first.) The Tunis, Tunisia light rail system has been in service almost 30 years and new cars are now being delivered. In addition, Tunis has two suburban lines.

CERA members Ray DeGroote and Bruce Moffat visited Morocco last October, and Ray just returned from a trip to Tunisia, Algiers, and France. The May program will include views from all of these places, some historical notes, and even perhaps a word or two in Arabic. Be sure to join us for an entertaining and informative evening.

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members. Passports are optional, but we do take Visa.

Friday, May 23, 2014
University Center
525 S State St
Chicago, IL 60605
1900 hrs / 7:00pm

Please note that CERA programs are always held on the fourth Friday of the month. There are five Fridays this May.

At Place 1 Novembre in Oran on March 22, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

Caroubier Depot in Algiers on March 23, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

At Poly Clinique in Algiers on March 20, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

At the depot in Algiers on March 20, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

At Gare in Oran on March 22, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

At Ben Abdelmalek in Constantine on March 18, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

Near Mentouri in Constantine on March 18, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

At Erriadh, Tunisia, on March 17, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

Tunisian light rail at Au De Paris on March 15, 2014. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

SNT/TGM cars 1-44-12 in Tunis at La Corniche on July 26, 1976. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

CERA Used Book Exchange – List #4

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 08 May 2014 20:42:57 GMT

This month, our used book list is entirely made up of original Electric Railway Historical Societypublications, printed between 1952 and 1967. We are selling the extra copies we accumulated while working on the Complete ERHS Collection DVD project.

These have been sorted out, based on quality. If we have more than one of a certain title in that quality grade, it is noted. Not all titles are available.

Titles are referred to by their number. When placing your order, use ERHS as a prefix, followed by the publication number, and the grade, as in “ERHS49EX.” It would be helpful to indicate on your form whether substitutions of other quality grades are OK, if the item you desire is no longer available.

Copies of this list were sent to all current CERA Members at the beginning of this month. While the list is dated May 1st, we waited a week before posting it to the Internet. This gave the “snail mail” people more of an even chance to get their orders in. We thank our Members for their contributions.

HOW TO ORDER – You can pay by check through the mail using this form, or online using PayPal or acredit/debit card. Please do not send your credit card information through the mail. As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you. We are generally in the office on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at the very least, and other days as needed.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

A Complete List of All 49 ERHS Buletins:

#1 – Lightweight Interurban Cars (1952)
#2 – Chicago City Railway Co. Book of Standard Cars (1952)
#3 – Chicago & West Towns Railways (Story and Research by Robert W. Gibson) (1952)
#4 – Brill Magazine, May 1927 (1952)
#5 – Westinghouse Cars and Car Equipment (1952)
#6 – The Northern Indiana Railways by George K. Bradley (1953)
#7 – Brill Magazine, August 1916 (1953)
#8 – The Hammond Whiting and East Chicago Ry. by James J. Buckley (1953)
#9 – Car Plans of the Perley A. Thomas Car Company, High Point, N.C. (1953)
#10 – Cable Railways of Chicago by George W. Hilton (1954)
#11 – Brill Magazine, July 1915 (1954)
#12 – A Granite State Interurban: The Story of the Concord and Manchester Electric Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad by O. R. Cummings (1954)
#13 – Car Plans of the Chicago Railways Company 1911 (1954)
#14 – Cars of the McGuire-Cummings Mfg. Co. 1911 (1954)
#15 – Brill Magazine, December 1914 (1954)
#16 – The St. Joseph Valley Railway by Joseph A. Galloway and James J. Buckley (1955)
#17 – Interurban Trolley Guide 1915 (Chicago to New York by Trolley) (1955)
#18 – Cars of the St. Louis Car Company 1927 (1955)
#19 – The Biddeford and Saco Railroad by O. R. Cummings (1956)
#20 – Brill Magazine, March 1913 (1956)
#21 – Cars of the Rockford and Interurban Railway (1956)
#22 – The Rockford and Interurban Railway by Philip L. Keister (1956)
#23 – Baldwin Westinghouse Electric Locomotives 1912 (1957)
#24 – Baldwin Westinghouse Electric Locomotives 1925 (1957)
#25 – The Blue Hill Street Railway by O. R. Cummings (1957)
#26 – Brill Magazine, April 1924 (1957)
#27 – Electric Railway Journal 1912 Convention Issue (1957)
#28 – The Evanston Railway Co. by James J. Buckley (1958)
#29 – The Niles Car and Manufacturing Co. 1910 (1958)
#30 – Niles Cars 1914 (1958)
#31 – Thomas Built Cars (1959)
#32 – The Lafayette Street Railway by David W. Chambers (1958)
#33 – Modern Lightweight Cars (1959)
#34 – Brill Magazine, September 1911 (1959)
#35 – The Manchester Street Railway by O. R. Cummings (1960)
#36 – The Safety Car (1960)
#37 – Brill Magazine, January 1917 (1961)
#38 – Car Plans of the Chicago Surface Lines (1962)
#39 – Railway Equipments and Locomotives in the Far West (1962)
#40 – The Sterling, Dixon, and Eastern Electric Railway by Philip L. Keister (1963)
#41 – Brill Magazine, May 1925 (1963)
#42 – The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway by George W. Hilton (1964)
#43 – Brill Magazine, October 1912 (1964)
#44 – St. Louis Cable Railways by Berl Katz (1965)
#45 – Historic Trolley Guide to Suburban Electric Lines of the New York Metropolitan Area, within a 50-mile radius of New York City, as of 1914 (1965)
#46 – 76 Years of Peoria Street Cars by Paul Stringham (1965)
#47 – Light-Weight Cars (1965)
#48 – The Lee County Central Electric Railway by Philip L. Keister (1967)
#49 – Metropolitan Subway and Elevated Systems (1967)

Used Book List #4, May 1, 2014 (Updated as of May 9):

ERHS Available Titles

EXCELLENT ($23ea.)
1, 3, 11, 12, 13(2), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28(2), 29, 30, 31(2), 33(2), 34, 37, 38(2), 39, 40, 43, 45, 47(2), 48, 49

GOOD ($18ea.)
1, 4, 8, 12, 18, 19, 26, 28, 29, 32, 35, 36, 39, 42, 46, 48

FAIR ($13ea.)
1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 22, 27, 30, 40, 48

POOR ($10):
6

Even More Skokie Swift Photos

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 04 May 2014 20:44:45 GMT

Good vibrations from the CTA’s rare operation of the historic 4000-series cars on the Skokie Swift continue to reverberate in the railfan community. Today, we are sharing some more great photos of last week’s event, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the CTA Yellow Line.

Eric Bronsky Photo

You can read the CTA Service Bulletin for the event here. We have also posted a few short videos, here,here and here.

We thank today’s guest contributors Eric Bronsky and Bill Becwar, for graciously allowing us to post their photographs.

-The Editor

The Chicago Transit Authority has commemorated important historical anniversaries and other rapid transit milestones in the past, so I intuitively figured that CTA would sponsor some sort of event to recognize the 50th Anniversary of what is now called the Yellow Line. At least one week before the event, it was rumored that historic “brown & orange” cars 4271-72 would come out of mothballs. These vintage cars have rarely been used in recent years, but a CTA press release made this official a few days later. The rail enthusiast community was kept informed through postings on the CERA Blog and elsewhere.

Saturday dawned unseasonably chilly, but the sun illuminated an ethereal blue sky. Only later was I informed that crews had worked feverishly to restore Skokie service after a drunk drove onto the tracks earlier that morning. Commemorative posters were displayed in the station at Oakton, which opened just two years ago. At 11:00, a crowd assembled outside the Searle Ave. entrance to the Oakton station for a brief ceremony where CTA and Village of Skokie officials were present. In the attached photos, that’s Graham Garfield sporting the vintage CTA uniform. Wearing the brown jacket is Bruce Anderson, who piloted the first Skokie Swift train 50 years ago!

The 90-year-old rapid transit cars made 4 round trips carrying revenue passengers between Dempster and Howard. The sights, sounds and smells were wonderfully nostalgic. I was fortunate to squeeze onto the first trip but then had to leave for a prior commitment. Running into people who I hadn’t seen in ages further limited my photo opportunities (sorry, no Electropickle Productions this trip, but you’ll find others’ video coverage on YouTube).

— Eric

Eric Bronsky Photo

Modern Swift sign at the newer Dempster/Skokie station, which replaced the crummy Swift fiberglass lean-to that had served for decades. Pretty nice, actually, though the Ventra card machines were typically balky. (Bill Becwar Photo)

The 4000s arrive under appropriately Insull overhead construction, even if the actual operation under wire has been gone for more than a decade now. Just east of here was the traditional change from overhead to third rail, which the North Shore did dozens of times a day, at speed and in all sorts of weather. (Bill Becwar Photo)

The old Cincinnati Car Company products are still pretty handsome at age 91. These colors are attractive enough that maybe we could convince the CTA to wrap a set of 5000s with the original color scheme to celebrate the CTAs 70th birthday in a couple of years. LA did that a few years back on the light rail, wrapping new cars in Pacific Electric livery. (Bill Becwar Photo)

Wearing the historic Swift markers from the original operation. Somewhere, George Krambles is smiling… For a minute, anyway, before demanding to know why the line wasn’t extended. :-) (Bill Becwar Photo)

Quite the crowd! This is the second run – on the first there would have been no way to get pictures, as it looked like rush hour 1928; wall-to-wall and halfway to the ceiling. (Bill Becwar Photo)

Graham Garfield looking spiffy in his CTA conductor uniform… Is he trying to change from overhead to third rail? (Bill Becwar Photo)

“All Aboard!” So much better than the bland “The doors are about to close…” (Bill Becwar Photo)

Howard Street stop.. Looking back down the train to be sure no one is being dragged in the classic conductor pose between cars. (Bill Becwar Photo)

Back at Skokie on what will always be the North Shore Line for some of us. (Bill Becwar Photo)

The old and the new together near Howard Street… Irony, since the Swift was run mostly with 5000s at one time (The articulateds back in the 1970s, though). (Bill Becwar Photo)

Passing through Howard Street’s storage tracks – quite a different track and station configuration than in North Shore or original Swift days. (Bill Becwar Photo)

The old cars leaving Dempster for Howard Street… (Bill Becwar Photo)

The regular service cars on the Swift today were the new 5000s – but with the original style Swift signs. (Bill Becwar Photo)

More Pictures From Skokie

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 01 May 2014 20:49:17 GMT

Today’s post is by guest contributor and MCERA Vern Hallas, who shares his pictures from last Saturday’s 4000s trip with us:

My name is Vern Hallas. I submitted some pictures I took on 4/26/2014 of the 4000 series cars running on the Skokie Swift. Mr. Sadowski requested I write about my experience that day. Please note: I will not even attempt to match the wit, wisdom, and eloquence of Mr. Sadowski. I will do my humble best and hope it’s suitable.

When I saw these cars would be running on the Skokie line, I was thrilled. I haven’t ridden a 4000 series car for many years. However, doing this would be a slight problem as I work nights. I read the last run would be around 2 p.m. and figured I could make it there just in time.

Saturday I followed the train tracker on the CTA site and figured the last run would leave Dempster around 1:40 p.m. I left my home just after 1, I thought this would work. It turned out traffic was much heavier than I anticipated, this wasn’t looking good! I arrived at Dempster right at 1:40 and saw the train leaving the station. I was sure this was the last trip and I missed it!

I will not write here what my exact thoughts were at that time. If I did, I’m sure I would be permanently banned from posting on CERA forever! I walked up to the station and asked an employee if that was the last run. He told me the event had been extended and the train would run till about 4. Needless to say, this was great news!

Just after 2 p.m., I heard the crossing gates start south of the station start ringing. I grabbed my camera and headed out to the platform. Even at this later time, there were many train enthusiasts like myself there with their cameras rolling. When the train pulled up to the platform, there was a rush of people for the front of the train. I didn’t even try to get a seat up there. Instead I sat at the very end of the train. I figured that I’d have a great spot to take video on the return trip from Howard.

When I was seated, I looked around and noticed the vintage advertisements. I liked this a lot, it reminded me of the last day of the 2200s where they did the same thing. It really gave me a feeling of how things were back in the day. I found it ironic that there was an ad for the North Shore Line. I’m sure I don’t have to explain why.

Then I heard the 2 buzzes which meant “all clear” and the doors slid closed. When the train started moving, it was just as I remembered from years back. I could hear the air compressor chugging away and the train made a sort of groaning noise as it started moving. The old train ran very well, they didn’t push it for obvious reasons but we did around 35 mph or so. In a short amount of time we were at Howard.

During the trip, I chatted with a man seated in front of me. He was a retired bus driver and used to drive the Marmon-Herrington trolley buses. As I live near Belmont av, I rode these a lot, we had a very nice time reminiscing. The train stopped at Howard to let people exit then pulled forward to prepare for the return trip. As I had hoped, the motorman switched ends to return to Dempster. I now had a great spot to take video.

After a few minutes, we again got the “all clear” signal and we were off to Dempster. Near Skokie shops there must be a slow zone as the cab signal sounded and he had to slow down. Hearing a cab signal in a 4000 was very unusual to me. I know it’s necessary but it seemed out of place in a vintage train. I also forgot just how LOUD the air horns are, I think the motorman was having a good time blasting the horn at every opportunity. I know I would have been.

After a stop at Oakton, we were soon back at Dempster and I reluctantly exited the train. When we left Howard, they announced the train would return to Howard, then go to the Skokie yard. Otherwise I might have taken another ride.

CTA Celebrates the Skokie Swift

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 20:52:41 GMT

On Saturday, April 26th, the Chicago Transit Authority commemorated a half-century of service on the Skokie Swift, aka the Yellow Line. CTA’s 1920s-era historical cars 4271-4272 made four revenue trips between Dempster and Howard, running from about 11 am to 3:30 pm.

Your roving reporter grabbed a camera and a windbreaker (the weather was brisk, with temps in the mid-40s, and hazy sun) and ventured forth to document the event. This photo essay captures the spirit of the occasion. For a few hours at least, the Swift hosted a fantrip- the first time the general public could ride these cars in regular service in many years.

We ran into many old friends on the train, some of whom we had seen just the night before, at the Ken Spengler’s April CERA program. Even if you could not be there, we hope that you can experience the event through these pictures.

-David Sadowski

The historic cars wait in the Dempster pocket track. The regular service train will be arriving shortly and head out in front of the fantrip train.

CTA 4271-4272 were built circa 1923 by the Cincinnati Car Co.

Apparently, a switch had to be thrown to allow the regular service train to go ahead of the 4000s.

A sign at the Dempster station.

The open area underneath the 1920s electrical tower was necessary, since at one time there was a track running directly underneath.

Fans enjoying the special trip. CERA Board member Irwin Davis is visible at left.

Fans documewnt the occasion with their handheld video cameras.

Graham Garfield looks spiffy in one his period CTA uniforms.

Fans prepare to board the special train at Howard. Adam Kerman is at right with backpack.

It was a great day for taking pictures.

The historic train enters the turnback track at Howard.

Coming out of the pocket track.

The 4000s are ready for the return trip to Skokie. The trolley poles are a vestige of a time when overhead wire was in use on portions of the rapid transit system.

Longtime CERA member Charles Tauscher enjoys the ride.

The historic cars are filled with photographs and period advertisements.

At Dempster terminal.

Ready to embark on trip #2.

The 400s at Asbury in Evanston.

A regular service train heads east at East Prairie Road.

Another view at East Prairie Road, looking east.

A regular train heads west at East Prairie Road.

The 4000s heading east at East Prairie Road.

The special train prepares to cross Oakton in Skokie.

Crossing Oakton, heading into the station, which opened about two years ago.

A regular train heading north into the Oakton station.

The Oakton station is a welcome addition to the Swift/Yellow Line.

The 4000s heading south at Oakton.

Crossing Oakton.

Going into the Oakton curve.

Approaching the grade crossing at Main in Skokie. This was trip #4, and I assume the train deadheaded back to Skokie Shops after dropping off passengers at Oakton.

Our last shot of the 400os as they cross Main.

A regular service train westbound at Ridge in Evanston. By this time, the historical cars were back at Skokie Shops.

Officials handed out two commemorative pinback buttons on the special train, with the old and new CTA logos.

CTA To Run Historic Cars

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 20:54:28 GMT

This just in: CTA will commemorate 50 years of Yellow Line (Skokie Swift) service by running the two1920s-era historic cars on the line this Saturday, April 26th.

It will be held at the Skokie-Dempster station starting at around 11:00 am and running until about 2:00 pm or so. The CTA’s two historic cars 4271-4272 will be operating every 25 minutes.

The cars will follow normal service cars as a second section. They will run to Howard, turn around in the track #5 pocket without unloading or loading at Howard, and run back out to Skokie. It’s not yet known whether the cars will stop at Oakton-Skokie, but it’s very possible. You won’t be able to get off or on at Howard Street.

Regular CTA rail fares apply, but your monthly pass will work, too.

The top speed on these cars is about 45 mph, but they will probably reach 55 going downhill. It has been several years since the general public has been able to ride these cars, which are now over 90 years old.

CTA will hand out two different buttons, one with current CTA logo and one with the old 1964-vintage “Metropolitan Transit” CTA logo.

We will post further information as it becomes available.

-The Editor

Update: here is the CTA press release about the event.

April @CERA: Chicago Rapid Transit in the 1950s and 60s

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:57:58 GMT

Our Next Program:

Chicago Rapid Transit in the 1950s and 60s by Ken Spengler

Although the rapid transit system has seen continual changes from its start in 1892 until the present, the ’40s through the ’60s brought about many interesting developments – the subways, the modern cars, several abandonments, center reservations in expressways, etc. Longtime MCERA Ken Spengler will offer up a slice of history that our older members will remember and the younger ones should find interesting.

Ken will concentrate on both the lines and route changes. We will see a lot of material on the Lake Street elevation and the changeover from Garfield Park to Congress. Come join us for what promises to be a very informative and enjoyable program.

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

Friday, April 25, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St
Chicago, IL 60605

The old meets the new at Kimball on a late 1950s CERA wood car fantrip. (Ken Spengler Photo)

A two-car train of wooden “L” cars at Francisco on the Ravenswood (today’s Brown Line) in the 1950s. The historic 1907 clapboard station house was preserved in the 2006-2007 station renovation. (Ken Spengler Photo)

A single wooden “L” car on the Stock Yards branch was typical in the 1950s, when this picture was taken by Jim Windmeier.

A rare night shot of a North Shore “Silverliner” in Chicago’s Loop. (Ken Spengler Photo)

A classic view of the North Shore Line downtown terminal at 223 S. Wabash in the late 1950s. A two-tone blue 1957 Buick Century drives into the Peerless parking garage. Nearby, Dario Toffenetti’s restaurant offered a simple menu of food prepared well, at affordable prices. (Ken Spengler Photo)

The Swift at Half-Century

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 20:59:36 GMT

It’s hard to believe for some of us “of a certain age,” but the CTA Skokie Swift has now been in service for 50 years as of today. Yes, weekday service began on April 20, 1964. To this author, it seems like only yesterday.

What started as an experiment, a “demonstration project,” has been a great success by any estimation, even as the Swift (today’s Yellow Line) has changed and adapted over the years with the elimination of overhead wire and the addition of a station at Oakton.

This is something where I have a bit of personal history, as I recall riding the Swift on the weekend prior to the beginning of regular service, when CTA was showing it off to the public for the first time. It was a thrilling and exciting ride, as the “spam cans” exceeded 60 mph on the five mile run between Dempster and Howard.

The story has been told many times before. When the North Shore Line abandoned service in January 1963, the Chicago Transit Authority needed 2.5 miles of its former Skokie Valley right-of-way to access Skokie Shops. It would be easier to justify the purchase if this could be turned into revenue trackage.

We can lament how only a small portion of the North Shore Line was saved; but at least some of it was actually saved, and is still with us today.

CTA rushed ahead with plans for a high-speed service between Dempster, where a large parking lot was built, and Howard, where riders could change trains to continue Downtown or to Evanston and Wilmette.George Krambles, CERA’s Member #1, headed up the project.

The latest issue of First and Fastest magazine, put out by the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society, offers an excellent account of how this all came about. We humbly offer our own contribution in this first in a two-part series.

By the end of the 1950s, CTA felt that it had done all that was possible to economize, and yet had learned that fares alone could not cover all the costs of transit. The Swift was one of the first instances where Federal money helped pay for mass transit improvements. Therefore, the success of the project was a high priority for CTA.

It was so important, in fact, that CTA officials actually announced to the press that they would go ahead with it, even if Federal money was not forthcoming. CTA had been experimenting with high-speed railcars since 1955, and had been adding park-and-ride lots near CTA stations since about the same time; the Skokie Swift was the culmination of these efforts.

The line was designed to attract suburban riders who did not want to fight traffic on the nearby Edens expressway. Ridership estimates were originally based on North Shore Line traffic. The North Shore Line had not been marketing this type of service effectively, and therefore actual ridership greatly exceeded expectations once the Swift began service in April 1964.

The first timetable (reproduced below) went out the window within a few minutes, and the CTA scrambled to keep up with the demand. Over time, additional railcars were pressed into service to go along with the original 1-4 high-speed PCC single car units. The four experimental articulated cars (originally 5001-5004, later renumbered 51-54) became stalwarts of the Swift fleet, even though they could not match the top speeds of the other cars. Along with these, some additional single car units from the 1-50 series were converted for Skokie service over the years.

In 1968, CTA issued a final report for the demonstration project, which you can read here. I am glad to report that years ago, George Krambles sent me a copy. For the rest of his life, he was justifiably proud of the project.

We offer here a selection of photos taken of this portion of the Skokie Valley Route over the years. In addition, you will also find below a copy of Skokie Swift timetable #1, and the service bulletin for the first inspection trip on the Swift, which took place on February 12, 1964.

At that time, the Dempster terminal had not yet been built, so the inspection train could only go as far as Niles Center Road. A rail grinder was hard at work on one track, while the inspection train used the other. This trip probably took place as soon as the CTA was able to restore electric power to the overhead wire west of Skokie Shops. There is a photo in the final report dated February 11, 1964, showing workers repairing a rectifier.

We hope that you will enjoy this slice of transit history. Our second installment in the Skokie Swift series will appear in the next few days.

-David Sadowski

In this late 1940s photo, we can see how sparsely developed the area around the Dempster station still was, twenty years after service began on the CRT Niles Center branch. (CERA Archives)

The Insull-owned CRT instituted Niles Center service in hopes that development would follow. Eventually, it did, after WWII, but not fast enough to save this branch line. (CERA Archives)

A Niles Center car in the 1940s. (CERA Archives)

Rapid transit service on the Niles Center branch ran from March 28, 1925 to March 27, 1948, before being replaced by the CTA 97 bus. Here, a southbound car leaves Dempster in this winter view. (CERA Archives)

An Electroliner in the Evanston open cut in July 1962. (CERA Archives)

A three-car train of North Shore “Silverliners” in the Evanston open cut in May 1955. (CERA Archives)

The speed of this North Shore “Greenliner” single car is evident in this photo from May 1955. (CERA Archives)

CNS&M “Silverliner” 251 (now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum) is at the rear of a two-car train approaching Howard. (CERA Archives)

An Electroliner “at speed” in the Evanston open cut. (CERA Archives)

A CNS&M Electroliner speeds through the open cut in Evanston. The former Asbury station is visible in the background. (CERA Archives)

The derelict North Shore right-of-way at Crawford Avenue in July 1963. The wire is up, but the rails are rusty after not having been used in several months. (CERA Archives)

Another view of the derelict North Shore right-of-way at Crawford Avenue in July 1963. This station and some others were removed within a few months of the Swift’s opening. (CERA Archives)

CTA experimental high-speed car 2 heads up a Ravenswood (today’s Brown Line) train in December 1962. Less than two years later, the four high-speed cars would start service on the Skokie Swift. (CERA Archives)

A pair of CTA high-speed cars, making up part of a train in this August 1960 view at Howard. Cars 1-4 would be the first used in Swift service in 1964. (CERA Archives)

From 1961 to 1973, CTA operated PCC single car units in Evanston service with trolley poles. Some of these cars were eventually adapted for use in Skokie service. Here we are opposite Calvery cemetery. (CERA Archives)

One of the four articulated 1947-48 “L” cars, signed for Evanston service, as it looked prior to being fitted with pantographs for Skokie Swift service. (CERA Archives)

CTA 24 at the northern end of the line in August 1967. (CERA Archives)

Skokie Swift trains at Howard in May 1964. (CERA Archives)

The Dempster terminal in May 1964. (CERA Archives)

CTA 4269, 4270, 4281, and 4282 outbound at Kostner on July 3, 1966 on a fantrip. (CERA Archives)

A Swift “artic” shares space in Howard yard with 6000s on June 20, 1966. (CERA Archives)

A fantrip train of 4000s, near Skokie Shops in August 1972. The sign hanging on front says, “This train stops at 35 for White Sox baseball today.” (Rex K. Nelson photo – CERA Archives)

A CTA single car unit in Evanston service heads southbound approaching the Howard terminal in this July 17, 1965 view. One of the 51-54 series articulated cars used on the Skokie Swift is parked in the yard. (CERA Archives)

One of the four “artics” at Oakton in October 1968. (CERA Archives)

4000s at Dempster in fantrip service. (Rex K. Nelson Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA 30 outbound near Oakton on August 12, 1968. (Stephen M. Scalzo Photo – CERA Archives)

A train of 4000s at Dempster on a fantrip in July 1971. (Gerald H. Landau Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA 25 is southbound from Dempster on March 16, 1968. (Stephen M. Scalzo Photo – CERA Archives)

The Swift crosses the North Shore Channel on July 27, 1964. (Stephen M. Scalzo Photo – CERA Archives)

CTA single car unit 29 is northbound approaching Dempster on February 3, 1968. (Stephen M. Scalzo Photo – CERA Archives)

One of the four CTA articulated “Doodlebugs,” now fitted with pantographs, at Dempster in July 1966. (CERA Archives)

The Complete ERHS Collection

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 18:09:05 GMT

Early CERA bulletins were generally very short in length, some just a single sheet of paper, but gradually grew longer over the years. Late in World War II, the Trolley Sparks periodical, started in 1944 by Barney Neuberger, was brought into the CERA fold and continued for a while as a separate publication. You can read more about that early history here.

Eventually, the Trolley Sparks series became CERA bulletins, issued on an irregular basis, and requiring a separate subscription from CERA membership. As our publications grew longer and more detailed, this arrangement became unsustainable. And so it was that CERA announced on August 10, 1951 that the Trolley Sparks series would be discontinued with Bulletin 95. (This letter is reproduced in our 2013 book Trolley Sparks Special #1, on page 68.

By this, they meant it was being discontinued as a periodical, since the Trolley Sparks name continued to be used on the cover of CERA bulletins through number 100. These later issues were book-length volumes issued more or less annually, however.

Some active CERA members, believing there was a continuing need for short-length traction publications, organized the not-for-profit Electric Railway Historical Society in January 1952.

You can read a comprehensive history of ERHS here. Besides the short publications, ERHS was instrumental in acquiring and preserving several historic streetcars, now part of the Illinois Railway Museum collection, including CTA 4391 and Chicago & West Towns 141. We posted some pictures of 141 being moved to the ERHS barn in Downers Grove here.

Between 1952 and 1967, ERHS put out 49 bulletins. Many were reprints of trade publications from Brill, St. Louis Car Co., and other streetcar manufacturers. But there were also valuable original works by such noted authors as James J. Buckley, George W. Hilton, Paul Stringham, O. R. Cummings, George K. Bradley, and many others. Over the years, all of these publications have gone out of print and are very hard to find.

ERHS was dissolved around 40 years ago, and never had an extensive membership. Most of the people who were active in it are no longer with us.

CERA was granted permission to reprint the ERHS bulletins many years ago. However, it took some time before we could reach a consensus on the best way to do this.

Throughout its 15-year publishing history, ERHS maintained a very high level of quality in their output. We feel that it is important to give these works new life in the digital age.

Therefore, CERA is excited to announce the availability of the Complete ERHS Collection in digital form, starting May 1, 2014.

Since there would probably be a very limited demand for any one title in the series, we decided it would be best to make all 49 bulletins available for readers and researchers on a single disc that can be viewed on a computer, using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free program that most people already are using. We are offering this for the bargain price of just $29.95, with domestic shipping included. This works out to a cost of just 61 cents per book.

It took some time and effort to acquire a complete collection of all 49 ERHS bulletins in excellent condition. For nearly all bulletins, multiple copies were studied and the ones in the best quality were chosen for high-resolution scanning. Each bulletin is an exact facsimile of the original.

The disc includes an introduction as well as an index to all 49 bulletins, which can be viewed separately, plus some additional bonus features.

Other than doing just what we did, and painstakingly assemble a complete collection yourself, which could take years, this is the next best thing. Why not purchase your copy today?

Making these historically important works available to the public once again is fully in keeping with CERA’s mission “to encourage study of the history, equipment and operation of urban, suburban and mainline electric railways.” CERA is fully committed to expanding our publishing activities to include shorter works as well as full-length volumes in the future, honoring the spirit, the example, and the legacy of the Electric Railway Historical Society.

-Your CERA Directors

A Complete List of All 49 ERHS Buletins:

IRM to Restore the Electroliner

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 18:11:55 GMT

Today, we have a “guest” article by CERA MemberTom Sharratt, who is an active volunteer at the Illinois Railway Museum:

IRM TO RESTORE ELECTROLINER IN TIME FOR ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY

The story of the North Shore Line’s Electroliners is well known and was featured in Passenger Train Journalissue 255. Recently, Rock Hill Trolley Museum returned its former Electroliner, preserved as a Liberty Liner, tooperating condition although much restoration work remains. IRM’s Electroliner (801-802) was restored to its original exterior appearance about 25 years ago when it returned to Illinois. This restoration included removing two doors that were added for service in Philadelphia to speed loading/unloading, reinstalling trolley poles and applying a high quality paint job. But when the train was taken out for operation, it immediately had motor problems. As a result, the Liner was moved to “temporary” storage in IRM’s Barn 4 where it remains today – well protected, but not open to visitors, not operable and not restored on the interior. It has been taken out on rare occasions for photo opportunities and to tease enthusiasts, but no work has been done.

IRM Electroliner 801-802 on display July 4, 2013 – Initiation of the current fundraising campaign – Tom Sharratt Photo

That is changing. Last Spring, several IRM members gathered to develop a plan to restore the train to operating condition, inside and out, in time for its 75th Anniversary in January 2016. One of those members was Barbara Lanphier, whose father worked for the North Shore Line and who was born the same year as the Electroliners. For her, this project has a very special meaning. For the others, memories of riding and photographing the car is a driving motivation. They realize that while IRM has many priceless historic pieces in its collection, most people consider the Electroliner to be one of the three pieces most commonly associated with the museum. The others are the Nebraska Zephyr and Frisco Decapod 1630. Those two are operational. It is time to complete the restoration of the Electroliner so that it can once again operate and show the public its beauty and demonstrate the contribution it made in the effort to offer fast, comfortable and modern rail transportation during the 1930s and 40s.

A realistic analysis of what needs to be done showed that this project will not be easy – or cheap. The first and most critical job is to remove all eight traction motors and have them inspected and repaired as necessary by a qualified professional electric contractor. Based on past experience, it is estimated that this alone will cost $150,000. IRM wants to start this part of the project this summer. Once the motors are reinstalled, a Photographers’ Special will be held on a day that the museum is not open to the public – with premium priced tickets being used to continue the restoration. The second phase will involve replacement of the air conditioning system – essential to operation since the train is a sealed unit. This is estimated to cost $75,000. While the trains were in service in Philadelphia, the electric griddles were removed. An Electroliner without an Electroburger is unthinkable, so IRM will have to install a replacement – estimated cost: $10,000. The third phase involves reupholstering the seats, cleaning and painting as necessary. This will cost an estimated $100,000. And finally there are the unknown, but anticipated problems, that will occur when a 75 year old train that hasn’t operated in approximately 35 years is powered up. Electrical wiring and control systems, the brake system, plumbing and other problems yet to be determined will need to be repaired or replaced. It is estimated that these may cost up to $135,000. IRM volunteers are starting work on the interior as warmer weather arrives.

There is good news: just over $100,000 has been raised as of the end of March! Grants are being submitted, but the heavy lifting will have to come from individuals. As soon as $150,000 has been raised, the motor work will begin – and that needs to be done this summer to meet of goal of January 2016!

Visit the IRM website to check on progress and to make tax deductible donations at the museum store. Or, send a donation to: Campaign for the Electroliner, Illinois Railway Museum, PO Box 427, Union IL 60180. There are incentives for those giving at various levels – for details, contact Tom Sharratt at tssharratt@mwt.net. For these incentive programs, cumulative giving is used – donations over a period of time will qualify for the various levels. For frequent updates, photographs and more, visit the Electroliner Facebook Page .

Total needed: $500,000. Even if IRM had that much today, the work needs to be done and the clock is ticking. YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED NOW! Please contribute something today, and regularly until the Electroliner is again rolling on the museum’s mainline and Electroburgers are being served in the tavern lounge.

-Tom Sharratt

This shows the bar July 2013, Tom Sharratt photographer

This shows the interior July 2013, Tom Sharratt photographer

Interior of the motorman’s cab, July 2013, Tom Sharratt photo

Electroliner Train # 805 NB at Ryan Road Jun 13, 1962 – note speeder on SB track. Tom Sharratt photo

Electroliner Train #805 (801-802) NB College Avenue 12 Jun 1962 – Tom Sharratt photo (some blur, but that reflects the speed of the train . . . at least I like to think so.)

Electroliner Train #800 (803-804) SB at 5th and Chase in Milwaukee, June 14 1962 – Tom Sharratt photo

CERA Used Book Exchange - List #3

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 18:14:42 GMT

Here is our third list of used books for sale. We had previously written about the CERA Used Book Exchangehere.

Copies of List #3 and an order form have been mailed to all current CERA Members, along with our April program information.

As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~. You can download and print out a copy of List #3 here.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

CERA Used Book Exchange List #3 (Updated as of April 10, 2014)

Stock # Description Publisher Date Cover Cond. Price # Notes
UBE076 Trolley Sparks CERA 1948 S F $10.00 B-79 Pages separated, 3-hole punched
UBE095 Electric Railways of Michigan CERA 1959 H EX $35.00 B-103 This copy has been rebound in hardcover
UBE077 Electric Railways of Indiana III CERA 1960 S EX $40.00 B-104 Spiral bound
UBE093 The NOT&L Story CERA 1966 H G $30.00 B-109 Northern Ohio
UBE094 Badger Traction CERA 1969 H G $30.00 B-111 DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE078 Detroit’s Street Railways v1 CERA 1978 H EX $25.00 B-117
UBE079 Remember When CERA 1980 H EX $20.00 B-119 Colorful picture book
UBE080 Detroit’s Street Railways v2 CERA 1980 H EX $25.00 B-120
UBE081 Detroit’s Street Railways v3 CERA 1984 H EX $25.00 B-123
UBE035 Indiana Railroad – The Magic Interurban CERA 1991 H EX $25.00 B-128 Like New, no DJ
UBE066 Indiana Railroad – The Magic Interurban CERA 1991 H EX $30.00 B-128 Like New
UBE063 Not Only Passengers CERA 1992 H EX $20.00 B-129 Like New
UBE062 Houston North Shore CERA 2000 H EX $20.00 B-133 Like New
UBE049 The Green Line CERA 2000 H EX $20.00 B-134 Like New
UBE050 The Green Line CERA 2000 H EX $20.00 B-134 Like New
UBE088 The Last Interurbans CERA 2003 H EX $30.00 B-136 By Middleton; Like New
UBE047 Keystone Traction CERA 2009 H EX $30.00 B-142 Like New
UBE082 Keystone Traction CERA 2009 H EX $30.00 B-142 Like New
UBE083 TravElectric CERA 2009 H EX $30.00 B-143 Like New
UBE084 TravElectric CERA 2009 H EX $30.00 B-143 Like New
UBE048 The Lake Line CERA 2011 H EX $50.00 B-144 Like New
UBE060 The Lake Line CERA 2011 H EX $50.00 B-144 Like New
UBE086 Transit in the Triangle v1 CERA 2012 H EX $30.00 B-145 Like New
UBE087 Trolley Sparks Special #1 CERA 2013 S EX $25.00 TSS1 Like New
UBE085 When Eastern Michigan Rode the Rails v2 IP 1986 H EX $25.00 By Schramm & Henning
UBE089 When Eastern Michigan Rode the Rails v4 TT 1997 H EX $25.00 By Schramm, Henning, & Andrews
UBE090 Capital Transit: Washington’s Street Cars, 1933-1962 NCTM 2002 H EX $60.00 By Kohler
UBE091 Illinois Terminal: the Electric Years IP 1989 H EX $40.00 111 By Stringham
UBE092 Red Arrow: the First Hundred Years 1848-1948 IP 1985 H EX $35.00 96 By DeGraw
UBE096 Cincinnati Streetcars v3 WCC 1969 S G $20.00 By Wagner and Wright
UBE097 Cincinnati Streetcars v4 WCC 1970 S G $20.00 By Wagner and Wright
UBE098 Cincinnati Streetcars v6 TT 1973 S G $20.00 By Wagner and Wright

Friday Night @CERA: Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” (1928)

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 18:17:08 GMT

Our Next Program:

Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” (1928)

This is the Year of the Horse, and for our March program, CERA takes a look back at horsecars, the beginnings of street railways.

Our feature presentation is Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” (1928), a silent comedy about a fictional last horsecar line in New York City. In real life, the last horsecar in New York ran in 1917.

In the film, Harold Lloyd is in love with the daughter of the operator of a horsecar line. Traction magnates need his franchise to achieve transit unification, and want to put him out of business. Despite their sabotage, Harold (aka “Speedy”) rises to the occasion, in a frantic attempt to complete the horsecar’s required franchise run. Don’t be surprised if Harold saves the day and gets the girl in the end.

Babe Ruth makes a cameo appearance, and we also get to watch him hit a home run against the visitingChicago White Sox.

“Speedy” was filmed on location in NYC in 1927, and besides the horsecars, there are plenty of views of vintage streetscapes, streetcars, elevated trains, Coney Island, and even the late, lamented Penn Station, subject of a recent American Experience documentary.

As added attractions, we will watch two shorts- “The Bellboy,” (1918) starring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle andBuster Keaton (which also features a horsecar), and we will go back to the beginnings of railroading circa 1830 with “The Iron Mule” (1925) starring Al St. John, with an uncredited appearance by Buster Keaton. Join us for what promises to be a fun evening.

Man on a Bicycle (Transit Trivia #4)

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 20:21:40 GMT

Michael D. Franklin writes:

While I am not a member (yet), I do live in Chicago and have been interested in CSL & “L” system for years.

There are two photos on the Chicago Daily News photos website from 1915 showing a man with an umbrella during the streetcar strike (type those key words in and the picture will come up). I have been trying to ID the location for over the past five to six years with no luck. Should be an easy one owing to a number of unique elements (e.g., single track for street car, angled street with tracks, “T” intersection in the distance); however, no luck. The only possibility was 21st and Archer looking south but I don’t think so.

Anyway, this photo may be of interest should you wish to post it for the members to ID.

I must have 200 hours in on these pictures. Should someone speculate, the photos are not reversed since the writing on the buildings can be viewed, and they are Chicago since they advertise “The Chicago Daily News” (my former employer 1967 – 1978).

Image of a man holding an umbrella while riding a bike in the rain along an street during a street car strike in Chicago, Illinois. Street car tracks are visible on the street. View looking across the street with man at an angle to the camera. [ca. 1915 June 15] Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-064587. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum.

Image of a man holding an umbrella while riding a bike along an street in the rain during a street car strike in Chicago, Illinois. Street car tracks are visible on the street. View looking down the street with the man facing the camera. [ca. 1915 June 15] Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-064588. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum.

We have some very smart people on here. Can anyone help figure this out?

If you want to view other pictures taken during the streetcar strike, go here.

-David Sadowski

A Horsecar Named Cherrelyn

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 20:18:27 GMT

No doubt you’ve heard of the “Streetcar Named Desire,” but what about a horsecar named Cherrelyn?

Perhaps the most photographed and fondly remembered horsecar line of the 19th century ran from 1883 to 1910 in Englewood, Colorado. Horses pulled passengers about one and a half miles uphill, and then the fun began. For the much faster trip downhill, the horse boarded the car via a wooden ramp, and rode back along with the passengers. You can get the flavor of this picturesque operation in the numerous images we have posted, the great majority of which are from the digital collections of the Denver Public Library.

The horses may be long gone, but the Cherrelyn horsecar itself has been preserved and restored, and is on display today in the Englewood Civic Center, model horse naturally included. We don’t know how much of it is actually original, since the period photos show it looking a bit of a beat-up wreck, and not the smooth, pristine car you see today.

The story goes that after retirement, the Cherrelyn horses would pull plows uphill, but not downhill. We don’t know if this story is true, but we would like to think so.

You can read more about horsecars here. You can also attend the March CERA program this Friday, where we will enjoy watching silent film comedies featuring horsecars. We hope to see you there.

-David Sadowski

1950s CTA Service Change Leaflets

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:25:40 GMT

As CERA puts the finishing touches on our next book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958, we’re adding various images to help complete our narrative. Among these are some very interesting CTA service change leaflets that were passed out when the PCC streetcar routes were converted to buses. Two such flyers are reproduced here.

These would have gone into a holder on the PCCs labeled “Read As You Ride.” This will probably be familiar to anyone of a certain age who lived in Chicago in the 1950s. We have a nearly complete set of these flyers, including the ones that were produced when the Broadway-State and Clark-Wentworth through-routes were separated in 1955 and 1957.

There is a lot of useful information in these leaflets- in some cases, they even mention just how many buses were needed to replace the streetcars. It wasn’t a one-to-one replacement; when purchasing buses to replace the 600 postwar PCCs, CTA needed 900, a ratio of 1.5 buses for each streetcar. Of these, 800 were purchased and 100 were leased.

In actual practice, the leaflets show that CTA did not need quite 1.5 buses to replace each PCC, probably because surface system ridership was gradually decreasing in this time period. Buses were not as popular and well-liked as the PCCs, and there were frequent fare increases in the 1950s. Riding patterns also were changing, with substantial decreases on the weekends.

For a variety of reasons, including increased competition from automobiles, CTA lost approximately 50% of its surface system ridership during its first 10 years.

There is other useful information in these flyers. For example, the one for Route 49-Western mentions how the City wanted to proceed with grade separation projects at busy intersections. The most notable such project was at Western and Belmont, where the City built an overpass, still in use to this day, to carry Western through-traffic over Belmont.

This was probably done in part since Riverview amusement park was at this location. The park closed after the 1967 season, but is still fondly remembered by millions of Chicagoans who went there to “laugh their troubles away,” to quote their advertising.

We are still looking for the CTA service change leaflets for Route 20-Madison and the Madison-Fifth branch line. This sort of “ephemera” was fleeting in nature, and would have been discarded by nearly everyone who even read them.

If you have these in your collection, CERA would love to hear from you. Should we use material from your collection in the book, we will naturally give proper credit. You can reach us by e-mail at:ceraoffice@gmail.com

We thank you in advance for your help in making B-146 the best book ever published about Chicago’s PCCs, the famous “Green Hornets” and “Blue Geese,” which have been called the finest transit vehicles ever to run on the streets of Chicago.

-Your CERA Directors

CERA News for March 20, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:28:31 GMT

John Marton

At the March CERA Board of Directors meeting, we began with a moment of silence for our departed comradeJohn Marton, who passed away on February 22nd. We also passed a motion commending him for his service to CERA. The last book he was working on (The Illini Trail) will be published as B-147 and dedicated to him.

No one can fill John’s shoes, but the Directors did appoint Irwin Davis to fill out the remainder of John’s term on the Board, which will expire in January 2015. Mr. Davis is well-known to the railfan community and is a retired CTA motorman. Welcome aboard!

B-146 News

The Directors passed a series of motions at the meeting relating to our next book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958. We have tentatively assigned a publication date of June 21, 2014 for the book, exactly 56 years since the last Chicago streetcar ran.

This is the most important Chicago streetcar book published in the last 40 years, and we expect it will be the standard work of its type for this generation, in the same way that Chicago Surface Lines- An Illustrated History by Alan R. Lind has been since the first edition came out in 1974. No one can top Lind’s book as an all-encompassing history of CSL, and our book is focused on the PCCs. But improvements in technology over the last 40 years have made a lot of things possible that could not be done in 1974.

The Internet gives us research tools that were not dreamed of in years past. We recently posted a PCC “Mystery Photo” to our blog. Within 24 hours, our readers had identified the location. This sort of“Crowdsourcing“ was impossible until recently.

Lind’s book, great as it is (every railfan should have one), is devoid of color. Improvements in publishing have brought down the price of color printing, to the point where a full-color book such as ours is now both feasible and affordable.

In the course of laying out the book for production, it became apparent that B-146 will be a much larger book than we had originally anticipated. We have a wealth of great photos, the great majority of which are in color, and we do not want to shortchange our readers from seeing them. There is a certain size the photos need to be, in order to be displayed to best advantage, and if we were to reduce the size of the pictures, they would become mere thumbnails.

The only solution is to allow the book to expand. Therefore, we have decided to make our new book 432 pages. Our Pictorial is more than just a picture book. There is a substantial amount of text and background material covering the entire Chicago PCC saga from start to finish. This has been meticulously researched to the high standard that CERA members have come to expect.

Because the book has been so greatly expanded, it is virtually twice the length of a standard CERA volume. Along with the page count, the costs of production have also risen. Therefore, your CERA Directors have done the fiscally responsible thing and have decided to make B-146 a two-year entitlement, covering the years 2012 and 2013. For those two years, you are getting the equivalent of two regular books.

Therefore, the book will be sent to all CERA Members who belonged in both 2012 and 2013. We will also send it to anyone who was a Contributing or Sustaining Member in either of those years. We think this is fair, since all of those individuals paid $90 or more during the two-year period, an amount equivalent to two years’ Active membership.

We have decided to give anyone who only belonged for one of the two years (and was not a Contributing or Sustaining Member) the opportunity to make up for the missing year’s membership by paying an additional $45, an amount equivalent to the Active rate for those years. In the near future, we will send out aspecial mailing to all those affected, providing the details on how they can take us up on this offer. Thedeadline for accepting is June 1, 2014.

However, for those who decide not to “upgrade” their membership in this way, we will fulfill their one-year membership entitlement by sending them two books from our existing inventory- A Rainbow of Traction andHow the Medal Was Won.

As a bonus feature, by special arrangement with Chicago Transport Memories LLC, each copy of B-146 will come with the Chicago Streetcar Memories DVD. Your CERA Directors have negotiated to purchase these DVDs for you at a very favorable price. As a result, you will get this professionally produced video at no additional cost to you. It is the perfect companion to the book and a $29.95 value.

With a book of this size, and with the inclusion of a bonus DVD, we feel that Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958 is a fantastic bargain, and would be worth every penny of a $90 list price. However, your CERA Directors are very much committed to keeping prices low, and have therefore set the list price of B-146 at just $70. Current CERA Members can save even more money on the book, if they want to purchase additional copies. The Member price will be $65.

By means of comparison, our most recent full-length book Transit in the Triangle volume 1 has 224 pages, and a list price of $65. That book has been very well received. Yet for just $5 more, our new book will offer an additional 208 pages, plus a DVD.

Surely, the impending publication of Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958 is a great cause for celebration. We thank our members for their continued support.

-Your CERA Directors

Chicago Streetcar Mystery Photo

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:30:59 GMT

Chicago Streetcar Mystery Photo

For the last several months, we have been hard at work on our upcoming book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958. Here is a picture that is under consideration for the section covering the Madison St. car line. It was taken sometime between 1950 and 1953.

We need your help in figuring out where this picture was taken. We have tried using Google Street View, but unfortunately so many of the buildings along Madison have been torn down over the years that so far, we have been unable to determine the location. Perhaps you can help.

The car is heading west, so the four-story apartment buildings are on the south side of the street. This must be east of Pulaski, too, since Madison gets wider west of there.

If you know the answer, please write to us at: cerablog1@gmail.com

-Thanks!

George Foelschow writes:

I don’t know the answer, but I’ll give a clue. The traffic signal at the extreme left of the photo suggests the cross street is a boulevard. The street light snippet suggests the art nouveau fixtures used in parks and on boulevards. Boulevards intersecting Madison east of Pulaski are Central Park, Sacramento, and Oakley. Ashland would be ruled out because the “Turtle Wax” building would be in the background. The background buildings seem well-kept, which suggests a westerly location. If the store name can be discerned, one could check an early fifties phone directory at the Harold Washington Library.

Roy Benedict comments:

George Foelschow is right on target with the West Park Commission traffic signal and the hanging street light.

The Sanborn maps will solve the whole question. The 9, maybe 10, apartments fronting on Madison would be marked out on the map, probably as a 3B (3-story and basement) building with an unusual footprint including 5 extremely narrow entry courts, about 170 ft. total frontage (based on 1-1/2 line pole spaces of typically 110 ft.). You also have two other 3-story buildings within 330 ft. of the camera and a couple of large buildings beyond. The combination is very unlikely to occur more than one place.

I would suggest looking first at the SE corner of Central Park Ave. because of the unpaved parkway at the extreme left, which suggests to me that it is a park rather than a developed block on the NE corner. All those apartments fronting on Garfield Park would justify the rather elaborate (for the 1920s) detailing of the featured building.

There is a 1950 revision of the Sanborn map on the microfilm set. It is Volume 11 on old series reel 24. My finder does not give detail as to the sheet number.

Second choice would be the SE corner of Homan Ave., where there could be park traffic signals, but not so likely the street lamp and the unpaved parkway.

George suggests other boulevard crossings including Sacramento Blvd., which also is a possibility. I am rather doubtful about Oakley Blvd. with so prestigious and new an apartment block.

If none of that works, the car sign could be wrong. The men sometimes forgot to change the signs. I do not see strong enough shadows to prove the direction of the view. So, the NW corner of a boulevard also is a possibility.

With the load on the car, we do not have to consider the possibility of a pull-out from the Kedzie depot.

Very incidentally, notice the bolted-on car stop band around the line pole rather than the much more common painted ones.

You can narrow down the year by the color of the license plate, but not forgetting the grace period for expired plates.

Editor’s note– I believe we have solved the mystery. The correct answer appears to be Central Park Boulevard (3600 w). See the comment below by Charles Amstein. I thank everyone who chimed in with suggestions.

Charles Amstein writes:

I’m nominating the location of W. Madison and Central Park Blvd., opposite Garfield Park, looking southeast.

Attached is a 1951 USGS aerial photo closup of that area.

Note the large block of apartments on the southeast corner, which have indentations matching your photo. Just to the east there is a gap followed by the next 2 larger buildings that correlate with your photo.

1940s Chicago Promotional Film

An interesting 32-minute long promotional film about Chicago, made by the Board of Education in the late 1940s, has surfaced at an estate sale. There are some great views of the city, the “L” at around 3:48, and streetcars at 15:32. You can read more about it here, and watch the movie here.

CERA Used Book Exchange - List #2

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:32:59 GMT

Here is our second list of used books for sale. We had previously written about the CERA Used Book Exchange here.

Copies of List #2 and an order form have been mailed to all current CERA Members, along with our March program information.\

As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~. You can download and print out a copy of List #2 here.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

CERA Used Book Exchange List #2 (Updated as of March 24, 2014)

Stock #   Description   Publisher   Date   Cover   Cond.   Price   #   Notes
UBE055   Trolley Sparks – Philadelphia Suburban   CERA   1949   S   EX   $18.00   B-88
UBE064   Indiana Railroad System   CERA   1950   S   EX   $15.00   B-91   1973 Reprint
UBE056   Trolley Sparks – New Developments of 1950   CERA   1950   S   G   $18.00   B-92
UBE068   West Penn Traction   CERA   1968   H   G   $30.00   B-110   DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE014   TM (The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.)   CERA   1972   H   G   $50.00   B-112   DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE038   TM (The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.)   CERA   1972   H   G   $50.00   B-112   DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE054   Chicago’s Rapid Transit v2 Rolling Stock 1947-1976   CERA   1976   H   EX   $30.00   B-115
UBE052   Texas Electric   CERA   1982   H   G   $30.00   B-121   DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE053   Ft. Wayne and Wabash Valley Trolleys   CERA   1983   H   G   $25.00   B-122
UBE021   How the Medal Was Won   CERA   1985   H   EX   $10.00   B-124
UBE023   The Colorful Streetcars We Rode   CERA   1986   H   G   $20.00   B-125
UBE035   Indiana Railroad – The Magic Interurban   CERA   1991   H   EX   $25.00   B-128   Like New, no DJ
UBE066   Indiana Railroad – The Magic Interurban   CERA   1991   H   EX   $30.00   B-128   Like New
UBE063   Not Only Passengers   CERA   1992   H   EX   $20.00   B-129
UBE061   Northern Indiana Railway   CERA   1998   H   EX   $20.00   B-132   Like New
UBE062   Houston North Shore   CERA   2000   H   EX   $20.00   B-133   Like New
UBE049   The Green Line   CERA   2000   H   EX   $20.00   B-134   Like New
UBE050   The Green Line   CERA   2000   H   EX   $20.00   B-134   Like New
UBE051   Faster Than the Limiteds   CERA   2004   H   EX   $30.00   B-137   Like New
UBE076   The Chicago & West Towns Railways   CERA   2006   H   EX   $30.00   B-138   Like New
UBE058   The Shore Line Electric Railway Company   CERA   2007   H   EX   $30.00   B-139   Like New
UBE059   Before the North Shore Line   CERA   2008   H   EX   $20.00   B-141   Like New
UBE047   Keystone Traction   CERA   2009   H   EX   $30.00   B-142   Like New
UBE057   TravElectric   CERA   2010   H   EX   $30.00   B-143   Like New
UBE048   The Lake Line   CERA   2011   H   EX   $50.00   B-144   Like New
UBE060   The Lake Line   CERA   2011   H   EX   $50.00   B-144   Like New
UBE065   Sunset Lines (CA&E) v1 -Trackage   TT   1986   H   EX   $25.00       By Larry Plachno
UBE067   Sunset Lines (CA&E) v2 -History   TT   1989   H   EX   $30.00       By Larry Plachno
UBE069   Cable Car Carnival   GH   1951   H   F   $15.00       By Beebe and Clegg – no DJ, spine worn
UBE070   Chicago Surface Lines   THP   1974   H   G   $25.00       By Lind – DJ torn, otherwise OK. 1st printing
UBE071   Chicago’s Motor Coaches v2 CSL Rolling Stock 1927-47   CF   1974   S   G   $40.00       By Kristopans- worn, but a rare book
UBE072   A Century of Chicago Streetcars   TO   1964   H   G   $20.00       By Johnson – 1st printing, spine repaired
UBE073   The Electric Railways of Minnesota   MTM   1976   H   G   $25.00       By Olson – DJ worn, otherwise OK
UBE074   Apple Country Interurban (Yakima)   GW   1970   H   G   $15.00       By Johnsen
UBE075   Houston Electric   BARON   1996   H   EX   $25.00       By Baron

March @CERA: Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” (1928)

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 21:43:27 GMT

Our Next Program:

Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” (1928)

This is the Year of the Horse, and for our March program, CERA takes a look back at horsecars, the beginnings of street railways.

Our feature presentation is Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” (1928), a silent comedy about a fictional last horsecar line in New York City. In real life, the last horsecar in New York ran in 1917.

Harold Lloyd in “Speedy” (1928).

Babe Ruth makes a cameo appearance, and we also get to watch him hit a home run against the visitingChicago White Sox.

Friday, March 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S. State Street
Chicago, Illinois

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

From the novelized version of “Speedy” (1928).

A scene on the New York subway from “Speedy.”

A screenshot from “Speedy.”

A screenshot from “Speedy” (1928).

A title card from “Speedy” (1928).

A screenshot from “Speedy.”

The real last horsecar line in New York City in 1917.

A screen shot from “The Bell Boy.”

Al St. John oils a horse in “The Bell Boy” (1918).

A screenshot from “The Bell Boy” (1918).

CERA News for March 2, 2014

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 21:37:59 GMT

John Marton Visitation and Funeral Information

In an earlier post, we reported on the death of CERA Director and longtime member John A. Marton. The visitation takes place today, with interment tomorrow. There will be a Masonic funeral service at 6:00 pm Sunday.

Here is the information from the obituary:

John A. Marton 72 of Des Plaines. Loving husband of Judith nee Danielewicz Marton. Caring father of Amy Jo (Doug) Procarione. Dear grandfather of Casey and Haley. Fond brother of Dennis (Linda) and Sue Marton and Diana Javens. John was on the Board of Directors for Central Electric Railfans’ Association, John was a friend of “Bill W” for over 40 years, 32nd Degree Mason and a retired Chicago Public school teacher. Visitation Sunday from 3-7pm at Oehler Funeral Home 2099 Miner St (corner of Northwest Hwy\Rt -14 and Rand Rd) Des Plaines where services will be held Monday 10am. Interment Bohemian National cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to First Step House, 1029 Graceland Ave., Des Plaines, IL 60016. Info 847-824-5155 or www.oehlerfuneralhome.com

Bob Heinlein’s Illinois Terminal Program

Bill Wulfert writes:

Longtime CERA Member Bob Heinlein will be showing his Illinois Terminal program to the Railroad Club of Chicago and Shortline Society group (aka theRailroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago) on June 20th at Union Station in Chicago. CERA Members are welcome. You can contact Bob at 847-217-5980 for more details.

This is the same program Bob presented at CERA in January. It was very well received and attended, but we know there were some who could not attend due to the bad weather. This will give anyone who missed it another chance to see it. Plus, even if you were there the first time, perhaps you might like to see it again.

To receive program announcements by email about this group, send a blank message to: schs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Cincinnati Subway Images

Due to time constraints, we were not able to show the Cincinnati subway images promised for our February meeting. We will work those in as “newscast” items at a future meeting.

We thank everyone who attended Friday night’s program. We had another capacity crowd, and everyone seemed to have a good time. If you couldn’t attend, we hope to see you at future events.

“A Streetcar Named Conspire” Video

Louis Guilbault writes:

Hi all,

Have just uploaded my new SNC video. A considerable improvement over last year’s effort. Hope you’ll check it out. Thanks, Louis

We include this link for informational purposes only. As an organization, CERA takes no official position on such matters. We encourage everyone to learn as much as they can about history and form their own opinions. The opinions expressed in this video are those of Louis Guilbault and not Central Electric Railfans’ Association, but they may be of interest to our members.

CERA Used Book Exchange – Update

The response to our first list of used books for sale has been overwhelming. Fully 30 of the 34 books on the list have now been sold.

If any of you have traction books that you no longer need, we encourage you to consider donating them to the CERA Used Book Exchange. We will find a new home for them, and raise some money to help pay for CERA’s programs and services in the process.

The books do not necessarily have to be CERA publications, just traction books in general.

We have received more donations since our first list came out, and therefore we will circulate List #2 during the second week in March. As before, the information will be mailed out and posted online.

For further information, you can write to us at: ceraoffice@gmail.com

You can call us at 312-987-4391. If no one is there in the office, please leave a message and we will get back to you.

Books can be mailed to:

CERA PO Box 503 Chicago, IL 60690-0503

Since CERA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, such donations may be tax-deductible. We thank everyone for their contributions.

North Shore Line Program

FYI, On Sunday March 9, 2014 at 2 p.m., the Lake Bluff History Museum will host a program about the North Shore Line and its evolution into a “super interurban” under the control of Samuel Insull. Presented byNorman Carlson, president of the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society (an organization focused on urban, suburban and interurban rail passenger services in the Upper Midwest), this program offers those who remember the interurban a chance to revisit memories, and those who grew up post-interurban to learn how this mode of transportation helped spur the growth of North Shore communities including Lake Bluff.

The program is free and will be held in the Lake Bluff Train Station, located at 600 N. Sheridan Road in Lake Bluff. Parking is available at no charge in the Metra parking lot adjacent to the train station.

For more information, go here. Mr. Carlson is also a member of the Metra Board.

-David Sadowski

Friday @CERA Part 2: The Newark City Subway

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 21:53:36 GMT

Our Next Program:

A Tale of Two Subways, presented by David Sadowski and Ray DeGroote

For our February program, CERA travels to both Rochester, New York, and Newark, New Jersey– two cities that built subways in old canal beds, with very much different results. The Rochester Subway opened in 1927, struggled to find its proper role, and was never used to full potential, except perhaps during WWII. It closed in 1956 and was partially replaced by an expressway.

Car 12 in the subway in January 1983. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

In contrast, the Newark City Subway, opened in 1935, was an immediate and lasting success. PCC cars ran in Newark from 1954 to 2001 and became closely identified with the service. Light rail extensions to the subway opened in 2002 and 2006.

We will cover the history of both subways using both video and still images from a variety of sources. As a bonus feature, we will show rare shots of Cincinnati’s unfinished 1920s subway, which was also built in a former canal bed. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening.

Friday, February 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S. State Street
Chicago, Illinois

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

Today, in our second of two parts, we present some classic images from the Newark City Subway, covering its history from 1935 to today. Come join us at tonight’s CERA meeting to get the full story.

Car 2690 is typical of the equipment Newark used before the arrival of the PCCs in 1953. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Subway-surface car 3204 on Route 23 in the late 1940s. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 2724 on Route 29, in the days when Newark ran a subway-surface operation, in much the same fashion as Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco do today. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 3217 being scrapped in the early 1950s. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 3221 at Orange Street on July 11, 1952. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 3213 on September 9, 1945, during the years when the Newark City Subway still connected to surface streetcar routes. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Twin City Rapid Transit PCC 304 on 5th near Hennepin on May 2, 1947. Newark purchased 30 PCCs from TCRT in 1953 for use on the City Subway. In the Twin Cities, these were 2-man, center entrance cars, while Newark operated them as 1-man. St. Louis Car Co. built these in 1946. (Richard H. Young Photo – CERA Archives)

PCC 10 at Franklin Avenue in the 1950s. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 18 at Davenport Avenue in 1954. (John Brinckmann Photo – CERA Archives)

View showing the mezzanine at the Newark City Subway’s Pennsylvania Station Terminal on July 2, 1955. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCCs 21 and 22 at Franklin Avenue on October 9, 1978. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Work car 5223 at Franklin Avenue on September 7, 1964. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 12 at Bloomfield Road on July 16, 1960. (James J. Buckley Photo – CERA Archives)

PCC 21 at Franklin Avenue in November 1964. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 13 at Orange Street on September 25, 1960. (Joseph P. Saitta Photo – CERA Archives)

Track work in April 1960. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 9 in the snow at Davenport Station in August 1992. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 17 at Penn Station on January 22, 1971. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 23 at the subway portal near Warren Street on March 17, 1959. (Joseph P. Saitta Photo Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 24 at the Newark shops on January 22, 1971. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCC 10 at Heller Parkway on July 22, 1975. (William J. Madden Photo – CERA Archives)

Snow sweeper 5178 at work in Newark in February 1967. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Cars 17 and 18 pass at the subway portal on September 25, 1960. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 16 at Franklin Avenue on March 9, 1980. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

Car 7 at Bloomfield on April 24, 1984. (Photographer Unknown – CERA Archives)

PCCs 11 and 4 at the Franklin Avenue loop on August 24, 2001, the last day of PCC operation. (Andrew Grahl Photo – CERA Archives)

LRV 110 at Sussex Street on March 11, 2001. (William J. Madden Photo – CERA Archives)

FYI, here is an unofficial list of the disposition of the 30 Newark PCCs, which were purchased from Twin City Rapid Transit in 1953 and retired from service in 2001. Keep in mind this is the best information we have available, and may not be 100% correct:

DISPOSITION OF EX NEWARK PCC CARS

1 FRIENDS OF THE NEW JERSEY TRANSPORTATION HERITAGE CENTER
2 SFMR
3 MPLS STREETCAR MUSEUM
4 ILLINOIS RAILWAY MUSEUM
5 SEASHORE TROLLEY MUSEUM
6 ROCKHILL TROLLEY MUSEUM
7 NY MUSEUM OF TRANSPORTATION
8 SCRAPPED
9 SFMR
10 SAN DIEGO
11 SFMR
12 SFMR
13 FRIENDS OF THE NEW JERSEY TRANSPORTATION HERITAGE CENTER
14 SFMR
15 WAREHOUSE POINT TROLLEY MUSEUM
16 STEVE PERSON, PHILA
17 SFMR
18 SCRAPPED
19 SFMR
20 SFMR
21 SFMR
22 SFMR
23 SFMR
24 STEVE PERSON, PHILA
25 BRANFORD TROLLEY MUSEUM
26 BALTIMORE STREETCAR MUSEUM
27 BRANFORD TROLLEY MUSEUM
28 NJT, BLOOMFIELD AVENUE SHOPS
29 SCRAPPED
30 SCRAPPED

Friday @CERA Part 1: The Rochester Subway

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 16:02:56 GMT

Our Next Program:

A Tale of Two Subways, presented by David Sadowski and Ray DeGroote

For our February program, CERA travels to both Rochester, New York, and Newark, New Jersey– two cities that built subways in old canal beds, with very much different results. The Rochester Subwayopened in 1927, struggled to find its proper role, and was never used to full potential, except perhaps during WWII. It closed in 1956 and was partially replaced by an expressway.

Friday, February 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S. State Street
Chicago, Illinois

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

RTC 50 in April 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Today, we feature images from the Rochester subway. These are rare, as railfans do not seem to have paid much attention to this operation until just prior to abandonment in 1956. In addition to these images, and a documentary film we will be showing, we are grateful to have the participation of two local photographers (Ray DeGroote and Paul Mayer) who visited Rochester in the 1950s and took pictures of the subway.

At the same time Rochester decided to shut down their subway, Toronto was building theirs.

RTC 630 at East Main Station on January 12, 1934. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Rochester subway equipment, built between 1906 and 1916, from an old postcard. (CERA Archives)

RTC 56 rounds a curve. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 63 (ex-New York railways), looking rather shabby in the waning days of the Rochester subway. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 68 at speed on April 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 52 at Colby Street in April 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 68 on April 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 52 at Colby Street. (R. M. Buckley Photo – CERA Archives)

RTC 66 on March 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 54 in 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 58 emerges from the subway on March 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 64 on April 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 48 in 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 60, the only car saved, on May 12, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 68 lined up with other cars on April 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 50 on April 30, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

RTC 58 on a turnback loop. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Rochester is well-known to railfans as the headquarters of the Eastman Kodak Company, a dominant institution in American life for more than 100 years. Kodak invented Kodachrome, the first practical color slide film, in 1935. I knew many railfan photographers who wouldn’t shoot anything else years ago.

As late as 1976, Kodak had a 90% share of the film market, and 85% of the camera market. This success unfortunately led to a kind of corporate complacency at Kodak.

Kodak invented digital photography, but failed to make a successful transition from film to digital in the 1990s and early 2000s. Likewise, Rochester one had a successful rapid transit line, but failed to make the kind of successful transition to “light rail” that Newark has done.

Kodak’s lack of foresight resulted in the company declaring bankruptcy in 2012. After selling off many valuable assets, including patents, Kodak emerged from bankruptcy in 2013 and faces an uncertain future. Due to steadily declining sales, Kodak discontinued the manufacture of Kodachrome slide film in 2009. The last roll was developed in 2010.

Most of the images in this post were originally shot on Kodachrome film manufactured by Kodak in Rochester, New York.

The Carousel slide projector is another Kodak product loved by railfans. You can watch the famous Kodak Carousel scene from season 1, episode 13 of Mad Men (“The Wheel”) here. This first aired on October 18, 2007.

Don Draper:

Well, technology is a glittering lure. But there’s the rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash, if they have a sentimental bond with the product. My first job, I was in-house at a fur company, with this old pro copywriter. Greek, named Teddy. And Teddy told me the most important idea in advertising is “new”. Creates an itch. You simply put your product in there as a kind of… calamine lotion. But he also talked about a deeper bond with the product: nostalgia. It’s delicate… but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, “nostalgia” literally means, “the pain from an old wound”. It’s a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship. It’s a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the Wheel. It’s called a Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around, and back home again… to a place where we know we are loved.

Kodak discontinued making Carousel projectors in 2004.

We will feature the Newark City Subway in tomorrow’s post.

-David Sadowski

The original Kodak Carousel from 1962.

Don Draper makes his pitch to Kodak in a 2007 episode of “Mad Men.”

The Kodak Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, as it appeared in October 1964. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

John Marton 1941-2014

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:06:09 GMT

We are very sorry to report the passing of longtime CERA Member and Director John Marton on February 22nd. John was a member of CERA for 59 years, and had served the last five years as a Director. At last Wednesday’s organizational meeting of the 2014 Board, he was elected a Vice President of CERA.

John Marton with one of his beloved grandchildren, in a picture he chose to include in last year’s CERA publication Trolley Sparks Special #1.

During most of his time on the Board, John served as CERA’s Publications Director, and was responsible for The Lake Line (B-144), Transit in the Triangle v1 (B-145), and Trolley Sparks Special #1. All the publications John was involved with were very successful and well received. You can read more about these publications on the CERA web site.

John had been hospitalized for three months last year, starting in May, and had been gradually recovering and gaining more strength after undergoing several operations. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend our 75th Anniversary events in September, which he had been involved in planning for some time. We dedicated the Banquet to both John and his wife Judy.

John’s illness last year caused a delay in the completion of The Illini Trail, our upcoming book about the Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria. At the time of his death, he was set to resume work on finishing it. CERA will complete the book as John wanted it done, and dedicate it to his memory.

We were very gratified that John was able to attend our monthly Board meeting in person last Wednesday, for the first time in several months. He was fully engaged in our discussions, and we are thankful for this one last chance to spend time with him, listen to his stories, and to benefit from his wisdom.

In life, John Marton worked as both an educator and a transit consultant. He served his country honorably in the Air Force and was a Freemason. But above all, he was a devoted family man who loved his wife, his children, and his grandchildren.

If you would like to pay your respects to John Marton, and learn about the visitation and funeral arrangements, click here.

We will all miss him very much.

-Your CERA Directors

The Liberty Liner Rides Again (and CERA News)

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 16:09:04 GMT

Our friends at Rockhill send us the following:

HISTORIC, STREAMLINED, ELECTRIC TRAIN RETURNED TO OPERATING CONDITION

Rockhill Furnace, PA – The Rockhill Trolley Museum, the operating entity of Railways To Yesterday, Inc., a 501(c) (3) non-profit educational corporation, is happy to announce the return of its historic Electroliner/Liberty Liner streamlined train to operating condition.

Two of these historic trains were constructed in 1941 by the St. Louis Car Company for the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, which provided high speed electric service from downtown Chicago to downtown Milwaukee until 1963. These trains were specially designed to provide the most modern comforts at the time yet still be capable of operating in the tight confines of the Chicago elevated railways and with automobile traffic in the streets of Milwaukee. These trains were studied by the designers of the original Japanese “Bullet” trains in the early 1960s and perhaps influenced some of the features of these trains.

Both of these historic trains were sold in 1963 to the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company of Upper Darby, PA, commonly referred to as the “Red Arrow Lines”. These trains were refurbished and returned to operation on that company’s Norristown division in January 1964 and operated in regular service until 1978. Railways To Yesterday purchased train #803-804, named “Independence Hall”, in 1982 and moved the train to Rockhill Furnace where it was returned to operating condition. The train was set aside for display-only purposes in 1996 due to significant problems with the train’s electrical control system. Museum volunteers again restored the train to operation in 2011 for a special Membership event but electrical problems again sidelined the train in 2012.

Thanks to a substantial donation, replacement control system components were assembled and more than a dozen volunteers from several museum departments worked as a team over the past four months to return the train to operating condition once again. The train made its ceremonial roll-out and first trip on Saturday evening, February 15, at an annual gathering of volunteers from many east coast trolley museums.

The museum intends to maintain the train in operable condition in the future and operate the train on special occasions. The museum is accepting donations to help defray the costs of maintaining this historic vehicle and to rebuild additional components to provide increased reliability. The museum is a 501(c) (3) non-profit educational corporation and donations are tax-deductible. If interested in donating towards this worthwhile project, please contact the POC provided below.

The Rockhill Trolley Museum is one of the oldest continuously operating trolley museums in the Middle Atlantic, having operated trolleys every year since 1962. The museum offers a very scenic three mile round trip ride along scenic Blacklog Creek. For more information on the museum, as well as information on how to contribute to museum projects, when to visit, how to become a member, or how to volunteer, please visit http://www.rockhilltrolley.org.

For additional information please contact:

Railways To Yesterday, Inc.
P.O. Box 1601
Allentown, PA 18105
http://www.rockhilltrolley.org
https://www.facebook.com/rockhilltrolley

POC: Matthew W. Nawn, Chairman
mwntrolley@aol.com

You can watch a video of the Liberty Liner in action here.

You can read a feature article about the Electroliners written by director J. J. Sedelmaier here.

The other Electroliner set 801-802 is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in non-operating condition.

Here is a feature article on James F. Eppenstein, the man who styled the Electroliner’s whimsical interior.

In Memoriam

We regret to inform you of the death of longtime CERA member Neil Bjornsen. You can read more about his life and career here.

CERA Mailbag

John L. Gann Jr. writes:

The Used Book Exchange is a good idea. But why not:

1. Include number of pages in description
2. Include Railfan DVDs & VHS tapes?

Thank for writing. Our first list of used books included only CERA bulletins, since we figured our members would already be familiar with those. There is always going to be a trade-off between including more information in the descriptions, and the size of the type. If we include too many details, the type will be so small on the list that nobody could read it. Besides, details such as the number of pages in a book are readily available via the Internet.

As for your other suggestion, if people donated railfan videos to us, we will list them for sale in the future. I would think there would be more interest in DVDs than VHS tapes, however. It’s not easy today to even find a new VHS player available for sale.

The CERA Used Book Exchange has been a great success. Most of the books on our first list have already been sold. We have some titles on a waiting list.

We will send out List #2 to our members in early March, along with our usual program information. If you have traction books you would like to donate to the CERA Used Book Exchange, let us know. We would be glad to have them, and I am certain that we can find them a good home, and raise some additional money for CERA in the process. We thank all our members who have donated already.

-David Sadowski

Brian J. Patterson writes:

Great article on the Independence Hall. But let’s not forget our local Electroliner. The Illinois Railway Museum completed major restoration work on the 801-802 Electroliner shortly after obtaining it in 1981, including rust repair and restoring the 801-902 Electroliner to its CNSM configuration. The car was operated by the IRM in revenue service for several seasons on days where the weather was cool. It was withdrawn from operation after a traction motor failed during a test run being made after the failure of a different traction motor.

The Illinois Railway Museum is now conducting a major fundraiser, “The Campaign for the Electroliner 2016. The goal of “The Campaign for the Electroliner 2016″ is to quickly raise $500,000 or more, enabling us to complete full electromechanical restoration of our 801-802 Electroliner and open it for riding by the general public prior to the ind of the 2016 operating season. 2016 is the 75th anniversary of the delivery of the two Electroliner trainsets to the Chicago, North Shore, and Milwaukee railroad.

This restoration will include fresh rebuild of all eight traction motors, restoration of both HVAC systems to full operation, and numerous other equipment failures and “near failures” repairs to allow reliable full revenue service during our operating seasons.

The below link will take you to the Campaign’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Electroliner

The below link will take you to the IRM Online store, allowing you to donate to the Campaign in $25 increments:
http://www3.irm.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5&products_id=2004

Checks and money orders should be made payable to “Illinois Railroad Museum” with “Campaign for the Electroliner” endorsed in the memo or for field and mailed to:

Illinois Railway Museum
7000 Olson Rd
PO Box 427
Union, IL 60180

The Illinois Railway Museum is a 501(c)(3) charity, and all donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Rita McCabe writes:

Our environmental organization is hosting the below program tomorrow. Thought your members might be interested. Sorry it is so late, but just found out about your group.

Streetcars of Toronto
Sunday, February 23 – 2pm

Streetcar aficionado/storyteller Jack Doyle will share his knowledge of streetcars and his summer experiences in Toronto, Canada. Toronto has the largest, most efficient streetcar system in North America. This “green” system enjoys high satisfaction ratings from its many users and is hailed as a model for cities looking to cut back their Co2 output. An excellent photographer, Jack has slides showcasing streetcars throughout Toronto. Questions and refreshments will follow. LaGrange Park Library, 555 N LaGrange Rd. For more information call, 708-354-5512; visit http://www.savetheprairiesociety.org

Located north of Ogden Ave. ( 34 ) and south of 31st Street, it is on the east side of LaGrange Road (Mannheim).

http://www.savetheprairiesociety.org

Indiana Railroad – Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 16:11:33 GMT

This is the second of a two-part series on the fabled Indiana Railroad interurban network, which operated electric passenger service from 1930-41, but had roots going back to the early 1900s in the various predecessor companies that were joined to create it. You can read our first post here.

Some of these pictures show the Indianapolis Traction Terminal, the largest such structure in the world when built in 1904. There were originally nine tracks under a huge steel canopy, adjoining an office building designed by Daniel Burnham. The terminal was a local Indianapolis landmark until it was demolished in 1968. After the interurban quit in 1941, the terminal was used exclusively by buses. You can read more about it here.

Freight business was an important part of the Indiana Railroad, which when formed in 1930 had interchange freight connections with other Midwest interurbans. As these other networks fell victim to the Depression, specifically the Cincinnati & Lake Erie and Lake Shore Electric Railway, and the Dayton and Western, these connections were lost, which greased the skids for IR’s decline and fall.

If some of these networks could have been merged together, it’s possible they would have lasted longer. Dr. Thomas Conway was involved with modernization and strategic planning at many interurbans, and is largely responsible for the development of lightweight, high-speed interurban cars in the late 1920s. You can still see some of his handiwork today, the the 13.4 mile Norristown High-Speed Line operated bySEPTA between Norristown and Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

-David Sadowski

IR lightweight high-speed interurban 80, with the Indiana state capitol, which was completed in 1888, as backdrop. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

PS- FYI, we’ve added a copy of Indiana Railroad- The Magic Interurban (CERA B-128) to our list of used books for sale.

IR 50 in New Castle on May 19, 1940. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Indiana Service Corp. (an IR predecessor company) 540 at the end of the International Harvester line in Ft. Wayne on August 3, 1938. 540 was built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1923. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 82 leaving the Seymour terminal on August 11, 1940. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 446 had an interesting history, according to Don’s Rail Photos: “446 thru 449 were built by Cincinnati Car in 1923 as part of an order of 10 cars for the Indianapolis & Southeastern RR. When they were replaced by lightweight cars in 1928, six cars were sold to Milwaukee and converted into three truck trains. The other four cars went to Union Traction as their 446 thru 449 in 1929. They were soon included in the IRR. In 1936, they were converted to one man operation. They were retired in 1938, and car 446 became the wreck motor for another two years. ” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

One of the IR lightweight high-speeds on a Louisville Local run. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 69 in Muncie in 1940. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Unloading mail from an IR RPO-combine. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 70 in the Indianapolis Traction Terminal. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

The Indianapolis Traction Terminal train shed, before most of the tracks were paved for use by buses. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Don’s Rail Photos says, “1150 was built by Jewett in 1913 for the Grand Rapids Holland & Chicago as 21. In 1916 it became Michigan Rys. 113. When that company broke up in 1924, it reverted to the GRH&C as 113. In 1927 it was sold to IT as 443 and was named “Elwood”. When taken into the IRR in 1930 it lost its name but kept its number. In 1934 it became wreck motor 1150.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

An Indianapolis terminal scene. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 458 in Ft. Wayne on August 5, 1938. Don’s Rail Photos reports, “457 and 458 were built by St. Louis Car in 1926 as IPSCo 378 and 379. They were one-manned in 1937 and retired in 1938.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 446. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 50 in Indianapolis. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 50. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 446 at the Ft. Wayne terminal on August 2, 1938, bound for Indianapolis via the Peru Division. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR lightweight high-speed 76 at Whitelands siding. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 432 (head on) meets 446 at Legro on August 3, 1937, on the long line from Ft. Wayne to Indianapolis via Kokomo and Peru. Service was discontinued on August 24, 1938, with the last trip on September 10th. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR 439, aka “Bluffton.” (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

IR 456. Don’s Rail Photos says, “450 thru 456 were built by Cincinnati Car in 1919 as 150 thru 152 and 154 thru 157 of the Interstate Public Service Co. In the consolidation, they were renumbered, but they carried PSC initials for the successor to IPS, Public Service Corp. of Indiana. They were converted to one man operation in 1936 and retired in 1938.” (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

IR 375, one of three Railway Post Office motors used between Indianapolis and Peru, and between Ft. Wayne and Newcastle. (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

IR 407, aka “Winchester,” was built in 1913 by Cincinnati Car Co. (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

IR 58, which was used on an early CERA fantrip. (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

IR 712 was built by American Car and Foundry in 1924. (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

IR 442, aka “Eaton.” Don’s Rail Photos reports, “442 was built by Jewett in 1913 as Grand Rapids Holland & Chicago 20. In 1916 it became Michigan Rys. 112. When that company broke up in 1924, it reverted as GRH&C 112. In 1927 it was sold as UTI 442 “Eaton” and became IRR 442 in 1930. It was rebuilt to one man in 1936.” (Barney Neuburger Photo – CERA Archives)

The former Indianapolis Traction Terminal during the 1950s, when it was used exclusively by buses. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Indiana Railroad – Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 16:21:45 GMT

Today we focus our attention on the Indiana Railroad, in the first of two posts. The Wikipedia entry on IRR sums it up pretty nicely:

The Indiana Railroad (IR) was the last of the typical Midwestern United States interurban lines. It was formed in 1930-31 by combining the operations of the five major interurban systems in central Indiana into one entity. The predecessor companies came under the control of Midland Utilities, owned by Samuel Insull. It was Insull’s plan to transform the Indiana interurban network into a new Indiana Railroad by modernizing the profitable routes and abandoning the unprofitable ones. With the onset of the Great Depression, the Insull empire collapsed and the Indiana Railroad was left with a decaying infrastructure and little hope for overcoming the growing competition of the automobile for passenger business and the truck for freight business. The IR faced bankruptcy in 1933, and receiver Bowman Elder was designated to run the company. Payments on bonded debt were suspended. Elder was able to keep the system virtually intact for four years, and IR operated about 600 miles (970 km) of interurban lines throughout Indiana during this period. During the late 1930s, the routes were abandoned one by one until a 1941 wreck with fatalities south of Indianapolis put an abrupt end to the last operation of interurbans in Indiana.

The early history of Central Electric Railfans’ Association is tied in with Indiana Railroad. The lateGeorge Krambles, CERA Member #1, worked for IR early in his career, and some of the first CERA fantrips were run on that fabled interurban prior to the final abandonment in 1941. A complete list of CERA fantrips appears in our recent publication Trolley Sparks Special #1.

Indiana Railroad was famous for its fleet of lightweight high-speed interurbans, cars 50-84, built by ACF and Pullman in 1931. These in turn were improved versions of similar cars built for the Cincinnati & Lake Erie shortly before. The IR cars, unlike the C&LE’s, could be operated in multiple units with up to three cars coupled at one time.

Unfortunately, only two of the 35 high-speeds were preserved. Car 55 went to Lehigh Valley Transit, where it was transformed into 1030, the so-called “Golden Calf” of the fleet. After LVT abandoned the Liberty Bell Limited interurban service in 1951, this car was purchased by the Seashore Trolley Museum, where it is today.

After the IR abandoned in 1941, car 65 was purchased by the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (CRANDIC), where it ran until the end of passenger service on May 30, 1953. The fledgling Illinois Electric Railway Museum bought it, as its first piece of equipment. It remains at IRM today in operating condition.

Unfortunately, there were no takers for the remainder of the high-speeds. They sat in storage during most of 1941 waiting for buyers that never came, and were unceremoniously junked. Then, shortly thereafter, Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Street railways around the country carried record numbers of passengers during WWII, and there were any number of properties that could have benefited from the Indiana Railroad lightweight interurbans. In particular, they would have been a godsend to LVT, where they could have been used in MU service on the Liberty Bell Limited. Instead, LVT ran cars in multiple sections, resulting in fatal crashes that signaled the beginning of the end of that fabled line between Philadelphia and Allentown.

CERA featured the Indiana Railroad in Bulletin 91, first published in 1950. It was reprinted in a slightly revised and expanded form in 1975. A fuller book-length treatment arrived in 1991, in the form of Indiana Railroad- The Magic Interurban by George K. Bradley, CERA Bulletin 128. These bulletins are out of print, but can be found on the secondary market.

While you search for those, we hope you will enjoy the photos we are posting today, and those in the second part of our IR series, which will appear in a couple of days. We have included an article from the September 12, 1931 issue of Railway Age, profiling the then-new cars. Timetable information is reproduced from October 1, 1939, by which time the Hoosier interurban network was already being dismantled.

-David Sadowski

A builder’s photo of Interstate Public Service Co. car 161 from 1924. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “161 was built by American Car & Foundry in 1923 as a parlor-buffet. It was rebuilt as IRR 738 an express motor in 1937 and retired in 1941.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Indiana Service Corp. (one of the predecessor companies to Indiana Railroad) car 378 with parlor car 390 in Ft. Wayne on July 20, 1926. 378 was built in 1926 by St. Louis Car Co. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

A line of cars headed up by Interstate Public Service car 263. Interstate was one of the predecessor companies to Indiana Railroad. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “263 was built by Kuhlman Car Co in 1927, #924. It became IRR 202 in 1930 and sold as Portland Traction Co 4001 in 1940. It was acquired by Northern California Trolley Museum in 1959 and Western Railway Museum in 1960. It was restored as IRR 202.” A note on the back of the photo says these cars were used in the Jeffersonville, Charlestown, and New Albany area. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Motorman Claude Stephens at the helm of IR 65. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR heavyweight interurban car 432 in the 1930s at the Indianapolis Traction Terminal. When built in 1904, it was the largest interurban station in the world, with lines radiated out in all directions. This car was built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1925. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR lightweight high-speed interurban car 55 at the Indianapolis Traction Terminal. This car was sold to Lehigh Valley Transit in 1941, where it was modified into car 1030, the pride of the LVT fleet. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

The passenger waiting area in Anderson. The line between Indianapolis and Anderson was the last segment of the once-great interurban to be abandoned in 1941, as the result of a fatal head-on crash. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

An IR car barn at an unidentified location. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IR trolley freight operations at an unidentified location. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Indiana Railroad boxcar 576. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

CERA Used Book Exchange – List #1

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 16:24:43 GMT

(FYI, you can find our second used book list here.)

Here is our first list of used books for sale. We had previously written about the CERA Used Book Exchange here.

Copies of List #1 and an order form have been mailed to all current CERA Members, along with our program information.

(

As books are sold, we will cross them out on the online list, ~~like this~~. You can download and print out a copy of List #1 here.

You can also contact the CERA Office by telephone at 312-987-4391. If we are not available, leave a message and we will get back to you.

To order books online, drop us a line at ceraoffice@gmail.com and CERA will e-mail you back an invoice that you can pay using PayPal or a debit/credit card.

Books are graded as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. Significant damage is noted, where observed. Some amount of normal wear is to be expected in books that are “of a certain age.”

Please note: Illinois residents must include 9.25% sales tax with payment.

CERA Used Book Exchange List #1 (Updated as of February 17, 2014)

Stock # Description Publisher Date Cover Condition Price # Notes
~~UBE001 Electric Railways of Indiana I CERA 1957 S G $60.00 B-101~~
~~UBE002 Electric Railways of Indiana II CERA 1958 S G $60.00 B-102~~
~~UBE003 Interurban to Milwaukee CERA 1962 S F $25.00 B-106 1st printing; cover worn~~
UBE004 Interurban to Milwaukee CERA 1962 S F $25.00 B-106 1st printing; cover separated
~~UBE007 Route of the Electroliners CERA 1963 S G $25.00 B-107 1st printing~~
~~UBE008 Route of the Electroliners CERA 1975 H EX $25.00 B-107 2nd printing~~
~~UBE009 Route of the Electroliners CERA 1975 H EX $25.00 B-107 2nd printing~~
~~UBE010 Route of the Electroliners CERA 1975 H EX $25.00 B-107 2nd printing~~
~~UBE005 Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio CERA 1965 H G $25.00 B-108~~
~~UBE006 Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio CERA 1965 H F $20.00 B-108 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE011 The NOT&L Story CERA 1966 H F $20.00 B-109 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE012 The NOT&L Story CERA 1966 H G $25.00 B-109~~
~~UBE013 TM (The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.) CERA 1972 H F $45.00 B-112 No DJ; binding slightly split~~
UBE014 TM (The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.) CERA 1972 H G $55.00 B-112 DJ worn, otherwise OK
~~UBE017 Chicago’s Rapid Transit v1 Rolling Stock 1892-1947 CERA 1973 H G $25.00 B-113 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE018 Chicago’s Rapid Transit v1 Rolling Stock 1892-1947 CERA 1973 H EX $30.00 B-113~~
~~UBE020 Iowa Trolleys CERA 1975 H G $25.00 B-114 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE028 Chicago’s Rapid Transit v2 Rolling Stock 1947-1976 CERA 1976 H EX $30.00 B-115~~
~~UBE029 Electrification by GE CERA 1976 H G $25.00 B-116 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE030 Electrification by GE CERA 1976 H EX $30.00 B-116~~
~~UBE031 Electrification by GE CERA 1976 H EX $30.00 B-116 Owner’s name in front cover~~
~~UBE032 Detroit’s Street Railways vI CERA 1978 H G $25.00 B-117~~
~~UBE033 Westinghouse Electric Railway Transportation CERA 1979 H G $20.00 B-118 DJ slightly worn, otherwise EX~~
~~UBE034 Detroit’s Street Railways vII CERA 1980 H G $25.00 B-120 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE022 Detroit’s Street Railways vIII CERA 1984 H G $25.00 B-123 DJ worn, otherwise OK~~
~~UBE019 How the Medal Was Won CERA 1985 H EX $10.00 B-124~~
UBE021 How the Medal Was Won CERA 1985 H EX $10.00 B-124
UBE023 The Colorful Streetcars We Rode CERA 1986 H G $20.00 B-125
~~UBE016 A Rainbow of Traction CERA 1988 S G $10.00 B-126~~
~~UBE015 From Bullets to BART CERA 1988 H G $10.00 B-127 No DJ~~
UBE035 Indiana Railroad – The Magic Interurban CERA 1991 H EX $25.00 B-128 Like New, no DJ
~~UBE024 Every Hour On the Hour (WB&A) CERA 1993 H G $70.00 B-130 DJ slightly worn, otherwise EX~~
~~UBE025 The “L” (1888-1932) – Bruce Moffat CERA 1995 H EX $35.00 B-131 Like New~~
~~UBE026 The Chicago Tunnel Story – Bruce Moffat CERA 2002 H EX $30.00 B-135 Like New~~
~~UBE027 The Lake Line CERA 2011 H EX $50.00 B-144 Like New~~

CERA News for 1-27-2014

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:27:59 GMT

Reader Mailbag

Leigh Morris writes:

Wikipedia is not always a reliable source of information, as the January meeting notice affirms. Quoting Wikipedia, the notice advises the IT was “known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937…”

Actually, the Illinois Traction System adopted the Illinois Terminal Railroad name in 1928 during a corporate reorganization.

We asked Dale Jenkins, of the Illinois Traction Society, to clarify this situation. Here is his response:

On March 25, 1925, the Illinois Power & Light Company (controlling company of the Illinois Traction) acquired the stock and subsequent controlling interest of the St. Louis Troy & Eastern Railway, (Steam line) which also included the controlling interest of the St. Louis & Illinois Belt Railway, (Steam line) and on May 1, 1928, purchased the stock of the Illinois Terminal Company (Steam line). Effective January 1, 1928, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the leasing of the aforementioned steam lines with the Illinois Traction System to create the Illinois Terminal Railroad System. On December 31, 1929, North American Power & Light Company acquired all of the outstanding securities of the Alton & Eastern which was leased to the Illinois Terminal effective June 30, 1930. On August 11, 1937, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the consolidation of the Illinois Traction Inc. with the steam roads, Illinois Terminal Company, St. Louis Troy & Eastern RR, St. Louis & Illinois Belt Ry., and the Alton & Eastern RR into the Illinois Terminal Railroad Company (ITRR Co.).

So, Illinois Traction adopted the “brand name” Illinois Terminal Railroad in 1928, but this did not become the actual corporate name of the railroad until 1937. So, depending on how you look at it, both dates are technically correct.

Fred Freebolin writes:

Please advise what, if any, information you may have on file regarding the cable car system that served Chicago from about 1884(?) to 1906 when it was replaced with electric street cars. I have read the new bookChicago Cable Cars by G. Borzo which I found very interesting. Prior to that reading I was entirely without knowledge of how extensive the system was, especially how it served the downtown district. I remember my maternal grandfather made reference to the system just once. I was employed in the Loop area when I witnessed the tearing down of the massive power house at Jefferson and Van Buren Streets but was unaware of its importance and how it served the cable car system.

Since CERA’s main focus is on electric railways, we really don’t have a lot of additional material relating to the Chicago cable car system. However, the fullest and most authoritative treatment of the subject can be found in George W. Hilton‘s magnum opus, The Cable Car in America, which is still in print.

This, in turn, expanded on his earlier work Cable Railways of Chicago, published in 1954 by the Electric Railway Historical Society as their bulletin #10. That you would have to find on the used market, although CERA has plans to eventually reprint all 49 ERHS publications in digital form. These are short publications, varying in length.

Mr. Hilton has long been a friend and supporter of CERA.

Mr. Borzo gave a presentation based on his cable car book at a CERA meeting last year. We contributed a couple of images to the program, which you can find here and here.

-David Sadowski

January’s CERA Program

Our thanks to everyone who attended Friday night’s program on the Illinois Terminal Railroad. In spite of the weather, a near capacity crowd enjoyed MCERA Robert Heinlein‘s presentation. As a special bonus attraction, Ray DeGroote dug out his slides from the last weekend of electric IT operations in 1958 on the suburban line between St. Louis and Granite City.

Annual Meeting

The voters at our Annual Meeting approved two revisions to CERA’s By-Laws. Effective immediately, the CERA Board of Directors now has the right to award up to two Honorary Life Memberships per calendar year, for meritorious and distinguished service to the organization. Of course, this does not mean they have to do so, only that they may do it if the Directors can agree on which Members deserve this special recognition.

Membership also approved phasing out the Associate Member category, effective in 2015. Since we began sending out “CERA News” to our members last year, we do not think it fair to send this information to some members and not others. Likewise, we wanted to expand the voting franchise to all CERA Members.

Therefore, starting next year, our membership categories will be Active, Contributing, and Sustaining. The rates will be the same as this year, in spite of the increase in postal rates. Starting in 2015, all CERA Members will receive the same mailings, have the right to vote in our elections, and can serve on committees.

We continue to offer Associate Memberships in 2014 for $42, and for just $3 more, you can “step up” to an Active Membership. All classes of membership receive an annual book entitlement. If you are interested in becoming a CERA Member, or just want to renew, click here.

At the same meeting, the Election Committee reported that the three Directors on the ballot were all elected. Joe Reuter and Bill Reynolds received three-year terms, while John Nicholson won a two-year term. There were a few write-in votes.

This is the only election where we are going to have staggered terms, and this was a consequence of reducing the size of the CERA Board of Directors, which was approved in 2013. Since there are now seven Directors, there will be a cycle of two, two, and three whose terms are ending, and from now on, all will receive a three-year term.

We thank all our Members for their participation in the Directors’ Election and the CERA Annual Meeting.

CERA By-Laws for 2014
CERA By-Laws for 2015

New Jersey Transit PCC 23 at Franklin Avenue in 1991. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “23 was built by St Louis Car Co. in August 1947, order #1660, as Twin Cities Rapid Transit 362. It was sold to Public Service of New Jersey as 23 on March 30, 1953, and became New Jersey Transit 23 in 1971. It was sold as Municipal Railway of San Francisco 1071 in 2004.” (David Sadowski Photo – CERA Archives)

Our Next Program:

A Tale of Two Subways, presented by David Sadowski and Ray DeGroote

For our February program, CERA travels to both Rochester, New York, and Newark, New Jersey– two cities that built subways in old canal beds, with very much different results. The Rochester Subwayopened in 1927, struggled to find its proper role, and was never used to full potential, except perhaps during WWII. It closed in 1956 and was partially replaced by an expressway.

Friday, February 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S. State Street
Chicago, Illinois

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

Along the Illinois Terminal Railroad – Part 3

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:32:43 GMT

We hope that you will join us this Friday for our January program on the Illinois Terminal Railroad by Robert Heinlein. To help “set the stage,” we present our third and final installment of IT photos for your enjoyment.

IT 277 and train in St. Louis on April 20, 1952. This car is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Friday, January 24, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S. State Street
Chicago, IL 60605

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members. CERA’s Annual Meeting will take place at the same meeting. Read more about it here.

-The Editor

PS- You can read an article about the last IT interurban train, which ran on March 2, 1956, here. Illinois Terminal electric suburban passenger service continued between St. Louis and Granite City until June 22, 1958- a day after the last streetcar ran in Chicago.

IT streamliner 302, coupled to deluxe dining car 352. They were built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1947-48. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 263 at the Danville town center in 1951. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 101 and train, 1949. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “101 was built by the American Car Co. in 1917 as Alton Granite & St Louis 61. In 1926 the line was reorganized as the St Louis & Alton Ry 61 and in 1930 it became ITR 101. On March 9, 1956, it was sold to IERM and is now at Union, IL.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT streamliner 302 and train in 1949. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 100 near the entrance to the St. Louis subway in August 1952. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT double-end PCC 453 in Granite City on October 6, 1950. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 263 at Champaign in 1951. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

An Illinois Terminal “Class A” locomotive at work. For a view of IT 1554, click here. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

According to Don’s Rail Photos, IT 285 “was built by St Louis Car in 1914. It was rebuilt as a parlor car in 1924 and then as a coach in December 1928. It was air conditioned in August 1938 and got new seating in December 1952. It was sold for scrap to Hyman Michaels Co on May 16, 1956.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 100 in St. Louis in June 1952. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 274 in Peoria in 1951. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 473 leaving St. Louis in 1951. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT Railbus 206 in Alton-Grafton service in November 1952. It was built by White in 1939 and has a Mack engine. It is now preserved at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 455 in St. Louis in July 1952. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 1202 in 1949. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “1202 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1910 as an express motor with 20 seats at the rear. In 1919 it was rebuilt with a small baggage section at the front and the trucks were changed from Curtis to Baldwin. It was renumbered 202 on December 28, 1953, and sold for scrap in 1956.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 407 at the Granite City Shops on October 6, 1950. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 455 at Granite City in September 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 101 and train at Alton in 1949. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 281 at Decatur. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 104 at the Granite City Shops in May 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 101 at the Illinois Railway Museum on July 6, 2013. (David Sadowski Photo – CERA Archives)

IT three-car train 277-518-234 running in the “Trolley Pageant” at the Illinois Railway Museum on July 6, 2013. (David Sadowski Photo – CERA Archives)

Along the Illinois Terminal Railroad – Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:35:15 GMT

We hope that you will join us this Friday for our January program on the Illinois Terminal Railroad by Robert Heinlein. To get you in the mood, we present the second of three generous helpings of IT photos, this batch being black-and-white.

IT streamliner 301, the “City of Decatur,” in Decatur in December 1949. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

There weren’t a lot of railfans using color film before the 1950s, but black-and-white had been around for a long time, so we can see some earlier views here. Most shutterbugs back then used cameras that yielded very large negatives by modern standards. If properly exposed and developed, some of these old negs can yield amazingly sharp images today.

-The Editor

IT 278 in Springfield, Illinois, on November 7, 1948. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 283 in Springfield, Illinois, in November 1948. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT wooden baggage trailer 607, ex-1060 series with experimental motors, in Springfield on November 7, 1948. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 517, 282 and 535 on a three-car football special at Decatur in Fall 1949. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT parlor cal 511, the “Urbana,” on the Springfield wye in February 1951. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Don’s Rail Photos says IT 1567, Class B, “was built at Decatur in 1914. It was sold to St Louis Car Co. as 11 on January 17, 1955.” (Photographer unknown)

It loco 1577, used on the Bloomington line, is shown at the Decatur shops. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 270 at the Decatur station in May 1949. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

According to Don’s Rail Photos, IT 285 “was built by St Louis Car in 1914. It was rebuilt as a parlor car in 1024 amd retistpred as coach in December 1928. It was air conditioned in August 1938 and (received) new seating in December 1952. It was sold for scrap to Hyman Michaels Co on May 16, 1956.” According to John Howard, this early 1950s photo “was taken in Carlinville from the corner of North West and West First North Streets – looking south. Davenport’s Cafe is south of the station. City Hall’s siren can be seen above the Cafe. The steeple at the south end of town (on South West Street) was St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. It’s now a restaurant sans steeple.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT “muzzle-loader” double-end PCC 451, on the St. Louis-Granite City line in 1952. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 283 was built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1913. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

View looking east showing IT car 457 eastbound on the west side of the McKinley Bridge in St. Louis, taken on November 13, 1954. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

A three-quarter view of IT 284 taken in Springfield, Illinois, on June 11, 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT “Class C” loco 1596 was built at Decatur in December 1929. Most IT locos were scrapped in 1956, but loco 1595 is preserved at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. This picture was taken in East Peoria, Illinois, on June 11, 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

A three-quarter view of IT 1203 as it appeared in Springfield, Illinois, on June 11, 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

View looking northeast from Hall street, showing a PCC car on the elevated structure parallel to North Market Street east of Hall Street in St. Louis in 1954. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

View from 12th and Lucas Streets, showing the IT Central Terminal Building, on 12th Street between Lucas and Delmar in St. Louis, Missouri on May 21, 1954. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

View of the sign at the entrance to the passenger station at 12th and Delmar in St. Louis, taken October 21, 1951. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 454 north of the subway entrance in St. Louis, Missouri on March 1, 1956. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

View looking south showing car #451 on Madison Avenue, just south of 17th Street in Granite City, Illinois, showing street resurfacing work, on June 3, 1956. Car 451 was built by the St. Louis Car Co. in 1949 and is now preserved at the Connecticut Trolley Museum. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

View looking south showing the station at Broadway and North Market Streets in St. Louis, on the line to Granite City, as it looked on May 21, 1954. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT double-end PCC 452 on the St. Louis-Granite City line. The view is looking east, showing the car on Broadway at Market Street in Madison, Illinois. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

A passing siding along the IT interurban right-of-way. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT streetcar 410, built by St Louis Car Co. in 1924 as order #1324, a sister car to 415, now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Don’s Rail Photos reports that IT 277 “was built by St Louis Car in 1913, #966. It was rebuilt in October 1951 with new seats and other modernized features. It was sold to the Illinois Railway Museum on March 9, 1956.” I believe this photo was taken in North Chicago, before IRM moved to Union. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 202 with an arch-window trailer. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

An unidentified car in August 1949. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 284 was built by St Louis Car Co. in 1913. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

An IT streamliner parlor car at East Peoria. These often had to be uncoupled due to clearance problems. Some of these cars, generally considered to be unsuccessful, were not scrapped until the 1980s, but none survive. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Along the Illinois Terminal Railroad – Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:38:07 GMT

As we gear up for January’s CERA program, we’ve been going through our files, looking for IT photos. We will present them in three or four installments between now and January 24, when longtime CERA Member Robert Heinlein gives his presentation.

Today’s bunch are all from the era of color photography. Unfortunately, throughout the 1950s, electric operations on IT were winding down. Most of the electric locos were scrapped in 1956, although a few did find new homes elsewhere. The Illinois Railway Museum in Union has the largest collection of electric IT equipment extant.

-The Editor

Car 473 at the west end of the McKinley Bridge in St. Louis in April 1958, two months before passenger service ended. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 276-529-530-532 on an NRHS special, September 6, 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 276-529-530-532 on an NRHS special in St. Louis, September 6, 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 404, still in “Traction Orange,” in Granite City on June 10, 1952. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

The general barn view at Granite City on September 4, 1953. Car 415, now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, is at the left. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Cars 415-450-471-404-405 at Granite City on September 4, 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT local 454 in Venice, Illinois. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 277 at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago on September 15, 1957. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

IT 415 at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago on September 15, 1957. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

IT car 451 at the Connecticut Trolley Museum on April 29, 1979. You can read an interesting history of this car here. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 405 in a very “country interurban” scene. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 453 on April 29, 1958, less than two months before passenger service ended. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 451 at Shaker Square on May 30, 1976. Cars 450 and 451 were “on loan” to the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit due to a car shortage. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 450, temporarily taken out of retirement by the Cleveland RTA, is eastbound at Belvoir on May 29, 1977. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT loco 74 at Edwardsville on September 6, 1953. According to Don’s Rail Photos, it was “sold for scrap to Compressed Steel Co on March 27, 1956.” (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

This is Illinois Power Company (ex-Illinois Terminal) loco 6 at Danville on September 8, 1958. IPC bought three of the IT “class B” locos (1565, 1566, and 1568) after the railroad dieselized its freight in 1955. IRM bought 1565 from IPC in 1960. By then it was 50 years old. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

IT private car 234 in Champaign on September 8, 1958, after being purchased by the Railroad Club of Chicago. Don’s Rail Photos reports, “234 was built by Danville Car in August 1908, #504, as “Champaign”, a party car trailer. Shortly afterwards it was motorized as an office car. On May 28, 1927, it was demotorized and renamed “Sangamon” and used as a parlor car. It was later returned to office car service. On March 2, 1936, it was rebuilt with an arch roof, the arch windows were covered, it was motorized, and it was numbered 234. Soon afterwards it returned to trailer status. It was sold on February 1, 1956 to the Illini Railroad Club and is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum since 1968.” (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

One of the three ex-IT Illinois Power Company locos in Champaign on September 8, 1958. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

IT 202 in Riverton in June 1954. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 100, sister car to the 101 now preserved at IRM, in Granite City in September 1953. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 451 at Shaker Square on the Cleveland RTA in June 1976. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 233, now preserved at IRM, in Champaign on September 8, 1958. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

IT 457 is St. Louis-bound in this late 1950s view in Granite City. It couldn’t be any earlier than September 1957, since there is a 1958 Edsel in view. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 456 in Venice, Illinois on April 28, 1958. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT loco 1595 at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis on September 9, 1958. You can see a more recent photo of this “class C” locomotive here. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo – CERA Archives)

IT 451 in charter service on the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit in May 1976. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

IT 451 at the Connecticut Trolley Museum (sometimes referred to as “Warehouse Point”) in June 1979. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

January @CERA – Illinois Terminal Railroad

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:42:27 GMT

Our Next Program:
Illinois Terminal Railroad by Robert Heinlein

For our January program, longtime CERA Member Robert Heinlein will showcase the Illinois Terminal Railroad. According to the Wikipedia, the IT, “known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois.” Passenger service ended in 1958. At its peak, Illinois Terminal had one of the largest and most extensive interurban systems in the entire US.

Mr. Heinlein fondly recalls seeing an earlier IT program given in 1992 by the late John Humiston, which covered IT operations along the main line from Peoria to Springfield and St. Louis. Mr. Humiston had planned a second such program, covering the line from Peoria to Bloomington and Decatur, and the east end from Danville to Springfield, but did not live to present it. Now, using Mr. Humiston’s notes and images, with the cooperation of John Humiston’s son Richard, Bob Heinlein has completed this program and offers it for your enjoyment. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening.

Illinois Terminal car 451 is shown in service in Cleveland in the late 1970s. It was pressed into service due to a car shortage. (Photographer unknown, CERA Archives)

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members. CERA’s Annual Meeting will take place at the same meeting. Read more about it here.

Friday, January 24, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S. State Street
Chicago, IL 60605

2013 In Review @CERA

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 16:44:44 GMT

Our latest book, Trolley Sparks Special #1, which is now out of print.

Your continued support made 2013 another outstanding year for our association, one of the busiest in our organization’s history. All this culminated in our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program, a memorable event for all who attended.

Our November program featured the South Shore Line. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Programs:

January 25 – A Tribute to the North Shore Line (Jeff Wien)
February 22 – A Potpourri of Traction (Mark Walbrun)
March 22 – The South Side “L” (Bruce Moffat)
April 26 – Illusion Travels by Streetcar (movie)
May 24 – Chicago Cable Cars: A Forgotten But Important Story (Greg Borzo)
June 28 – Bill Hoffman’s Unedited Movies of the Chicago Rapid Transit Lines in the 1940s and 1950s(Jeff Wien and the Wien-Criss Archive)
September 21 (75th Anniversary Banquet and Program) – Rare North Shore Line Movies 1941-62 (Walter Keevil)
September 27 – Midwest Traction In Vintage Films From the 1930s and 40s (Harvey Laner)
October 25 – A Round Trip on the Liberty Bell Limited (movies)
November 22 – South Shore in the ’70s- The Little Train That Did (movies)
December 27 – Texas Electric and the Journey to DART (Mark Walbrun)

We began charging non-members a $5 admission at our monthly program meetings, starting in September. There has been no adverse effect on attendance. Our special thanks again to the presenters for their time, photography, and detailed knowledge of their topics.

The three-car steel CA&E train in the “Insull Parade” at IRM. (Photo by Jeff Wien, Wien-Criss Archive)

Fantrips:

September 20: Kenosha Streetcar (including Shops tour)
September 21: Illinois Railway Museum (featuring the “Insull Parade”)
September 22: Fox River Trolley Museum

Publications:

September 21: Trolley Sparks Special #1 edited by John Marton

Our special 75th Anniversary book was well received by our members, and sold out within two months of release. It is an excellent retrospective and also serves as a great “calling card” for CERA. We thank John Marton for all his efforts in putting the book together and making it such a success.

We are hard at work on Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era, 1936-1958 (B-146), which is being produced entirely in-house, with important contributions from many CERA members. It will be published in Spring 2014. John Nicholson, David Sadowski, and Jeffrey Wien are the editors.

Our next book (B-146) will be called Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era 1936-1958, to be published in Spring 2014. (Photo by James J. Buckley, CERA Archives)

Blog:

Starting in February, we published 94 posts on the new CERA Members Blog (www.cerablog.com), including more than 1500 images, and received 75,073 individual page views. The response from our members has been very encouraging and overwhelmingly positive.

The Blog has become an important part of our outreach effort to find new members. As a result, we have reversed a long-term decline in membership, and expect to see a small increase by the end of 2014. Our goal is to bring CERA’s membership back up to historic levels, and we can do this, with a sustained and continued effort.

In the Digital Age, our Blog extends the reach of CERA’s publishing activities beyond the limitations of the printed page, reaching a younger audience of railfans in ways that were impossible just a few short years ago.

You can save CERA the cost of sending you “snail mail” by subscribing to the CERA Members Blog, and then letting us know that this is how you would prefer to receive news updates.

Archives:

At our April meeting, the Board voted to establish the CERA Archives, “to collect, solicit, acquire and maintain an Archive of materials relating to CERA’s mission of educating the public about the history and operations of electric railways; and that such a collection will be organized by an official CERA Archivist and made available to researchers, all in conjunction with the stated purposes of the organization.” This includes artifacts, photographs, negatives, slides, digital images and documents. David Sadowski was appointed CERA Archivist.

CERA is willing to accept donations of such materials, which can include collections assembled by individuals, or specific items. Donations to our Archives may be tax-deductible, since CERA is a 501(c)(3) organization.

News:

As a way of improving communications with our members, CERA has begun including “CERA News” on the back of the monthly program mailing. This has been very well received and will continue.

The types of books that will soon be available via the CERA Used Book Exchange.

Used Book Exchange:

We often receive requests for out-of-print CERA bulletins, and we know there are many of our members who have books they no longer need. Therefore, we have created the CERA Used Book Exchange. The first list of used books that are available will be distributed with the February program information, both by mail, and through the CERA Members Blog. Thanks to your generous donations of used books, we will find new homes for them, and this will make an important contribution to funding CERA’s programs and services.

Awards:

The Board singled out two longtime members for special recognition at the 75th Anniversary Banquet. Myles Jarrow, (#23), received the Founder’s Award, while Ray DeGroote (#1470) was honored with the Service Award.

If you have already renewed your CERA membership, we thank you for your continued support. If you have not yet renewed, the January mailing will be your last from CERA – don’t miss out, renew your membership for another great year. You can renew your membership online through our web site, using either PayPal or your credit card, or mail us a check.

2014 is CERA’s 76th year. Let’s show everyone that we still have the “Spirit of ’76!”

-Your CERA Directors

PS- We thank all our 2013 Contributing and Sustaining members for their contributions to CERA. We also note with regret the passing of several CERA members. You can view this list here.

CERA’s 2014 Annual Meeting, Directors Election, and Proposed By-Laws Changes

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 16:53:05 GMT

Central Electric Railfans’ Association will hold its next Annual Meeting on January 24, 2014. This will coincide with our monthly program meeting, which will take place immediately afterward.

Per our By-Laws. the eligible voters at the business meeting are our Active, Contributing, andSustaining Members from the year 2013. Associate Members do not vote.

Your CERA Board of Directors will mail out materials relating to the Annual Meeting on January 8, 2014. These will go out to all eligible voters. In conjunction with the Annual Meeting, CERA will send out anAnnual Report to all our members.

Three Directors will be elected at the Annual Meeting. The top two vote-getters will receive three-year terms, and the third-place finisher will get a two-year term. This is a transitional election, in conjunction with the By-Laws change approved by the members in January 2013, reducing the size of the Board from 9 to 7.

Ballots will be mailed out to all eligible voters, and can be cast either through the mail, or in person at the meeting. Diana L. Koester, our Election Committee chair, will collect the ballots and will count them at the meeting. In order to eliminate the possibility of handing out more than one ballot to someone, ballots for the Directors election will not be distributed at the Annual Meeting. In order to vote in person, you must use the ballot you received in the mail.

The three candidates for election are John Nicholson, Bill Reynolds, and Joe Reuter. This is the order their names will appear on the ballot, determined by drawing lots. The ballot also provides space for write-in candidates.

All three candidates are long-time Members, current Directors, and are well-known to the membership. Short bios of each candidate will be mailed out along with the ballots.

In addition to the Directors election, there are two By-Laws changes proposed by the Directors, which will be voted on in person by the eligible voters at the Annual Meeting.

The first change to be considered would establish an Honorary Life Membership. If approved, this would allow the Directors to designate up to two such memberships per calendar year, for exemplary service to the organization. However, it does not require the Directors to do so, meaning that in any calendar year, there could be zero, one, or two such Honorary Life Memberships created.

The By-Laws at present do not allow for Life Members, and the proposed rewording of the By-Laws changes this. If approved, this change would be effective immediately.

The second By-Laws change to be considered phases out the Associate Member category. Over the course of many decades, the founders’ original intentions behind creating this category have been lost, and therefore it is no longer necessary.

In CERA’s early days, candidates had to undergo a catechism, correctly answering several questions about electric railways, in order to become Active Members. Even if done partly in jest, we haven’t required this of our members in a long time.

In addition, the founders thought that people in the Chicago area would be the Active Members, and those in other areas would become Associates. Today, this geographic distinction has been lost, and we have many Active Members in other parts of the country, and Associates who are local.

The main difference between the two membership categories today involves mailings and voting rights. Associate Members do not receive all the same program mailings that Active members do, and Associates cannot serve on CERA committees or vote in our elections.

In 2013, we began sending our members “CERA News” every month, and it does not seem fair to keep this information from some of our members. We would prefer to send all of our members the same information about CERA and its activities.

Anyone who wants to save CERA the cost of “snail mail” can do so right now by subscribing to the CERA Members Blog, and then informing us that they would prefer to get their news that way.Therefore, there is really no need to continue having the Associate category. It is superfluous.

As part of this transitioning away from the Associate category, it only costs our members an additional $3 to “step up” to a 2014 Active Membership. You can purchase memberships online here. Using the same link, you can also print out an application form that you can mail in along with a check.

If approved by our members at the Annual Meeting, this change would take effect with the 2015 calendar year. You can still purchase an Associate CERA Membership for 2014.

If this By-Laws change is approved, all CERA Members would have voting rights and could serve on our committees. The CERA Directors want to expand the voting franchise and encourage the active participation of all our Members.

If you have any questions about the Annual Meeting, you can contact us at: ceraoffice@gmail.com

A complete information packet, including the exact wording of the proposed By-Laws changes, will be sent out to all eligible voters on January 8, 2014.

-Your CERA Directors

Tonight (12-27-2013) @CERA: Dallas

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 16:54:48 GMT

Our Next Program:
Texas Electric and the Journey to DART by Mark Walbrun

Mark Walbrun will present a program on the former Texas Electric, Dallas Railway and Terminal Co., and the new Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) lines, including the extensions to the McKinney Avenue trolley. Although much of the Texas Electric was obliterated, some of it survives in other forms including the former downtown terminal and the Plano substation. DART’s new Orange line to DFW airport is just about complete and the long awaited extension of the Blue Line to Rowlett opened this year. See the recently modified rolling stock operating at full speed down the Red Line, the new Green Line terminal, and much more. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening. We will be serving cookies and cider to help everyone get into the spirit of the holiday season.

Texas Electric 319. (Photographer unknown)

Friday, December 27, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 South State Street
Chicago, IL

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members.

CERA Mailbag for 12-22-2013

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 16:57:08 GMT

The first streetcar to roll on tracks in Washington in over 50 years on H Street between 3rd & 4th Streets, NE, near the western terminal of H Street line (December 14, 2013). (Photo by Jeffrey Mora)

Following up on our recent post “Streetcars Return to DC” (December 16, 2013), we received some photos of the test car, courtesy of Jeffrey Mora and Ken Briers.

Ken Briers writes:

This evening my wife, Sally, and I were sitting in our corner bar, The Big Board, at 5th and H Streets, NE. About 7:30, a lot of flashing blue police vehicle lights went by. Next came a line truck, followed by what probably is the first DC streetcar operating under its own power. It appeared to be a test of the trolley wire installation. The car was accompanied by dozens of people wearing hard hats and safety vests, some riding inside, and some just walking along, observing.

I caught up with it at 7th Street and followed it down to 12th Street.

Paul DeVerter writes:

I see that your December CERA meting will be on DART and TE and DR&T. Sorry that I will miss it. Have you thought on making a video recording of your programs, and putting them on YouTube?
Thanks.

This is an interesting question that has come up before, and it deserves a good answer. It’s pretty much up to our presenters whether or not they would want to create something like a slideshow or video that others could watch over the Internet.

Simply pointing a video camera at the screen wouldn’t be very satisfactory, since the quality would really suffer. In theory you could arrange your slides on a computer and create a slideshow with synchronized narration, but that is a lot of work in its own right apart from actually presenting a program.

There is the issue of rights. Usually our programs include images collected from a variety of sources. The presenter may not own the copyright on what is being shown, and would have to get somebody else’s permission in order to do this.

Finally, once a presentation has been “canned,” it takes something away from the presenter’s ability to show the same program to another audience. Some of our presenters do this.

The other thing, which I forgot to mention, is the connection between the presenter and the audience. Putting on a slideshow is somewhat akin to a performance. It helps to know your audience- to play to your audience.

In a “canned” presentation, there is no audience… you don’t know who is going to see it. There is a difference between the slideshow I might put on in an empty room, as opposed to one in front of our usual crowd, people we have known for many years.

Dan Morris writes:

This might interest you, it’s of my son Eric sitting on the custom made South Shore Toy Box which was his 2nd year birthday present. I am sure it’s the only one ever made. 11-10-79

Very nice, thanks! And where is that toy box now?

The Toy box is still in my son’s old room. He’s stationed in Guam as a USAF C-17 loadmaster who just got his fifth stripe. He also has been blessed (11-25-13) with a son who will one day get the toy box I had made.

We thank you for sharing those priceless family photos with our readers. Congratulations on the birth of your grandson. We also thank your son for his service to our country.

To you, your son and his family, and all of our readers and their families, we wish everyone the very best in this Holiday Season.

-David Sadowski

The CTA Holiday Train southbound at Chicago Avenue on December 17, 2013. (Photo by Eric Bronsky)

From Garfield “L” To Congress Median (Part 6)

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 17:00:13 GMT

Here is another installment in our ongoing series, showing the transition from the old CTA Garfield Park “L” to the present Congress Expressway rapid transit line in the 1950s. If You would like to see our previous posts, just type “Congress” or “Garfield” in the search window on our blog’s home page.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

A two-car train of 4000s crosses the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway at Kostner in August 1956. (Photographer unknown)

The public was somewhat baffled when Phase 1 of the City’s subway plan was approved by the PWA in 1938. The Dearborn-Milwaukee subway simply ended at Dearborn and Congress, with no explanation of where it should continue. However, it was always intended to connect to a west side median line in the middle of the Congress Expressway. Work on the Dearborn-Milwaukee tube was 80% completed when work halted in 1942 due to the war. But construction work west on Congress did not begin until after the war. Plans originally called for an underground turning loop at LaSalle, but CTA decided a stub-end terminal was sufficient in 1947. This is where service ended from 1951-58. (Photographer unknown)

Two trains of CA&E wood cars passing each other at Laramie, circa 1950. (Photographer unknown)

A CTA articulated “doodlebug” from the original 5000-series crosses the Union Station trainshed, probably in the late 1940s. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E car 408 is at the rear of an eastbound Chicago Limited, approaching the Loop, sometime before the end of service in September 1953. (Photographer unknown)

A two-car train of CTA woods heads west on the Garfield “L”, somewhere east of Marshfield Junction. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E 427 is a Wheaton Local heading west on the Garfield Park “L” sometime before downtown service ended in September 1953. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E 428 westbound at Racine in May 1952. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E 458 heads up a three-car train of curved-sided cars, the last new equipment the interurban received, westbound at Laramie, sometime prior to September 20, 1953. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E steel car 402 heads up a westbound train at DesPlaines Avenue circa 1953-57. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E 423 and 424 turning around at DesPlaines Avenue circa 1953-57. (Photographer unknown)

CTA and CA&E used grade-separated turnback loops at DesPlaines Avenue from 1953-57. (Photographer unknown)

The CTA opened a free “park’n’ride” lot at DesPlaines Avenue on December 15, 1953. The large gas tank in the background was a Forest Park landmark for years. (Photographer unknown)

A train of CTA wood cars crosses the B&O just east of DesPlaines Avenue, at the current site of the Eisenhower expressway. (Photographer unknown)

CTA flat-door 6000s cross the Chicago River near Union Station. (Photographer unknown)

Expressway construction just west of the Loop is well underway as a two-car CTA train of 6000s runs along the endangered Garfield “L”. (Photographer unknown)

This would appear to be another view of where the Garfield “L” crossed the Congress expressway at Kostner. (Photographer unknown)

From the sign on the wooden “L” car, this must be a CTA test train on the temporary Van Buren Street trackage, just prior to the beginning of service in September 1953. Streetcar tracks are still visible in Van Buren Street. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E steel car 419 is on the turning loop at DesPlaines Avenue on July 4, 1956. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E trains turned around at DesPlaines Avenue on a turnback loop from 1953-57. (Photo by W. Fred Stone)

This photo is somewhat of a mystery. The date given is March 17, 1958, but by this time, the Congress expressway had been open for a few years. The cars in the background don’t appear much newer than 1954-55. Perhaps this is the Sacramento crossing, and the date on the photo is wrong. It would appear that the highway is being dug out underneath the “L”. (Photo by Kelly Powell)

In this January 1960 view, we see the Garfield “L” structure heading west from the Loop, between the time service was discontinued (1958) and when the structure was torn down (1964). From the track arrangement, it would appear that one of the two bridges over the Chicago River was taken out of service sometime between the end of CA&E operation downtown (1953) and the rerouting of CTA service through the old Wells Street Terminal to a new connection with the Loop “L” structure. Other parts of the old Garfield “L” were torn down in 1959. (Photographer unknown)

CTA 9 and 10 at DesPlaines Avenue on April 3, 1960. The new single car units were first used on the Congress-Douglas-Milwaukee route, before being moved to Evanston in 1961. (Photographer unknown)

CTA 6566 heads up a train westbound at Kostner on the Congress line on August 7, 1967. (Photographer unknown)

The Last Interurban Abandonment?

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 17:24:30 GMT

On a transit-related discussion forum, this question recently came up:

Was the North Shore the last interurban to end passenger service? I can’t think of any that made it past 1963 and aren’t still around. I know that a few lines lasted longer as exclusively freight operations.

By 1964, Hilton and Due declared that the “Interurban Era” was truly over, following the abandonment of both Pacific Electric and the North Shore Line. Passenger service continues on the Chicago South Shore & South Bend, “America’s Last Interurban,” so that can’t be the answer.

But there is one other possible candidate- the Red Arrow Ardmore branch. Rail service there ended on December 30, 1966, nearly four years after the NSL. (With bus service, it continues as SEPTA Route 103.)

I guess it depends on what you mean by “interurban.” Hilton and Due included Red Arrow in their classic volume, The Electric Interurban Railways In America, but there was a caveat- Red Arrow had some of the characteristics of an interurban.

At the core, interurban means “between cities.” And Red Arrow is more suburban than interurban. Until SEPTA took over in 1970, the Ardmore line was part of the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company.

I think most people would agree that the West Chester line was a true interurban. It was the longest by far of the various Red Arrow lines, but it was also the first to go, in June 1954. Ridership was good, but the “side of the road” line fell victim to the widening of West Chester Pike. Buses replaced trolley cars.

Red Arrow’s Norristown High-Speed Line is more rapid transit than interurban, but it did share trackage with a real interurban, Lehigh Valley Transit’s Liberty Bell Limited, at least until 1949. Those trains ran from 69th St. terminal (which is actually in Upper Darby, PA just outside the Philadelphia city limits) to Allentown.

Ardmore, the shortest Red Arrow branch line, also had good ridership, but a number of things worked against the continuation of rail service. There was a car shortage, Red Arrow not being in a position to buy new equipment after about 1950. Red Arrow President Merritt H. Taylor, Jr. said they were two cars away from keeping rail service.

They considered buying the two double-ended Illinois Terminal cars that were saved, but the doors were on the wrong side. And so buses took over from rail, in part over a private “busway.”

The IT cars eventually ran in regular service for a while in Cleveland before going back to railway museums.

Rail service continues today on the former Red Arrow Media and Sharon Hill lines. These too might have been “bussed,” except that Red Arrow would have lost title to the land, rail service being part of the bargain.

Red Arrow thought they might be able to get around this requirement by using a rail bus, which could run on rubber tires over city streets, then convert to steel wheels to run on rails. Fortunately for us, the experiment did not work out.

In the aforementioned Hilton and Due book, the authors say that Red Arrow intended to bus all their lines except Norristown within a few years. Ardmore fell victim to this, but we still have very successful trolley service on Media and Sharon Hill via SEPTA.

Ardmore Junction was by far the best spot for pictures on the line, with the possibility of getting a P&W car and an Ardmore train in the same picture.

We’ve selected some of our favorite pictures from the Philadelphia Suburban Ardmore branch, and we present them for your enjoyment. As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for. I, for one, am thankful there haven’t been more abandonments.

If anything, there are contemporary systems that could also be considered interurbans- the PATCO Speedline between Philadelphia and Lindenwold comes to mind, and BART. But the “Interurban Era” was as much sociological as technological, and it has receded into the past, never to return in its original form.

-David Sadowski

PSTCo 63 and Liberty Liner at Ardmore Junction on May 30, 1964. The Liners had only been in service for a few months. (Photographer unknown)

The Ardmore Terminal, since demolished. (From an old postcard)

Brilliner 1 at Ardmore Junction on May 30, 1964. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 12 at Ardmore Terminal on August 6, 1960. (Photographer unknown)

That’s P&W ‘Strafford” car 168 above, and I think that’s Red Arrow car 18 below at Ardmore Junction on November 26, 1954. (Photo by Raymond DeGroote)

PSTCo 63 at Ardmore Station on May 30, 1964. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 3 street running on Lipincott Street on June 1, 1965. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 5 at Llanerch Junction on June 1, 1965. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 11 on the Ardmore branch on June 1, 1965. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 11 on the Ardmore line on June 1, 1965. (Photographer unknown)

Double-ended St. Louis car 13 (don’t call them “PCCs”) at Ardmore Junction on November 26, 1954. (Photo by Raymond DeGroote)

PSTCo 42 at Llanerch car barn on May 8, 1949. (Photographer unknown)

Inside a Red Arrow car in the 1950s. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 77 at the Ardmore Terminal on July 23, 1949. (Photo by James J. Buckley)

PSTCo 63 at Ardmore Junction on May 30, 1964. (Photo by Charles W. Houser, Sr.)

Brilliner 5 at Ardmore Junction on June 28, 1952. (Photographer unknown)

One of the Red Arrow Liberty Liners meets car 63 at Ardmore Junction on May 30, 1964. (Photographer unknown)

PSTCo 63 at Ardmore Junction on May 30, 1964. (Photographer unknown)

Philadelphia Suburban car 63 at Llanerch Junction on May 30, 1964. (Photographer unknown)

Brilliner 1 near the Ardmore terminal in December 1964. (Photographer unknown)

Brilliner 3 along West Chester Pike, near Llanerch Depot, on November 26, 1954. (Photo by Raymond DeGroote)

A map showing the historic Red Arrow trolley lines (from the Wikipedia).

The Red Arrow trolley lines were featured in CERA Bulletin 88.

PSTC 19 along the Ardmore line in the early 1950s. (Photographer unknown)

Brilliner 4 at speed on single-track private right-of-way leaving Ardmore in the 1950s. (Photo by Richard H. Young)

This Friday @CERA – South Shore Line

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:53:32 GMT

This Friday’s CERA program features films of the South Shore Line during the late 1970s and early 1980s:

Friday, November 22, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 South State Street
Chicago, IL

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members. Please note that the fourth Friday in November falls the week before Thanksgiving this year. In most years, our program would take place the day after Thanksgiving, but not this year!

To help celebrate the South Shore Line, we present a selection of some of my own favorite pictures of that storied interurban.

-David Sadowski

The end was near for the old cars when this picture was taken in Chicago during May 1983. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Randolph Street station in March 1985. That neon sign is now out at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photo by David Sadowski)

These charming decals, designed by Dale Fleming, were put on South Shore cars around 1975. (Photo by David Sadowski)

“Little Joe” locomotive 803 in October 1983. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The then-new South Shore cars, gleaming, in May 1983. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The then-new Nippon Sharyo cars at Randolph Street station in May 1983. This is now the site of Millennium Park, built over the tracks. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Fantrip #158, April 28, 1985. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The new South Shore cars on a CERA fantrip, April 28, 1985. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Michigan City street running, CERA fantrip, April 28, 1985. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The old and the new CSS&SB 43 meets 1100 at Dune Park on May 27, 1988. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Line Car 1100 at Hicks on May 27, 1988. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CSS&SB 1100 at Hegewisch (ex-Indiana Railroad) on a fantrip to benefit the George Krambles Transportation Scholarship Fund. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Line Car 1100 at Hicks on May 27, 1988. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CSS&SB Line Car 1100 at Dune Park on May 27, 1988. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Souvenirs From “Trolley Night”

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:27:39 GMT

Editor’s note: Here we feature the work of guest blogger Edward Halstead. We ran a photo of one of Ed’s models in our previous post “The Chicago and West Towns Railway.” We’ve discussed models before, for example in our post “Any Color You Like.”

George Kanary’s fanciful Cincinnati curved-side car, dolled out as a CSL 1940s interurban, in much the same fashion as LVT did with the “Easton Limited.”

A few of the traction fans and modelers in the Chicago area have informal Trolley Meets or Evenings throughout the calendar year at their homes. There’s no formal invitation list. In general movies, slides, and/or DVD’s are shown. The fellas who have layouts will invite other modelers to bring models to run. The evening is a chance for the “guys” and “gals” to meet one another and chat.

On Friday, November 15, 2013 Terrell Colson, the son of Bob Colson who owned both All Nation Hobby Shop and the All Nation Line of manufactured O scale models, hosted a “Trolley Night” meet at his house. Many modelers brought their O scale equipment to run on his layout. Also, much to Terrell’s credit he has been trying to include more and more of the younger traction fans and modelers.

Upon looking over my photos of Terrell’s Trolley Meet I realized each photo, each model tells a story of its own. Unknowingly many of us who brought models made it a North Shore Line and Chicago Surface Lines evening.

That’s enough from me!

Cheers,
Ed Halstead
Modeling Insull’s Empire in O Scale

CSL Pullman 141 was brought to the Meet by Bruce Moffat of “40 Feet Below” fame. The model started out as a Q-Car epoxy body which Bruce had finished for himself.

The NSL 604 was scratch built by Ed Miller and is now owned by Ed Heerdt. Ed Heerdt has many more models of what can be called the “Insull Empire”. As an aside, do you get the idea there are a number of Eds in the hobby?

Here are NSL 604 next to NSL 458. NSL 458 was scratch built by Ralph Nelson using cast parts provided by the late Jack Bailey (Ashland Car Works). The model is owned by Dan Ferlaciki. Dan and his father volunteer at Illinois Railway Museum. Between the two of them they operate and continue to work on the Indiana Railroad 65 high-speed lightweight interurban car.

That is my NSL 256 speeding by Dan’s 458. The NSL 256 started life as a Clouser epoxy body and was completed and finished by me. It’s normally operated in a 2-car train with NSL 772 as a “Milwaukee Limited”. My NSL 772 started out as an All Nation imported brass body.

The brass model NSL 459 is a Ken Kidder model and belongs to Dan Ferlaciki. It was first imported dating back to the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. This brass model could be finished as either the Oregon Electric 50 or the NSL 459.

The absolutely beautiful scratch built ice car was built by Don Idarius. It is now owned by his son Kevin. This is a model you cannot get enough of. In making the model Don even had the graphics made as an individual special order decal. Anyone for some ice cubes?

Kevin Idarius is the owner of the CSL Birney. Yes, the CSL like many city streetcar lines had Birneys.

These two 2 photos are Andy Sunderland’s Los Angeles Pacific Co. 700’s. WOW! We don’t get to see many West Coast trolleys in the Midwest. The pair make a beautiful train! They run just a beautiful as they look.

The CSL service car W14 was scratch built by Rich Nielsen. Rich did a great job in making the model. He included small rolls of different wire plus some wheels. It has to be powered as a gear can be seen in the front truck. Nice model! Zowie!

These two photos are of George Kanary’s scratch built CSL 5182 model. Take a look at the back platform. The CSL always had the back doors of its cars open in all sorts of weather. Look at the details George included! The model is made of wood! Excellent work!

The next model has a “What if!” CSL paint scheme normally seen on post war PCC’s and the early “spam cans”. To me it shows how great that choice and placement of colors was. When painted on a Cincinnati “curved side car” the color scheme looks just as great as on the actual CSL/CTA cars. Getting back to George’s “What if!”, George says the car is for the Chicago to Joliet route of the CSL. It is nice to dream!

Last is Rich Nielsen’s Walthers built-up NSL Skokie coach kit. Rich proves if the modeler takes the time and effort as well as his talents, a beautiful model can be built! Rich can be proud of his work!

The Chicago & West Towns Railway, Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 17:57:01 GMT

Following up on our earlier post about the Chicago & West Towns Railway, here are more rare views of that important suburban system (which survives today with bus service as part of PACE).

CERA published the definitive book about West Towns in 2006 as B-138. It is still in print and available for purchase here. The book (by James J. Buckley, and edited by Ricard Aaron) was based in part on an earlier bulletin issued by the Electric Railway Historical Society (ERHS), active from 1952-73.

ERHS was also responsible for preserving several rare railcars, including postwar Chicago PCC 4391 and Chicago & West Towns 141. Here, published for the first time, are some photos by Charles L. Tauscher of car 141 in 1959, being moved to a farm in Downers Grove. The Illinois Railway Museum acquired the car in 1973 and it has now been restored to operating condition.

You can read a history of the ERHS here.

It is fitting and proper to look back at car 141 as one of IRM’s numerous success stories as the museum celebrates its 60th anniversary with a banquet this weekend.

-David Saowski

141 as it appeared in September, 1959. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher)

141 in transit to join the rest of the ERHS collection. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher)

The Electric Railway Historical Society performed a valuable service by saving many historic streetcars, such as Chicago & West Towns 141. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher)

West Towns car 141 heading out to Downers Grove in September 1959. It joined the ERHS collection there before heading to IRM in 1973. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher)

141 being delivered to the farm owned by Mrs. Lena Gnas. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher)

Car 141, now fully restored at the Illinois Railway Museum, in action on a “Railfan Special.” (Photographer Unknown)

Car 101 on the Madison St. line. (Photographer Unknown)

Car 158 was built by Cummings Car & Coach in 1927, using trucks, motors, and controls from scrapped 500-series cars. It was junked in 1948. (Photographer Unknown)

Car 144, signed for Melrose Park. (Photographer Unknown)

Car 151 on Lake Street. (Photographer Unknown)

144 on Lake Street. (Photogrpaher Unknown)

144 in an earlier paint scheme. (Photographer Unknown)

On February 14, 1947, West Towns posed some of their new buses on lake Street. Two days later, buses replaced streetcars on the Madison St. line. (Photographer Unknown)

Lake Street, February 14, 1947. The Madison St. car line quit the following day (Saturday), with bus service starting on Sunday. (Photographer Unknown)

West Towns private right-of-way through the Forest Preserves. According to Michael Murray, this is “where the line crossed 1st Ave. just east of the zoo. That photo looks east toward the Des Plaines River crossing and Riverside.” (Photographer Unknown)

The old C&WT right-of-way is still visible in this aerial view of the scene shown above. 1st Avenue is at left. An access road into the Forest Preserves follows part of the r-o-w, which then continued straight across the Des Plaines River on its own bridge. We are south of 31st Street.

West Towns car 141 has been lovingly restored and is now operational again, for the first time since it last ran in 1948. (Photo by David Sadowski)

West Towns car 141, sole survivor of that street railway, at the Illinois Railway Museum on September 21, 2013. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Announcing the CERA Used Book Exchange

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 17:48:53 GMT

We were recently contacted by a woman whose father died a few years ago, leaving behind a collection of CERA books. I told her we had just received a letter from a man who was looking for a copy of CERA B-110, West Penn Railways. He said his grandfather had worked for West Penn.

She said that by coincidence, this just happened to be the last book of her father’s that she had looked at. She sent us the book and we sold it to the grandson for a nominal sum.

This was a “win-win” for everyone. The lady had a great sense of satisfaction, seeing her father’s book going to a good home. The grandson got the book they wanted, and CERA made a few dollars in the process.

This gave us the idea of a CERA Used Book Exchange. We are often contacted by people who are looking for out-of-print CERA bulletins. And we know that there are people who have traction books they no longer want. The power of the Internet (and this blog) gives us a chance to get these books to the people who want them.

If you have traction books that you no longer need, why not consider donating them to CERA? We will post a list of used books that are available on a periodic basis here on the blog, under the heading of CERA Used Book Exchange. Prices will be reasonable and will include domestic shipping via USPS Media Mail. International shipping will be extra, with rates available upon request. All proceeds will go to CERA, and will help fund our activities as an educational and technical association incorporated in the State of Illinois.

We are a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and your book donations may be tax-deductible. If you need a tax letter for your donation, we will be happy to provide one.

The list will be updated as books come and go, and will supersede all previous lists. Watch this space in the next few weeks for our first such list.

Naturally, CERA has a complete collection of bulletins for archive purposes. But we would like to scan all our old bulletins, and make them available as .pdf files on discs via high-resolution scans. This is not difficult for the earlier bulletins, which are shorter in length, but the later ones, starting with about B-100, might have to be removed from their bindings in order to be scanned. We cannot do this with our archived copies, so this means we may need additional copies of some bulletins beyond what we have in our archives.

In addition, we intend to make the 49 ERHS* bulletins available on disc as a complete set. We have put together a collection of most of them, but are still looking for the following numbers:

5, 8, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21, 45, and 46

If you have copies of any of these, we would be glad to have them. They will help us complete our project.

Besides this, there are plenty of other high-quality traction books that have been put out by various publishers over the years. Interurbans Press, Kalmbach Publications and Morning Sun books come immediately to mind, but there have been many others. Books such as these are also welcome and would be of interest to our members.

With your help, we can make the CERA Used Book Exchange a great success. I believe that over time, it will become one of the most popular features of the CERA Members’ Blog.

If you are interested in donating used (or new) traction books to CERA, you can contact us:

By e-mail: ceraoffice@gmail.com

By mail: CERA, PO Box 503, Chicago IL, 60690-0503

By telephone: 312-987-4391

-David Sadowksi

*The Electric Railway Historical Society published bulletins from 1952-73. They were also responsible for saving several historic railcars that are now at the Illinois Railway Museum.

CERA News for November 2013

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 18:00:13 GMT

2014 Memberships Now On Sale

This photo of CTA 4391 in Chinatown appears on CERA’s 2014 membership card. The only surviving Chicago postwar PCC car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

You can purchase a 2014 CERA Membership right now, either online or by mail. The costs are as follows:

Associate (USA) $42*
Active (USA) $45*
Contributing $90
Sustaining $180

*International members add $30 to these rates. All payments are due in US dollars.

These rates are the same for new members as well as renewals. Once payment is received, we will be able to figure out whether it is a renewal. If you do not know you member number, we can look that up as well.

We will mail our your 2014 Membership Card ASAP. It will have you member number next to your name on the label. There will also be a colored dot on the card indicating membership class.

We are still taking renewals for 2013. Many of our members pride themselves on having had continuous memberships for many years. You can renew for 2013 by mail or online using the same link above (to our web site). You can print out all forms and mail them in, or pay online using PayPal, debit and credit cards. Please do not send your sensitive credit card information to CERA.

We thank all our members for their continued support of CERA. Since we are a 501(c)3 organization, contributions beyond the $45 Active Membership rate may be tax-deductible.

Become a card-carrying member of CERA!

(The international rates have gone up to reflect the greatly increased costs of mailing books and other notices outside the US. Without these increases, we would have to consider discontinuing international memberships, which we do not want to do. Also, if international memberships cannot cover the costs, this means that domestic members would have to pay more to subsidize them, which again, we do not want to do.)

Book Entitlements

All members will receive a book entitlement, in addition to free admission to our monthly CERA programs.

Our next CERA book (B-146) will be Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era, to be published in Spring 2014. This is the entitlement for 2012 Members.

We will publish B-147 in Fall 2014. The title has yet to be determined. This will be the entitlement for 2013 members.

We expect to publish B-148 in 2015. This will be the entitlement for 2014 members. This will put us back on our regular production schedule.

Proposed By-Laws Changes

Your CERA Board of Directors will propose changes in our By-Laws, to be voted on at the Annual Meeting on January 24, 2014. The exact wording of the proposals will be distributed by mail to the membership for their consideration not less than 10, nor more than 40 days prior to that meeting. A majority of those Active, Contributing, and Sustaining Members present is required for approval.

Both changes involve classes of membership. At present, the By-Laws specify four such classes, Associate, Active, Contributing, and Sustaining. If the changes being proposed are approved, there would still be four classes, but they would be Active, Contributing, Sustaining, and Life memberships. The two changes, the addition of one category and the elimination of another, will be considered separately.

Life Membership

Many organizations have Life Members, with varying ways of determining the cost. Some organizations offer a Life Membership for a flat fee. Others have a sliding scale based on age. Some have honorary Life Members. At present, CERA’s By-Laws prohibit Life Memberships. The Board of Directors would like to change this.

In general, the Board wishes to establish a Life Member category, with the exact requirements to be left to the discretion of the Directors. Putting exact requirements in the By-Laws would tie the hands and limit the flexibility of future Boards. However, the Directors intend to establish a sliding scale for determining the price of a Life Membership, based on the age of the applicant, of so much per year. This would be based on expected actuarial lifespan.

In addition, the Board would like to be able to offer an honorary Life Membership in exceptional circumstances. Limitations could be placed on the number of such memberships. Perhaps there could be one honorary Life Membership that could be granted in each calendar year.

The Board would also prefer that the dues paid for a Life Membership be deposited in our investment account, so they will generate the funds needed to pay for the expenses involved in having such members in future years. Since this is a new category, it could go into effect as soon as it is approved (if approved) at the 2014 Annual Meeting.

Associate Membership

CERA has offered both Associate and Active memberships for more than 70 years. Over time, it has become obvious to the Directors that the original intentions behind this distinction have been lost, and are no longer meaningful. Therefore, the Board proposes the elimination of the Associate category.

In the first few years of the organization, you had to undergo a “catechism” in order to become an Active member, where you had to successfully answer a series of quiz questions about electric railways. While this may have been done partly in jest, that is how it was done. Needless to say, we have not had such a requirement in a long time.

CERA’s Directors originally thought that Active Members would be people who live in the Chicago area, and Associate Members would live in different parts of the country. Over time, this distinction has also been lost or blurred. We have many Active Members who live outside Chicago, some even in foreign countries, while we have just as many Associate Members who live in Chicagoland.

ALL classes of members receive a book entitlement, plus free admission to our monthly meetings, so there is no difference there. Active Members receive our monthly program notices, while we sometimes mail them to Associate Members as well, if we have other mailings to send them anyway. While we charge slightly less for Associate ($42) vs. Active ($45) memberships, there is not much difference there either.

This year, CERA has been sending out News updates to our members on a monthly basis. It hardly seems fair that we would not send such updates to our Associate Members as we do to the others.

There really does not seem to be much point in having a class of membership where people are required to be inactive. We want all our members to be active and interested in CERA. Associate Members cannot vote in our elections, and cannot serve as Directors or on committees, even if they want to.

It would be preferable that all Members have the same rights to vote and to serve. If someone wants to be a Member and remain inactive in such matters, they can still do so- but by their own choice, not ours.

The difference in the cost between an Active and Associate membership is supposed to cover the reduced costs of mailing to the latter. For 2014, the Board increased the cost of Associate Membership from $38 to $42, a difference of about 10%, to reflect our increased costs of mailings. We are sending more mailings to all our members, and there really isn’t a downside to that, since these mailings have been very successful in stimulating interest in CERA and its activities.

When we send book catalogs to our members, we sell more books. When we send renewal notices, we get more renewals. It is hard to imagine how CERA could have had a successful 75th Anniversary series of events without the various mailings that were sent out to ALL our members, including the Associates.

For 2014, the difference in cost between an Associate and Active membership is only $3. This hardly seems like enough of a difference to warrant keeping the Associate category.

If people are concerned about the cost of mailings and saving CERA money through reducing them, there are other ways to do that. The easiest and simplest way would be to sign up to become a “follower” of the CERA Members Blog. That way, you will automatically receive much the same CERA news, updates, and program information by email. Better yet, you will be in control of your own subscription, which will reduce CERA’s overhead costs that would be incurred in managing it.

Once you subscribe to the Blog, all you would need to do is drop us a line, telling us that you prefer to receive your updates this way, and we would in turn stop mailing them to you, until you tell us to start them up again. This is something that ALL members can do right now, and it doesn’t take an additional membership category to accomplish it.

The simplest way to put this change into effect would be to eliminate the various references to Associate Membership in our By-Laws. The exact wording of these proposals has yet to be made, and will be approved by the Board of Directors at our November meeting, prior to being mailed out to the voting membership.

Again, any such change would have to be approved by a majority of Active, Contributing, and Sustaining Members attending our 2014 Annual Meeting. AND, the change would not go into effect until 2015. You can still purchase an Associate Membership for 2014 for only $42, either online (through our web site) or by mail.

Directors Election

CERA’s Active, Contributing, and Sustaining Members will elect three people to our Board of Directors at our Annual Meeting on January 24, 2014. Due to the changes in our By-Laws that were approved earlier this year, changing the number of Directors from 9 to 7, this is a transitional election. There are two 3-year terms available, and one 2-year term.

The top two vote-getters will receive 3-year terms, and the third-place finisher will get a 2-year term. In future years, there will be a cycle of three, two, and two Directors elected per year (which adds up to seven), each with a 3-year term. (In the 2013 election, there was only one vacancy, in order to reduce the total number of Directors from 9 to 7.)

The three Directors whose terms are expiring are John Nicholson, Joseph Reuter, and Bill Reynolds. All three have indicated that they wish to stand for election again. However, anyone who is an Active, Contributing, or Sustaining member for 2014 is eligible to serve. If you qualify and are interested, please contact our Nominations Committee indicating your interest, as follows:

By mail:

CERA Nominations Committee
PO Box 503
Chicago, IL
60690-0503

By e-mail:

ceraoffice@gmail.com

Once it is determined whose names will appear on the ballot, they will be mailed out to our Active, Contributing, and Sustaining Members in accordance with our By-Laws. You can return your ballot either by mail (to the PO Box of the Elections Committee chair, which will be printed on the ballot) or bring it to the Annual Meeting.

Please contact us at ceraoffice@gmail.com (or at the office) if you have any questions or comments about the election or our proposed By-Laws changes.

Thanks!

-Your CERA Board of Directors

November @CERA: The Little Train That Did

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 17:04:25 GMT

Our next program…
South Shore in the ’70s- The Little Train That Did

By the 1970s, South Shore Line was the last interurban left in the country. Owner Chessie had petitioned for abandonment, and the rolling stock was really showing its age. Yet somehow it survived, thanks in large part to those classic railcars. In retrospect, the “Little Train That Could” was surely the little train that did. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening, as we watch films of the South Shore in this era, taken by Daniel Morris and Bill Reynolds. We will also see the classic documentary “Passengers Use Light at Night.”

Friday, November 22, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 South State Street
Chicago, IL

To whet your appetite for the program, we present a generous selection of South Shore views from the 1960s to the early 1980s.

#34 in Michigan City in September 1969. (Photographer Unknown)

Cars 7 and 212 in west South Bend on May 24, 1963. (Photographer Unknown)

A two-car train at South Bend station in February 1969. In September 1970, the line was cut back to Bendix at the outskirts of town, but it has since been extended to the South Bend airport. (Photographer Unknown)

#102 at South Bend in December 1962. (Photographer Unknown)

Baggage car 504 at Michigan City in June 1967. According to Don’s Rail Photos, it was “built by St. Louis Car in 1926 as Indiana Service Corp 377.” It was purchased by the South Shore in 1941 from the Indiana Railroad. (Photographer Unknown)

#22 heads up a four-car train in Michigan City in September 1969. (Photographer Unknown)

This may be the downtown South Bend station interior, April 1970. (Photographer Unknown)

South Shore cars 26 and 102 in Michigan City, October 1975. A CTA 4000-series “L” car is barely visible at left, on its way to a railway museum. (Photographer Unknown)

The stock room at the shops in January 1970. (Photographer Unknown)

The Gary station in June 1969. (Photographer Unknown)

The waiting room at the East Chicago station in January 1970. (Photographer Unknown)

Signage at the old Randolph St. station. The neon at left is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photographer Unknown)

Combine 102 at Randolph Street in July 1971. (Photographer Unknown)

Don’s Rail Photos says, “110 was built by Standard in 1929 as coach 10. It was rebuilt into 110 in 1951.” Here we see it on September 1, 1973. (Photographer Unknown)

#203 (built by Pullman in 1927) in July 1976. (Photographer Unknown)

#23 on a fantrip in July 1971. (Photographer Unknown)

According to Don’s Rail Photos: “104 was builtt by Pullman in 1926. It was lengthened in 1943. Air conditioning and picture windows came in 1950.” Here we see the car in June 1975. (Photographer Unknown)

Loco 702 in June 1976. (Photographer Unknown)

Car 106 meets Little Joe 803 in September 1980. (Photographer Unknown)

The shops in March 1970. (Photographer Unknown)

A “Little Joe” at the shops in September 1973. (Photographer Unknown)

At the south end of the Randolph St. station in 1970. (Photographer Unknown)

Combine 1010 heads up a train in July 1971. This is the present area of Millenium Park. (Photographer Unknown)

Car #1 in September 1976. (Photographer Unknown)

A fantrip in May 1975. (Photographer Unknown)

At the shops in June 1971. (Photographer Unknown)

A two-car train led up by combine #100 in September 1976. (Photographer Unknown)

#39 at speed on December 27, 1978. (Photographer Unknown)

The Michigan City Shops in February 1971. (Photographer Unknown)

The caption reads, “Lance and Carol in snow-covered train, South Bend Yards, February 1969.” (Photographer Unknown)

#104 at Michigan City on July 5, 1971. (Photo by Douglas N. Grotjahn)

Michigan City street running in January 1970. (Photographer Unknown)

#102 at the Michigan City station in June 1967. (Photographer Unknown)

A twilight view of the single-rack right-of-way on January 3, 1978. (Photographer Unknown)

Elevating the Lake Street “L” (Part 2)

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 17:08:11 GMT

Here is a second installment in our series on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Lake Street “L” when the outer end of it ran on the ground. (To read the first part, go here.)

In this classic photo by George Krambles, an “L” train led by car 1753 passes surface car 3136 in April 1952.

We take things up in the early 1950s, when the CTA first proposed cutting back the “L” to Laramie, in order to get rid of the 2-mile ground-level portion, with its numerous grade crossings and blind spots. Oak Park did not want this to happen, and within a few short years, the various parties (CTA, C&NW, plus various governmental bodies) worked out the current arrangement, which has been in place now for more than 50 years.

Until 1954, the CTA #16 Lake St. streetcar paralleled the “L” and crossed it at grade. On Central, a trolley bus line also crossed.

What was difficult (and somewhat dangerous) from an operational standpoint was good for the camera, however, with quite a variety of equipment in different settings. Come take a trip with us along the Lake line in those thrilling days of yesteryear, when the “L” wasn’t quite so elevated after all.

-David Sadowski

Wooden “L” car 3145 at Marion and Lake in August 1951. (Photographer Unknown)

CTA 1751 at Lake and Pine in the early 1950s. (Unknown Photographer)

Wooden “L” cars cross the #16 streetcar line at Pine. (Unknown Photographer)

The #16 Lake St. streetcar crossing at Pine. Buses replaced trolleys on this route as of May 30, 1954. (Unknown Photographer)

Going up the ramp between Central and Laramie. (Photographer Unknown)

Oak Park in the mid-1950s. (Photographer unknown)

Oak Park in the late 1950s. (Photographer Unknown)

CTA Lake St. 4000s (led by 4442) circle the Loop on September 9, 1958. (Unknown Photographer)

CTA Central Avenue trolley bus 9323 crosses the “L” on April 15, 1960. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

In this July 5, 1960 view, 4000s are switching between third rail and overhead wire. The westbound train at right prepares to descend the ramp to ground-level operation. By the time the new embankment alignment opened in October 1962, CTA had moved the power changeover point west to the Central Avenue station. (Unknown Photographer)

That wall looks pretty close in this July 5, 1960 view from the “railfan seat.” (Photographer Unknown)

“Side of the road” rapid transit operation in January 1961. (Photographer unknown)

CTA 4367-4368 between Marion and Home avenues on August 31, 1961. (Photographer Unknown)

CTA 4388-4387 in Oak Park on September 3, 1961. (Photographer Unknown)

The Marion station on September 4, 1961. (Unknown Photographer)

West of Harlem in Forest Park on September 6, 1961, before the embankment was expanded to create a yard and shops. (Photographer Unknown)

A train of 4000s between Home and Marion in the early 1960s. (Photographer Unknown)

It might surprise you to learn that wooden “L” cars ran on the embankment, but they did- in work service. Here we see CTA 337-333 on May 24, 1963. (Unknown Photographer)

The bi-level is moving towards the camera in this May 1964 scene, since the C&NW runs left-hand. (Unknown Photographer)

CTA 4000s meet C&NW bi-levels on the embankment in May 1964. (Unknown Photographer)

4000s ran on Lake Street until being replaced by the new 2000s in 1964. (Photographer Unknown)

Going around the Loop in May 1964. (Unknown Photographer)

CTA 4452-4451-4270-4269 meet 2140-2141 at State and Lake at 12:35 pm on June 26, 1966. (Unknown Photographer)

I Love a Mystery Photo Contest Answers (Transit Trivia #3)

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 17:22:58 GMT

Here are the answers to our I Love a Mystery Photo Contest! We thank everyone who took part. John Nicholson submitted the best overall entry, getting 14 out of the 15 puzzlers correct, so he is our contest winner. John’s answers are given in each photo caption.

Note the close resemblance between photo #1 and this shot of the station near the end of service. Different angle, but same station, same building, same railroad.

We hope you have enjoyed this contest, and will watch this space for our next helping of Transit Trivia. If you did not get all the answers, well, better luck next time!

-David Sadowski

PS- We borrowed our headline title from the old-time radio series I Love a Mystery, which you can read about here.

#1 – “Remnants of the Swift & Co. station on the Stockyards branch.” This photo was taken about one year after CTA service ended on October 7, 1957. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

Here is another view of the Swift station, from yet another angle, showing how everything looked around the time the single-track Stockyards branch line opened in 1908:

#2 – “Former CNS&M MD car purchased by Frank Sherwin of Chicago Hardware Foundry. Repainted and lettered as a CHF storage car.” The Chicago Hardware Foundry in North Chicago was the original home of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, today’s IRM. (Photographer unknown)

#3 – “We’re on Pulaski looking north to North Ave. There was a slight jog on Pulaski before reaching North Ave., Pioneer Bank on the NW corner of North and Pulaski was a local landmark.” (Photographer unknown)

#4 – “The famous Queen Mary taken in 1948 or shortly thereafter; it was converted into an electric bus in 1948.” This photo was taken in March 1949. It’s been suggested that this is at the North Avenue garage. As a trolley bus it was numbered 9763, making it the highest numbered Chicago tb. (Photographer unknown)

You can see another view of CTA 9763 in service here.

#5 – “This is a southbound Jackson Park train at the Merchandise Mart station.” (CRT 4296 on July 2, 1940.) The sign just behind the train says “Kinzie,” yet that was not the name of the station when this picture was taken. (Photographer unknown)

#6 – “This is the Cook County Hospital car that transported patients between Cook County Hospital and the Chicago State Hospital. It also made trips over connecting interurban lines.” (The car was called Cook County No. 1 – see our sidebar below.) (Photographer unknown)

More info about Cook County No. 1 from:http://forgottenchicago.com/forum/5/10734/10916/re__dunning_insane_asylum

One of the more interesting facets of Chicago State Hospital was Cook County Car No. 1. From 1918 to 1939, this 60,000-pound interurban type car made weekly trips, carrying mentally ill patients from the Cook County Hospital to Dunning Hospital. For many patients this was their last journey, as many would be warehoused at this hospital for the remainder of their lives.

Cook County Car No. 1 was built in 1918, at the West Shop of the Chicago Surface Lines. The Glowczewski family, who lived on the Northwest Side of Chicago for many years, remembers it, “being painted an ugly dark green with oversized wheels, and it moved like a Sturmorser tank along Irving Park Road.” The car had separate sections for the male and female patients. The female patients were closest to the motorman.

Once inside Cook County Car No. 1, one would find sleeping berths, leather reclining chairs and small cabinets. Usually the crew consisted of two attendants, a nurse, and a physician. Unruly or agitated patients were strapped to the beds. Patients who were infirm were removed by wheel chairs and stretchers upon reaching Dunning Hospital. When the car’s work was finished, it would return to the old Kedzie station at Kedzie and Van Buren via Irving Park Road to Milwaukee Avenue (Six Corners), to California Avenue to Chicago Avenue, west on Chicago to Kedzie, and then subsequently, to the Kedzie depot.

Two Irish lads regularly piloted the hospital trolley from its inception of service in 1918, to its last run o May 18, 1939. They were motorman Danial O’Brien and conductor Patrick Gibbons. Since it was of no value to the Surface lines, Cook County Car No. 1 was scrapped in late 1939. Starting in 1940, a $17,000 gas bus brought patients from the Cook County Hospital to Chicago State Hospital.

#7 – “Car 222 at Michigan City; it was converted by CSS&SB to a way and structures vehicle and later a newspaper car.” (Photographer unknown)

#8 – “Looking south on State St. from the State-Lake “L” station. Christmas decorations are up, An American in Paris (release date 11/11/51) is playing at the State Lake Theater. There were several days of very heavy snowfall just before Christmas so I would say this photo dates to around the third week of December 1951.” (The actual date is December 14, 1951.) (Photographer unknown)

#9 – “LaSalle & Van Buren” Clues include some of the early skyscrapers, the Victoria Hotel, and the continuous platform. (Photographer unknown)

#10 – “CERA trip #6 on 2/12/39 taken along Mannheim Rd. on the Mt. Carmel/Cook County branch of the CA&E.” (Photographer unknown)

#11 – “This is a Garfield “L” train at Oak Park Ave. (CA&E trackage where CRT had trackage rights).” The clue is the building in the background. (Photographer unknown)

#12 – You’d think the CRT 4000s were never used in interurban or street railway service, yet here we are. “Military special is on North Shore Line trackage on Greenleaf Ave. in Wilmette circa 1942.” (Photographer unknown)

#13 – CSL 6201 at 130th and Indiana on October 17, 1941. Only Charles Amstein got this one right. (The info written on the back of the photo, apparently was incorrect- we received a correction from Roy Benedict.) (Photographer unknown)

#14 – “Military special at the Wilmette Ave. station in Wilmette on the North Shore Line.” (Photographer unknown)

#15 – “End of the North Ave. line at Narragansett.” (The clue is the Gateway Bowl sign.) Streetcar service was extended here on November 29, 1931, and was replaced by trolley buses on July 3, 1949. (Photographer unknown)

Tonight @CERA: Rare Films of the LVT Interurbans

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 17:20:36 GMT

Tonight’s CERA program features two hours of rare color films of Lehigh Valley Transit’s interurbans, the famed Liberty Bell Limited and Easton Limited. The program will start promptly at 7 and end at 9. We hope that you can join us as we step back in time to view the last old-fashioned Pennsylvania over hill, over dale, street running and side of the road interurban, which also ran on the P&W between Philadelphia and Norristown.

An LVT 1000-series car (ex Cincinnati & Lake Erie). These cars provided the bulk of Liberty Bell Limited service from 1939 until abandonment in 1951. (Photographer unknown)

A rare three-car train of older 700-800 series cars on a Liberty Bell Limited fantrip in 1950. (Photographer unknown)

LVT used four Cincinnati curved-side cars (ex-Dayton & Troy) on the Easton Limited interurban from 1939-49. Here is one towards the end of service, looking a bit worse for wear. (Photographer unknown)

These films were taken by the late Gerhard Solomon, and are brought to you by special arrangement with the Rockhill Trolley Museum.

Friday, October 25, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free for current CERA Members, and $5 for non-members.

We will also be selling copies of our new book Trolley Sparks Special #1 at the meeting for $32, which includes 9.25% Illinois Sales Tax.

PS- There are three tables set up at each monthly CERA meeting. The table nearest the door is reserved for CERA’s use. The other two tables can be used by members to sell their wares on a first-come, first-served basis.

Table setup is not permitted once the meeting has started, and attendees are not permitted to sell items without a table. Everyone’s cooperation with these rules is greatly appreciated.

CERA memberships for 2013 and 2014 can also be purchased at the meeting or via our web site.

-Your CERA Directors

Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways,” Part 4

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 17:25:54 GMT

For our 75th blog post, in our 75th year, we decided to pull out all the stops and present something uniquely Chicagoan. This is the fourth in our series detailing the construction of Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways.” (To read the other three chapters, just type “Chicago subway” into the search window on our blog’s home page, and they should come up.)

The State Street subway opened on October 16, 1943, and celebrated its 70th anniversary just a few days ago. To top things off, we present a number of rare, vintage documents relating to the Chicago Rapid Transit system and the subway.

We hope that you will enjoy these period photographs and descriptions, which let history speak for itself.

-David Sadowski

Chicago’s State Street subway as it looked upon opening in 1943. (Photographer unknown)

January 10, 1939 – “Because Chicago’s subway is being dug at a depth of 35 feet, where there is clay instead of rock, it is being dug with knives. Curved blades about a foot long, with a handle at each end, are held by two men while a third one pushes the knife downward to slice off a long strip of clay. It was found that this is the fastest way to cut through clay. Three ‘groundhogs’ are shown above using one of the knives.” (Photographer unknown)

May 17, 1939 – “Lillian Edwards looking at crack in wall in her apartment, caused by subway construction.” (Photo by Padulo)

July 21, 1939 – Subway excavation in the Loop was literally a mining operation: “Pix shows crowd of workers, subway officials and firemen going down entrance to tunnel.” (Photo by Mosse)

September 22, 1939 – “Dredging river for subway at State and Wacker.” (Photographer unknown)

December 12, 1939 – “Photodiagram illustrates how the tubes for carrying the subway under the Chicago River have been lowered in an east and west position in the river. Cables are attached to flat-bottomed scows to hold the tubes in suspension. The steel frameworks protruding upward show the engineers at what depth the tubes ride. Tomorrow morning the tubes will be swung in the direction of the arrow until they line up with State Street. They then will be dropped into a 30-foot channel which has been dug across the river bed.” (Photographer unknown)

Just prior to the mayoral election, the City of Chicago held an “inspection trip” in the still-uncompleted State Street subway, with only one track in service. Here is a souvenir pin from that event.

Posed photos, probably taken in April 1943 by Peter Fish Studios, were used by the city to promote the new subway on postcards.

The brand-new right-of-way going into the north end of the subway tunnel, as it looked in 1943. (Photographer unknown)

October 18, 1943 – “Crowds standing in the subway waiting for their trains.” (Photo by George Kotalik)

October 21, 1943 – “Signs indicating the approximate positions of car doors when the train stops speed up the loading and unloading of trains. The platform height is level with the car floors.” (Photographer unknown)

October 21, 1943 – “Transfers to allow passengers to switch from the subway trains to westside elevated cars running over the old structure comprising the Loop are issued issued from booths on the train-level platform. Built at two levels, the subway consists of a station level containing ticket seller, automatic turnstiles, checking lockers and washrooms, and the train level.” Eventually, these booths were replaced by machines that issued “walking transfers.” (Photographer unknown)

October 21, 1943 – “Electric escalators, which can be operated in either direction depending on rush hour needs, are used to speed moving of passengers between train levels and station levels, just below the street surface. Stairways run parallel to the escalators, while walls of passage ways and station levels are of tile.” (Photographer unknown)

October 24, 1943 – “Secretary of Commerce Harold Ickes, who okayed checks for $17,000,000 worth of government money that went into the Chicago subway, made a tour of it yesterday and found it much to his liking. The car was crowded on the return trip to the loop and Ickes stood up.” (Unknown photographer)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, shown here in Chicago in 1943, had close ties to Mayor Kelly. His Administration approved additional funding that made the Chicago subway possible. (Photographer unknown)

Justifiably proud of its new subway, the City of Chicago issued a 32-page booklet about it in October 1943, which you can downland and read here as an 8mb PDF file.

A CRT brochure, effective December 1, 1943, showing routing changes caused by the opening of the State Street subway. You can download it here as a 1.24mb PDF file.

A CRT brochure detailing the history and extent of the rapid transit system in 1937, just prior to construction of the Initial System of Subways. You can download and read it here as a 2.21mb PDF file. (This is a 1940 reprint.)

July 23, 1944 – Illustrating how wooden “L” cars could have been a fire hazard in the subway, if they had been allowed, here is a contemporary account of just such a fire on the elevated structure: “Lake St. opposite Garfield Pk. Conservatory. One car completely gutted and others tied up for blocks. Two other cares were more or less severely damaged too.” (Photo by Risser)

I Love a Mystery Photo Contest! (Transit Trivia #3)

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 17:29:58 GMT

(This contest has ended, but you can read the answers here.)

We all love a mystery, don’t we? But our readers especially seem to like our mystery photo contests, so we thought we would try another one. This time, we have upped the ante with 15 new puzzlers for your consideration.

As usual, the entrant with the best overall submission will be the winner. Please get your submissions in by midnight (Central time) Monday, October 21, 2013.

The winner gets a copy of the CERA book A Rainbow of Traction.

Some of you seem to prefer writing about your guesses on public forums. You do so at your own risk. You might just provide another entrant with the winning answer.

Good luck figuring out our puzzlers, which are all from the Chicago area this time.

-David Sadowski

#1 – This picture was taken in Chicago during fall 1958. But what is it? Where is it? (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

#2 – What is this? Where are we? When could it be? (Photographer unknown)

#3 – Where are we? (Photographer unknown)

#4 – What have we here? When was this picture taken? (Photographer unknown)

#5 – Where was this picture taken? (Photographer unknown)

#6 – What is this? (Photographer unknown)

#7 – What is this? (Photographer unknown)

#8 – Where are we? When was this picture taken? (Photographer unknown)

#9 – Where are we? (Photographer unknown)

#10 – Where are we? When was this picture taken? (Photographer unknown)

#11 – What station is this? (Photographer unknown)

#12 – Where are we? (Photographer unknown)

#13 – Where are we? (Photographer unknown)

#14 – What station is this? (Photographer unknown)

#15 – Where are we? (Photographer unknown)

CERA News For October

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 17:32:58 GMT

October at CERA:
A Round Trip on the Liberty Bell Limited

Step back in time and enjoy rare color film footage the late Gerhard Salomon captured from 1947 to 1951, covering Lehigh Valley Transit Company‘s entire Liberty Bell Line from Downtown Allentown to Philadelphia’s 69th Street Terminal. We will also see the Liberty Bell Limited cars on the LVT City Division and on the Easton Limited. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening. (By special arrangement with the Rockhill Trolley Museum.)

Friday, October 25, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free for current CERA Members, and $5 for non-members.

LVT 701 near Locust Siding on October 22, 1950. (Unknown Photographer)

LVT C15 near Centre Valley on October 10, 1950. (Unknown Photographer)

We will also be selling copies of our new book Trolley Sparks Special #1 at the meeting for $32, which includes 9.25% Illinois Sales Tax.

Table setup is not permitted once the meeting has started, and attendees are not permitted to sell items without a table. Everyone’s cooperation with these rules is greatly appreciated.

CERA News for October 2013

Trolley Sparks Special #1 – A Limited Number of Copies Are Still Available

Everyone who attended our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program on September 21st received a copy of our special retrospective book Trolley Sparks Special #1, edited by John Marton. In addition, all pre-order copies of our newest book were shipped out in late September.

A limited number of books are still available for immediate shipment. The cost is just $29, which includes domestic postage. (Illinois residents pay 9.25% sales tax.) International shipping costs $12. This book is not part of our regular membership entitlement.

You can order yours today either online (via our web site) or by mail. The book makes an excellent gift, so why not pick up an extra copy today with the holidays coming up? Don’t wait until we are completely sold out!

CSL/CTA 4391 at the Illinois Railway Museum in the mid-1980s. (Photo by David Sadowski)

B-146 – Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era

We made a special announcement revealing our next book (B-146) at the banquet. This will be the membership entitlement for 2012 members. We are very excited about the new book, and you will be too!

The Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era will cover the routes that used PCCs from one end to the other in spectacular color images. This will be the first CERA book devoted entirely to Chicago streetcars. We feel that CERA is the right organization to publish such a book, and that it is important to both get it right, and get it out within the living memory of those who rode Chicago streetcars.

Photo selection for the book is going on right now. If you have quality photos of Chicago PCCs that would be useful for our book, we would love to hear from you. We have already received permission from several excellent photographers to use their work in the book. Can you help contribute?

Other Upcoming Publications

CERA’s Publications Committee continues to work on several upcoming book projects, in various stages of completion. We expect to publish two books next year, B-146 in the spring and B-147 in the fall. The title of B-147 will be announced sometime next year. That will be the book entitlement for 2013 CERA members.

More quality images are needed in order to complete our upcoming Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria book. If you can contribute to this important volume, please let us know. Your help is greatly appreciated.

2014 Memberships Now Available

Starting October 9th, we are now accepting memberships for 2014, either by mail or through our web site.

2014 Membership Rates:
Associate USA $42
Active USA $45
Contributing $90-179
Sustaining $180+
Associate International $72
Active International $75

Due to the increased costs of mailing outside the US, especially for sending books, there is now a $30 surcharge for International Active or Associate memberships.

Our 2014 CERA Membership Card features a color picture of a Chicago PCC streetcar, in honor of our upcoming book B-146, to be published in spring 2014. Once you purchase your membership, we will mail out your membership card right away. It will have your CERA member # and membership class noted on it.Become a card-carrying member of CERA today!

(Note: we are still accepting 2013 memberships, which entitle you to a book (B-147), which we currently expect to be mailed in fall 2014. It also entitles you to free admission at the rest of this year’s CERA program meetings.)

We Thank You

Thanks to all those who attended our recent 75th Anniversary events, which were very well attended. Special thanks go out to both Walter Keevil, who gave the program at our banquet, and Harvey Laner, who did the same at our regular September membership meeting.

-Your CERA Directors

CERA@75 Part 4 – The “Insull Parade”

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 19:01:40 GMT

A special highlight of CERA’s trip to the Illinois Railway Museum on September 21st was the unique “Insull Parade,” featuring historic trains from all four Chicago-area railroads once controlled by Samuel Insull.

The three-car steel CA&E train. (Photo by Jeff Wien, Wien-Criss Archive)

These were the Chicago Rapid Transit Co., the Chicago South Shore & South Bend, Chicago Aurora & Elgin, and the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee. Under Insull’s management, these properties were expanded and modernized, but fell victim to the Great Depression of the 1930s, and all fell into receivership. In the 1920s, it seemed as though business conditions would simply continue to improve forever; however, the stock market crash in October 1929 proved otherwise, leaving the Insull empire badly overextended.

But the positive effects of Insull management lasted far beyond the Depression. CRT became part of the Chicago Transit Authority in 1947, and CTA continued to use equipment purchased by Insull in regular service until 1973. Without the Insull-led modernization of the late 1920s, it’s very unlikely the South Shore Line would have survived to still be with us today. Even the two interurbans that did not survive (CA&E and CNS&M) lasted for decades beyond Insull ownership.

Fortunately, there are operable examples of cars from all four properties at IRM, and to help celebrate our 75th anniversary, CERA made special arrangements to run them on September 21st. Today, we feature the excellent photography of longtime CERA member and Director Jeff Wien, courtesy of the Wien-Criss Archive.

All four pictures were taken at Olson Road, as the various cars did a “run-by” in the Insull Parade. We hope that you enjoy them. These cars look so good at this locale, that you would almost swear this was real interurban territory, and not simply a demonstration railroad at a railway museum.

-David Sadowski

The two-car North Shore Line train. (Photo by Jeff Wien, Wien-Criss Archive)

The two-car wood Chicago Rapid Transit Co. train. (Photo by Jeff Wien, Wien-Criss Archive)

The two-car South Shore Line train. (Photo by Jeff Wien, Wien-Criss Archive)

PS- We recently received the following message from Frank Kehoe:

I am a volunteer at the Illinois Railway Museum currently involved in the restoration of Chicago Rapid Transit car 1024. This car is an 1898 product of the Pullman Co. and is the oldest rapid transit car in the IRM collection. It is being restored to its appearance in 1913 at the time of the consolidation.

We want to restore the roof mounted marker lights and destination signs the car had in 1913. These items are depicted on pages 36 and 38 of CERA Bulletin 113 on cars 8 and 1034. We do not have either of these items to use on the restored car.

Our current intention is to reproduce these marker lights and destination signs as best as we can from the photos. I am wondering if any members of CERA had either of these items that we could either use in the restoration or at least examine so that they could be reproduced as faithfully as possible.

Any help you or your members could give in this project would be appreciated.

If anyone can help with the above, please contact us at cerablog1@gmail.com and we will pass it along to Mr. Kehoe, thanks.

CERA@75 Part 3 – Fantrip to Kenosha

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 19:26:29 GMT

The PCC car is alive and well just 50 miles from Chicago, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. CERA made a trip there on September 20th, as part of our 75th Anniversary celebrations. Our charter bus was full, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The Chicago car really looks quite nice, even if the green they used is a bit darker than the original. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Master mechanic Bradley Preston keeps the PCC fleet in tip-top shape. While fans sometimes nitpick minor details, such as the “wrong” shade of paint on a car, it’s a miracle that these cars are in such great shape. All are at least 60 years old.

Consider what a feat it would be to have a fleet of working taxicabs using 1951 automobiles. That’s something akin to what we have here, and it’s a tribute to Mr. Preston’s skill and dedication that these cars continue to give good service after all these years.

The Kenosha streetcar runs in a loop, in an east-west direction, covering a distance of slightly less than two miles. In operation for a dozen years or so, it has met its goals of providing transportation and attracting tourists.

Nearly all the cars in the Kenosha fleet came from Toronto. While Toronto got many cars from the US second-hand, none of the Kenosha cars fall into that category.

One car retains Toronto colors, while the other imports have been repainted in tribute to other cities that had PCCs, including Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Johnstown (the smallest US city that had PCCs). Another car is from Philadelphia, and remains in SEPTA colors. That car dates to 1948, and is the oldest one in the fleet.

While the cars never really open up past about 20 mph, the ride around the trolley loop is quite enjoyable. There are various attractions along the way, including museums, a waterfront, and the train station where you can take a Metra train to Chicago.

Kenosha is going forward with plans to build a second trolley loop, in a north-south direction. The full city council is expected to approve this in the near future. These plans may include a “Grand Union” allowing streetcars to change from one route to the other without going all the way around the loop.

Kenosha’s streetcars have been, and hopefully will continue to be, an important part of a successful transition o a post-industrial era. They are well worth a visit.

-David Sadowski

The Kenosha shops, where Bradley Preston works his magic. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Johnstown car. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Streetcar technician Bradley Preston chats with CERA President Joe Reuter. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Pittsburgh car. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Philadelphia car, still in SEPTA paint. Other Kenosha cars are ex-Toronto, and are painted in tribute to various cities that had PCCs. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Toronto car. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Two “second cities” cars meet (Chicago and Toronto). (Photo by David Sadowski)

Chicago meets Philly. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Chicago and Cincinnati. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Cincinnati car in action. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Cars ready to go back into the barn. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Johnstown car would be more authentic if it had a big Pepsi-Cola bottlecap on the front, like so many of the originals did there. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Pittsburgh car. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Kenosha’s PCC have wheelchair lifts. (Photo by Diana Koester)

Cincinnati cars actually used two trolley poles, much as trolley buses do. The city was afraid that grounding the electricity through the track would somehow electrify underground pipes. (Photo by Diana Koester)

PCC interior. (Photo by Diana Koester)

The Franks Diner was closed the day of our visit, but is always worth a trip when you’re in Kenosha. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Fans board the CERA charter bus. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Elevating the Lake Street “L” (Part 1)

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 19:40:36 GMT

It’s hard to imagine nowadays, but there was a time when not all of the CTA Lake Street “L” (today’s Green Line) was elevated. Until October 1962, the outer 2.5 miles between Laramie and Forest Park ran at ground level, with overhead wire instead of third rail. Since this was nearly 51 years ago, you’d have to be of a certain age to remember it. Fortunately, I rode this line frequently as a kid and recall it fondly.

South Boulevard at Home, October 1962. The photographer’s vantage point was a stairway leading to an old C&NW station. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

When Chicago’s “L” system was first built, some of the lines were extended to what were then sparsely populated areas. Much of Oak Park’s growth is the result of being served by two rapid transit lines for more than 100 years. But naturally, when these extensions were made, the private companies who built them were trying to get things going in the least expensive way possible. Therefore, ground level operation was the norm through Oak Park.

This persisted until about 50 years ago, when both Oak Park’s rapid transit lines were grade-separated within a few years of each other. The Garfield Park “L” was relocated into the Congress Expressway through this area in 1960, and the Lake Street “L” was elevated onto the Chicago & North Western embankment two years later.

What historian and author Bruce Moffat has called “everybody’s favorite side of the road trolley” was undoubtedly a ponderous and somewhat dangerous affair from an operational standpoint. There were numerous blind intersections, where cars and trucks and sometimes people would dart out in front of moving trains.

When the C&NW elevated onto their embankment (c1910), clearances with the rapid transit line were very tight- so tight, in fact, that CTA did not want to run curved-sided cars on the ground-level section. There were 22 viaducts with manually operated gates, and the gateman’s shacks also created tight clearances.

By the early 1950s, CTA had taken over from the bankrupt Chicago Rapid Transit Company, and considered ways to get rid of the three ground-level west side lines (Lake, Garfield, and Douglas). Douglas got cut back to 54th Avenue. Garfield might have met the same fate, except for the Congress Superhighway project. It morphed into the present-day Blue Line in the expressway median.

Around 1951, the CTA proposed cutting back Lake to Laramie, where the elevated structure ended. Oak Park, which billed itself the World’s Largest Village at the time (it has since lost the title, first to Skokie, then to Baniyachong of Bangladesh), did not like this idea and worked to find a solution.

Putting the outer end of Lake onto the C&NW embankment turned out to be a win-win for everyone involved. The CTA speeded up service and improved safety, while eliminating 22 grade crossings (and, most likely, at least 70 gatemen). The space vacated by the CTA got turned into parking spaces.

CTA built a new yard in Forest Park, which meant that CTA no longer had to store Lake trains on a third track on the elevated structure. At first, plans were to extend the rapid to the Des Plaines River, but in the end, Harlem became the last stop, as it had been before.

But C&NW came out ahead also. CTA had to pay rent of over $200k per year for using the embankment. And there was the matter of station closures. CTA and C&NW made a deal, whereby the latter agreed to close several close-in stations, ceding that ridership to the CTA. C&NW wanted to concentrate their efforts on the suburban market. Eliminating these stations made it easier for the CTA to relocate on the embankment.

Service was finally moved over to the embankment on October 28, 1962, over the course of a weekend. According to longtime CERA member (and former Director) Charles Tauscher, on Saturday the 27th, “L” service was cut back to Laramie, while the track connection was changed over from the old ramp to the new one bringing the line over to the C&NW.

The original connection to the embankment had an odd little dogleg in the track, which would often catch people unawares and throw them off to one side. Regular riders came to expect it. Fortunately, this section of curved track was smoothed out some years back.

Within two years of the 1962 changeover, the Lake line, which had been passed over with the 6000s, finally got new equipment. A significant part of the new fleet of 2000s, high-speed cars with air conditioning, were assigned to the Lake Street “L”, now that it was fully elevated.

CTA’s 6000s did not run on the Lake Street “L” much until the Blizzard of ’79, when they replaced more modern cars with burned-out motors. Here, for once the embankment worked against the “L” for a change. While the snow could fall through a steel “L” structure, it simply piled up on the embankment. The outer portion of Lake was closed for a week and had to be dug out by teams of workers armed with snow shovels.

Mr. Tauscher, an excellent photographer, took many photos of the Lake Street “L” in 1961-62, while the new alignment was being built. We present these for your enjoyment, courtesy of the Wien-Criss Archive. This will be the first of a series showing this very interesting operation.

-David Sadowski

CTA 4308 at Lake and Long on May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA 4388 in Forest Park on May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA 4388 at Central on May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

Central Avenue, October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

The ramp up to Laramie, October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA 4297 at Laramie, May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

A West Towns bus crosses the Lake Street “L” at Ridgeland in October 1962. Today, this is the Pace 315 route. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

Harlem Avenue and South Boulevard in October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

The ramp to Laramie in October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

Ridgeland station, October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

A CTA #85 bus at Central in October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

A CTA trolley bus on Central in October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

Just east of Central in October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

A CTA #91 bus crosses the Lake line at Austin Boulevard in October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

A CTA #16 Lake Street bus in October 1962. This route used narrow buses for some years, but was eventually discontinued. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

October 1962. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA 4301 with poles up at Laramie on May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

4411 at Forest Park in October 1962. Note the Wieboldt’s store in the background, a local landmark. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

At Forest Park in August 1962. Note local the Wieboldt’s store in the background. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA Central Avenue trolley bus 9734 on May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

4367 at Central on May 7, 1961. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

The end of the line just west of Harlem Avenue in August 1962. Here, the embankment had to be built up in order to create the new CTA yard. (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher, Wien-Criss Archive)

CERA@75 Part 2: Fantrip to IRM

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 21:13:22 GMT

Here are some photos from last Saturday’s CERA inspection trip to the Illinois Railway Museum. We salute the entire crew of volunteers at IRM for giving us such a warm welcome, and for arranging to put out all the various pieces of equipment we requested. The weather was beautiful.

CERA and IRM celebrated the four various Chicago-area Insull properties, the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee, Chicago Aurora and Elgin, Chicago South Shore & South Bend, and the Chicago Rapid Transit Co. We rode on trains from all four properties, and this culminated in an unprecedented “Insull Parade” on IRM’s Main Line.

In addition to this, Indiana Railroad car 65 also made a rare appearance. We hope you will enjoy these souvenirs of a wonderful time spent in Union, Illinois.

-David Sadowski

IRM helped CERA celebrate its 75th anniversary on September 21, 2013. (Photo by David Sadowski)

C&WT 141 is the last survivor of that street railway. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Chicago and West Towns car 141 has been restored. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The South Shore cars are rarely operated at IRM since they use pantographs. The overhead is designed for poles, not pans. (Photo by David Sadowski)

These signs were a familiar sight on South Shore trains in the 1970s and 80s. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CRT/CTA 1268 and 1797. Despite the difference in numbers, they are about the same age. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CERA fantrip riders on the wooden “L” cars. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CRT/CTA wooden “L” car 1024 is undergoing restoration. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Boarding the two-car “L” train. (Photo by Diana Koester)

Our three-car steel CA&E train (409-431-460). (Photo by David Sadowski)

CA&E and South Shore cars, representing two of the four Chicago-area Insull properties. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Cars 460 and 431 can couple together, despite being of different vintages. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CA&E 460 was the last new car built for the line (1945-46). Some have called it the last “standard” interurban car built in the US, but that is open to interpretation. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The CERA crowd lines up to board the “Roarin’ Elgin” train. (Photo by Diana Koester)

The Nebraska Zephyr at IRM. (Photo by Diana Koester)

The two-car North Shore train (714-749) stops to pick up passengers along the Main Line. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Riders on North Shore 714. (Photo by Diana Koester)

The North Shore trains are looking pretty good at Union. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CNS&M 749 at the Depot. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Indiana Railroad car 65, IRM’s first acquisition, was also out that day. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The elegant Indiana Railroad logo. (Photo by David Sadowski)

IR 65 on the Trolley Loop. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Mystery Photos Contest Answers (Transit Trivia #2)

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 21:15:58 GMT

Our latest “mystery photos” post generated quite a lot of interest. John Nicholson submitted the best overall entry by far, and is therefore the contest winner. We hope that you will enjoy them. We certainly had a lot of fun putting this contest together. (Mr. Nicholson’s answers have been added to the photo captions.)

If you did not win the contest, well, better luck next time. We thank everyone for taking part.

-David Sadowski

Here’s yet another mystery photo. Yes, it’s a bus, but there seems to be a rail context here in this April 1962 scene. What is going on in this picture? Where is this? (Photo by Charles L. Tauscher)

Mystery Photo #1 “This was taken on CERA fantrip #84 on 6-20-60. There is also a photo by Ray DeGroote of these two cars at Damen Ave. on the Logan Square “L” on another Web site. These cars were never in regular service on the Logan Square or Lake St. lines. My guess is that someone added the destination sign strictly for the fantrip photo and the cars not operated beyond Pulaski. Some trips with these cars descended the Hamlin ramp and ran under trolley wire into the West Shops.” (Charles L. Tauscher Collection) (Ed Halstead comments, “I rode the 1-50 series of cars on the Logan Square line for at least a year during time I was going to college.”)

Mystery Photo #2 “This was an electrical fire on the South Side “L” at 35th St. My copies from the Chicago Daily News give the date as 10-18-62, but it could have been a day earlier.” (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

Mystery Photo #3 – CA&E 310 on July 1, 1957. “A “gimme”–the Batavia terminal two days before the “suspension” of passenger service on 7-03-57.” (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

CA&E 310-309 in Batavia on CERA Fantrip #71 (May 19, 1957), about six weeks before the suspension of passenger service. Some have compared the Batavia branch to the main line at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photographer Unknown)

Mystery Photo #4 – CTA 2200s in September 1973. “This is the 50th St. station on the Douglas Park Line. The old station building was moved to the Illinois Railway Museum where it can be seen today.” (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

February 16, 1978 – “Pete Vesic readies CTA rapid transit station from 50th and Cicero Avenue for its move to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. The former station is on a truck trailer at the National Casting Co., 5300 W. 16th St. It will be dedicated later this year.” (Photo by James DePree)

Mystery Photo #7 – “This car is eastbound at Madison and Canal passing North Western Station. This car must have been freshly delivered as it has a CSL logo on the side. The 4194 was in a group of cars delivered between September 1947 and March 1948. I would place the date around 1948 or very early 1949.” (Unknown photographer) (Picture taken in August 1948- ed.)

Mystery Photo #9 – “I have no interest in buses whether they be motor or horse-drawn. I could only guess that this is at the Chicago Historical Museum; a duplicate is operated at Greenfield Village.” (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #10 – “This is the Guilford Ave. “el” Saratoga St. ramp in Baltimore. Service on this line ended on 1-01-50.” (Unknown photographer) This was somewhat of a trick question. We did say, however, that the photos were “generally” from Chicago. While this scene does look like Chicago, none of our “Ls” descend right into the middle of a street as this one did. The difference, of course, is that this was a streetcar elevated. So it naturally went into a street. Baltimore’s el was 2000 feet long. Kansas City had a similar mile-long el.

Mystery Photo #11 – “Looking south onto Clark St. from the Clark & Lake “L” station. The Sedans are still serving Route 22 and my guess is the photo dates from the early 1940s.” (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #12 – “Milwaukee Ave. cars line up southbound on Dearborn ready to turn west onto Madison St. Note the “Charles Netcher Building” building to the right. Netcher was the founder of the Boston Store which remained in business at that site until 1948 (Sears now occupies the building). As the store fronts still look like the place is open, I’d say the photo was taken no later than 1948.” (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #13 – “This is at Roosevelt Rd. on the Westchester line showing the temporary terminal in place when the line was being extended to 22nd and Mannheim. The extension opened on 12-01-30 so my guess for the date of the photo is late 1930 or possibly early 1931.” (Unknown photographer)

CERA News For September

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 21:18:05 GMT

75th Anniversary Banquet and Program

CERA’s 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program was a great success. The sold-out crowd enjoyed the food, the camaraderie, and the North Shore Line films shown by Walter Keevil. We thank all those who attended, especially everyone who came from out of town just for our big CERA weekend of events.

Our next book (B-146) will be called Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: the PCC Car Era, to be published in Spring 2014. (Photo by James J. Buckley, CERA Archives)

We gave out two awards. First, Myles Jarrow, Member #23, received the 2013 CERA Founder’s Award, and spoke for several minutes about the early days of the organization. Then, we surprised Ray DeGroote, our Master of Ceremonies, by giving him the 2013 CERA Service Award for 65 years of faithful service.

Saturday night’s CERA 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program was very well received. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Ye olde editor gave a slideshow with many photos from past fantrips, including some going back to CERA’s earliest days. I have posted a few here (courtesy of John Nicholson) that I was not able to include, and I hope that you will enjoy them.

Great Lakes Naval station, 6-16-40. (Photo by Eugene Van Dusen, John Nicholson Collection)

Birney car 328 in Waukegan. (Photo by Eugene Van Dusen, John Nicholson Collection)

CNS&M 738 at Buena Yard (near Irving Park Road) on 6-16-40. That’s a CSL streetcar in the background, and Graceland cemetery behind the wall. (Photo by George Krambles, John Nicholson Collection)

Deerpath, 6-4-39. (Photo by George Krambles, John Nicholson Collection)

CNS&M Dining Car 409 – Uptown, Wilson Ave. station, March 17, 1939. (Unknown Photographer, John Nicholson Collection)

CNS&M 255 and 409 at Greenwood and North Ave. in Waukegan on 6-4-39. (Photo by Eugene Van Dusen, John Nicholson Collection)

Our Next Publications

At the Banquet, we announced that our next book (B-146) published will be called Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era. Each Chicago streetcar line that had PCCs will be covered in detail, from one end of the line to the other- a story told in pictures. At present, we expect to publish this book in Spring 2014, and it will be the membership entitlement for 2012 CERA members.

Work on this book has been proceeding for some time, and we already have permission from several outstanding photographers to use their work in the book. If you have good quality original color slides or other excellent Chicago PCC photos that you believe would be good additions to this book, we would love to hear from you.

We believe that CERA is the right organization to publish books about Chicago streetcars. It is our “turf,” so to speak, yet the organization has not published such a book in its first 75 years. We feel it is important to get it right, and make the best possible Chicago PCCs book. And, lastly, we feel it is important to put out such a book within the lifetime of those who actually rode Chicago streetcars.

Meanwhile, work continues on our Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria book. We need more good quality images of this important Illinois interurban before we can publish it. Finding such images will naturally take some time. As soon as we have the images we need, we will issue the book.

If any of you have high-resolution images (or originals that can be scanned) of either Chicago PCCs or the Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria, please drop us a line at: ceraoffice@gmail.com

Your help in creating these publications will ensure that both volumes will live up to the high and exacting standards set by previous CERA bulletins.

Don’t Forget Our September Membership Meeting:

Midwest Traction In Vintage Films From the 1930s and 40s

Left coaster and longtime CERA Member Harvey Laner has been collecting vintage traction films for a long time. He’s traveling here to showcase Midwestern properties, and many of these films will be seen in Chicago for the first time. Our program includes Cincinnati Streetcars, Cincinnati, Newport and Covington, Cincinnati and Lake Erie, Columbus Delaware and Marion, Lake Shore Electric Ry., Gary Railways, Indiana Railroad, Marion Railways, Indianapolis Railways, Fort Wayne (Indiana), Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, Waterloo Cedar Falls and Northern, Chicago Great Western, Charles City Western, Mason City and Clear Lake, and Iowa Traction. Mr. Laner will round out the program with a selection of his own Chicago-area films from 1956-57, featuring streetcars, interurbans, and rapid transit. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening.

Friday, September 27, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St
Chicago, IL 60605

Admission is free for current CERA members. There will be a $5.00 Admission charge for non-members. Simply show your CERA 2013 Membership card at the door for entry. (Don’t worry- even if you don’t bring your card, we can still look up your membership status.)

Non-members will be issued tickets for pass-in/outs. We can accept membership renewals at the door. If you have not done so already, why not become a card-carrying member of CERA?

We will also be selling copies of our latest limited-edition book, Trolley Sparks Special #1, a 75-year retrospective of CERA. Buy your copy now, before the book is completely sold out. It is sure to become a collector’s item.

-David Sadowski

Highlights From CERA@75, Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:22:25 GMT

Here is the first of three posts from CERA’s 75th Anniversary weekend. On Sunday, September 22, 2013, we journey to South Elgin to visit the Fox River Trolley Museum.

This was my first trip to South Elgin since the line was extended south to Blackhawk in 2002. The museum has about 35 pieces of equipment and offers a nice ride along the scenic Fox River.

In 2009, the museum acquired ex-Aurora Elgin & Fox River car 304, which once ran on these same tracks from 1924 to 1935. The museum is the last surviving remnant of that interurban.

Cars 304 and 20 bask in the sun at Coleman. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The basic mode of operation was to run a car from Castlemuir (the north end) every 20 minutes with a meet at the passing siding (Coleman) in the middle of the line. There were short photo stops there and at the ends before another car departed. There were four trains in service on Sunday, three of which could be juggled at any one time (the two ends plus a siding). It makes for a nice ride, and the weatherman cooperated, providing some sun. A fine time was had by all our attendees.

This trip followed our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program the night before, which was a sold out affair. We were treated to rare North Shore Line films presented by longtime CERA Member, Director, and President Walter Keevil. Thanks to Mr. Keevil’s generosity in sharing these movies with us, it was almost as if the North Shore Line was brought back to life again, however briefly, on the screen, 50 years after it last ran.

It was a memorable event, and one that we will remember for many years to come. As the expression goes, you had to be there.

-David Sadowski

AE&FR car 304, back on home ground after many decades in Ohio. (Photo by David Sadowski)

715 and 304 at Coleman. (Photo by David Sadowski)

North Shore 715 at the high-level platform at Blackhawk. The museum line was extended here in 2002. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CA&E wood car 20 at Coleman. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Cars 20 and 715 meet at Coleman. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The interior of CNS&M 715. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Fox River’s collection includes Chicago streetcar RPO 6. In the early 1900s, trolleys collected mail en route and some sorting and cancelling happened on board. (Photo by David Sadowski)

At the helm of car 304, which ran on the AE&FR from 1924 to 1935. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Moving the headlight to the front of car 304 as it changes ends at Blackhawk. (Photo by David Sadowski)

AE&FR 304 at Blackhawk. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Car 304 is decorated with period advertisements such as this. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The interior of AE&FR car 304. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The conductor of car 304. The museum is staffed by a group of dedicated volunteers. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The controls of car 304. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CTA single car units 43 and 45 at Blackhawk. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Car 304 at Coleman. It is always very gratifying when a car returns to run on its home rails. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CA&E 458 will run at Fox River someday. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Preserving a sign like this helps keep the memory of the Chicago Aurora & Elgin alive. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The interior of a CTA single car unit- a sight familiar to Chicago commuters for more than 30 years. (Photo by David Sadowski)

North Shore Line 715 prepares to depart Castlemuir. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Once modern, CTA cars 43 and 45 are now vintage. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Car 304 at Castlemuir. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The front end of CA&E 458 looks really good, but the rest of the car needs work before it can run at Fox River. It was acquired from the defunct “Trolleyville USA” operation in Ohio. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The scene at Castlemuir. (Photo by Diana Koester)

In this scene, it is apparent how badly CA&E 458 needs that paint job completed. (Photo by Diana Koester)

The interior of CNS&M 715. (Photo by Diana Koester)

A ride along the Fox River offers a picturesque view. (Photo by Diana Koester)

The low-level boarding area at Blackhawk. (Photo by Diana Koester)

Castlemuir. (Photo by Diana Koester)

A panoramic view of the north end of the Fox River Trolley Museum. (Photo by Diana Koester)

A large and enthusiastic crowd attended CERA’s 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program on September 21, 2013. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Master of Ceremonies Ray DeGroote at the 75th Anniversary Banquet/Program. (Photo by Diana Koester)

A panoramic view of our banquet hall. (Photo by Diana Koester)

A Baker’s Dozen of Mystery Photos (Transit Trivia #2)

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 21:28:07 GMT

Here, in our second installment of Transit Trivia, we have a Baker’s Dozen of mystery photos, generally from Chicago. In most cases, it’s the where and when that we are looking for, but in a few other cases, there is something else that’s mysterious about the picture.

Send your best answers to cerablog1@gmail.com and we will print the best answers. The contest ends at midnight Central Time on September 22, 2013. The winner will be the entrant with the best overall answers. Limit one entry per person.

The winner will receive a copy of our new book, Trolley Sparks Special #1, a 75-year retrospective of CERA, its history, members, publications, and fantrips.

You can still buy tickets here for all this week’s 75th Anniversary events, the fantrips to Kenosha, IRM, and the Fox River Trolley Museum, plus our Banquet/Program featuring rare North Shore Line films, presented by longtime CERA Member, Director, and President Walter Keevil. Tickets bought starting today will be held for pickup at the events. We hope to see you there!

-David Sadowski

PS- Everyone attending our Banquet and Program will receive a copy of our new book, which you can also order using the link given above.

Mystery Photo #1, taken on June 26, 1960 at Clinton. The mystery here is, what are these single car units with trolley poles doing on the Lake St. “L”? After all, we have been led to believe that curved-sided “L” cars could not operate on the ground-level portion of Lake, due to clearance issues. (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

Mystery Photo #2 has a processing date of October 1962. What has happened here, and where are we? (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

Mystery Photo #3 – CA&E 310 on July 1, 1957. Where are we? (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

Mystery Photo #4 – CTA 2200s in September 1973. Where are we? Name an interesting fact about this station. (Charles L. Tauscher Collection)

Mystery Photo #5 – These are Chicago PCCs, but where are we? When could this undated photo have been taken? (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #6 – Where are we? And when could this undated photo have been taken? (Unknown photographer)

Mystery Photo #7 – Where are we? When do you think this photo was taken? (Unknown photographer)

Mystery Photo #8 – Where are we? When could this photo have been taken? (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #9 – An 1853 Chicago Omnibus, on display in 1962. Where is it today? (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #10 – It’s 1943, but where are we? (Unknown photographer)

Mystery Photo #11 – Where are we? When could it be? (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #12 – Where are we? When could it be? (Photographer unknown)

Mystery Photo #13 – Where are we? When could it be? (Unknown photographer)

From Garfield “L” To Congress Median (Part 5)

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 21:57:29 GMT

Vern Hallas writes:

I am a big fan of the Chicago “L” system and found part 4 of From Garfield “L” To Congress Median via a link from Chicagobus.org. I LOVE this stuff, especially the old pictures. Is there anywhere I can see the 3 previous parts? I would very gladly become a CERA member if necessary.

Thanks for writing. We always hope people will enjoy the posts, and naturally, we encourage everyone to join CERA. You can purchase a membership online, by mail, or at one of our 10 yearly program meetings. For more information, go here. We thank you for your support.

To find all our blog posts that feature the Garfield Park “L”, just go to our home page and type “Garfield” in the search window. That will bring up all the other posts, which have various headline titles.

Meanwhile, here is another generous helping of period photos for your enjoyment.

-David Sadowski

A lone Met “L” car heads toward the Loop in 1949. There were four tracks crossing the Chicago River at this point, on two parallel bridges. The tracks at the bottom of the picture led to the Wells St. terminal. In 1955, the tracks at left were torn out due to the construction of this part of Lower Wacker Drive, and a new connection to the Loop “L” was created by bridging the short gap with the gutted Wells St. Terminal. (Photo by Stanley Kubrick)

PS- The photo by Stanley Kubrick (yes, the famous film director) was taken in 1949, while he worked as a staff photographer for LOOK magazine. This was “work for hire,” and when LOOK folded in 1971, the publisher donated their photo archive to the Library of Congress:

Cowles Communications, Inc., transferred all of its copyrights in the LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection to the United States, but asked that the Library convey Cowles’ desire that the photographs are “Not to be used for advertising or trade purposes.” The Library cannot provide further interpretation of this phrase.

We are certain that our use of the photo complies with Cowles Communications’ intentions.

February 8, 1938 – “An architect’s sketch of proposed overpasses to be built at half-mile intersections… the proposed Congress street improvement under a plan for two highways through the West Side which has been recommended to Mayor Kelly by his committee of six engineers. They proposed that the second route, an elevated superhighway, be constructed in Kinzie street or Lake street. They suggested converting the Lake Street Rapid Transit structure into a motor road. Immediate action was urged by aldermen and property owners today.” (Photographer unknown)

This early highway plan is somewhere between what actually got built, and the original boulevard in Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. The 1938 version was an elevated highway, which would pass over intersections. There is no trace of a rapid transit median, and the Kelly administration favored express bus service instead. As built, very little of the Congress expressway was elevated.

Oddly enough, in this highway illustration, there are very few autos. In real life, the expressway soon became clogged with cars, and rush-hour gridlock soon became an everyday occurrence.

September 22, 1947 – “End Subway Hunt. The lost is found! Armed with steel claw, crane strikes pay dirt after three swings and locates remains of unused 200-foot tunnel in river near Congress st. Tube will be sealed to prevent interference with new Congress st. subway.” (Photographer unknown) What tunnel was this?

While the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway was said to be “80% completed” in 1942, when construction was halted due to WWII materials shortages (including steel subway cars), “phase one” of Chicago’s second subway ended abruptly at Dearborn and Congress. Phase two, which did not start until after WWII, brought the subway west along Congress street, under the Chicago River and the old Main Post Office, to emerge near Halsted and run in the highway median. The subway opened as far as LaSalle street in 1951, and under the river starting on June 22, 1958.

March 11, 1949 – “This isn’t a London bombed area, but a view of Van Buren st. looking west from Racine av, as demolition continues for the Congress st. superhighway. Vacant areas indicate where wrecking crews already have torn down structures. Other gaunt, vacant buildings have been emptied by the relocation office and will soon fall, including the CTA car barn.” (Photographer unknown)

March 11, 1949 – “Land that once was congested with Loop skyscrapers appears now as a deep cut through the Loop looking west from a building on Dearborn st. The new superhighway, eight lanes wide, will pass under the LaSalle st. station tracks, over the river and through the arcade in the Post Office (background). The cleared site in the immediate foreground once was the location of the 13-story Monon building, since razed by the Dept. of Subways and Superhighways. (Unknown Photographer) Note the PCC streetcar.

September 2, 1949 – “Arrow indicates path in which five-story building is being moved from Congress and Peoria sts. to its new foundation (foreground) at Harrison and Peoria sts. to make way for Congress st. superhighway.” (Photographer unknown) The Garfield Park “L” is visible in the background.

February 24, 1950 – CTA “L” riders were cheerful despite the obvious lack of amenities on the trains. “A rush hour crowd shivers aboard an elevated train. They were victims of Chicago’s first zero cold snap today, which happened at the same time that the transit authorities cut off all heat in their vehicles to conserve coal. The result: cold customers.” (Photographer unknown)

September 24, 1951 – “Going ahead with plans for shunting Aurora & Elgin trains and elevated trains to streetcar tracks in Van Buren, between Racine and Sacramento blvd., wooden pilings are driven to support structure bringing the tracks to street level.” (Photographer unknown) As we know now, CA&E refused to use the Van Buren street-level trackage. Calling it “streetcar” trackage was a bit of a stretch, since ultimately third rail was used and the right-of-way fenced off from traffic. However, calling it that may have been the means used to justify operating trains without crossing gate protection.

CA&E 426 eastbound near First Avenue in Maywood in 1952. (Unknown photographer)

May 8, 1952 – “Looking west from Wood along the way of the (Congress) Superhighway.” (Photo by Joe Kordick) This image was taken just prior to one in part 4 of this series. A two-car Garfield Park “L” train stops at the Ogden station, closely shadowed by a three-car CA&E train, which will also stop there to discharge passengers (instead of at Marshfield, which CTA considered a bottleneck).

February 10, 1954 – “Most of the paving that has been done on the highway has been done in Maywood. This is the scene at 5th av., Maywood, where an overpass crosses the highway.” (Photographer unknown)

CA&E 427 westbound at Des Plaines in September 1954. A CTA Garfield Park train loops in the background. (Unknown photographer)

The Congress expressway under construction, circa 1954. We are looking east from about Ashland (1600 west). The CTA temporary trackage on Van Buren is at the left. (Photographer unknown)

A close-up of the same scene, showing a CTA two-car train of 4000s on the Garfield Park route. The bridge is at Loomis (1400 west). (Photographer unknown)

February 9, 1956 – “Congress at expressway about 2900 west. Workmen brave the bad weather to continue completion of rails on the Congress st expressway. They fasten down rails with brackets and spikes.” (Photo by Larry Nocerino)

July 1, 1957 – New stations, Congress Expressway and Keeler Ave. Boller Boll and Bill Magorn, iron workers, working on the aluminum support columns at the station. (Photo by Bill Knefel)

December 9, 1957 – “Congress Expy. and Cicero: Dale Mueller, tile setters’ helper and Tom Shue, tile setter, work on the inside of the ramp that leads to station.” (Photo by Knefel) The full-length fiberglass panels on these station ramps soon became a problem, since they shielded anyone in the tunnel from view and were considered havens for crime. Eventually they were partially removed.

In this January 1958 view, we see both the unfinished Congress median line and the Garfield Park “L”. Just above the middle of the photo, the “L” crosses from the north to the south of the expressway at Sacramento. Motorists apparently had to dodge support columns right in the middle of the highway. The “L” section at right continues west before crossing the highway yet again, while at left trains descend a ramp down to temporary trackage in Van Buren street. (Photographer unknown)

A close-up of the same January 1958 scene. (Photographer unknown)

April 7, 1958 – “View looking northeast from Paulina and the Congress expressway shows progress of work on a ramp that will link the Douglas Park elevated branch with the median strip of the expressway. The median strip will be used by both Douglas and Garfield trains to enter the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway near Halsted.” (Photographer unknown) Today, Pink Line trains continue to the left and run downtown over the Lake/Green Line route via the Paulina connector. (Note a CTA train of 6000s in the picture, running on the temporary Van Buren street trackage.)

June 10, 1958 – ‘Pictorially, you are “entering” Chicago’s new CTA subway which will open June 22. The subway proper runs under the Congress Expressway from Halsted to link with the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway at Dearborn. Trains will enter the subway from an open cut in the expressway, on which they will travel from Lockwood (5300 west). Ultimately the western terminal of the expressway run will be at Desplaines av., Forest Park. From Lockwood to Dearborn, the trains will take just 14 minutes. The scene here is looking east from Halsted at the start of the subway proper. A crane hoists a beam into place for auto traffic interchange at this point.” (Photographer unknown)

June 5, 1959 – “New sign on the Congress Street expressway on the west bound side.” (Photo by Luther Joseph) The Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway was planned before the Interstate Highway System, but eventually became part of it.

October 30, 1959 – The old Garfield Park “L” structure, which used to run parallel to the expressway in front of the buildings at the right of the picture, has been out of service for more than a year and has been torn down in this area near Halsted. The space once occupied by the “L”, to some extent, allowed the expressway to be widened at this point. (Photographer unknown)

May 18, 1971 – Here is a view of some of the spartan amenities at the “temporary” CTA terminal at Des Plaines avenue that commuters endured from the 1950s to the 1980s. The crowds were swelled by a commuter rail strike. (Photo by Bill De Luga)

It’s An Exciting September @CERA!

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 21:31:11 GMT

There’s a lot going on at CERA this month, with three fantrips, a banquet/program, plus our regular monthly meeting.

A K-type controller (the type featured in our logo) in a Japanese tram in July 1969. (Unknown photographer) CERA is moving full speed ahead!

During May, all CERA 2012 and 2013 Members received a special mailing, with a brochure detailing our 75th Anniversary events this September. The basic cost of attending our Diamond Jubilee banquet and program is $75, which also includes a copy of Trolley Sparks Special #1, a retrospective look at the first 75 years of our group.

CNS&M 739 in Milwaukee on June 24, 1962. (Photographer unknown)

CNS&M 731 in Milwaukee in August 1961. (Photographer unknown)

January 20, 1963, the last full day of North Shore Line operation. “Waiting for Mundelein-Libertyville train- Solheim’s head.” (Photo by Charles B. Porter)

CNS&M Electroliner on January 20, 1963 in Milwaukee, during the last full day of operation. (Photographer unknown)

Longtime CERA Member, Director, and President Walter Keevil will present the program at our 75th Anniversary Banquet this September 21st. Since this is the 50th anniversary of the North Shore Line’s demise, Walter will show rare films of that famous interurban from his extensive collection.

The hour-long program will include material from 1941 to 1962, with the Shore Line and streetcars included, as well as the mainline, Mundelein branch and scenes on the “L”. Preceding the program, we will have a short presentation of photos from CERA fantrips going back to 1938.

September 10, 1938 – Indiana Railroad car 435 in Indianapolis. “Last car north (to Kokomo), 3:15 pm Last day.” (Photo by George Krambles)

Stay on top of things. Attend one of our three upcoming fantrips. (These are CRT/CTA 4000s models made in the early 1970s by Jack Bender- photo by Pete Peters.)

CA&E 20 at the Fox River Trolley Museum in August 1976. (Photographer unknown)

In addition to the banquet and program, we have fantrips to the Kenosha streetcars, the Illinois Railway Museum, and Fox River Trolley Museum. Charter bus transportation is available for all three events.

Tickets for all these events can be purchased NOW online via our web site, or by mail. You can pay online using either PayPal, or a debit/credit card. Mail payments should be by check. Please do not send us credit card information by mail.

For further information go here. Seating is limited and these events may sell out quickly. Tickets will be mailed to you as soon as we receive your order. Orders for Banquet/Program tickets must be received no later than September 14th to be guaranteed. We will try to accommodate orders received after that date to the greatest extent possible.

Only those who have purchased a Banquet ticket will be admitted to the program. No exceptions. While we are not requiring a dress code as such, we ask that our members dress appropriately for the occasion. This is your last chance to order tickets for our special 75th Anniversary events.

Our newest book Trolley Sparks Special #1 has been printed and will distributed starting September 21st. The cost is $29, which includes shipping within the United States. International shipping costs $12. This book is not part of our regular membership entitlement. Illinois residents need to add 9.25% sales tax, which makes the total $31.68. International shipping costs an additional $12.

This is a limited edition book, likely to sell out quickly.

Avoid traffic congestion- ride our chartered buses to our three September fantrips.

For those attending the 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program, there will be free parking at the venue. Just pull into the regular paid lot and we will distribute vouchers at the banquet, which you can use when leaving the lot by midnight Saturday. FYI, there is no free overnight or daytime parking at the hotel.

If you are attending one of our three fantrips, and plan to take our charter bus, you have the option of parking at the nearby CTA Cumberland parking garage. Our buses will stop there (both ways) five minutes after the scheduled times at the hotel. The rate is $5 for up to 12 hours.

We will make a special announcement revealing our next book (B-146) at the banquet. This book is the membership entitlement for 2012 members. We are very excited about the new book, and you will be too!

All this will be followed by our regular “fourth Friday” program meeting:

Midwest Traction In Vintage Films From the 1930s and 40s

Presented by Harvey Laner

Our program includes Cincinnati Streetcars, Cincinnati, Newport and Covington, Cincinnati and Lake Erie, Columbus Delaware and Marion, Lake Shore Electric Ry., Gary Railways, Indiana Railroad, Marion Railways, Indianapolis Railways, Fort Wayne (Indiana), Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, Waterloo Cedar Falls and Northern, Chicago Great Western, Charles City Western, Mason City and Clear Lake, and Iowa Traction.

Mr. Laner will round out the program with a selection of his own Chicago-area films from 1956-57, featuring streetcars, interurbans, and rapid transit. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening.

Friday, September 27, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free for current CERA Members, and $5 for non-members. Admission will always be free for our members. It is hoped that this will help encourage more people to become current CERA members. You can show your 2013 membership card for admission. Otherwise, we can look up your membership status in our database. Everyone attending the meeting will receive a ticket for pass-in/outs.

We will also be selling copies of our new book Trolley Sparks Special #1 at the meeting for $32, which includes 9.25% Illinois Sales Tax.

CRANDIC 116 (ex-C&LE) in Iowa City on October 26, 1952. (Photographer unknown)

CA&E 458 in Elgin on October 8, 1955. (Photographer unknown)

Charles City Western car 50 in Iowa during the 1950s. (Photographer unknown)

C&LE 112 in Toldeo during the 1930s. (Photographer unknown)

-Your CERA Directors

75th Anniversary Events Are Fast Approaching

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 15:23:17 GMT

CERA’s 75th Anniversary events are fast approaching, and are now less than a month away!

CERA is pulling out all the stops as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary this Sept. 20, 21, and 22. Tickets are on sale now by mail and through the CERA web site.

CERA has taken delivery on Trolley Sparks Special #1, and copies will be distributed starting on September 21st.

As detailed in our 75th Anniversary brochure, there are special fantrips to ride the Kenosha streetcars and visit both the Illinois Railway Museum and the Fox River Trolley Museum. You can either drive to these events or take our charter bus.

CNS&M line car 606 at North Chicago Junction in July 1962. (Photographer unknown) Our 75th Anniversary program will feature rare films of the North Shore Line. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “606 was built by Cincinnati in January 1923, #2620. In 1963 it became Chicago Transit Authority S-606 and burned in 1978. The remains were sold to the Indiana Transportation Museum.”

All this will be capped off on Saturday night, Sept. 21st, at our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program. Longtime CERA Member, Director, and President Walter Keevil will present the program. Since this is the 50th anniversary of the North Shore Line’s demise, Walter will show rare films of that famous interurban from his extensive collection.

Tickets for the 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program are on sale now online and by mail. You can purchase tickets directly through our web site, using PayPal, credit or debit cards, or print out order forms.

CERA has negotiated a special $99 promotional rate with the Chicago Marriott O’Hare. You can make your reservations directly with the hotel (by telephone) using the special promotional code “CERA.”

Trolley Sparks Special #1

Everyone who attends the banquet and program on September 21st will receive a copy of Trolley Sparks Special #1, a limited-edition commemorative 80-page full color book celebrating CERA’s first 75 years. If you cannot make the banquet, you can still pre-order a copy here. Demand for this book is high, so reserve your copy now for this collector’s item, which is sure to sell out quickly. The books have been printed and will be distributed starting September 21st.

The $29 pre-order price includes domestic shipping only. Outside the US, shipping is via USPS First Class International for an additional $12 USD. Illinois residents should include 9.25% sales tax, making the total $31.68.

Myles Jarrow To Receive CERA Founder’s Award

The CERA Board of Directors has invited longtime member Myles Jarrow (#23) to be an honored guest at our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program, where he will receive the prestigious Founder’s Award for his service and commitment to the organization. Myles is 91 years old and is the last living person who attended the earliest CERA meetings. We hope that you will join us in honoring Mr. Jarrow at the event for a lifetime of dedication.

We look forward to seeing you at this once-in-a-lifetime celebration!

Notes on the back of this photograph say this is Indiana (Railroad) 458 and 320 on a CERA/Indianapolis RR Club Special at Jeffersonville, Indiana on August 12, 1938. This event is not listed as a numbered CERA fantrip, but that could simply be because of the involvement of another group. (Photographer unknown)

This photo was likely taken on August 20, 1938, during a CERA fantrip that used Indiana Railroad car 58. (Photographer unknown)

This picture is from one of three fantrips CERA held on the Milwaukee Electric during 1939-40. (Photographer unknown)

From Garfield “L” To Congress Median (Part 4)

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 15:27:05 GMT

(Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of posts about the transition from the old Garfield Park “L” to the Congress expressway median line in the 1950s.)

FYI we have updated a couple of older posts, Garfield/Congress/CA&E Mystery Photos Contest Answers and Somewhere West of Laramie.

This construction project has always been one of my favorites, and I’m old enough to remember some of it too. I’ve been collecting images of it for the last 30 years, and recently found my notes, which give the exact dates for most of the photos in those two posts, and the names of the photographers. Most of those pictures were taken by Ray DeGroote.

The third previous post (Mystery Filmstrip Contest) will probably remain just that, a mystery. The name of the photographer is not known; this was simply a roll of developed film purchased on eBay. Yet another post (The Great Subway Flood of 1957) touches on this construction period, although that’s not the main focus.

We also recently devoted an article (Scenes Along the Garfield Park “L”) to the old Metropolitan “L” prior to expressway construction. Now, we return with more construction photos, from the days when service on Chicago’s west side combined elements of the new and old. We hope that you will enjoy them.

-David Sadowski

A CTA test train on Van Buren passes by CTA PCC 4385 on Western avenue in 1953. (Photo by William C. Janssen, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

1949: “Chicago officials discuss Congress Highway plans.” (Photographer unknown)

October 25, 1950: “The Congress st. superhighway is the remaining link in Chicago’s superhighway system. Here are the concrete piers for the Peoria st. bridge. The expressway will run under Halsted and Peoria sts.” (Photographer unknown)

Some of the earliest work on the expressway involved digging out and building overpasses. That way, roads could be diverted around the affected area. (Photographer unknown)

May 8, 1952: A three-car CA&E train, heading eastbound, is closely following a CTA Garfield Park “L” train. According to Graham Garfield’s excellent http://www.chicago-l.org web site, CA&E trains “began stopping at Ogden station eastbound during the CTA® era, rather than at Marshfield, at the request of the Authority to clear up delays at Marshfield Junction. This lasted until the CA&E suspended service east of Desplaines on September 20, 1953.” The Ogden station closed one week later, as CTA trains were rerouted to Van Buren street at first only in one direction. (Photo by Joe Kordick)

A close-up of the same May 8, 1952 scene. (Photo by Joe Kordick)

In this circa 1952 aerial photo, we are looking east near Marshfield Junction, where the three Met “L” branches split off from each other. By this time, the Dearborn subway had opened, leaving the branch at left only for shop moves. Two CA&E trains pass each other, while two CTA trains are in the station. The building in the foreground will need to be torn down soon to make way for the expressway. (Photographer unknown)

A close-up of the same scene. (Photographer unknown)

Expressway demolition in Chicago. (Photographer unknown)

February 4, 1953: “Looking west from Canal street along the concrete structures already in place for the super highway.” (Photo by Joe Kordick)

August 11, 1953: “The Congress St. Super Highway. Looking West from above the Post Office.” The Garfield Park “L” snakes around at right. As you can see, a space has been cleared for the highway in the middle of the old Main Post Office, but the bridge over the Chicago River has not yet been built. (Photo by Bob Kotalik)

Looking northeast at Ogden and the Congress highway circa 1953-54. By now, the old “L” has been torn down in this area, and the temporary Van Buren street right-of-way is just barely visible on the left side of the picture. (Photographer unknown)

A two-car train of CTA 4000s along the temporary Van Buren trackage circa 1954-55. (Photographer unknown)

May 18, 1954: “Looking east at the super highway, from the Halsted Street bridge.” (Photo by Bob Kotalik)

May 21, 1954: “Here’s a picture of a neighborhood ‘on the move.’ This two-flat is one of seven similar buildings in the 4900 block on Lexington moved from north to south side of street to make room for Congress st. expressway. Building was turned in middle of the street to slide it on new foundations at 4927 Lexington. Structures are moved on rubber-tired dollies lashed to the underside of steel and timber supports.” (Photo by Frank Las)

Congress St. and Pulaski, July 28, 1955: “General view of the ceremonies of the driving of the golden spike by Mayor Daley.” (Photo by Arvidson)

Congress St. and Pulaski Rd., July 28, 1955: “Mayor Daley drives the golden spike in the Congress Street strip to lay the first rail in the Congress St. Superhighway.” (Photo by Arvidson)

December 15, 1955: Ceremonial ribbon-cutting as the Congress expressway is opened between Ashland and Laramie. Cook county Board President Dan Ryan, Jr., Gov. William G. Stratton, and Mayor Richard J. Daley officiating. (Photographer unknown)

December 15, 1955: “Cars enter completed 4 1/2-mile strip of Congress st. expressway at Laramie av. Impatient motorists jumped the gun.” One reason that the expressway could not continue west of here was that the CTA rapid transit line crossed the expressway footprint at grade. We are looking west in this view. (Photographer unknown)

August 3, 1956: “Twin-bridge across the Chicago River which will open to traffic Aug. 10, when the Expwy. itself will be open to the public from Ashland Ave. to Michigan Ave. New type of device permits the bridgetenders to see clearly whether the bridge is fully closed or partly open even during the densest fog or on the darkest night.” (Photographer unknown)

Congress at highway, 1956. (Photographer unknown)

August 6, 1956: “Looking east from Clark street showing the wide sweep of Congress street through the Chicago Loop.” (Photo by Merrill Palmer)

August 10, 1956: Ceremonies marking the opening of the downtown stretch of the Congress expressway. Note the PCC car in the background. (Photographer unknown)

This picture was most likely taken late in 1956, soon after this portion of the expressway opened to traffic. We are looking east near Halsted. Tracks have not yet been put in the median. The Garfield “L” curves off at left and would continue to operate here through June 1958. (Photographer unknown)

The Congress Expressway circa 1956-7. Tracks are in the median, but no third rail or stations yet. Meanwhile, the old Garfield Park alignment was still in place, including the double-island Halsted “L” station. (Photographer unknown)

An aerial view taken on June 6, 1957. By this time, the expressway was open as far as Laramie. The Garfield Park “L” is at left. (Photographer unknown)

An aerial view of the Congress expressway under construction on July 25, 1957. The view is looking east from about 7000 west. (Photo by Burley)

A close-up view showing the CTA’s temporary station at Oak Park avenue on July 25, 1957. The B&O freight tracks are at right. Everything here is still at ground level.The CTA tracks have been moved to the north. Note that the eastbound and westbound platforms are on opposite sides of Oak Park avenue. The highway would not open in this area until more than three years later. (Photo by Burley)

Watching expressway construction in Oak Park in 1959. By now, both the B&O freight line and the CTA rapid transit line are still running on the surface, but in a temporary alignment at the north end of the highway footprint. (Photographer unknown)

Watching expressway construction in Oak Park in 1959. (Photographer unknown)

This 1959 CTA map shows the temporary stations on the then-new Congress line between Central and DesPlaines. This included a station at Ridgeland, replacing a Garfield Park station at nearby Gunderson, but no permanent station was put there. CTA opted to use secondary entrances instead at both East Avenue and Lombard. The Central stop was not successful and was closed in 1973.

January 7, 1960: Looking south on Central, we see the uncompleted expressway and the temporary CTA platforms. According to http://www.chicago-l.org, “On October 16, 1959, the permanent eastbound Congress Line track was placed in service between Parkside and Pine avenues thru Lotus Tunnel. A temporary side platform was placed in service. Three days later, on October 19, the permanent westbound track and a temporary westbound side platform was placed in service, closing the previous temporary platform. Meanwhile, between the permanent tracks, the new, permanent island platform was constructed. The new Central station platform (with temporary fare controls) was placed in service on October 10, 1960, with westbound trains first using it, followed by eastbound trains the next day. On October 11, 1960, the third and final temporary Central station was closed.” (Photographer unknown)

A close-up of the temporary Central avenue platform as it looked on January 7, 1960. (Photographer unknown)

October 12, 1960: “Crowds line sides of Congress Expressway to see opening of final stretch from Central to 1st Ave.” (Photo by B. Kotalik)

October 12, 1960: “Looking down from overpass at formal opening of Congress Expressway.” (Photo by Zack)

Opening the last section of the Congress expressway, 1960. Gov. William Stratton cuts the ribbon, while Cook County Board President Dan Ryan, Jr. and Mayor Richard J. Daley look on. (Photographer unknown)

October 12, 1960: “Solid pack of cars passing thru Congress expressway after formal opening of the last link between Central and 1st Ave.” (Photo by B. Kotalik)

The “temporary” CTA terminal at the end of the Congress line in 1959. The platform at right is where CA&E cars would have transferred passengers to CTA, if the interurban could have resumed service after highway construction. (Photographer unknown)

Any Color You Like (Transit Trivia #1)

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 15:31:54 GMT

Herein we begin a new regular feature, Transit Trivia. We’ll do our best to answer reader’s questions, and with any luck, we’ll all learn something along the way.

Doug Auburg (of Battle Ground, Washington) wants to know what colors the two electric locomotives the North Shore Line purchased from Oregon Electric were painted. Don’s Rail Photosgives their ineage ars follows:

458 was built by the Spokane Portland & Seattle in January 1941 as Oregon Electric Ry. 50. It was purchased by the North Shore in December 1947 and was completed as 458 on January 27, 1948.

459 was built by the SP&S in August 1941 as OERy 51. It was purchased by the North Shore in December 1947 and was completed as 459 on November 22, 1948.

CNS&M freight loco 458 looking pretty good at North Chicago in October, 1961.

459 in September 1961.

The two freight locos as they looked on the Oregon Electric. (From CERA B-77)

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down any color photos showing the locos on Oregon Electric. According to the Wikipedia, passenger service ended in May 1933, while electric freight operations continued until July 10, 1945, when the railroad dieselized. This gives a period of only about four years when color photos could have been taken, and this coincided with WWII when color film was scarce indeed.

My research shows that OE passenger cars were painted either “traction orange” or “Pullman green,” but this service ended several years before the locos were even built. To the best of my knowledge, the locos may simply have been painted black with either yellow or gold lettering. The photos reproduced in CERA B-77 would tend to support the idea they were black, at least.

Much better color information exists for the locos when they plied the North Shore Line. Here, the colors were the standard dark green with red accents and gold lettering. Unfortunately, both units were scrapped, presumably in 1964, a year after the famous interurban quit. There were no buyers for them.

Trying to paint a model using color photos as a guide will always be a somewhat haphazard affair. Even in the best of situations, colors (and particular shades of colors) may not photograph accurately.

You would think that the digital age has solved all these problems, but not quite. For example, Kodachrome slides, when scanned, often exhibit a “bluecast” that affects overall color. It can take both sophisticated scanners and software to eliminate the bluecast.

The roof of Indiana Railroad car 65, preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, is supposed to be green, and maybe it is, but in various photos I’ve taken, it appears to be gray. That may just be a “trick of the light.”

IR #65 in 2012 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. (Photo by David Sadowski) Green roof or gray? You be the judge.

There have been at times many heated and passionate discussions at railway museums over the “correct” color some piece of equipment ought to be painted. Sometimes, old-timers have been consulted, and asked about the proper color. In one case I heard about, they said they bought whatever the paint store had on sale. So, even in the old days, there were color variations, even on properties that were trying to maintain a particular paint scheme.

The paints we use today may be different in composition than what was available decades ago. It may not be possible, in all cases, to have an exact match for the original colors. San Francisco has learned this as they try to reproduce the colors of various PCC cars representing various cities.

Birmingham (AL) Electric PCC 842 circa 1950. This car’s attractive color scheme has been reproduced in San Francisco on Muni car 1077. You can see how that car looks here:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Francisco_PCC_streetcar_1077,_Birmingham_livery.jpg

There are many things that affect the colors on a railcar, even after the paint drys. After the end of service, the Chicago Aurora and Elgin repainted some of their rolling stock, in hopes that a fresh coat of paint might help sell some equipment. However, they started thinning out the red paint, in order to make it last longer.

As a result, within a few years, some cars that started out red began to look more pink.

Sometimes, transit colors have acquired fanciful names. According to Graham Garfield’s excellent Chicago “L” site, CRT’s 4000-series cars were painted “brindle brown.” When was the last time you looked at something and said, “Hey, that’s brindle brown?”

CA&E 456 and 455 among the weeds at Wheaton Shops in August 1959. Even freight service had ended a few months earlier, but these cars look like they have received a fresh coat of paint, in hopes of being sold to another operator. Although the cars were only about 12 years old at this time, six of the ten postwar units ended up being scrapped a few years later right on this spot. The only cars saved from the 451-460 series went to “Trolleyville USA” in Ohio instead of ending up on the North Shore Line or in Airport service in Cleveland.

The late Gerald E. Brookins was responsible for preserving many historic railcars at his “Trolleyville USA” in northern Ohio. He sometimes took a different approach to paint schemes on his “Columbia Park and Southwestern,” with some equipment painted in an odd and rather unpopular yellow and dark green livery. I’m not sure what historic precedence there was supposed to be for it, but now that the Brookins collection has been dispersed to other museums, some of those same cars have been repainted into more authentic colors.

A 1984 shot of CA&E 451 (with a rather odd color scheme) in Olmstead Township, Ohio on the Columbia Park and Southwestern aka “Trolleyville USA.” This car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Lehigh Valley Transit car 1030 as it looked at Fairview car barn on September 9, 1951, a few days after interurban service ended. The original paint chips from 1939 still exist for this color array, and hopefully can be used to provide an exact match the next time this car is repainted at the Seashore Trolley Museum.

Model painters can be a great source of information on authentic railcar colors. After all, they have to deal with this issue head-on in many more situations than railway museums do. There are a lot more models than real trains.

Another thing to keep in mind: color is density. Changing the exposure of a photograph also changes the color. The light meters in cameras are calibrated towards a medium gray tone, and will tend to render snow as gray instead of white. The same is true of very dark objects. The typical camera will tend to make them look gray as well.

A camera cannot adjust to light in the same way that your brain does. Your brain acclimates to different colored light, which explains why florescent light looks green in photos, but not to your eye. The same is true of incandescent light, which tends to look very yellow in pictures. The worst situation is when you have mixed lighting from different sources that are not the same color. In that case, adjusting for one throws the rest of the picture off even more.

There was no Pantone color matching system in 1963, when the North Shore Line gave up the ghost. Pantone equates shades of color with a reference number, and thus provides a way of replicating colors without the guesswork. It’s proven to be such a great system that it has even appeared in lyrics to popular songs, such as this excerpt from Reno Dakota by Stephin Merritt The Magnetic Fields:

Reno Dakota there’s not an iota of kindness in you
You know you enthrall me and yet you don’t call me
It’s making me blue, Pantone 292

The Pantone system, however, cannot replace the poetry of the past. Pantone color numbers will never sound as or look as romantic as the combination of Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange, the original colors of Chicago’s postwar PCC streetcars and “L” cars.

Why be a number when you can be a Green Hornet?

-David Sadowski

CTA 6101-6102 heading up a Ravenswood B train southbound at Belmont in the mid-1980s. These cars are now at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Another view of 458 in North Chicago, this time on May 30, 1962.

Three North Shore “pups” at work in March 1961, with loco 452 at rear. (Photographer unknown)

A North Shore Line freight train led by loco 456 at Rondout in November 1962. (Photographer unknown)

North Shore Line loco 456 and caboose in November 1962. (Photographer unknown)

CNS&M caboose 1005 at North Chicago Junction on June 16, 1962. (Photo by W. A. Gibson)

458 at North Chicago in July 1959. (Photo by Spitzer)

Another view of Oregon Electric 50. (Photographer unknown)

Another view of Oregon Electric 51. (Photographer unknown)

Last Run of the 2200s

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 15:34:42 GMT

For the last year or more, CTA’s 2200-series rapid transit cars have been going, going… and now they’re gone. Recently, it was reported they had run their last on July 31.

But wait, there’s more! CTA decided to give them one final sendoff on August 8th, with a special farewell run after 44 years of service. As a regular CTA rider going back even before these “L” cars were new, this was one trip I just couldn’t miss. (You can read the CTA Service Bulletin here.)

First, there was a short non-stop “media run” between Rosemont and Jefferson Park. Then the extra train went out to the end of the Blue Line at O’Hare Airport, and ran all the way out to Forest Park and back starting at 11:11 am- and making all stops, despite being signed as an “A” train. (The CTA gave up on “skip-stop” service some years back.)

The “media run” at the Sayre avenue overpass along the Kennedy expressway.

These were the last cars on the CTA system that used “blinker” doors, a unique Chicago feature going back to the original experimental 5000 cars of 1947-48. The November 1950 issue of ERA Headlights explained their use on the first order of 6000s thusly:

There are four entrance-exit doors in each car– two on each side. Doors are located one-fourth the length of the car from each end. Under this arrangement, passengers will never be more than one-quarter of a car length from a door.

Each door is a double one– with a clear opening of 24 inches– that will permit passengers to enter and exit simultaneously in two separate lines.

The location and arrangement of doors will reduce boarding and alighting times, thereby contributing to faster service. The doors are interlocked with the motor controls so that a train cannot be started until all doors are closed. The doors have sensitive rubber edges that cause them to open automatically should they come in contact with an object while closing.

Final runs can be a somber affair, like a wake. But this one was more like a party. The cars were full of people, mostly fans, but some just regular riders. A train came along and they got on it. This is as it should be. People were laughing and talking, and reminiscing about the old days when the 2200s were the “state of the art.”

After 44 years, they still ran pretty good, and the body design has a timeless elegance that will never go out of style. They are a remarkable success story, and one that is even more exceptional when you consider how many contemporary railcar orders were flops.

This is in part due to the evolutionary, as opposed to revolutionary, nature of the 2200s design. They were an improved version, and a more refined one of their predecessors, the 2000s, which had a comparatively shorter life and were not as well liked.

The high-performance 2000s, only five years older than these cars, were the first series to come with air conditioning as standard equipment. But the compressors were underpowered and could not get the job done. Being mounted on the ceiling, they tended to leak water on anyone sitting in the middle of the car. When the a/c failed on really hot days, or couldn’t keep up, that resulted in some very sweltering conditions in those cars, which did not have windows that could be opened.

These shortcomings were dealt with in the 2200s. The air conditioning units were moved to below the riders. They were beefed up. The cars were eventually retrofitted with windows that could open if the a/c failed, but I really don’t recall ever seeing them used. Now we take air conditioning for granted on rapid transit cars, but there was a time when some considered it an unnecessary luxury.

The 2000s and 2200s, in turn, were improved versions of the 6000s, still my favorite. In some ways they will always be the quintessential CTA “L” cars. But these cars could go faster, and had better ride quality. They did not shake, rattle, and roll like the 6000s did as they strained to get up to a top speed of about 52 mph with a good tailwind.

It wasn’t a wake, it was a celebration. After it was over, the crowd milled about, some wanting to have their pictures taken standing next to the cars that they probably were sad to see depart. As they pulled out of the O’Hare terminal for the last time, they looked like they could go on for another 44 years. Instead, they are going to the scrapper, lock, stock, and blinker doors.

But a pair of these cars have been saved and are now at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, where we hope they will continue to serve in the future. You might want to consider visiting them sometime, even if they have to be fitted with trolley poles.

CTA did them up right with period advertising and signage. For this trip, they dispensed with the canned station announcements and did things the old way, with the doors being controlled by a conductor, and spoken announcements. It brought back a lot of memories.

I guess you had to be there.

-David Sadowski

(Note: The author’s own photos were taken on August 8, 2013. Others are credited as appropriate.)

The final southbound run at Cumberland.

CTA decorated the train with reproductions of vintage ads.

The old route map, circa 1970.

Map showing the “old” Congress-Douglas-Milwaukee route, before the O’Hare extension and the Pink Line.

“Blinker” doors.

Graham Garfield in period CTA garb, from before the invention of “casual Friday.”

Our train has arrived in Forest Park.

Everybody wants to get a picture, or get in the way of yours.

The 2200s on the turnaround loop at Forest Park.

If CA&E service had resumed in 1959, this is approximately where their trains would have run.

Ready for the return trip to O’Hare.

An “A” train making all stops.

All aboard!

Author and historian Bruce Moffat.

The end of the line, the CTA O’Hare terminal designed by Helmut Jahn.

Fans take a few last-minute pictures. People started posing next to the cars after their final run.

The 2200s going off to oblivion.

CTA handout from the trip.

2261-62 at Laramie on Douglas Park (today’s Pink Line) on July 4, 1971.

A Douglas-Milwaukee “B” train at Jefferson Park (then the end of the line) in September 1972. (Photo by Philip Horn)

“Blinker” doors on Chicago “L” cars were influenced by their earlier use on PCC streetcars.

September 28, 1969 – “New CTA trains, Dan Ryan. One of the new CTA rapid transit trains that went into service today, passing under the 31st street bridge, heading north.” (Photo by Pete Peters)

A Mystery Solved

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 18:06:39 GMT

We all love a mystery, don’t we? Well, we certainly presented one in our earlier post “Roarin’ Elgin on the North Shore? (March 31). Where was that picture taken along the North Shore Line during a 1946 CERA fantrip? At first, we thought perhaps Greenleaf avenue in Wilmette. Eventually, we settled on 5th in Milwaukee.

But now a new contender has emerged, thanks to CERA Director John Nicholson, who writes:

In looking back on the photo of the two ex-CA&E cars on the 1946 fantrip over the North Shore, we were able to refute one reader’s claim that the photo was taken on Greenleaf Ave. in Wilmette; the most obvious strike against that was that the pavement in the photo was concrete while Greenleaf Ave. had brick paving.

I decided to have another look at the photo and I saw that the track on the right was curving left in the distance to indicate this was a siding. There was nothing like this in Milwaukee which led me to believe that the photo was in Waukegan. After checking the map in B-107, I concluded the only location for this photo was the siding on Franklin St. in Waukegan. This was confirmed by Tom Jervan, a native of Waukegan. He immediately identified North School in the photo and produced his own track map of Waukegan. On it he also placed the names of businesses and buildings from that era. In checking the map, we were able to determine that the two-car train had just turned left off of County St. onto the siding on Franklin St. and was westbound. He also had indicated the location of North School on his map.

Eureka! We have found it! The evidence seems persuasive. We will have to update that post accordingly, lest we continue to give out incorrect information.

But that’s OK, because we aren’t just writing about historical subjects in order to be topical. Good taste, they say, is timeless, and we hope that the CERA Members Blog, over time, will become both an archive and a resource that people will continue to read in the future, just as we still read old CERA bulletins.

But while the only way to correct mistakes in old books is to reprint them, here we have an advantage. We can always go back and update our old posts, once new information or images are available. And so we do- several of our previous posts have already been improved this way, and we will continue to work on them as the situation permits.

For example, we have added a couple of images to our recent post Scenes Along the Garfield Park “L” (July 31), and if we come across others that seem to fit there, we might do that again.

Here’s an image we recently added to the post.

And here’s another one. Unless I miss my guess, this is in the general area where the Union Station trainshed was later built… but this is perhaps 20 years before that happened.

Likewise, we have added a couple of new images to Chris Buck’s post The Great Subway Flood of 1957 (April 23):

CTA workers sandbag retaining wall of westbound expressway on west side of Halsted (July 13, 1957).

CTA sandbag crew, July 13, 1957. We enjoy having an opportunity to show the real working people of this country, whose contributions are often forgotten or taken for granted.

Over time, a few more images have snuck into other posts, such as Chicago’s Subways and the “Bluebirds”. We may not always draw attention to these changes, but from time to time we do make them, and we hope that you, the reader, will benefit.

This might all seem a bit like trivia- and it is. We will begin a new feature later this week called “Transit Trivia.” We are not too proud to note that it is inspired by a similar column that “The Professor” (Roy G. Benedict) used to write for First and Fastest magazine. But we are sure there is plenty of trivia to go around for everyone.

Watch this space!

-David Sadowski

A fanciful 1944 view of Chicago’s new State Street subway, patterned after a famous 1943 photograph, but showing a BMT-style “Bluebird” in red.

Scenes Along the Garfield Park “L”

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:14:41 GMT

Few traces remain today of Chicago’s storied Garfield Park “L”, which was obliterated by construction of the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway in the 1950s, events that also hastened the demise of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin interurban. The transition from Garfield to Congress has long been one of our favorite topics, which we have written about at length.

It is not apparent from this early postcard, but the Met bridge over the Chicago River had four tracks.

But today, we offer a sampling of views along the old right-of-way, before the inevitable path of progress affected things. Looking at a route map from 1948, and considering how the western suburbs were expected to develop, we can see how the Garfield line (and its CA&E connections) had a tremendous reach and potential, only partly realized by today’s CTA Blue Line branch to Forest Park.

By the late 1920s, CA&E and CRT, both parts of the far-flung Insull empire, worked together as parts of a harmonious whole. While the Depression put everything under great strain, there were few real changes in services for the next 20 years. But the idea of a rapid transit line in the median of the Congress Parkway Super-Highway took hold by 1939, so change became inevitable.

The Met “L”s were not built to as high a standard as Chicago’s others, and therefore, sooner or later, the structure would have needed complete replacement anyway, as experienced by the Douglas/Pink Line. But not all of the Garfield Line ran in the footprint of today’s Eisenhower expressway. From Sacramento to a point just west of Laramie- a stretch of about three miles- the line ran outside where the highway is today, and this portion could have been retained. Likewise, the portions east of Halsted also veered off from the highway to connect up with the Loop “L”.

The highway plans did not always call for replacing the entire Garfield alignment. According to a 1948 CTA map, the plan at that time was to retain the old portion between Sacramento and Laramie:

On the City of Chicago’s construction program is a West Side Subway as an extension of the Congress Street leg of the Milwaukee-Dearborn-Congress Subway. Crossing under the Chicago river in tubes, it is to emerge near Halsted Street in the strip between the roadways of the Congress Street Superhighway. It is to continue in the median strip of the highway to Kedzie Avenue and then turn north in subway tubes to connect with the Lake Street “L”.

Included in the plan are the construction of two track connections to the Douglas Park and Garfield Park branches at Marshfield Avenue and Sacramento Boulevard, respectively.

Planners also hoped to tear down the Loop “L” in stages, and in order to do this, the Lake Street “L” would need to be relocated into a subway. It was thought this could be done by building a new connection between Lake and the planned Congress line, which would then run downtown via the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway. Whereas the old Met “L” arrangement had three branches coming together at one point (Marshfield junction), these early CTA plans called for separating them, with the Lake and Congress lines coming together at a point further west.

But there were many practical reasons for letting the Lake Street “L” remain, and it and the Loop “L” structure have survived to this day. For one thing, the Lake “L” was built to a higher standard than Garfield or Douglas. Relocating the portion east of Kedzie would do nothing to fix the problems Lake had running at ground level west of Laramie. Routing Lake via Congress would also have slowed down service downtown and back, in the same manner that the Pink Line is slowed down today by being diverted over to Lake.

CTA planners helped improve operations on the Lake Street “L” in 1949 with the introduction of A-B “skip stop” service, and this seems to have quelled the notion of connecting it to Congress. After all, a Lake-Douglas-Congress route would have been a three-headed monster, and CTA was not going to institute an A-B-C service.

We can all be glad that service on the west side lines got rationalized in a better manner than some of the early plans. Unfortunately, expressway construction is also widely regarded as having sped the end of the CA&E, which ceased operating passenger service in 1957.

Opinions are divided on whether CA&E, which was losing money, really wanted to continue at the start of expressway construction. It may be that cutting back service to Forest Park was part of an overall plan for a piecemeal liquidation, in a similar manner to what happened to Lehigh Valley Transit’s Liberty Bell Limited between 1949 and 1951.

CRT’s Westchester branch had great potential, but fell victim both to CA&E’s desire to liquidate its assets (it owned the land) and their desire to sever rail connections with the CTA. Continued CTA rail operations west of Forest Park would have meant keeping the track connection which CA&E cut as soon as their last westbound train passed Forest Park in September 1953. But I am sure CTA wishes it had the Westchester branch back today.

Meanwhile, I hope that you enjoy our Garfield Park “L” photo essay as we turn back the clock to a time before it, and much else of life in the 1950s, was swept away into the dustbin of history.

-David Sadowski

CTA 2818 leads the way west of the Loop in this June 1952 scene. I believe we are looking east from the end of the Racine station.

The three Metropolitan “L” lines met at Marshfield junction. Garfield Park trains are in the center of this postcard view, with Logan Square/Humboldt Park on left and Douglas Park on the right. This is approximately where the Pink Line crosses the Blue Line today.

The Garfield Park’s Cicero station, seen here in the early 1950s, was the westernmost one on a steel elevated structure. Service west continued at ground level. This portion of the line was unaffected by expressway construction and continued in service until the Congress line opened in 1958. It was torn down the following year.

In the early 1950s, a westbound Garfield Park train descends the ramp between the Cicero and Laramie stations.

CA&E steel car 430 at Laramie on July 23, 1933.

According to Don’s Rail Photos, “2721 was built by Barney & Smith in 1895 as Metropolitan-West Side Elevated Ry 721. In 1913 it was renumbered 2721. In 1919 it was rebuilt as a merchandise dispatch car to be leased to the North Shore line. After a short time it was replaced by new and similar MD cars built for the North Shore. It was then returned to the CRT and used in work service. It became CRT 2721 in 1923.” It is shown here in 1941 painted silver. This car was scrapped in March 1959. (The location is the SE corner of Laramie Yard. You can see the elevated ramping up at the right of the picture.)

CRT 2322 in a late 1930s photo by early CERA member La Mar M. Kelley.

CRT Metropolitan Division 2877, shown here in a photo by La Mar M. Kelley, was built in 1906. CERA Bulletin 113 describes this order as “the enclosed vestibule type with manually controlled pneumatically-operated sliding doors and with steel and wood underframes and steel-reinforced wooden bodies.” Work car 2721 is at the rear.

CRT 1805 sports an American flag in this late 1930s photo by La Mar M. Kelley. This may be out on the Westchester branch (note the sparse development and the single track.)

While CRT’s own tracks ended at Laramie, “L” service continued further west as far as Bellwood and Westchester over the tracks of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin.

The Garfield Park route circa 1952, once the Westchester branch had been replaced by buses. CTA continued to serve the Bellwood/Westchester area with the #17 bus for the next 60 years. The old “L” had lots of stations closely spaced together, and relied on walk-in traffic from densely populated neighborhoods. The Congress line that replaced it speeded up service, in part, by reducing the number of stations.

A CTA summary of Garfield Park service as of 1952, after the Westchester branch closed, but before expressway construction forced a portion of the route to be relocated to temporary tracks on Van Buren street in the city.

If not for expressway construction starting in 1953 (and the resulting Congress median line that opened five years later), CTA might have simply truncated Garfield “L” service at Laramie and used buses west of there. The ground-level route west of there had grade crossings, passing sidings, and even crossed a freight line. No doubt CTA considered this very problematic. Similarly, service on the Douglas Park branch was cut back to 54th avenue in 1952. Proposals to eliminate the ground-level portion of the Lake street “L” around this time eventually led to the outer portion being relocated to the CNW embankment in 1962.

From 1953-57, CA&E service terminated at Forest Park, and passengers desiring to continue further east had to change trains and pay a CTA fare. There were no through tickets.

Joint timetables such as this helped improve the transfer of passengers between CA&E and CTA at Forest Park between 1953-57.

CRT 4317 leads the way on a CERA fantrip on the CA&E’s Mount Carmel branch on February 12, 1939.

The AE&C was the predecessor of the CA&E. Some of its original 1902 equipment included wood car 16, shown here, a sister of car 20, preserved in operating condition at the Fox River Trolley Museum.

CA&E cars 456 and 457 at Batavia Junction on July 3, 1949.

Now we’ve come full circle. Here is another view of the bridge shown at the beginning of this post.

Rare North Shore Line Movies @ CERA’s 75th Anniversary Program

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 18:29:16 GMT

We are pleased to announce that longtime CERA Member, Director, and President Walter Keevil will present the program at our 75th Anniversary Banquet this September 21st. Since this is the 50th anniversary of the North Shore Line’s demise, Walter will show rare films of that famous interurban from his extensive collection.

749 in Milwaukee in late 1962, just a few months before all North Shore Line service was abandoned. IRM acquired this car in 1963.

To give you some of the flavor of Mr. Keevil’s program, we offer you a sampling of North Shore Line photos from the CERA Archives. We hope that you will enjoy them, and we look forward to seeing you at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare in September.

-David Sadowski

Electroliner at the North Shore Line’s Milwaukee terminal.

This sign, or one just like it, now hangs at the Illinois Railway Museum.

CNS&M 175 at Roosevelt Road in August 1949, during the years when the North Shore practically had this station all to itself.

One of the two Electroliners at Madison and Wabash on Chicago’s “L” in the late 1950s.

Car 729 at the gritty Milwaukee terminal.

CNS&M 771.

North Shore city streetcar 360 in August 1949.

CNS&M 417 in August 1949.

North Shore city streetcar 356 in August 1949. Sister car 354 is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.

North Shore Line merchandise dispatch cars in August 1949.

CNS&M freight motor 21 at Highwood in August 1939.

North Shore car 162 as it looked on November 27, 1941. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “It was acquired by American Museum of Electricity in 1963 and resold to Connecticut Trolley Museum.”

The North Shore handled packages as well as passengers.

The North Shore Line left a legacy that continues to enrich our lives today. Here we see car 160 at the Illinois Railway Museum in the mid-1980s. Emerson Wakefield, the author’s uncle, is walking away from the car. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CERA News For July (part 2)

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 18:30:58 GMT

CERA Celebrates 75 Years

We are now less than two months away from CERA’s 75th Anniversary events, which include a banquet, program, and three special fantrips. Orders and inquiries are coming in every day. You can get more information, purchase tickets online or print out mail-in order forms here.

CTA 6181-6182 at Skokie Shops on May 26, 1963, during the CERA 25th Anniversary fantrip.

Trolley Sparks Special #1

Everyone who attends the banquet and program on September 21st will receive a copy of Trolley Sparks Special #1, a limited-edition commemorative 80-page full color book celebrating CERA’s first 75 years. If you cannot make the banquet, you can still pre-order a copy here. Demand for this book is high, so reserve your copy now for this collector’s item, which is sure to sell out quickly. Work on the book has now been finished, and will go to the printer this week, so that it can be ready in time for our banquet and program.

We will announce the international shipping cost for the book once we know how much it weighs. The $29 pre-order price includes domestic shipping only.

CTA 4259-4260 and 4287-4288 on the South Boulevard team track in Evanston, during CERA’s 25th Anniversary fantrip on May 26, 1963.

Myles Jarrow To Receive CERA Founder’s Award

CTA Historical cars 4271-4272 at Sedgwick on May 28, 1978, during a CERA 40th Anniversary fantrip. (Photo by G. E. Lloyd)

Membership Rates for 2014 Set

At the July meeting, your CERA Directors set the membership rates for next year. The rates for Active, Contributing, and Sustaining memberships remain unchanged at $45, $90, and $180 respectively. The Associate rate will go up to $42 from $38.

Due to the increased cost of international postage, the rate for International Associate members will be $72, and $75 for International Actives. The additional $30 USD will go towards covering the cost of mailing the membership book entitlement abroad (which can cost in excess of $30 by itself) plus other informational mailings.

The Directors hope to merge the Active and Associate membership classes into one group for 2015, but this will require the approval of membership at our next business meeting, which will be in January 2014. Over the last 75 years, the original purpose behind having our membership divided this way has gradually been lost.

In the beginning, Active members had to pass an oral examination at one of our program meetings, although longtime member Ray DeGroote says this was largely done in jest. CERA’s founding members thought that local members would be more active, while those outside the Chicagoland area would not be interested in our programs.

However, we now find that we are just as likely to have Active members in other parts of the country as here, while there are also many Associates who are local. One reason for charging the Actives more was to cover the cost of mailing program notices 10 times a year.

Now we have started adding CERA News to the backs of the meeting notices, in order to keep our members better informed. Yet it does not seem fair that our Associate members should not get the same news.

What we envision is having one main class of membership, in addition to the Contributing and Sustaining. Perhaps they could just be called Members. We would then give each member the choice of receiving their information via regular mail, or via the Internet.

There are three main ways to receive CERA news and information, including program notices, via the Internet. All are available via our web site. Besides the web site, there is the CERA Members Blog. If you subscribe to the blog (also known as “following” it), you will get all our updates automatically via e-mail. Each person manages their own subscription. You can also “like” CERA on Facebook, which you can do via our home page or through Facebook.

Membership renewal notices for 2014 will go out around November 1st.

John Marton Recovering

Longtime CERA Member and Director John Marton is recovering from surgery and has been hospitalized for the past month. Our thoughts and prayers are with John and his wife Judy. We wish him a speedy recovery, and will look forward to seeing him at our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program. Ray DeGroote will fill in for John as our master of ceremonies at the event.

-David Sadowski

Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways,” Part 3

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 18:36:48 GMT

October 16, 1943 – Crowd at State and Madison waiting in line to buy a ticket on the opening of Chicago’s new subway.

This is part three in our ongoing series on Chicago’s first subways, the first of which opened 70 years ago this year.

January 10, 1939 – CHICAGO, ILL. – Chicago’s dream is fast becoming a reality as workmen continued to drill the preliminary tunnel toward the route of the main subway tube in the middle of State street. With about 250 feet yet to go to that objective, machinery and material are being fed through this preliminary arterial which will provide an outlet for excavated earth. Photo shows a car loaded with clay as it is being pushed along the tracks by workers as progress is being made on Chicago’s new subway.

May 31, 1939 – “Muckers” push a load of blue clay after stripping it from the walls of Chicago’s future subway.

February 1, 1940 – “Mike Sunta, 4044 Montgomery, subway worker looking at the old tube where the street car cables traveled through.” (More likely, these were tubes related to the cable car system that preceded streetcars.)

February 18, 1941 – The State Street Council on inspection tour of the Chicago subway. They are shown in the observation car they rode through the subway in.

Models in furs pose in the uncompleted subway station at Clark and Division on March 18, 1943. Note the bare wires coming out of the ceiling.

Valarie Losinicki, 18, 10517 Oglesby and Eva Frendreis, 21, 1936 Wellington are shown coming up the escalator. Two ticket cages and their turnstyles are shown in the background.

October 12, 1943 – “Power control panel that has complete control over all electric power of the Subway, and small sections of the power can be cut off or the entire section, depending on occasion. This is located on the 12th floor of the Commonwealth building.”

October 21, 1943 – “The stile at left operates with a dime, while the ticket seller turns the one at the right from her booth for passengers using transfers or those requiring change.”

AT LAST – THE CHICAGO SUBWAY

The Chicago Subway is a joke no longer. After wrestling with its traction problem for more than 75 years, the city has finally completed the 4.9 miles of the first section of the underground tube, now serving North and South Side residents. Started on December 20, 1938, the beginning of the system was dedicated on October 16, by Mayor Edward Kelly. So far, the cost is nearly $57,200,00, a figure expected to reach approximately $217,000,000 upon completion of the 18th underground city transit system in the world.

A Chicago subway scene on December 23, 1943. “Escalator all to himself, post-midnight customer reads while he rides. No din, no shove.”

In 1938, when the FDR Administration (via Harold Ickes and the PWA) approved plans for Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways,” it seemed baffling to many, that the east-west streetcar subways were nixed, while a subway on Dearborn was approved that appeared to simply end at Congress street and connect to nothing on the south end. However, I have uncovered documentary evidence that this second subway was always intended to connect to a “subway” median line in the Congress Super-Highway, which at that time had not yet been approved. So rather than play up this incongruity, press reports of the day tended to remain silent on the matter.

However, on page 5 of the November 1938 issue of Surface Service, the CSL’s employee publication, it says:

Subway Extensions

The City must on or before July 1, 1939, or such later date as the Administrator may approve, submit a comprehensive plan for extension of the subway system satisfactory to the Administrator and in such detail as he may require, to include provisions for the widening of Congress street from Michigan avenue westward and for the construction of a subway in west Congress street from Dearborn street westward.

In the event that the State of Illinois makes available for such construction the proceeds of the motor fuel tax or other monies adequate for this purpose, the City must proceed promptly with this construction and carry it on as rapidly as possible according to the approved plan.

You can read the entire article here.

This in fact is what did happen. In 1939, the City made public their plans for “phase 2″ of subway extensions, which included connecting up the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway to a relocated Garfield Park line in the median of the Congress Super-Highway. At first, it was not clear whether the entire Garfield “L” would be relocated, or only the portion in the expressway “footprint.” This was the general area between Sacramento and Halsted, where Garfield Park trains (but not the CA&E, who refused to participate) were rerouted via surface trackage on Van Buren street.

The PWA also insisted that Chicago follow through on unifying the surface and rapid transit systems, then run by CSL and CRT, private companies that were in bankruptcy. This was considered essential to obtaining the new all-steel subway cars that were needed to operate the two subways.

The government allowed the State Street subway to be completed during the war as a matter of necessity, using the 455 steel cars that the Chicago Rapid Transit company had. But once war broke out and there were delays in merging CSL and CRT into a new private entity (which perhaps would have been called the CTC, or Chicago Transit Company), work on the Dearborn-Milwaukee tube was halted in 1942 “for the duration.” At this point, it was estimated that the second subway was 75-80% completed.

World War II also halted work on the Congress expressway. Work on both the subway and the superhighway resumed in 1945. Chicago finally achieved transit unification in 1945 with the creation of the Chicago Transit Authority by state statute.

In 1944, the City had looked into the idea of purchasing 65 articulated rapid transit cars itself (the equivalent of 130 single cars), and would presumably have leased them to CRT for use in the Dearborn subway, if not for the creation of the CTA. As it happened, the fledgling CTA had CRT order four articulated trainsets, which were delivered in 1947-48 and numbered 5001-5004. Presumably, these were all that the broke CRT could afford.

CTA also stage-managed CSL’s order of 600 postwar PCCs in a similar manner. The Surface Lines had millions of dollars set aside for purchasing new equipment, and was in much better financial shape than CRT, who could barely make operating expenses. Starting in 1939, the City had been publicizing a “wish list” for modernizing the surface and rapid transit systems, and wanted to get a quick start on buying new equipment, even before the CTA took over CSL and CRT in 1947.

In 1949, CTA ordered 130 6000-series PCC rapid transit cars without articulation. Delivery began in 1950, which permitted the opening of the Dearbon subway in February, 1951. Connecting the Dearborn subway to the Congress median portion did not happen until 1958, and even then, some of the outer stations on the line were not finished until 1961.

The “phase 2″ subway extension plans came up again in the mid-1950s, when plans started to extend the Logan Square “L” in the median of the Northwest (now Kennedy) expressway. A leading neighborhood activist group preferred that the Milwaukee subway simply be extended to the city limits as a subway, claiming that the City had promised the Federal government in 1939 to do this and thus had a legal obligation.

They felt that the expressway median was not the best place for a rapid transit line, as it would be too far away from people in the surrounding neighborhoods. In particular, they felt that the area along Kimball needed improved rapid transit service.

Once Federal money for mass transit became available in the mid-1960s, a compromise was reached with the mile-long Kimball subway. The original connection to the NW median would have been east of there, near California avenue. The City’s 1950s plan called for a ramp to veer off northward from the “L” at this point, going down into an open cut subway, which would have gone into the expressway median. There would have been one new grade crossing required in this plan.

The new plan, while more expensive, was clearly an improvement, as it allowed for service to continue to Logan Square, which the old plan bypassed. So even the Kimball subway owes its origins in part to Chicago’s 1930s plans for its “Initial System of Subways.”

-David Sadowski

The south end of the parking area at Des Plaines in Forest Park on December 10, 1957, about five months after CA&E suspended passenger service. Note the #17 bus, which replaced the Westchester branch of the “L” in 1951.

A four-car Congress-Milwaukee A train at the Des Plaines station in Forest Park on May 26, 1961. (Photo by Lawrence H. Boehning)

CTA Red Line Reroute

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 18:38:32 GMT

This has been a year of unusual reroutes on the CTA rapid transit system. A few months ago, we reported on Brown Line trains running in the State Street subway while the Wells Street bridge was rebuilt. Now, it’s the subway’s turn to be diverted onto the “L”.

For five months (starting last May), the CTA Dan Ryan portion of the Red Line is being rerouted onto the South Side “L”, while the expressway median trackage is being completely rebuilt. Your roving reporter took a trip out to 95th to check out how things are progressing.

Shuttle buses at Garfield (Green Line).

Riders (CTA calls them “customers” nowadays, but I like the old terminology) seem to be taking things in stride, and the reroute and shuttle bus operation appears to be running smoothly. Thankfully, the disaster some expected has not come to pass.

The CTA Howard and Dan Ryan lines were joined in 1993 when a new mile-long subway connection opened. Previously, Howard trains exited the subway south of Roosevelt and proceeded up a ramp to rejoin the South Side “L”.

The South Side “L” runs parallel to most of the Dan Ryan line, and only a few blocks away. However, the Ryan line was not meant to replace the Englewood and Jackson Park lines, which were among the system’s busiest prior to 1969. Opening the new line did siphon off most of this traffic.

When the decision was made that the Ryan line needed to be completely rebuilt from the ground up, CTA thankfully could make use of this underutilized capacity on the South Side “L”. So, until October, Red Line and Green Line trains are sharing the “L”, resulting in some hot rails indeed. Subway trains are once again going up and down the ramp to the “L”, 20 years after they last did so.

Our trip began at Roosevelt Road, with photo stops at the nearby subway portal and Indiana Avenue. We got off at Garfield and took one of the free express shuttle buses to 95th, then reversed course.

Compliments go out to the CTA for the smoothness and efficiency of this operation. Interestingly, in order to make up for the inconvenience of the shuttle operation, CTA is allowing free rides for anyone boarding at Garfield, regular riders and diverted ones alike.

There were reports early on that regular Green Line riders were letting Red Line trains pass, even though they go to many of the same places, while others were riding slower local buses like the #29 instead of the quicker shuttles. But I am sure that as the public got used to the situation, these issues were minimized.

More and more service on the Red Line is being handled by the new 5000s, while we happily note that a pair of retired 2200s has just arrived at the Illinois Railway Museum. It will seem a bit odd to see them fitted with trolley poles, but we look forward to seeing them run in next year’s Trolley Pageant there. Meanwhile, there are still some 2200s in service on the Blue Line. Out with the old and in with the new.

-David Sadowski

Note: All photos were taken by the author on July 12, 2013.

Green Line trains are sharing the South Side “L” for five months with the Red Line while the Dan Ryan portion is being rebuilt.

A Red Line train emerges from the subway just south of Roosevelt Road.

A northbound Red Line train going down the ramp into the State Street subway.

A Red Line train using older equipment heads south at Indiana Avenue.

The Red Line meets the Green Line at Indiana.

REd Line 5000s heading south at Indiana, near where the Stockyards and Kenwood branches once split off from the main line.

Transfers to shuttle buses at Garfield are fast and convenient.

The R95 shuttle runs non-stop between Garfield on the Green Line and 95th/Dan Ryan. There are similar buses going direct to other closed Dan Ryan stations.

Apparently, this is the last remaining original station building on the South Side “L” (at Garfield).

The CTA’s Englewood branch crosses the Dan Ryan and continues west to Ashland. The line originally ended at Loomis, but was extended about two blocks west to a more logical termination point in 1969, the same year service began on the Dan Ryan median line.

Boarding area at 95th for the shuttle bus to Garfield (55th) on the Green Line.

Rebuilding work in progress at 95th/Dan Ryan.

Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways,” Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 18:41:18 GMT

A “colorized” version of one of the Chicago Subway postcards from our earlier post. 3-D glasses not included.

Today we take up where we left off in our earlier post about the building of Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways.” We now tend to take the subways for granted, but there was a time when they were quite newsworthy.

Apparently some portion of the new subway was dug out by hand using long knives, in much the same fashion as the old Chicago Tunnel Company system of decades before.

Chicago’s Subway Being Dug With Knives

Chicago- Because Chicago’s subway is being dug at a depth of 35 feet, where there is clay instead of rock, it is being dug with knives. A curved blade about a foot long, with a handle at each end, is held by two men while a third pushes the knife downward to slice off a long strip of clay. A carload of the stripped clay is shown above being taken from the tunnel. (January 10, 1939)

Chicago Builds a Subway

Hailed as the most pretentious civic undertaking since Chicago shook off the ashes of the Great Fire, a $40,000,000 subway system is being tunneled beneath the city. Sandhogs are digging at a rate of 30 feet a day and should reach the end of the first unit –7.5 miles- of tunnel by July 1, 1940. This picture shows a subway worker hauling out a load of clay in the subway dump train. (August 27, 1939)

There could be a long wait for the next train, especially since the tracks haven’t been laid yet.

Chicago Gets a Subway

Chicago- The dream of Chicago officials for years– a subway system to relieve traffic congestion around the Loop– is rapidly approaching reality. Here are several views of the city’s new subways as they appear today, well on the way toward completion. Wartime priorities may delay the opening, however, since steel needed for rails and cars must be used to arm America instead. Mrs. Leroy Post, left, and Mrs. C. L. Mann, right, both of Evanston, pictured in this view of the State Street tube hope to be able to board a train at this platform someday, however. (January 31, 1942)

Except for rails, this section of the State Street line of Chicago’s new subway system is virtually completed. At the left is part of the Clybourn-North Avenue station platform. (January 31, 1942)

This partially-completed subway lies under the Chicago River and is the first part of the State Street line. Workmen at the left are installing conduits for third rail power distribution. (January 31, 1942)

Escalators will save Chicago’s subway riders the task of walking up long flights of steps. A future subway strap-hanger shown here doubtless wishes the escalator at the right was completed instead of being only framework after trudging up the temporary steps at the left. (January 31, 1942)

A future subway rider tries out the temporary station control equipment at a station on the State Street line. Soon he and thousands of other Chicagoans will be dropping coins into turnstiles such as this for their underground ride. This and other stations will have structural glass columns, concrete floors scored in a tile pattern and fluorescent lighting. (January 31, 1942)

The new CTA 6000s were featured on the cover of CERA Bulletin 92, as one of the “new developments of 1950.”

Read CERA’s 1950 article introducing the 6000s here as a PDF file.

Here come the 6000s.

CTA Trial Run, New Train Gets the Highball

Motorman Charles R. Blade, 59, of 1740 Grace, who is with the company 39 years, looks out of his cockpit. He is ready for return trip downtown, pix taken at Logan Square Terminal. (August 16, 1950)

Changes

While the State Street subway opened in October 1943 using 455 4000-series steel “L” cars, the newest of which were already 19 years old, the Dearborn subway got brand-new equipment. CTA ordered 130 new 6000-series PCC rapid transit cars in 1949, and began taking delivery on them the following year. This was considered the number needed to operate the Logan Square and Humboldt Park lines via the new Milwaukee-Dearborn subway. However, things did not work out that way.

Shortly before the new subway opened on February 25, 1951, the CTA Board voted to discontinue service on the Humboldt Park branch, which was deemed unworthy of receiving new 6000s. Humboldt Park riders were encouraged to ride the North Avenue trolley bus instead, a rare instance of CTA giving precedence to the surface system over the rapid in this era. Neighborhood opposition succeeded in saving the line from abandonment for a time, but only as a shuttle operation using some of the oldest equipment on the CTA system. Predictably, the inconvenient shuttle was short-lived and service on the Humboldt Park branch ended on May 4, 1952.

Similarly, while the junction between the new Milwaukee-Dearborn subway and the old Paulina Met “L” was intended to be permanent, not temporary, CTA decided to discontinue service on the “L” portion as soon as the subway opened. This is understandable, since the subway provided a much shorter and direct path downtown. However, it would have been possible to continue Humboldt Park service downtown via the old routing, while Logan Square trains used the subway.

To do so, however, would have complicated Garfield Park service over the temporary ground-level Van Buren Street trackage that was used from 1953-58. One reason for opening the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, even as a stub-end line terminating at LaSalle Street, was to reduce the number of Met “L” trains that would have to use the temporary trackage. Eventually, CTA found it only needed 80 6000s to operate Milwaukee-Dearborn. In late 1952, even these were shifted away to the much busier State Street subway, and Logan Square received the older 4000s instead.

Meanwhile, CTA did not tear down the Paulina “L” structure until 1964, leaving it as a single-track service connection that was traversed by at least one CERA fantrip. And only half of the Humboldt Park branch was demolished right away. Supposedly, the remaining portion would have been used as a storage yard for Chicago Aurora and Elgin trains, if service had been resumed downtown.

In this scenario, CA&E steel trains (the woods were not allowed) would have been routed through the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, since the Interurban had lost its downtown terminal.

The City of Chicago dedicated the new subway at the Washington station on February 24, 1951. Dignitaries included Mayor Martin H. Kennelly, Commissioner of the Department of Subways and Superhighways Virgil E. Gunlock, CTA Chairman Ralph Budd, Chief Engineer Dick Van Gorp, General Manager Walter J. McCarter, and Aldermen Joseph Rostenkowski, Clarence P. Wagner, and James F. Young. TV cowboy Monte Blue was also on hand.

Mayor Kennelly (1887-1951) is not as well-known by any means as the man who replaced him, Richard J. Daley, but he did serve two terms from 1947-55 and thus bridged the Kelly-Nash and Daley eras. Conventional wisdom says he was a reformer who found that Chicago wasn’t ready for that much reform yet.

Chicago Mayor Martin Kennelly is the first one off the train of new 6000-series “L”-subway cars.

Virgil Gunlock, then head of the City’s Department of Subways and Superhighways, addresses the crowd. I’m not sure if this was before or after the cowboy.

Virgil Gunlock also appears in our blog post The Great Subway Flood of 1957.

Mayor Kennelly at the opening of the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway on February 24, 1951. Both subway tubes were dedicated during mayoral election campaigns.

By the time the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway was finally connected to the new Congress expressway median line in 1958 (which replaced the old Garfield Park “L”), Chicago had a different Mayor.

A CTA test train of 6000s in the brand new Congress Expressway median line on June 18, 1958, a few days before regular service began.

In the June CERA program, we saw some of Bill Hoffman’s movies, including the free rides given on a portion of the new CTA Congress rapid transit line on June 21, 1958, between Halsted and Cicero. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was the very same day that the last streetcar ran in Chicago.

You’re invited…. to the dedication of the new West Side Subway in the Congress Expressway median strip with Mayor Richard J. Daley officiating, June 20…. to take a free train ride and inspect the new subway on June 21…. to use the fast, traffic-free regular service which goes into effect at 4:00 A.M., Sunday, June 22. V. E. Gunlock, chairman of the board, Chicago Transit Authority, and Miss Julia Riordan, a stenographer in CTA’s Public Information Department, inspect the posters at Keeler avenue staton announcing these events. Posters will be displayed at all rapid transit stations starting Monday, June 9. (1958)

Within a few short years, however, not all the news was good:

The Chicago Subway as it looked in 1965.

Empty Chicago Subway Station

This subway station in downtown Chicago was practically deserted when this picture was taken at 9 p.m. last night. A recent outburst of subway beatings and robberies has alarmed Chicago’s commuters. The subway situation leaped into prominence Jan. 7 when a law school dean and state legislator was beaten and robbed by three toughs as 20 other passengers watched. (1965)

But Chicago’s subways have rebounded from these low points and even survived the Great Chicago Flood in April 1992. Photographing subway trains is not the easiest thing to do, so we will leave you with a shot of a 6000s pair taken in April 1988.

-David Sadowski

A two-car train of 6000s in the State Street subway in April 1988. (Photo by David Sadowski)

60 For 60 at IRM

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 18:43:46 GMT

The Illinois Railway Museum celebrated 60 years with 60 cars at today’s Trolley Pageant. IRM has, of course, way more than just 60 cars. The collection has grown more than tenfold since 43 cars were moved from North Chicago to Union in 1964.

In the railfan community, it is easy to criticize, and IRM comes in for its share from time to time. But one thing today’s Trolley Pageant makes clear is that, in the big things, IRM has gotten it right. The breadth and scope of the collection is truly spectacular, and it continues to grow.

What makes it even more special is that the fans built it from the ground up. And to see cars that had once been storage sheds or chicken coops be brought back to life, to run again, would warm any railfan’s heart. Chicago and West Towns 141 is only the latest of these success stories, and is now operational for the first time since 1948.

Signs at Union proclaim it “America’s Premier Railway Museum,” and IRM’s claim to that title is as good as anyone’s. Who else could field:

A five-car train of North Shore Line cars
A three-car train of CA&E steels
A four-car train of CA&E woods
A seven car train of CTA 6000s
A three-car train of CRT/CTA 4000s
A three-car train of Illinois Terminal cars
A two-car train of CRT wooden “L” cars

All in running condition? Add to that the museum’s unique collection of Chicago streetcars, and you have something truly exceptional.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. In this tribute to IRM, we figure it would be better to keep the words to a minimum, and concentrate on the pictures. So, we give you 60 pictures from the 2013 Trolley Pageant to commemorate 60 years of the Illinois Railway Museum. All photos are by the author unless otherwise indicated. We hope that you will enjoy them.

-David Sadowski

PS- CERA is running a special trip out to the Illinois Railway Museum on September 21st, as part of our 75th Anniversary celebrations. Tickets are on sale now.

Photo by Diana Koester

Brothers Dan and Chris Buck, who piloted the three-car train of CA&E steel cars at the IRM 2013 Trolley Pageant.

Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways,” Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 18:45:36 GMT

It’s a curious thing to write in your high school yearbook, that you hope to “live long enough to ride the Chicago Subway.” Nowadays, a subway ride is pretty trivial, one of life’s commonplace occurrences if you work downtown and ride the CTA- something we all take for granted. But you have to consider the context. It was something my Dad said in 1942, when the US had just gotten into WWII and Chicago’s subways were still under construction.

A Chicago family, all dressed up for their first subway ride, in October 1943.

From the 1942 Steinmetz High School Yearbook.

As things turned out, my Dad’s fears that he might not live long enough had some justification. He turned 18 in October 1942, soon after graduating from Steinmetz High School, on the city’s northwest side. He was then drafted and inducted into the Army Air Force in April 1943, and served in the Pacific as a radio operator before being honorably discharged in 1946. He did get to ride the subway, but it may have taken a while.

Chicago’s first tunnel, the State Street tube, opened for revenue service on October 17, 1943, shortly after my father’s 19th birthday. His older brother Frank enlisted into the Army and became a Medic. He was killed in action on on April 19, 1945, during the battle of Okinawa. I don’t know if he ever did get to ride in the Chicago subway.

Chicago’s “Initial System of Subways,” which broke ground in 1938, had been in the works for a long time. According to the June 3, 1909 issue of Engineering News:

The idea of building subways for rapid transit purposes in the business district of Chicago is an old one, and has been embodied in a number of rapid transit schemes put forward by the municipality and outside interests during the past 20 years, or more.

Thus, by the time construction began on an actual subway in Chicago, the topic had been discussed for 50 years, and had become something of a civic joke. Many people doubted it would ever be built.

Yet even in 1908, barely a decade after the creation of the Union Loop connecting Chicago’s four rapid transit companies, the need for a subway was clear. The Loop “L” became congested right away, to the point where newspaper editorials called for action to be taken to alleviate even before constructing additional outlying lines.

While the Loop “L” is still with us after more than 115 years, there were calls early on to get rid of it. Again, from the 1909 Engineering News article:

In most (if not all) of these schemes the object has been to relieve traffic congestion in the streets by removing the street cars (or a large proportion of them) from the surface, and not to establish an underground railway independent of the surface facilities (as at New York). In the recent plans, this system is extended to include the trains of the elevated railways. It has been suggested that if all these trains can be accommodated in the subway, in addition to the surface cars, the unsightly and in many ways objectionable structure of the elevated terminal loop may be removed from the crowded streets of the business center. This, however, does not appear to be probable.

By 1905, the city’s newspapers were looking to through-routing of the rapid transit lines as a way to relieve congestion on the Loop “L”. The rapid transit companies resisted. In time there would be some through-routing on the “L”, but a subway would naturally provide through-routing since it would connect two lines.

In these early plans, we already see the idea present that the north-south subway would function as an “express,” with a limited number of stops, while the existing elevated would be a “local.” The State Street subway, as built, functions in just such a way.

The 1909 Engineering News piece also notes:

The subways now proposed (as described above) would constitute the beginning of a comprehensive system, to be developed as the growth of the city may require. The report states that these alone cannot be expected to provide adequate transportation for any considerable future period, and that their construction must be followed (at an early period) by subways taking advantage of other outlets from the business district.

This notion also carried along into future plans. The 1938 subway plan approved by Harold Ickesand his Federal agency the PWA (Public Works Administration) was meant to be just the first phase of a much larger subway system, with lines radiating out to all parts of the city.

By the 1920s, the city’s rapid transit subway plans had evolved to two north-south tubes running along State (always intended to be the first built) and either Clark or Dearborn. The State tube was always intended to connect back up with the North-South “L”, but what to connect Subway No. 2 up with was not as obvious. Sure, on the north end, it made a lot of sense to run northwest along Milwaukee Avenue to connect up with the Met “L”, but on the south end, things were not as certain.

Plans called for a southwest subway line, but this remained an unrealized dream until the opening of the CTA Orange Line in 1993. So, what to connect Subway No. 2 to instead?

An answer eventually developed along with plans for a west side super-highway. In 1937, Mayor Kelly proposed that the city build a number of west side elevated highways. Most of these would replace existing elevated rapid transit lines. In this plan, the Lake Street, Douglas Park, and Humboldt Park “L” branches were to be turned into elevated highways with express bus service. In actual practice, this would have been much like New York’s West Side Elevated Highway. The only west side line that would have remained was to be the Garfield Park “L”.

Not everyone liked this plan, however. In particular, there were members of the Chicago City Council who did not like it. And Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes did not like it.

The 1909 Burnham Plan of Chicago envisioned expanding Congress Street into a west-side boulevard. As there were few autos in 1909, this would not have been an expressway as we know it today. But the idea persisted, and land speculators had bought up property along the route in anticipation of quick profits that did not come.

In the 1930s, the notion of a Congress Street Super-Highway took hold. But a primary obstacle to constructing it was the Garfield Park “L”, which already occupied part of its intended route. The idea of relocating the rapid transit line into the expressway median was a natural progression. (But not an original one- in 1940, part of a Pacific Electric interurban line was relocated into the median of the Hollywood Freeway through Cahuenga Pass. This service was abandoned in 1952.)

The Congress rapid transit line opened in 1958, finally connecting to the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway twenty years after the latter began construction. The Milwaukee-Dearborn subway had opened in 1951, having been delayed for many years by WWII and a shortage of steel rapid transit cars to operate it. From 1951-58, service terminated at LaSalle and Congress.

How to pay for the subways? For many years, the City of Chicago amassed a ‘transit fund’ in the millions from a portion of the proceeds of the Chicago Surface Lines streetcar system. Ground was almost broken on the State Street tube in 1931, but was derailed by lawsuits from landowners along its path, who objected to being taxed to help pay for it. Then, the Depression hit full force.

The Cermak administration borrowed from the transit fund, replacing dollars with tax anticipation bonds of dubious value. This created a shortfall that made subway construction impossible, until the Federal government agreed to fund a portion of the cost as a back-to-work project. The PWA share essentially replaced the amount lost by the city’s borrowing.

The Chicago subway, as built, was a classic example of “Art Moderne,” (also called Streamline Moderne) and was to some extent influenced in style by other contemporary subways such as theLondon Underground and the Moscow Subway. You can read a very interesting article about Art Moderne in the Chicago Subway here.

For the City of Chicago, building the subways helped bring about the dream of transit unification between the surface and rapid transit systems. This was somewhat analogous to how building theIND Subway helped bring about transit unification in New York City.

The difference is that New York not only built, but operated the IND in direct competition with the privately-owned BMT and IRT lines, eventually forcing them to sell out to municipal ownership. Until 1943, Chicago hoped to unify Chicago Surface Lines and Chicago Rapid Transit into a new private company, which probably would have been called the CTC (Chicago Transit Company).

While technically both systems were bankrupt and under the control of the courts, in actual practice, the overall condition of the rapid transit lines, which accounted for less than 20% of all passenger traffic, was much worse than the surface system. This derailed every attempt at unification, since the high cost of modernizing the rapid transit system id not allow room for making a profit. Unification was only realized after the city gave up on the idea of a new private company in 1943 and embraced the idea of public ownership. The Chicago Transit Authority was created by an act of the State Legislature in 1945 and assumed control of CSL and CRT in 1947. It took another five years to add the Chicago Motor Coach Company to the fold.

None of this had been resolved in 1938, when Ickes and the PWA approved the plan to build Chicago’s Initial System of Subways. PWA did not want to build the subways if there would be no operator to run them, and CRT was just barely able to collect enough revenue to pay for current operating expenses.

As a safety measure, the City had decided that only steel cars would be allowed in the new subways, fearing that wood cars would increase the risks of fires and deadly accidents such as New York’s infamous Malbone Street Wreck. CRT had only 455 steel cars in its fleet (or 456, depending how you count them).

It was estimated that 600 modern cars with quick acceleration would be needed to run the State Street tube to capacity. CRT had no resources to buy new cars, but could at least get service going in the north-south subway by using every available steel car it had. It was not optimum but it would have to do.

The PWA pressed the City to make a commitment to achieving transit unification by 1942. At the same time, they made sure that the Chicago subways were engineered in such a way that they could have been operated using buses as a last resort.

As things turned out, it was determined that operating the State Street Subway did not materially change CRT’s financial position. They experienced both increased costs and revenues as a result, and these tended to cancel each other out.

Digging the tunnels downtown was akin to a complicated mining operation, and also undermined the old Chicago Tunnel Company system, which was already in a decline. The subway leveraged the earlier tunnel construction in two ways, expanding out from existing tunnels, and using the tunnel system to haul away the blue clay as it was excavated.

Building the subway under the Chicago River was an even more daunting challenge, and required much ingenuity to solve.

By 1941, even before Pearl Harbor, the United States was in the midst of a large-scale defense buildup. Materials needed for subway construction came under government control. By mid-1942 the two subway tunnels were 75-80% completed, but work was halted on the Dearborn-Milwaukee segment for the duration. After all, there was no chance to get the new rapid transit cars that were required to run it.

The State Street tube was allowed to be completed and opened in 1943 as an aid to defense workers getting to and from their jobs helping the war effort. Wartime restrictions were lifted from the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway late in 1945, but service did not begin until 1951, as new 6000-series PCC “L”-subway cars were delivered to CTA.

2013 marks the 70th anniversary of the opening of the State Street Subway. It is an important part of Chicago history, and one which all Chicagoans can be rightly proud of. The story of the Initial System of Subways is a fascinating one, which we will return to in future blog posts.

-David Sadowski

An early subway plan from 1909. The idea of an east-west subway for streetcars (and later, buses) persisted for another 50 years but was unrealized. Instead of a 4-track subway on Wabash, two tracks each were built on State and Dearborn.

A colorized version of the 1944 postcard photo above, but with a more modern rapid transit car in place of the 4000s. It looks much like the New York BMT’s “Bluebirds,” then the state-of-the-art. They were the first elevated-subway cars to use PCC technology, and helped inspire the four 5000-series articulated units CRT ordered after the war.

An aerial view (looking east) of the Garfield Park “L” and the future site of the Congress Super-Highway on September 2, 1950. If you look closely, you can see that some demolition has already taken place. The highway follows the path of the “L” in the foreground, heading straight through the middle of the old Main Post Office in the background.

CERA News For July (part 1)

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 18:56:46 GMT

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

Coming… Or Going?

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 18:58:03 GMT

Coming or going? We would like to think that trolleys are coming back into style, rather than going away. But where are the wires? Maybe this car is rolling downhill.

Denver RTD LRV 275 on May 27, 2013 at Lincoln on the E line. New systems like this are coming on line all over the country. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

News, mail, odds and ends from CERA. One reader writes:

Would you consider showing past trips the CERA took. Some of my most fond memories with my Dad were on your sponsored trips. Example CSS&SB Railroad. Late 1950’s?

Yes, we will post photos from CERA fantrips as we come across them. Here are several:

Gary Railways 19 on the very first CERA fantrip (May 1, 1938). (Photo by Lamar M. Kelley)

Northern Indiana Railway 216 at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana on a CERA fantrip, circa 1940.

“Modernized” CSS&SB 15 at Tremont, Indiana on September 20, 1942, on CERA inspection trip #41. (Photo by Malcom D. McCarter)

CERA Bulletin 41, issued in 1942, covered the modernization of CSS&SB 15.

CNS&M 744 on a CERA fantrip on June 17, 1962.

North Shore Line freight loco 452, as it appeared on June 17, 1962, during a CERA fantrip.

June At CERA

Our next program will be:

Bill Hoffman’s Unedited Movies of the Chicago Rapid Transit Lines in the 1940s and 1950s
Presented by Jeff Wien and the Wien-Criss Archive

June’s membership meeting will consist of digitized 8mm films taken by the late Bill Hoffman during the 40s and 50s on the Chicago “L”. These films will be shown in an unedited format rather than as an organized program. The audience will be encouraged to participate in the program by calling out the locations as they appear on the screen. This will give the viewers a chance to participate in the program in a similar manner that has been developed on the CERA Members Blog. Come join us for what promises to be a fun evening.

Friday, June 28, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free.

Since there are no plans at present to make them available for sale on video, chances are this will be your only oportunity to see these vintage films. In honor of Friday’s program, we herein offer some additional vintage views of Chicago transit in the 1940s and 50s, for your enjoyment:

A Garfield Park “L” train of ‘fishbellies’ passes Union Station in August 1951.

Downtown CTA rapid transit lines, as of 1948.

In the early 1950s, CTA postwar PCC 4400 lays over in an open storage yard behind 69th and Ashland carhouse, at the south end of the Western Avenue line.

CTA (ex-CSL) Red Pullman streetcar 967 on Irving Park Road, September 1948.

CTA (ex-CSL) 5434 (built by J. G. Brill 1907-08) on the Wallace-Racine line, which was bustituted in 1951. (Photo by Raymond J. Muller)

Our recent post “Bringing It All Back Home” stirred up a lot of discussion on some Yahoo Groups. Opinions were divided- some think the North Shore Line would not have been a suitable candidate to morph into high-speed rail, being, as one writer called it, the “slowest of the three rail lines between Chicago and Milwaukee.” Others agreed with my basic point that far too often, when it came to public transit in the 1950s and 60s, we threw out the baby with the bath water, and are now paying more to put back part of what we once had.

Incredibly, one poster crowed about how much his North Shore Line stock increased in value, when the line was abandoned. You can check out some of these discussions on Yahoo Groups. In particular, look for CHICAGOTRANSIT, Chicagoland_Traction, and CNSMRR. In general, membership in these groups is required first if you intend to post messages.

-David Sadowski

The North Shore Line terminal in Milwaukee, as it was being demolished in 1964.

An insurance company building is now on the site of the former North Shore Line terminal in Milwaukee. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Buy tickets now for CERA’s 75th Anniversary Events this September 20, 21, and 22. Three special fantrips plus a banquet, program, and commemorative book.

Present At the Creation

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:59:36 GMT

If you’ve ever wondered what some of the first Chicago railfans were like, look no farther than the November 1938 issue of Surface Service magazine, “a monthly publication by and for Chicago Surface Lines employees.” A feature article describes what happened on the very first CSL railfan charter.

1938, of course, was also the year that Central Electric Railfans’ Association was formed, and we expect that most, if not all, of the fans present were early members. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary this year, with a banquet, program, and three special fantrips that you can buy ticketsfor right now, it’s important to remember that we are “standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Surface Service called the fans “Peridromophilists,” among other things, and if you’ve wondered where that strange word came from, it was coined by William James Sidis (1898-1944), a one-time child prodigy who wrote a treatise on collecting streetcar transfers. You can read Notes on the Collection of Transfers here.

Writing this book fueled the public notion that Sidis, as an adult, did not live up to the potential he showed as a youth, where he gained entrance to Harvard at age 11. But many of our best railfans, like Ray DeGroote, started out as transfer collectors.

CERA did not sponsor this excursion, which was run by the Chicago Surface Lines, but gave full support to the venture and counted it as Fantrip No. 5 in our first Annual Report.

We reproduce the entire 1938 article below for your enjoyment:

Peridromophilists Cover System

It’s All Right, Though, for They Are Just Enthusiastic Street Car Fans

Peridromophilists- 69 of them- the most rabidly enthusiastic street car boosters there are- swarmed over the Chicago Surface Lines system October 23 when the first electric railfans’ trip on record opened the properties to the public view.

And though that date is long past, the enthusiasm of the hobbyists is still in evidence as railfans request pictures of the trip, call for further information and plead for additional trips over the world’s largest street car system.

Peridromophily, the more learned writers announce, is the science or art of collecting street car transfers. The less technical, however, do not hold for such narrow limits. Peridromophily covers a wider range, according to the Chicago students of the art. Not only are transfers important but the true student of Peridromophily must know much more about street car types, operating practices, schedules and above all he must have an extensive collection of street car pictures from all over the world.

Street Car Enthusiasts

That’s their story. Boiled down, it all means that the 69 peridromophilists who made the inaugural railfans’ trip over the Surface Lines system are enthusiastic in their preference for street cars. They are all interested in transportation, but they will expound the merits of electric railway transportation above all. And that’s why the Surface Lines was glad to throw open shops and car houses for them on a bleak, cold Sunday afternoon.

A feature writer in the Chicago Daily News wrote a facetious prescription for “catching” a peridromophilist. “The simplest way to catch a peridromophilist,” said he, “is to bait your trap with a picture of No. 209 or maybe No. 9000. No. 209 happens to be the series number of the cable car trailer used by the surface lines of 1872 and No. 9000 the number of the trailer used on the Madison street line around 1921. You can use as bait any of several other numbers- such as 2852, 204, 4001, 7001- all of them representing street cars incorporating distinguishing features.”

Facetious, he was, but there is more than a bit of truth in such a definition. The true railfan such as made up the group on October 23 knows as much or more about the different car types operated by the Surface Lines as do most of the employees. John J. Brown, for example, knows every detail of the cars which have operated in Chicago since the turn of the century. It was Brown who caught the motion picture magnates in an error when they used the wrong type horsecar for scenes in the picture “In Old Chicago.”

Tucker in Charge

Brown was one of the leaders in arranging the trip which was officially conducted over several Surface Lines routes in two Madison street streamliners by James Tucker of the Transportation Department- a peridromophilist in his own right.

The trip was scheduled to start from the Kedzie depot at 12 o’clock noon. Office workers at that station were surprised to see 8 or 10 street car fans on hand an hour and a half early. By noon more than 50 boosters had paid 75 cents for the privilege of taking the trip.

In the Kedzie yards the fans got the first taste of what was in store for them- and by the same token Surface Lines men found out just what enthusiasm would confront them through the afternoon. Spotted for photographers there were such cars as Cook County No. 1, described in the last issue of this magazine, work cars and No. 2858, a rebuilt funeral car.

By 1 P. M. such a crowd was on hand that two Madison street cars were needed to comfortably seat the railfans. Then, with special emblems- “Electric Railfans’ Special”- on either side the trip started amid the cheers of the fans.

The route, one requested by the fans, was south on Kedzie to 47th and east to Lake Park avenue. As the two shining streamliners went south on a clear track, Motormen John Naughton and Marvin J. Clement responded to the pleas of their passengers and turned on the power. By that time speed was an additional thrill but it was neither the first nor the last thrill through a long afternoon. At Lake Park and 55th there was a momentary interruption. Transportation Department officials had ordered that the special cars be given the right-of-way. The passengers of a regularly scheduled car were surprised indeed when they were sidetracked to allow the streamliners to go by.

“That,” said William Hanson, a railfan, “was the greatest thrill I ever had riding a street car.”

Down 47th street and over Lake Park there were few who failed to see the bright, clean streamliners traveling an unfamiliar path. Along every street and particularly at intersections all heads turned and all faces seemed to bear a quizzical “what’s up?” expression.

Switched at 75th

The cars were switched at 75th and then went south on Vincennes, where they were turned in on a 78th street track at the south end of the shops at this location. Photographer Chouinard had to yell his lustiest at that point to halt the headlong dash the fans made for the unusual type cars which had been spotted for them at that point. He managed to halt them just long enough for one group picture and then they scattered at such a rate that the fastest camera lens would have been needed to record their actions.

Only a few minutes passed before the yards were a bedlam of sound. Street car gongs were sounded, mythical fares were recorded and the fans tested air pressure, light switches and almost every testable part of the cars lined up for their inspection.

For the better part of the next hour camera shutters clicked merrily as the fans photographed their favorite models from every angle. It was then that Photographer Chouinard was able to snap the out-of-town fans who had come from such distant points as Kankakee, Illinois, South Bend and Elkhart, Indiana, St. Joseph, Michigan and other points. Some of the fans who traveled the greatest distances are shown on the back cover of this issue.

Tour South Shops

Then when all the fans had snapped numerous pictures- though hindered by lack of sun and the coldest weather of the season- the group was escorted through the
South Shops by Superintendent C. D. Mack and several of his assistants. This, for the great majority, was the climax of a great day. Many of the most ardent fans were familiar with most of the rolling stock but few, if any, had ever been within the shop doors.

Many of the shop’s most interesting machines were described by Mr. Mack and almost every statement drew further questions. Similarly, when the group moved into the paint shop some of the older model cars there invoked technical discussions as to the merit of this model or that. In the long run, however, everybody was satisfied and the group boarded the cars for the run back to Kedzie depot.

The railfans- or peridromophilists if you will- had the time of their lives and they may have a warm spot for the Surface Lines in their hearts following their excursion over the system. Their letters proved it!

CSL 1110 as it looked on October 23, 1938. (Photo by Lamar M. Kelley)

CSL Pre-PCC 7001, shown as it entered service in 1934, was one of the cars inspected by the railfans. Sometimes, it’s funny how some cars got saved and others did not. The empty shell of 4001 was saved because it was thought the windows were at the right height to make a good hot dog stand. Meanwhile, this car, although complete except for the seats, was not saved. The windows were too high to make a good hot dog stand.

MEET YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER!

Here’s Miniature ‘Photo’ of the Man Who Makes the Best

The railfan photographs which decorate the front and back cover of this magazine were taken on a cold and murky day when the absence of light reminded A. R. Chouinard of the early days when it wasn’t uncommon to have to expose plates from five minutes to a half-hour. That’s another way of saying that Fred- few know him as Alfred R.- knows his business from the ground up.

Fred came to the Surface Lines in 1927 and his work is primarily concerned with photographing accident cases. It is his sideline work that makes him a most valuable addition to the Surface Service Magazine staff. He is the man who is always on the job for bus openings, baseball games and other employee activities and his skilled camera hands have returned many notable pictures to the magazine editors. He is, in many ways, an unsung mainstay of the magazine, for without his pictures it would be very dull indeed.

Mrs. Disney’s boy, Walter, out there in Hollywood, has affection and regard fro Fred, too. Disney first learned the art of photographing from Fred back in the days when animated films were used for advertising and filled in motion picture programs while the operator changed the reels between shows.

We’re particularly proud of Chouinard’s picture which accompanies this sketch. He didn’t know it was taken and it will be a surprise to him. It’s very typical- there’s Fred atop a tower wagon with his ever-present stub of a cigar and his trusty camera ready for action.

Many of Chouinard’s pictures have received high praise at various photographic exhibits, but the pictures which decorate his office are the pictures of the men with whom he works. That is another slant on the kind of a friend Fred Chouinard is.

Editor’s Note- CSL photographer Alfred R. Chouinard was born in 1879 and died in 1967. The body shell of CSL experimental pre-PCC streetcar 4001 is at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. So is Chicago cable car trailer 209. According to cable car historian Joe Thompson, this is a “1934 replica with some original parts.”

-David Sadowski

The Chicago and West Towns Railway

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 19:04:19 GMT

C&WT 138 heading eastbound, crossing the Illinois Central tracks on 26th near Harlem on the La Grange line on April 11, 1948. Built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924, this car was scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Charles Able)

Newly restored Chicago and West Towns Railways car 141 will run in the Illinois Railway Museum‘s Trolley Pageant on July 6, to help celebrate IRM’s 60th anniversary. This is the culmination of a long road back for this car. After the C&WT replaced streetcars with buses in 1948, the body of 141 was sold as a shed. This lone survivor of the West Towns system was purchased by the Electric Railway Historical Society in 1958. When the ERHS collection was dispersed in 1973, it went to IRM and it took 40 years to complete restoration.

The Chicago and West Towns Railway was the subject of CERA B-138, written by James J. Buckley and edited by Richard W. Aaron.

Eight miles west of Chicago’s Loop is a cluster of 17 long-established communities that were served by a street railway and bus system whose roots can be traced back to the late 19th century. The Chicago & West Towns Railways operated five major streetcar lines that provided convenient and inexpensive transportation to the residents of communities of Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, Maywood, Cicero, Berwyn, Brookfield, and LaGrange.

The West Towns’ blue and white streetcars provided area residents with transportation to school, work and shopping. The cars were also kept busy transporting visitors to major west suburban attractions such as Brookfield Zoo, forest preserves picnic groves, Hawthorne and Sportsman’s Park racetracks, and Hines Memorial Hospital. Whether it was carrying residents from their homes in Oak Park or Forest Park to their jobs at American Can in Maywood or the giant Western Electric Company factory in Cicero, or taking Chicago families on a weekend outing to the zoo, the Chicago & West Towns Railway served as the “family car” in the era before auto ownership and traffic congestion became the norm. 250 pages and 311 photos

To purchase a copy, click here.

To pay tribute to the resurrection of car 141, here are several unseen or rarely seen West Towns streetcar photos. Most were taken by the late transit activist Norman Rolfe. Decades ago, he traveled the country taking trolley photos, and he spent June 9, 1947 out on the West Towns. We can see that he rode the Cermak line out to Harlem and then walked around the Suburban car barn, taking pictures of everything that was there. Chances are he made connections at Cermak and Kenton with a Chicago Surface Lines red streetcar.

The Chicago and West Towns bus service continues today via the West Division of Pace.

-David Sadowski

C&WT 139 in February 1938, when it was painted orange. Built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924 and scrapped in 1948, this car was part of the same series as 141, recently restored at the Illinois Railway Museum. Note the coupler. (Photo by Gordon Lloyd)

C&WT 130 in Maywood in 1945. Built by McGuire-Cummings in 1914, this car was scrapped in 1948. Bill Shapotkin writes, “Presume the photo of car #130 (turning the corner) is at Madison/19th (car is turning from W/B Madison into N/B 19th Ave)?”

C&WT 128 at 17th in Maywood in 1945. Built by McGuire-Cummings in 1914, this car was scrapped in 1948. Bill Shapotkin writes, “Presume the photo of car #128 (at 17th Ave in Maywood) is at Lake/17th? Which direction is the car heading? Whose bus is that at the left?”

Single truck sweeper 6 was built by McGuire in 1897. #9 was built in 1928 by Cummings Car & Coach, and was sold to the Sand Springs Railway in 1948 and renumbered A-11. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

Line car 15 was built by Pullman in 1897. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

Edward Halstead writes, “Here’s a photo of my 1/4″ scale model of CWT 15. The crooked front pole is included.”

C&WT 100 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1917 and scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 104 was a McGuire-Cummings product, dating to 1917, and was scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 124 was built in 1914 by McGuire-Cummings, and was scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

The motorman changes ends on C&WT 128 at Cermak and Kenton, preparing for the return trip west. Passengers heading east would take a Chicago Surface Lines streetcar from this point. Car 128 was built in 1914 by McGuire-Cummings and was scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT single-truck sweeper 7 was built by Taunton in 1900 as Suburban RR 7. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT single-truck sweeper 5 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1913 as County Traction 5. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT single-truck sweeper 6 was built by McGuire in 1897 as Suburban RR 6. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT single-truck sweeper 5 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1913 and was originally County Traction 5. #7 was built by Taunton in 1900 for Suburban RR. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT flat car behind the Suburban car barn. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 158 was built by Cummings Car & Coach in 1927 and scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 164, built by Cummings Car & Coach in 1927, was scrapped in 1947. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 165, built by Cummings Car & Coach in 1927, was scrapped in 1947. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

Scrapped trucks in the yard behind the Suburban car barn at Harlem and Cermak. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 152, ready to head west from Cermak and Kenton. This car was built by Cummings Car & Coach in 1927 and scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 144 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924 and scrapped in 1947. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 140, a sister car to 141, was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924 and scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 139, a sister car to 141, was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924 and scrapped in 1948. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 135 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1919 and was scrapped in 1947. The photographer wasn’t sure whether this workman had spoiled his shot, so he took another one after this. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

C&WT 135 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1919 and was scrapped in 1947. (Photo by Norman Rolfe)

CTA 1772 on Cermak at Karlov on November 15, 1950. Five blocks west of here, red streetcars would change passengers with the Chicago and West Towns, at the border between Chicago and Cicero.

C&WT line car 15 in a photograph by Lamar M. Kelley, an early CERA member who died in 1947. This picture may date to the late 1930s.

C&WT in an undated photo, most likely taken at the Harlem & Cermak car barn. (Photographer unknown)

April 6, 1948 – “It’s a new era- Streetcars are gone from the bumpy Berwyn-LaGrange line and a ribbon is cut at Lombard av. and Cermak rd., to mark the opening of bus service. Henry J. Sandusky, mayor of Cicero and William J. Kriz, mayor of Berwyn, snip the tape as officials of Brookfield, LaGrange and Riverside look on.” (Unknown photographer)

Bringing It All Back Home

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:06:50 GMT

In the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s, city after city across America abandoned streetcars and interurbans. For the faithful “juice fan,” as they were sometimes called, it must have seemed like an endless litany of gloom and doom.

A CNS&M Electroliner in a Kodachrome “superslide” taken on May 26, 1959. (In this case, the photographer used size 828 roll film for an image slightly larger than 35mm.) Such streamlined cars once provided hi-speed rail service between Chicago and Milwaukee that would cost billions to replace today.

As George W. Hilton and John F. Due wrote in their classic 1960 book The Electric Interurban Railways In America (page 4):

The building of the interurbans, which must be looked upon from the vantage point of history as unfortunate, occurred because the electric streetcar was developed to a high degree of technological perfection a little more than a decade before the automobile.

That was certainly the dominant view in 1960, very nearly the end of what the late author William D. Middleton called “The Interurban Era,” in his classic 1961 book of the same name. At the time, it seemed as though both streetcars and interurbans were just a passing phase that (literally) helped pave the way for a world of asphalt and rubber tires.

When Hilton and Due revised their book in 1964, it seemed as though you could put a bookend on the entire interurban era. There was little to report, other than how both Pacific Electric and the North Shore Line had recently abandoned, leaving the South Shore Line as practically the nation’s last remaining interurban line. Even the Red Arrow lines were reported as planning to substitute buses for all routes other than Norristown by the end of the 1960s- and, in fact, the Ardmore line did so at the end of 1966. Fortunately, the Media and Sharon Hill lines are still run by trolleys, and it is hard to imagine them being replaced by buses now.

Streetcars and interurbans were history; they represented the past, one before autos and highways dominated. To many, even building the nation’s extensive interurban network was a mistake; simply a “series of unfortunate events,” leading to financial ruin and eventual abandonment.

Things seemed to have reached a nadir around the early 1970s, as abandonments continued among the handful of remaining systems, and the last American PCC streetcars were already more than 20 years old. Even when Boston and San Francisco made a joint order for modern LRVs from Boeing-Vertol, things seemingly did not get much better. There were so many design and quality control issues that it did not seem possible to build a successful American streetcar in 1975, even though thousands of PCCs were built between 1936 and 1952.

However, all that changed with the opening of the San Diego Trolley in 1981. Suddenly, the trolley was “cool” again, in the new guise of “light rail.” Over time, cities across America started building them, occasionally in the same rights-of-way that had previously been used by streetcars and interurbans. I am glad that Spencer Crump, who predicted that the PE’s “Red Cars” would someday return to LA, lived long enough to actually see it happen, despite all the naysayers. It seemed improbable when he predicted it, but he was proven right in the end.

It would have been better (and cheaper) to keep the best parts of the electric railway network we once had, rather than rebuild parts of it from scratch. As late as 1963, we had high-speed intercity rail running between Chicago and Milwaukee. It was called the North Shore Line. It would cost untold billions to put it back as high-speed rail. Meanwhile, the Japanese were inspired by CNS&M’s Electroliners to create their own Bullet cars. Whereas we were once the leader in intercity rail, we must now play catch-up to Europe and other parts of the world.

Even the word “streetcar” is coming back into vogue, as witnessed by this article in Mass Transit magazine, “Not Your Grandfather’s Streetcar.” And what is today’s “high speed intercity rail” but an updated version of yesterday’s interurban? So, in these matters, we try to take a more balanced view today. We need streetcars and interurbans, by whatever name you call them, every bit as much as we need automobiles and highways.

What’s even more gratifying is how, in a few cases at least, cars that originally ran in a city have actually returned to run again in the same place they started. For example, Aurora, Elgin & Fox River car 304, a lightweight interurban car built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1923, returned to the Fox River Trolley Museum in 2009, and now runs on the last remnant of AE&FR trackage. How it got back after last having run there in 1935 is an interesting and convoluted story.

As Don’s Rail Photos notes, car “304 was built by St Louis Car in 1924. #1306. In 1936 it was sold CI/SHRT (Cleveland Interurban RR became Shaker Heights Rapid Transit in 1944) as 304 and in 1954 it was sold to CP&SW as 304. It was sold to Fox River Trolley Museum in 2009.” We have pictures showing car 304 and its sister car 303 (now at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum) in Cleveland and at “Trolleyville USA,” aka the Columbia Park and Southwestern. (The latter was a trolley museum run by Gerald E. Brookins and his family for about 50 years, and although derided by some for having inauthentic paint schemes on cars, was instrumental in preserving a large number of rail cars that otherwise would have been scrapped.)

We expect to ride AE&FR car 304 on Sunday, September 22, 2013, on a CERA fantrip that will be part of our 75th anniversary celebrations. We hope that you will join us.

AE&FR car 304, now returned to Fox River, shown here circa 1950 in Cleveland Rapid service.

AE&FR car 303, sister to 304, at the Columbia Park and South Western (aka “Trolleyville USA”) in November 1963, in this photograph by R. S. Short.

Fort Collins (CO) Birney car 21 is another example. The Ft. Collins system, last in the nation to run Birneys, was abandoned in 1951. But there were plans to bring them back, at least in limited form, by the late 1970s. The Fort Collins Municipal Railway Society brought car 21 back to Colorado and it has been running in its old stomping grounds since 1984. A second original Birney is now undergoing restoration so it too can be put back into service.

Ft. Collins Municipal Railway Birney car 21, as it looked on April 27, 1986, in this photograph by Ed Fulcomer.

A similar success story is in the making with at least one Dallas double-end PCC car. Again, fromDon’s Rail Photos:

612 was built by Pullman-Standard in 1945, #W6699. It was sold as MTA 3334 in 1959 and sold to Trolleyville in 1991. It was transferred as Lake Shore Electric Ry in 2006. It was sold to McKinney Avenue Transit Authority and stored at Illinois Railway Museum in 2010.

There are many fine photos showing this car, or its sister cars, in both Dallas and Boston. Once 612 is restored, we hope it will once again ride the rails of Dallas streets, back where it belongs.

Dallas Railway and Terminal Co. car 616, sister car to 612, in Dallas Texas in July 1946.

Ex-Dallas double-end PCC car 612 was renumbered as 3334 in Boston, and is shown there at left. This car may be restored to run again in Dallas.

Finally, Nine El Paso pre-war PCC cars, currently languishing in the desert, may someday be restored to run in that city. The El Paso streetcar system was abandoned in 1974, representing in some respects the low point for streetcars in the US prior to their revival. Yes, my friends, streetcars are definitely making a comeback, and they may soon be coming to a street near you. What goes around sometimes comes around.

-David Sadowski

El Paso City Lines pre-war PCC 1515 in June 1971. It’s possible this same car may be restored and once again run on the streets of El Paso.

A Trip To East Troy

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:08:34 GMT

Although CERA was not able to squeeze a trip to the East Troy Electric Railroad into our busy schedule of 75th Anniversary events, we naturally support their efforts in keeping this very historic line running. The six miles of electric track between East Troy and Mukwonago is the last remaining vestige of an extensive interurban system in the southeast part of Wisconsin.

What is an “interurban?” We will write more about that in future posts, but at its heart, it means a railway, generally electric, running between cities in the early part of the 20th century, before autos and highways predominated. The interurban era in Wisconsin came to a close in 1963, when the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee ceased operating. But the trackage between East Troy and Mukwonago has been in more or less continuous use from 1907 to today- a remarkable history, but one not without a few bumps in the road, both literal and figurative.

Chicago Rapid Transit cars 4453 and 4420, built in the early 1920s, with replica open car from 1975, at the East Troy depot. (Photo by David Sadowski)

When passenger service to Milwaukee ended in 1939, the city of East Troy bought the six miles of line to Mukwonago, in order to keep trolley freight operations going serving local industry. In 1970, the Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society, Inc. (TWERHS) moved its operations to East Troy with the intention of running a railway museum there. The East Troy Trolley Museum operated from 1972 to 1984, when East Troy cancelled their contract. The group had experienced some infighting, and East Troy questioned their ability in continuing to operate the museum, which was then still sharing the tracks with freight operations.

Over time, the TWERHS historical collection was removed from East Troy, and much of it eventually sold to the Illinois Railway Museum and the Fox River Trolley Museum. However, TWERHS still exists and continues with other activities.

A new group, the East Troy Electric Railroad, was formed, in part with some members from the old group, and has continued trolley museum operations since 1985. You can read the entire history of the line here. Over time, East Troy sold the railroad to the museum. Freight operations were dieselized in 1970 and ended some years ago.

The museum’s collection includes a number of different passenger and work cars. Two former Chicago “L” 4000-series “L” cars provide much of the service, along with some Chicago, South Shore and South Bend interurbans of similar 1920s vintage. A Sheboygan interurban car from 1908, which had served as a family summer cottage for 50 years, was finally restored to former glory in 2005 and is a particular standout of the collection.

You can also read more about the history of the East Troy collection here, although this page on Don’s Rail Photos is still under construction.

Double-ended cars work best on the line, which does not have turning loops at the ends. Two single-ended PCC cars that had been acquired by the East Troy group were sold to Kenosha in 2011, where we are likely to ride at least one of them on our September CERA fantrip there.

Unlike many museum operations whose tracks end in the middle of nowhere, the trolley takes you to the Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago, where you can buy pies, cheese, deli meats, sandwiches, or drink a cup of coffee while waiting for the return trip to East Troy. The railroad also operates a schedule of dinner trains during the summer.

Having lasted more than a century, we hope the line between East Troy and Mukwonago will continue into the next one. If it is to do so, however, it will need both your help and continued support. Several pieces of equipment, including CNS&M car 761, are currently inoperable and in need of extensive restoration. And there are, as I mentioned, a lot of bumps in the roadbed, which could probably use rebuilding. I understand the overhead wire is original to the line and that too could use some replacement.

The railroad has a wonderful depot and gift shop in the original substation, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. I hope you will agree with me that a trip to East Troy is always a good thing. The museum has some enthusiastic young volunteers who seem ready to carry the torch and ensure that the East Troy Electric Railroad has a bright future.

-David Sadowski

This historical marker was erected in East Troy in 1973. The six-mile line is no longer used for freight. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The East Troy Electric Railroad depot and substation in East Troy is on the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Ticket booth at the East Troy depot. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The cab of CRT/CTA car 4420, with a “coffee grinder” controller of the same type as the one shown in the CERA logo. (Photo by David Sadowski)

View of the single track line looking east from East Troy. (Photo by David Sadowski)

4453 at the Mukwonago depot. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Mentoring a new motorman. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Interior of CRT/CTA rapid transit car 4453. (Photo by David Sadowski)

There is some additional trackage beyond the Mukwonago depot that is not used in regular service. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The passing siding in the middle of the line between East Troy and Mukwonago. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Sheboygan Light Power & Railway wooden interurban car 28 was built in 1908 and ran until 1938, when it was sold to a private family for use as a summer cottage. It remained this way for the next 50 years. Restoration began in 1998 and was completed in 2005. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Like the 4000s, the Sheboygan car was built by the Cincinnati Car Co. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Interior of restored Sheboygan car 26. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Wisconsin trolleys have long been a favorite subject of CERA books, many of which are now collector’s items. Badger Traction (B-111), published in 1969, is one such book.

The massive TM book, CERA B-112, was published in 1972 and is another such collector’s item focusing on Wisconsin’s long traction history.

CNS&M 411 at the East Troy Trolley Museum in November 1976. It was built by Cincinnati Car Co. in 1924 as an observation trailer car, later converted to coach. From 1964-74 it was owned by the Trolley Museum of NY. In 1974 it was sold to the The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society, and then in turn to the Escanaba & Lake Superior RR in Wells, MI in 1984, where it remains today. (Photographer unknown)

CNS&M 763 in Mukwonago, Wisconsin on October 1, 1983. This car was sold to the Illinois Railway Museum in 1988. (Photo by Mike Sosalla)

A discarded sign from the original East Troy museum group, as it appeared in August 1987. (Photo by David Sadowski)

A North Shore Line car at East Troy, as it appeared in August, 1987. (Photo by David Sadowski)

One of East Troy’s 4000s in “traction orange,” as it looked in August, 1987. (Photo by David Sadowski)

A Gift From East Penn – Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:13:54 GMT

This is part 2 of 3 in our series of blog posts showcasing masterful black-and-white photographs by the late David H. Cope. These were given to CERA by the East Penn Traction Club in 1988, on the occasion of our 50th anniversary. The photos were meant to be exhibited at our 50th anniversary banquet and program. You can enjoy them here as CERA celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 44 westbound at Kirk’s curve, around 1941. (David H. Cope photo)

Here is how the East Penn Traction Club introduced their exhibit:

The electric railway scene in the Philadelphia area has been characterized by a rich variety of systems. Although the vast city system has many admirers, visitors to our region during CERA’s lifetime were often drawn here by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company’s Red Arrow Lines (and its predecessor, the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company, and successor, SEPTA-Suburban) – especially the 19 mile side-of-the-road line to West Chester. Others came to see, ride and photograph the third rail system of the Philadelphia and Western Railway and its connecting line, the Lehigh Valley Transit, whose Liberty Bell Limited line connected Philadelphia and Allentown. Still others came to see the PRSL West Jersey electrics and the Brilliners and Shore Fast cars of the Atlantic City and Shore. The exhibit, presented to our friends at CERA, depicts the great era of traction in the Delaware Valley during the CERA era.

Part 3, to follow, will include the final 10 images (for a total of 30). We hope that you will enjoy them.

-David Sadowski

Atlantic City and Shore station at Linwood, New Jersey in 1946. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit St. Louis car crossing the Aineyville viaduct approaching Allentown in 1939. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company Jewett car 41 on Gay Street at Matlack in West Chester, March 3, 1941. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company Jewett car 40 at Highland Park on West Chester Pike, about one mile west of 69th Street Terminal in 1941. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company Jewett car 44 on Gay Street in West Chester, approaching the Pennsylvania Railroad overpass in 1941. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company St. Louis car 24 eastbound at Street Road on the West Chester line on April 10, 1954. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company St. Louis car 13 westbound at Newtown Square (West Chester line) on April 10, 1954. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company St. Louis car 22 eastbound at Edgemont on the West Chester line on April 10, 1954 – less than two months before the end of service. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 80 eastbound at Edgemont on June 3, 1954, the last day of West Chester operation. (David H. Cope photo)

A Gift From East Penn – Part 3

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:12:29 GMT

This is part 3 of 3 in our series of blog posts showcasing masterful black-and-white photographs by the late David H. Cope. These were given to CERA by the East Penn Traction Club in 1988, on the occasion of our 50th anniversary. The photos were meant to be exhibited at our 50th anniversary banquet and program. You can enjoy them here as CERA celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Lehigh Valley Transit northbound Liberty Bell Limited about to depart Norristown for Allentown in 1950. (David H. Cope photo)

Here is how the East Penn Traction Club introduced their exhibit:

The electric railway scene in the Philadelphia area has been characterized by a rich variety of systems. Although the vast city system has many admirers, visitors to our region during CERA’s lifetime were often drawn here by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company’s Red Arrow Lines (and its predecessor, the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company, and successor, SEPTA-Suburban) – especially the 19 mile side-of-the-road line to West Chester. Others came to see, ride and photograph the third rail system of the Philadelphia and Western Railway and its connecting line, the Lehigh Valley Transit, whose Liberty Bell Limited line connected Philadelphia and Allentown. Still others came to see the PRSL West Jersey electrics and the Brilliners and Shore Fast cars of the Atlantic City and Shore. The exhibit, presented to our friends at CERA, depicts the great era of traction in the Delaware Valley during the CERA era.

We hope that you will enjoy them.

-David Sadowski

Lehigh Valley Transit car 1006 on the wye by the P&W Upper Darby shops around 1947. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit ex C&LE lightweight northbound on P&W at Conshohocken Road in 1947. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit ex C&LE lightweight southbound on P&W between Gulph Mills and Conshohocken Road stations in 1947. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 81 eastbound at Ridley Creek on June 3, 1954, the last day of West Chester service. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 10 entering West Chester Pike from the Ardmore line, with 07 in the background at Llanerch. Car 10 was the last built by the Brill Company. The view is from September, 1952. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 2 southbound at Chester Road on the Media line in 1952. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company car 1 westbound on West Chester Pike between Manoa Road and Eagle Road on February 1, 1953 during the widening of West Chester Pike. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit southbound car 1030 (ex IRR) at Summit Lawn in October, 1950. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit ex C&LE lightweight northbound, leaving DeKalb Pike (US Route 202) near Center Square in October, 1950. (David H. Cope photo)

A Gift From East Penn – Part 1

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:17:08 GMT

We at CERA are celebrating our 75th anniversary this year, and have recently rediscovered a wonderful gift from 25 years ago in our archives. In 1988, the East Penn Traction Club sent us 30 classic 8×10 black-and-white photos taken by David H. Cope (1913-2001). These were intended to be an exhibit at CERA’s 50th anniversary banquet and program. Offhand, I don’t know whether they were so exhibited, or not. But it seems like an excellent idea to showcase them here on our blog.

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (ex P&W) shops at Upper Darby with a northbound “Bullet,” work car 402, and a yet-to-be-refurbished ex CNS&M Electroliner in November 1963. (David H. Cope photo)

In the package, East Penn described their idea behind the exhibit:

The electric railway scene in the Philadelphia area has been characterized by a rich variety of systems. Although the vast city system has many admirers, visitors to our region during CERA’s lifetime were often drawn here by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company’s Red Arrow Lines (and its predecessor, the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company, and successor, SEPTA-Suburban) – especially the 19 mile side-of-the-road line to West Chester. Others came to see, ride and photograph the third rail system of the Philadelphia and Western Railway and its connecting line, the Lehigh Valley Transit, whose Liberty Bell Limited line connected Philadelphia and Allentown. Still others came to see the PRSL West Jersey electrics and the Brilliners and Shore Fast cars of the Atlantic City and Shore. The exhibit, presented to our friends at CERA, depicts the great era of traction in the Delaware Valley during the CERA era.

Since 30 photos would be too many for one blog post, we will divide them up into three, with 10 photos in each. It seems very fitting to showcase these remarkable images here, for you, as a tribute both to the East Penn Traction Club, and to photographer David H. Cope. More to follow.

-David Sadowski

The East Penn Traction Club sent greetings to CERA in 1988. The East Penn officers are shown in this picture, along with the late David H. Cope, master photographer, who died in 2001.

Lehigh Valley Transit northbound Liberty Bell Limited at Villanova Junction in 1947. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit southbound Liberty Bell Limited car 702 at County Line station of the P&W in 1947. (David H. Cope photo)

Atlantic City Transportation Company Brilliner 207 southbound on Atlantic Avenue on December 28, 1955, the last day of service. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit 700 series car arrives at 69th Street Terminal of the P&W around 1948. (David H. Cope photo)

Philadelphia Transportation Company car 8518 westbound on Market Street at 16th with Broad Street Station on the left and City Hall in the background, around 1952. (David H. Cope photo)

Lehigh Valley Transit southbound ex-C&LE lightweight crossing Schuykill River from Norristown to Bridgeport on the P&W around 1948. (David H. Cope photo)

Atlantic City Transportation Company Brilliner 219 at Longport around 1954. (David H. Cope photo)

Atlantic City and Shore car 115 at Pleasantville in 1946. (David H. Cope photo)

Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines West Jersey electric train at Woodbury around 1948. (David H. Cope photo)

Editor’s note- Edward B. Havens writes:

Many thanks to David Sadowski for sharing the CERA collection of David H. Cope traction photos. All are gems but one east of the Delaware River is a rare photo of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines [PRSL] electric multiple-unit [eMU] operation. In this photo, note the wooden baggage car and the two steel MP54d commuter coaches, all equipped with trolley poles (because of numerous Camden area grade crossings) and third rail shoes.

Here is a diagram of the steel MP54d cars from the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society website:
http://tinyurl.com/o4hmyza

The same route used by these eMUs, Camden-Woodbury-Glassboro, is currently being studied for a diesel multiple0-unit [DMU] operation similar to NJ Transit’s River Line.
The PRSL third rail route originally ran to Millville but was truncated to Glassboro after the New Jersey Public Utility Commission ordered all PRSL wooden interurban-style passenger equipment out of use as a safety hazard. With a limited number of steel MP54d cars, the Glassboro line only continued until 1949 when non-electrified commuter rail was substituted.

Other comments from the Yahoo Philly Transit group:

One correction that needs to be made to Ed’s post is that they did not originally run to Millville, they originally ran to Atlantic City, then were cut back to Millville, then to Glassboro.

The electric routes to Millville and Atlantic City both ran through Glassboro, but then split at Newfield.
Since the prohibition on wood cars only applied to passenger carrying cars, the wood Railway Post Office cars did run as shown until the end of all electric service.

IRM “Back To the 60s” Fantrip

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:24:19 GMT

The Illinois Railway Museum held a fantrip earlier today on the CTA using a four-car train of 2200-series “L”/Subway cars. The goal was to raise money to help purchase a pair of these cars as they near the end of their service lives after 44 years. (CERA ran a similar trip using 2200s last November. You can read about it here.)

Heading northbound approaching Howard, the fantrip train passes a Yellow Line train changing ends. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The service bulletin for today’s trip is here. The cars used were 2261-2262 and 2303-2304. This may end up being the final charter trip ever using the 2200s. Since I rode on the similar CERA trip last November, this time I acted as a “trainspotter,” trying to get wayside photos.

Today’s trip started out at Rosemont, where the 2200s are stored. The train headed downtown over the Blue Line, and then up the ramp to what we now call the Pink Line (formerly the Douglas Park “L”) to 54th Avenue. Then the fantrip continued by going back downtown via the Loop “L”, and out to Midway on the Orange Line. This was followed by a jaunt out to Harlem (Green Line) in Forest Park.

After a lunch break downtown, the charter went north to Howard on the Red Line, and then out to Dempster on the Yellow Line (former Skokie Swift).

With Dan Ryan out of commission for five months as it is being rebuilt literally from the ground up, the 2200s then followed the temporary Red Line reroute via the South Side “L”, at least to 37th, where they turned back. Then it was back downtown and out over the Paulina Connector, where the train made a quick reversal of direction and then proceeded down the ramp, ending the day at Rosemont where things had started.

The sun did not cooperate; the day remaining fairly cloudy throughout, but today’s charter was still a fitting tribute to a handsome class of cars that has served the CTA very well over the years. We look forward to a time when some 2200s are out at IRM, fitted with trolley poles of course, where we will greet them like old friends. We salute IRM for their efforts in preserving historic rail cars such as these.

-David Sadowski

The 2200s enter Howard station for a 20-minute break. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The 2200s going southbound on the South Side “L” at 31st. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Northbound on the South side “L” at 31st. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Southbound on the Paulina Connector at Madison. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Back on the Blue Line near Morgan, the fantrip train heads towards its final destination at Rosemont. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The new CTA map pays tribute to the 2200s on the cover.

CERA News For June

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 20:11:29 GMT

May’s CERA program by Greg Borzo on the Chicago cable car system was well received. Mr. Borzo, author of a number of historical books, feels that our city’s cable cars were an important building block in transit past, but have been (literally and figuratively) “written out” of history. We had a capacity crowd of about 100 people on hand, and the audience and Mr. Borzo engaged in a spirited question and answer session at the conclusion of his presentation.

In this circa 1908 view, we see one of the Red Chicago Pullmans (I think the number is 400) before it was red. Streetcars had replaced the last Chicago cable cars just two years before. Until then, overhead wire was banned from the Loop because of concerns that it might start another Chicago Fire. That could be Jack Benny’s old Maxwell at right.

This is the present site of Loop Station, where CERA has a Post Office box. According to the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Federal_Building), the Post Office moved into the Chicago Federal Building in 1904. Note what appears to be a cable car at lower right. The building was torn down in 1965.

CERA has contributed a couple of Chicago cable car images to Greg Borzo that he had not previously been aware of. You can see one here, and the other is reproduced below.

In this hand-tinted postcard, printed in Germany, we see a couple of Cottage Grove cable cars at center. Drexel Park Boulevard does not connect with Cottage Grove today, as it does here. According to Dennis McClendon, we are looking north at about 41st Street.

Our next program will be:

Bill Hoffman’s Unedited Movies of the Chicago Rapid Transit Lines in the 1940s and 1950s
Presented by Jeff Wien and the Wien-Criss Archive

Friday, June 28, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free.

Tickets are now on sale by mail and online via our web site. We’ve just mailed full-color brochuresto CERA members for 2012 and 2013.

We’ve already received several orders for tickets and for additional copies of our retrospective publication, Trolley Sparks Special #1. This is sure to become a collector’s item. Everyone who attends our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program will receive a copy. A limited number of additional copies are also available for pre-order via our web site. Books will be distributed in September. Reserve yours today.

Meanwhile, we discovered a Trolley Sparks prospectus from the late 1940s, that offers an insightful view into CERA’s early days:

Keep in mind that prices have gone up a bit since then, but not too much when you take inflation into account.

Reader Mail

John Hodson writes:

Attached is a photo of a rather curious street car. I believe it to be a photo of a Blackpool (England) “Boat” tram. Can someone confirm this tentative identification by me, or if not Blackpool, the city in which it actually was. All I need is the city if that is all that can be found.

I did Google Blackpool Tram and I did find pictures of three preserved cars at Blackpool, two of which are operational, the third stored out of service. These cars do look like the one in the picture though the Blackpool cars now have windscreens. I think the B&W photo might be circa WWII or just after. For sure, it is in or near an industrial area as there is a gas holder in the background of the photo.

I seem to remember that there is Blackpool car preserved in the San Francisco Bay area; I can’t remember where this car might be in that city.

There is indeed a Blackpool “boat car” in San Francisco numbered 228. According to the Market Street Railway web site:

This streetcar turns more heads than any other in Muni’s vintage fleet. It brings smiles to so many who see it sail by — its nautical air whistle gaily tooting.

It comes from Blackpool, England’s venerable seaside resort, one of twelve built for that city in 1934. For many years, it ran along the coast to Fleetwood along the coastal promenade, sharing the tracks with a wide variety of unusual English-built equipment. In the fall, Blackpool trams are specially decorated for the “illuminations,” with elaborate lighting making the cars sparkle as the sun sets over the Irish Sea.

This particular tram actually crossed the Atlantic twice. In 1976, it delighted Philadelphians as part of that city’s bicentennial celebration. Returned to Blackpool, it sat unused because its wheel span had been widened to Philadelphia’s broad gauge.

After a sister boat tram was successfully leased for the first Trolley Festival from the Western Railway Museum in Solano County, Market Street Railway members went after one that Muni could own, and struck gold with car no. 228, which Blackpool donated to San Francisco as a gesture of friendship. Muni crafts workers restored the car to its Blackpool look and gauge.

You can also see some pictures of the boat tram taken in 2009 here. One poster there also commented:

Built 1934 by English Electric, ran in Blackpool England until being loaned to Philadelphia PA for use the during the US Bicentennial Celebration, was given to SF as a gift in 1984. More info about 228, and the rest of SF Muni’s historic fleet can be found athttp://www.streetcar.org. On a side note another boat #226 is at The Western Railway Museum in Solono County CA.

A Blackpool Boat Tram at Luzerne car barn in Philadelphia in August 1976.

John McLemore asks, “What became of Bulletin No. 142?”

CERA B-142 is Keystone State Traction: Pennsylvania’s Historic Trolley Systems, by Robert G. Lewis with Howard L. Stevens and William C. Vantuono, and with a foreword by William D. Middleton. It was published in 2009.

This book is out of print. It’s a very popular subject. I got my copy from a second-hand book dealer.

Alton Lanier writes:

If any of our members need one, there is a copy of The “L”: The Development of Chicago’s Rapid Transit System, 1888-1932 (CERA Bulletin 131) by Bruce G. Moffat for sale in the used book department of a local hobby shop in Memphis, Model Railroad and Hobby Shop at phone (901)384-6500. It was in good condition and selling for $30.

They also had a copy of the bulletin (either B-107 or B-108 I think) on the North Shore with the Electroliner cover. It was in good condition, too.

eBay is another good source for out-of-print CERA bulletins. You can also try searching for them viahttp://www.bookfinder.com.

-David Sadowski

CERA Celebrates 75 Years – With You!

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 28 May 2013 20:14:05 GMT

CERA is pulling out all the stops as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary this Sept. 20, 21, and 22. Tickets are on sale now by mail and through the CERA web site.

All this will be capped off on Saturday night, Sept. 21st, at our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program. Each attendee will receive a copy of Trolley Sparks Special #1, a limited-edition retrospective book compiled by CERA Director John Marton, our program host.

Tickets for all events can be purchased by mail or online via our web site.

Finally, CERA has negotiated a special $99 promotional rate with the Chicago Marriott O’Hare. You can make your reservations directly with the hotel using the special promotional code “CERA.”

We look forward to seeing you at this once-in-a-lifetime celebration!

CERA official car 300 as it looked in August, 1942.

CNS&M 150 at the head of a CERA fantrip on the Libertyville-Mundelein branch in late 1962. The drumhead still appears to be in good shape.

CRT/CTA 5004, shown here in 63rd St. Lower Yard, on a 1963 CERA fantrip.

A 2000-series CTA “L” car leads the way on a CERA fantrip.

The CERA drumhead today. (Photo by John Marton)

The five original Kenosha PCCs, all ex-Toronto, lined up outside the carbarn (4606-4609-4616-4615-4610).

4606 looking very shiny in the carbarn.

KENOSHA FANTRIP
FRIDAY SEPT. 20, 2013

Join us on a sojourn to Kenosha, Wisconsin, as we inspect the closest operating streetcar line to Chicago. Ride and photograph all operating cars. Tour the shops.

10:00 A.M. – Buses leave Marriott
3:30 P.M. – Buses depart Kenosha
5:00 P.M. – Buses arrive at Marriott

LUNCH at own expense (why not try the historic Franks Diner?)

Kenosha Fantrip (Includes Charter Bus) – $50
Kenosha Fantrip Only – $30

IRM FANTRIP
SATURDAY SEPT. 21, 2013

We will make a trip to Union, Illinois, to visit the Illinois Railway Museum, the largest operating railroad museum in the US. We have arranged for special consists of North Shore Line, Chicago Rapid Transit, Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and possibly South Shore trains to commemorate the various Chicago-area Insull properties.

9:00 A.M. – Buses leave Marriott
4:30 P.M. – Buses depart Union
5:30 P.M. – Buses arrive at Marriott

LUNCH at own expense

IRM Fantrip (Includes Charter Bus) – $50
IRM – Fantrip Only – $30

75TH ANNIVERSARY BANQUET & PROGRAM
SATURDAY SEPT. 21, 2013

Marriott Chicago O’Hare

Cocktails and Nachos @5:45 (Cash Bar)

7:00-10:00 DINNER with PROGRAM following

Tossed Green Salad
Entrees: Chicken, Salmon, Ravioli or Beef Filet
Mixed Vegetables
Cheesecake
Coffee, Tea, Soft Drinks

Our special retrospective program will be hosted by John Marton. Only those who have purchased a Banquet and Program ticket will be admitted to the program. No exceptions. While we are not requiring a dress code as such, we ask that our members dress appropriately for the occasion.

75th Anniversary Banquet & Program – Chicken Entree – $75
75th Anniversary Banquet & Program – Salmon Entree – $75
75th Anniversary Banquet & Program – Ravioli Entree – $75
75th Anniversary Banquet & Program – Beef Filet Entree – $85

Trolley Sparks Special #1

TROLLEY SPARKS SPECIAL #1

In conjunction with our 75th Anniversary celebrations, CERA will publish Trolley Sparks Special #1, reviving a name used on many of our earliest publications going back to 1944. Everyone who attends our 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program will receive a copy of this special retrospective book edited by John Marton, which will not be part of our regular membership entitlement. A limited number of additional copies are available for $29 each. Like many CERA books, it is sure to become a collector’s item. Books will be distributed at the Banquet.

Additional Copies of Trolley Sparks Special #1 – $29 (Illinois residents pay 9.25% sales tax. Price includes shipping within the United States only.)

CA&E 20 at the Fox River Trolley Museum in the 1980s. It is the oldest operating interurban car in the US. (Photo by David Sadowski)

FOX RIVER FANTRIP
SUNDAY SEPT. 22, 2013

Finally, we will visit South Elgin, Illinois and the Fox River Trolley Museum. At present, we expect to ride the following cars:

CA&E 20

CNS&M 715

AE&FRE 304

CTA 43

CTA 45

9:30 A.M. – Buses leave Marriott
2:30 P.M. – Buses depart South Elgin (for early flights home)

LUNCH at own expense

Fox River Trolley Museum (Includes Charter Bus) – $35
Fox River Trolley Museum – Fantrip Only – $15

The Chicago Marriott O’Hare.

SPECIAL HOTEL RATES
MARRIOTT O’HARE CHICAGO

8535 West Higgins Road
Chicago, IL 60631
773-693-4444

CERA has negotiated a special event rate of $99/Night + Tax, depending upon availability, for reservations made by August 1st.

Parking for Hotel Guests:
$26/DAY Mon-Fri (24 hours)
$11/DAY Sat-Sun (not overnight)
$18/DAY Sat-Sun (overnight)
Handicapped – FREE, but limited

Please contact the Marriott directly to make your reservations. Use reservation code “CERA”

We are mailing out 75th Anniversary Brochures and mail-in forms this week to all CERA Members for 2012 and 2013. If you have not renewed your membership yet for this year, we hope that you will consider rejoining us. New Members are certainly welcome too, as CERA moves forward into its next 75 years!

-Your CERA Board of Directors

A Victim of Success

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:16:05 GMT

The recent SEPTA fantrip on the Media trolley line, which used an LRV with a red overwrap paying tribute to the Philadelphia and West Chester cars that began service there 100 years ago, got us to thinking about how trolley service got started in this area. Today’s Media and Sharon Hill lines are the last remnants of a much larger system that began with a line to West Chester and also included a shorter branch to Ardmore.

A Philadelphia Suburban postwar St. Louis car on Gay Street in West Chester in May, 1954.

When the Red Arrow trolley line to West Chester (PA) was cut back in 1954, it was to some degree a victim of its own success. Along with West Chester Pike, which it ran along, the trolley helped the entire region grow and become prosperous starting in the 1890s.

West Chester Pike itself began life in 1848, as an improved road connecting the western edge of Philadelphia and West Chester, a distance of about 20 miles. This was a commercial venture, a toll road; the “pike” being a board used as a gate to prevent travelers from passing through without paying a toll. Upon being paid, the gatekeeper would “turn the pike,” to let you through, thus inspiring the word turnpike, still in common use in the Eastern US.

Before the West Chester line was electrified in the 1890s, rail service had begun as early as 1859 with horsecars, replaced in 1865 by steam “dummies.” (A steam dummy is a diminutive steam engine, often disguised or modified in such a way as to try not to scare horses.) Until electric streetcars became practical in the 1880s, however, these lines were not particularly successful.

A. Merritt Taylor took control of the Philadelphia and West Chester in 1899, and three generations of the Taylor family ran the trolleys right up until 1970, a long time after private operators had stopped making a profit in other parts of the country. By then, the operation had been reorganized under the name Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co., which was commonly known under the brand name of “Red Arrow.” These same lines are operated today by SEPTA under public ownership. Red Arrow also included the Norristown High-Speed Line. (To read an obituary of Merritt H. Taylor Jr., click here.)

The Taylors believed in electric rail transit, and were able to keep them profitable far longer than many of their contemporaries. A. Merritt Taylor expanded trolley service with the Ardmore branch in 1902, followed by Media in 1913 and finally Sharon Hill four years later. Today’s Media and Sharon Hill routes are thought of as “light rail” but they have many of the characteristics of classic interurbans, being a mixture of private right-of-way, street running, double track, single track, and even some side of the road trackage.

Much of the West Chester line was single track with passing sidings, especially the outer portion. As the area continued to grow rapidly in the postwar era, the need to widen West Chester Pike became evident. Starting in 1948, Red Arrow was under a lot of pressure to either make a major investment in relocating and double-tracking the West Chester line, or let the highway take the space occupied by the trolley.

Although Red Arrow was profitable, the funds were not available to do this, and therefore most of the line was run with buses starting in 1954. Some trolley service continued to the Westgate Hills shopping center until 1958.

Railcar availability also factored into some abandonments. It is said that the Taylors could have kept the short Ardmore branch in 1966 if they could have found two more suitable cars. The two surviving former Illinois Terminal double-end PCC cars were considered, but did not have doors on both sides, a Red Arrow requirement. So the last Ardmore trolley ran on December 30, 1966.

The Ardmore branch had a section of private right-of-way, which became part of a busway, an early example of today’s “bus rapid transit” perhaps.

Cutting back the West Chester and Ardmore lines made the Red Arrow depot at Llanerch somewhat superfluous, and it was demolished in 1971. SEPTA consolidated operations of the Media and Sharon Hill lines at 69th Street Terminal, where they remain today.

At a time when cities across the nation are either building new light rail lines, or contemplating them, it’s interesting to speculate what might have been, if we could have just kept some of what we once had- and what we one had included the historic trolley between Philadelphia and West Chester. It’s a shame that, having helped build up the area, the West Chester trolley is no longer around to continue to build on that success.

-David Sadowski

PS- If you would like to read CERA Bulletin 88, which features the Red Arrow trolley lines, clickhere. However, keep in mind that this is a 10mb file in .PDF format.

A map showing the historic Red Arrow trolley lines (from the Wikipedia).

PST 64 zips through the snow alongside West Chester Pike in the 1940s.

PST 24 on one of the “last runs” on the West Chester line in June, 1954. The location is where Route 202 crosses West Chester Pike.

PST 66 and 76 on an NRHS fantrip in West Chester on June 6, 1954, two days after regular service ended.

PST 66 and 76 on an NRHS fantrip in West Chester on June 6, 1954, two days after the end of regular service.

The Red Arrow Lines had excellent ridership in the 1950s.

PST 21 on side-of-road trackage alongside West Chester Pike in June, 1954.

PST St. Louis car 11 on West Chester Pike near the Llanerch Depot on November 26, 1954. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

PST 12 in West Chester.

PST Brilliner 3 on West Chester Pike near the Llanerch Depot on November 26, 1954. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

PST 60 at Llanerch car barn on May 15, 1949.

PST 24 and 14 at Westgate Hills on the West Chester line on September 4, 1950.

The Red Arrow trolley lines were featured in CERA Bulletin 88.

A 1944 map showing Red Arrow’s extensive network of suburban bus and trolley lines radiating out from 69th Street Terminal.

The “Red Arrow” brand, used by Philadelphia Suburban between 1937 and 1970, when the private operator was sold to SEPTA, a public agency.

In 1970, the West Chester (PA) Coin Club minted a token commemorating the last West Chester trolley 16 years earlier.

Garfield/Congress/CA&E Mystery Photos Contest Answers

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:17:50 GMT

Our second “mystery photo” contest must have been a tough one for our readers, since we got only one submission, from longtime CERA member George Foelschow. However, George’s answers are right on the money, and he wins this contest, as he did with the previous one. We have already sent out his prize, a copy of CERA Bulletin 126, A Rainbow of Traction, along with his previous prize, a “pre-flood” copy of B-97.

The intrepid Mr. Foelschow’s answers make for very interesting reading, and we hope that you will enjoy them. He also shows up in some of the photos we have posted from 1950s Chicago streetcar fantrips.

Editor’s note: The caption to photo #2 has been corrected. Several people pointed out that it shows Wheaton, not Forest Park, as Mr. Foelschow had thought.

#1 – Green Hornet “L” car meets Green Hornet streetcar. The earliest of the rapid transit 6000s with flat doors and double headlights is seen eastbound on Van Buren Street at Western Avenue as Garfield Park. Postwar St. Louis PCC 4273 is northbound on the Western Avenue shoofly, constructed while the bridge over Congress is built. The “normal” streetcar tracks are seen in the foreground. This would be 1955 or 1956, after 6000s came to Garfield and before Western was bussed, June 1956. Answer: CTA 6000s and 4393 at Western/Van Buren on June 16, 1954. (Photo by Bill Hoffman)

#2 – Two car Chicago Aurora & Elgin train headed by Cincinnati steel 422 with a postwar St. Louis steel westbound on CA&E tracks in Wheaton. The approximate location, as determined through Googole Maps, is about 188 S. Wheaton Ave., the current location of the Illinois Prairie Path. (Mr. Foelschow thought this was Forest Park, but the buildings in the picture match up with Wheaton. The other tracks at left are the C&NW (present-day Union Pacific West Line). Answer: CA&E 457-422 at Wheaton on April 21, 1957. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#3 – An almost timeless photo of CA&E 457 and 404 at Wheaton station, the hub of CA&E operations. The woman’s babushka suggests late spring or early fall. The key clue to time would be knowing when 404 received the final paint job and, of course, no later than July 3, 1957. Answer: CA&E 457 at Wheaton on April 21, 1957. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#4 – I believe this is the crew of a CA&E charter operated after the end of passenger service. If memory serves, I think the photo was taken at the Hollywood (formerly Renwick) flag stop on the Elgin branch, with Raymond Street behind the photographer. (Photographer unknown)

#5 – An afternoon rush hour Douglas Park “A” train westbound at Marshfield “L” station on the Met mainline, using wood open-platform equipment. This is early fifties, land has been cleared for expressway construction, and “A” and “B” service came to Douglas and Garfield in December 1951 after Westchester service was abandoned. Answer: CTA 2731, looking east from Marshfield on August 25, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#6 – Another train of Douglas Park woods in the same period as (5), this time westbound over Union Station train sheds approaching Canal station on the Met mainline. Answer: CTA 2730 at Canal Street, looking east, on September 16, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#7 – The Garfield Park “L” is but a memory. Here we see an eastbound Congress “A” train, consisting a later 6000s cars with curved doors, probably taken from the Cicero Avenue overpass with the Belt Railway overpass in the background. This must be late 50s or early 60s, with the vulgar styling of Detroit-made cars in evidence. Answer: Congress expressway at Cicero on December 27, 1963. (Photographer unknown)

#8 – The photographer must have loved rush hour Douglas Park woods, an “A” train yet, rounding the Halsted curve westbound on the Met mainline in the same time period as the earlier ones. Answer: CTA 2700s at Halsted/Van Buren in May 1952. (Photo by George Krambles)

#9 – The newest of the CA&E woods (315?) is seen approaching the throat of the Wells Street terminal on the south of the two-bridge Scherzer rolling lift bridges over the South Branch of the Chicago River. The Market Street connection to the Loop is seen at right. This must be late in the game before September 20, 1953, since the wood is freshly painted and the woods and steel Pullmans were low priority for paint jobs. Answer: East from Canal on August 25, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#10 – Is that a single car on Garfield Park? It must be Sunday. The end is near for the elevated in this spot, as construction is underway in Van Buren Street. We are looking east from about Western Avenue, with Crane High School at Oakley and Van Buren is evident at the left in the background. Answer: Near Western on Sunday, July 19, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#11 – What a gorgeous sight – two CA&E steel Pullmans on a site beloved by photographers, Halsted curve on the Met mainline. Again, this is probably in 1953, since the end of CA&E service to the Loop inspired much photography that year. (Photographer unknown)

#12 – Two similar Met woods, one early with the fishbelly underframe, the later version with the straight frame, descend the east ramp from the Met “L” mainline, approaching the first grade crossing at Racine Avenue, probably early on in this operation, since Garfield Park was operated exclusively with wood cars. Answer: CTA 2815-2880 westbound, descending ramp to Van Buren near Racine on November 8, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#13 – Upward bound in the same general location as (12). Answer: CTA 2858 on November 8, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#14 – A view of Desplaines Avenue station, now part of CTA’s West-Northwest route. A 6000 series train is facing the camera, signed Congress “A”, with the famous Maywood gas tank in the background. The station has been reconfigured for CTA-only operation. The platform at the right is from the 1953-1957 era, minus the CA&E ticket office and waiting room. The Congress “A” sign places this in the post June 1958 era. Answer: September 6, 1961. (Photographer unknown)

#15 – Two Garfield Park 4000-series baldies on the Van Buren Street trackage as seen from a passing Douglas train on the new structure built to connect Douglas trains to Lake Street. The completed bridge over the roadway is Ogden Avenue. Answer: CTA 4248-4247 on Van Buren from the Douglas “L” structure on December 11, 1955. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#16 – An eastbound 4000-series train is on Van Buren Street at Paulina. The 4000s represented the middle years of the street level operation, bridging wood cars (early) and 6000s (later). The new structure for Douglas trains is behind the facing train. Paulina’s streetcar tracks are no longer evident. Answer: CTA 4446 at Van Buren/Paulina on April 21, 1957. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#17 – A test train is pictured on the eastbound track on VanBuren at Paulina. These were used to familiarize motorists with rapid transit trains on the street in the inner city, as well as training motormen. The yellow rectangles on the car sides aids visibility. Note the car tracks on Paulina, still an operating car line, 9-Ashland, until February 1954. At the right is Marshfield station on structure, still serving Garfield and Douglas passengers. Answer: CTA test train at Van Buren/Paulina on August 25, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#18 – Two-car Met wood westbound on Van Buren at Ashland Blvd. The building on the northeast corner was a union headquarters and hall. Answer: CTA 2906-2878 at Van Buren/Ashland on November 8, 1953. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#19 – Early flat door 6000 train westbound on Van Buren at the Campbell scissors crossover. A bus is going north on Western, with the steel of the new bridge in evidence. Answer: May 9, 1954 (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#20 – The expressway is open and trains of 6000s are evident on both Van Buren and in the Congress median, plus a Douglas train on structure. We are looking east from a point west of Ogden Avenue, with Alden’s catalog warehouse and Pres-St. Luke’s Hospital completing the scene. Possibly the Congress train is a test/training train? Answer: Van Buren/Wolcott on June 21, 1958. (Photo by Bill Hoffman)

#21 – Another view of 6000s westbound on Van Buren between Ogden and Paulina looking east. Answer: May 9, 1954 (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#22 – A train of westbound 4000s has ascended the ramp from the last grade crossing at California and is crossing the unlandscaped expressway to join the old Garfield Park “L” structure near Sacramento Blvd. Answer: May 25, 1956 (Photo by Charles Able)

#23 – A three-car wood test train is on the connecting ramp about to descend to ground level. Where did they find the open-platform middle car? Perhaps it was borrowed from Ravenswood. This would be in 1953, before September 20. Answer: September 20, 1953 (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

#24 – A three-car Met wood eastbound on the old structure with the temporary structure in the background. A sharp eye will note the Art Nouveau boulevard street lamp on Sacramento behind the old structure. (Photographer unknown)

#25 – A two-car Met wood approaching Oak Park Avenue station on Garfield Park before any of the major changes occurred on this stretch. CA&E had a low-level platform at this location for discharging passengers. (Photographer unknown)

#26 – Westbound Douglas train of 6000s leaving Marshfield station (behind photographer). Pres-St. Luke’s Hospital is in the background, behind the “L”. (Photographer unknown)

#27 – CA&E wood cars, with 318 prominent, take a weekday midday rest at the Lockwood storage yard, on CA&E property west of Laramie Avenue, obviously pre-September 1953. (Photographer unknown)

Media Fantrip Videos

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:21:18 GMT

FYI, here are some videos we shot on May 5, 2013 during the Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys fantrip on SEPTA’s Media light rail line. The fourth video was shot the day before the fantrip.

There will be another fantrip soon using car 101, which has a red overwrap commemorating 100 years of trolley service to Media PA:

FRIENDS OF PHILADELPHIA TROLLEYS
Red Arrow Father’s Day Charter
New Date, June 9, 2013

FPT will use the Media Centennial Trolley for a charter on Sunday, June 9. LRV 101 has been wrapped to look like it was as car 38 of the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company when the line opened on April 1, 1913.

New Date: Sunday, June 9, 2013 Father’s Day will come a week early this year; FPT will do this charter a week early this year. SEPTA asked F.P.T. to move the trip up a week because of the US Open.

Departs: 11:00 AM sharp from SEPTA’s 69th St Terminal

Returns: Approximately 3:00 PM

Routing: Both the Media and Sharon Hill Lines will be covered.

Equipment: Red Arrow Kawasaki LRV 101 Trolley

Fare: $45.00 a seat

Shirts, Snacks & drinks will be available on the car.

To reserve a seat, mail a check or M.O. made out to FPT, Inc. To:
Harry Donahue, 103 Mulberry Court, Morgantown, PA 19543

Need more info contact: Harry Donahue had2709@aol.com Or Bill Monaghan FPT2799@comcast.net

Equipment and routing is subject to change.

Here is the handout from the May 5th trip. Note that the date of the June trip has been changed from the date listed there.

May at CERA: Chicago Cable Cars by Greg Borzo

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:27:07 GMT

Chicago Cable Cars: A Forgotten But Important Story
Presented by Greg Borzo

Travel back to the days (1882-1906) when Chicago had the largest cable car system the world has ever seen. Chicago’s cable car system sparked a nationwide cable car building-boom that spread to 26 other U.S. cities. This lavishly illustrated PowerPoint presentation is based on Chicago Cable Cars, a new book by Greg Borzo, author of the popular book The Chicago “L”. The presentation includes more than 80 photos, some of which have never been published before. Having provided more than one billion rides, Chicago’s cable cars filled city residents with pride- and lined robber barons’ pockets with money. They helped lay the groundwork for Chicago’s transit network of today.

Greg Borzo is an award-winning journalist with a Masters Degree from Northwestern University. He has worked at Modern Railroads, Traffic World, the Business Word, the American Medical Association, the Field Museum and the University of Chicago. He is the Author of The Chicago “L”and Where to Bike Chicago. Currently a freelance writer, Greg lives downtown to better take advantage of all the historical, architectural, musical and cultural amenities that the city has to offer.

Friday, May 24, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free. (CERA will begin charging $5 for non-members starting with our September meeting. Admission will always be free for CERA members.)

You can learn more about Chicago Cable Cars here, on the Forgotten Chicago blog.

The last Chicago cable car (to date) ran along the lakefront at the 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair, using an authentic San Francisco car. (Photographer unknown – CERA Archives)

Mystery Filmstrip Contest Results

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:36:27 GMT

Thanks to everyone who sent in submissions to our Mystery Filmstrip Contest. We have selected George Foelschow as the winner, based on his answers as a whole. Honorable mention must go to Andre Kristopons, Dennis McClendon, and Jeff Wien, who all made excellent entries.

Mr. Foelschow wins a copy of CERA Bulletin 97, published in November 1953, which covers the electric railways of Wisconsin. There is an interesting story regarding this “Trolley Sparks” publication. Ray DeGroote says much of the original press run for this book was destroyed by flooding in his basement. He had two feet of water, and the books, which were in cardboard boxes, were all floating around in the water.

Subsequently, the book was reprinted, and this time, three blank pages at the end of the book were eliminated. That’s how you can tell the difference between the two printings. (While Ray did get more basement flooding with our recent heavy rainfall, it was more like three inches this time.)

While one entrant put the time period of the pictures down as “early 1940s,” this is obviously wrong and a date of Fall 1952 or Spring 1953 is indicated by a number of factors:

1. This is the CTA era, which began on October 1, 1947

2. Postwar PCCs were put into service in 1948

3. Red cars last ran in regular service on May 30, 1954

4. Prewar PCCs were scrapped in 1956-57

5. The “38” sign on a Cottage Grove car indicates it terminated at Grand. This would indicate a date between June 29, 1952 and March 16, 1953, according to the book Chicago Surface Lines by Alan R. Lind (page 252).

6. The Museum Shuttle operation ran from August 12, 1951 to April 12, 1953 (same source, page 298).

So, we can narrow down the date this film was shot as being between June 29, 1952 and April 12, 1953. There may be other things in the pictures that would narrow it down even further, but we are not aware of them. Apparently, it’s not winter based on the clothing people are wearing. So if you said Fall 1952 or Spring 1953, you are probably correct, and most likely on a Sunday to boot.

As for frames 0, 1, and 2, George Foelschow notes: “UP Railway Post Office, and a steam loco, all unknown locations.” As for 19, 20, and 21, he opines, “Mainline railroad tracks approaching Dearborn Station, presumably viewed from Roosevelt Road.”

Andre Krisotpons also made an astute observation, saying, “I can even say what streets the photographer walked down- started at Van Buren and Green, east on Van Buren, south on State, east on Roosevelt to Michigan, then west of Roosevelt to west of State.”

-David Sadowski

Frame 7 – “The Met “L” mainline at Clinton Street looking northwest with the Burlington building behind. A flat-door 6000 eastbound (Douglas?) with a single headlight above teh end door. Wire suggests the west portal of the van Buren streetcar tunnel.” -GF “About 321 S. Clinton.” -DM Another clue is the sign for the Trav-Ler Radio Corp., which was located at 571 West Jackson Boulevard

Approximately the same location as frame 7 as it looks today. With steam engines long gone, the Burlington building looks much cleaner. You can still see where the old Met “L” structure curved around it.

Frame 18 – Looking southwest from Wabash and Roosevelt. Prewar PCC 4023 is heading northbound. “Note #38 sign! This is an Indiana sign, but (the) car is obviously on 4-Cottage Grove. Apparently there was no 4 Wabash-Grand sign, but amazing that a PCC would have a sign for Indiana Ave., which could not use PCCs!” -AK

Frame 11 – “Postwar PCC 4132 northbound on Clark (at) Van Buren Street (pre-one-way Dearborn Clark pairing).” -GF “Note part of trough under (the) “L” in picture.” -JW

Frame 12 – “Pullman PCC, presumably 36-Boradway State, northbound on State at Harrison, subway staircase in evidence.” -GF “Location of University Center now.” -JW

Frame 13 – “Prewar PCC, presumably 4-Cottage Grove, northbound on Wabash at 11th Street. The Ludington Building at right is a good clue.” -GF “1104 S. Wabash Ave.” -JW

Frame 14 – “Bus 5495 as 12-Roosevelt on layover on East 11th Street between Wabash and Michigan.” -GF “Fageol Twin Coach propane bus… note Getz Theater building behind bus (Indiana limestone building).” -JW

Frame 10 – “Postwar Pullman 4202 on Clark southbound approaching Van Buren. with the Federal Building and Old Post Office in the background.” -GF

Frame 9 – “6000-series train, presumably Douglas, on Met “L” mainline east of Canal. over Union Station trainshed, viewed from Van Buren Street in front of the Main Post Office.” -GF

Frame 8 – Met “L” car 2836 with fishbelly underframe in same location as (9) as Garfield Park. The single car suggests Sunday, when Garfield was at its nadir, when the west terminal was Laramie Avenue between December 1951 and September 1953.” -GF “Looking north from approximately 321 S. Canal.” -DM

Frame 15 – “Red car 3132 on layover at Roosevelt and Wabash as a Roosevelt shuttle. View is looking northwest, with the Roosevelt North Shore Line terminal in the background… Hillside Lounge next to the station.” -GF “Roosevelt Road Shuttle to Museum Loop on Route 12A.” -JW

Frame 16 – “Prewar PCC 4028 as a 4 (Cottage Grove) car southbound on Wabash approaching Roosevelt.” -GF

Frame 17 – “Bus 5456 as 12-Roosevelt turning from eastbound Roosevelt to northbound Wabash on its terminal loop, 11th, Michigan, and back to Roosevelt. Roosevelt west of Wabash is paved and dewired.” -GF “Fageol Twin Coach” -JW

SEPTA “Red Car” Media Trolley Fantrip

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:38:15 GMT

To help celebrate 100 years of trolley service to Media, Pennsylvania, the Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys sponsored a fantrip on May 5, 2013 using a pair of Kawasaki LRVs. (Once the “new kids on the block,” these are basically updated PCC-type cars, and have 33 years of service with no end in sight.) SEPTA helped give the fantrip a boost by putting a retro overwrap on car 101, in Philadelphia and West Chester red.

That was a brilliant idea. I don’t know whether it has been done before in this type of situation, but in the future, such overwraps could be used for other fantrips and anniversaries, as they can make a car look like anything. Various historic paint schemes and even logos can be recreated, yet it’s not permanent.

Car 101 was undoubtedly chosen since Media is Septa Route 101. The number “38” on the side of the overwrap was a bit puzzling at first, until we learned that cars 38 and 39 were the first ones purchased a century ago for the new Media line (from Jewett).

This, and the East Penn Traction Meet, seemed like a perfect excuse for a quick trip to Philly. We arrived early at 69th Street Terminal and joined the throngs aboard the two sold-out cars, which mainly ran as a unit, but not all the time.

This was my first trip on the Media and Sharon Hill trolleys. When I first visited Philadelphia in the mid-1980s, the Kawasaki cars were new, and I decided to ride the old stuff instead- the Bullets and Strafford cars on Norristown, the Penn’s Landing Trolley, and the northside streetcar lines (routes 6, 15, 23, 53, 56, and 60). The LRVs, I figured, could wait, but little did I suppose the wait would stretch to 30 years.

Fortunately, SEPTA did not make the same mistakes Boston and San Francisco did with the Boeing LRVs, and these are very good cars, and perfectly suited for Media and Sharon Hill. Top speed is governed to 50 mph, and our train reached 52 going downhill. Acceleration is not quite as fast as a PCC. This is in part due to the increased weight, but also taking into consideration that 4 mph per second acceleration can be hard on the passengers.

Sunday’s weather was nearly perfect. By the time our train left 69th Street Terminal at 11 am, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. We had a beautiful sunny day with a high temp of about 65. The fantrip gods smiled on us this time.

We were supposed to go out on both the Media and Sharon Hill lines, but much of the latter was out of service for the weekend due to track work. But as the trip was really meant to celebrate the Media centennial, this hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.

Car 101 looks stunning dolled up in red, and I understand it does run in regular service this way, although it is difficult to predict when you might see it. Otherwise, the remainder of the cars on these lines are in the same basic color scheme they have used since 1980- white with red and blue accents.

The red provides some welcome variety, and it also has symbolic meaning, as it connects the Kawasaki cars with the much beloved and storied “Red Arrow.” That was a brand name used for both the Philadelphia Suburban trolley lines, which once included West Chester and Ardmore along with Media and Sharon Hill, plus the P&W Norristown High-Speed Line.

Red Arrow was one of the finest trolley operators in the country, and somehow managed to hold out against public takeover until 1970, when they came under the control of SEPTA. New cars were brought in about 10 years later, allowing the retirement of the Brilliners, the Brill “Master Units” and the postwar double-end St. Louis cars. (Don’t call them PCCs, despite their looks, as they used interurban underparts, otherwise someone will be bound to correct you on it.)

The Media and Sharon Hill lines qualify as “light rail,” in the preferred parlance of today, but are still officially called trolleys by SEPTA, reflecting their century-long heritage. Some consider them interurbans, along with the South Shore Line.

They have a little bit of everything- a bit of street running, private right of way, a few interesting bridges, plus some single track mixed in.

Photo stops on such a popular trip can be a disconcerting experience, and not for the faint of heart. With so many fans searching for that perfect shot with “three quarter light,” it can become a free-for-all, with people running, jumping, walking, and climbing all over things and generally getting in each other’s way.

The original edict on our fantrip was to “get your shot and go back into the car,” but that did not work out and so a photo line of sorts formed at each picture stop. In these situations, it definitely helps to have a zoom lens. If you have a 50mm fixed focal length lens, you have to stand in a particular spot in order to get your shot- which very well could be in front or behind where someone else is already standing.

Some people walked in front of us and we, in turn, must confess we inadvertently did the same to someone else, for which we apologize. In general, however, most people got the shots they wanted, and went home satisfied. A fantrip “photo line” is a form of organized chaos.

The town of Media is quite charming and continues to embrace the trolley that helped build it over the last century. Other places would do well to learn by their example.

At trip’s end, after our cars had been uncoupled, car 101 was brought out onto the storage track along a short stretch of West Chester Pike- where West Chester trolleys ran until 1954, and the last remnant of that important and historic line. We will revisit the West Chester and Ardmore lines in future blog posts, but that was certainly a fitting end to a perfect day.

Today, my face might be as red as car 101, from an excess of sun, but I will quickly forget about that, while I will always remember the fun we had today, riding the Media trolley. Kudos to both SEPTA and Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys for pulling off such a spectacular trip.

-David Sadowski

Car 101 running on State Street by the historic Media Theater. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Our fantrip train at 69th Street terminal in Upper Darby, PA. (Photo by David Sadowski)

SEPTA’s 69th Street Terminal serves the Market-Frankford rapid transit line and the Norristown High-Speed Line, as well as various buses and the Media and Sharon Hill trolleys. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Sometimes it’s hard to get a clear shot with such a large crowd of avid fans as this. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Fantrip train at Drexel Hill Junction. (Photo by David Sadowski)

115 and 101 meet at Landsdowne Avenue. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The fantrip train along private right-of-way. (Photo by David Sadowski)

SEPTA LRV 101 on a bridge along the Media trolley line. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Car 101 at the end of the line in Media (State and Orange Streets). (Photo by Diana Koester)

A meet at Woodland Avenue. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The fantrip train at Baltimore Avenue on the Sharon Hill line. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Here come the fans at a photo stop along the Sharon Hill line, ready to form a “photo line.” (Photo by David Sadowski)

A bucolic scene along the Sharon Hill line. (Photo by David Sadowski)

SEPTA LRV 101 on the storage track made up of the last remnant of the old West Chester trolley line along West Chester Pike. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The literal “end of the line” for the Media fantrip. Car 101 poses near the bumper post at the outer end of a storage track made up of the last remnant of the old West Chester trolley line along West Chester Pike. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Garfield/Congress/CA&E Mystery Photos Contest

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:40:01 GMT

The response to our Mystery Filmstrip Contest has been very gratifying. As I write this, there is still time to get your submission in, since the deadline is not until midnight (Chicago time ) on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

We’ve been inspired to run a second contest. This one is both easier and harder than the first one. Here are several vintage images of the Garfield and Congress lines, with a few CA&E photos mixed in. Your task is to try and identify as many locations as you can, and narrow down when the pictures were taken. Please refer to the pictures by their number as given in the captions. Again, you have one week to get your entry in to: cerablog1@gmail.com

We will select a winner based on the best overall entry. Your prize will be a copy of CERA Bulletin 126, A Rainbow of Traction. We will then show the photos again, with updated captions.

We hope that you enjoy the photos. The deadline for this second contest is midnight Chicago time on Friday, May 10, 2013. Good luck!

#1 – Green Hornet “L” car meets Green Hornet streetcar. Photo by Bill Hoffman (Editor’s collection)

#8 – Photo by George Krambles (Editor’s collection)

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

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#25

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#27

Mystery Filmstrip Contest

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:42:42 GMT

If a picture is worth 1000 words, how much is a filmstrip good for? Well, in this case, it’s worth a copy of vintage CERA Bulletin 97, published in 1953, about the electric railways of Wisconsin. You can win it in our Mystery Filmstrip Contest.

Here’s how to play:

In this post, we are publishing all the printable images from a single roll of Kodak Super XX film taken decades ago on someone’s trip to Chicago. Taken together, these pictures contain clues about when and where these pictures were taken. All the information we’re giving you is the frame numbers and the images themselves.

Try to guess the date, or a range of dates, when these pictures may have been taken, and also try to identify the locations of as many of the images as you can. Submit your answer in writing no later than midnight Chicago time on Tuesday, May 7, 2013- one week from the date of this post. We will pick a winner based on best overall performance.

Send your contest entries to: cerablog1@gmail.com

The lucky winner will be announced on Wednesday, May 8th. We will send the winner their prize by mail.

Good luck!

Frame 7

Frame 18

Frame 11

Frame 12

Frame 13

Frame 14

Frame 10

Frame 9

Frame 8

Frame 15

Frame 16

Frame 17

Frame 00

Frame 0

Frame 1

Frame 2

Frame 19

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CERA Bulletin 97

News In Brief

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:44:22 GMT

CTA Seating Survey

CTA riders have a rare opportunity to express their opinions about the new “bowling alley” seating on the 5000-series “L” cars via a new survey. These cars have New York-style seats that mainly face sideways, instead of the more traditional two-across ones as in previous train cars. The 5000s have only four forward-facing seats per car, and eventually, most of the CTA fleet will be made up of these cars. The new seating arrangement is controversial to say the least, and this is your chance to do something about it.

Riders can express their opinions about CTA “L” car seating in a new survey. This crowd, from about 100 years ago, looks like a tough audience, but at least they are all facing forward. (Author’s collection)

Friday Night’s CERA Program

Our April CERA program will feature Illusion Travels by Streetcar, a 1953 Mexican film directed by Luis Buñuel. It tells the story of a Mexico City streetcar conductor and motorman, who, learning that their old car #133 is about to be scrapped (replaced by a PCC), sneak the car out for one last joy ride that gets out of control. They pick up various interesting characters along the way, all the while refusing to collect fares. Then, they have to sneak the car back into the yard without getting caught.

Illusion Travels by Streetcar is a charming film, and one not seen in the United States until 1977. Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) was a world-famous director best known for such films as Un Chien Andalou, L’Age d’Or, Belle de Jour, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and That Obscure Object of Desire. Six of his films were included in Sight & Sound‘s 2012 critic’s poll of the top 250 films of all time. Buñuel made his reputation as a surrealist, in league with Salvador Dali, but while there are a few surrealistic touches in the film, there is nothing that detracts from telling a good story.

This film was commissioned by the Mexico City streetcar system itself, in an attempt to improve their image, after a bad accident the year before. However, characteristically, Buñuel makes the officials of the streetcar company the villains, and the working man the hero.

David Sadowski will introduce the 82-minute film, which is in Spanish with English subtitles, and Ray DeGroote will round out the program by showing some of his slides taken in Mexico City in the mid-1950s.

Friday, April 26, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free.

News From April’s CERA Board Meeting

Admission

At our meeting on April 17, your CERA Board of Directors voted to institute a $5 admission charge for non-members at our monthly programs, starting with the September meeting. We hope that this will provide people who regularly attend our meetings with an incentive to become members. Admission will always be free for our current members.

The new policy will not take effect until the September meeting, which will allow us to make announcements about the change at the three preceding meetings. Admission will be continue to be free for non-members at this year’s meetings in April, May and June.

CERA Archives

The board decided that it is the wish of this organization to collect, solicit, acquire and maintain an Archive of materials relating to CERA’s mission of educating the public about the history and operations of electric railways; and that such a collection will be organized by an official CERA Archivist and made available to researchers, all in conjunction with the stated purposes of the organization. This will include artifacts, photographs, negatives, slides, and documents. David Sadowski was appointed CERA Archivist.

In that regard, CERA is now on record as being willing to accept donations of such materials, which can include collections assembled by individuals, or specific items. Donations to our Archives may be tax-deductible. For further information, please contact us at ceraoffice@gmail.com or write to us at:

CERA
P.O. Box 503
Chicago, IL
60690-0503

-Thanks!

Chicago Surface Lines built two cable car replicas for the 1933 Century of Progress. Since 1938, car 532 has been on display at the Museum of Science and Industry. CCR 209 is at the Illinois Railway Museum. Here is how the cars looked on February 25, 1938. Chicago’s cable car system will be featured at CERA’s May program, where our speaker will be author Greg Borzo. (Author’s collection)

The Great Subway Flood of 1957

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:38:31 GMT

Editor’s Note: All the recent rain in Chicagoland got us to thinking about earlier floods. We invited longtime CERA member Chris Buck to share this story with us:

In 1957 the Dearborn Street Subway Flooded.

My dad, Cecil J. Buck, known as Bud, worked for the CTA (and the CRT before that). He was an electrical engineer who advanced to the head of the electrical department before he retired. My brother, Dan, and I shared Dad’s interest in electric trains so we would often accompany him around the system when it was safe to do so. One place we went occasionally was to the storage tracks beyond the LaSalle street station on what is now the Blue Line. Before the Eisenhower (Congress) Expressway was built, The Dearborn Subway trains terminated at LaSalle Street. (The “tower” is still there at the crossovers just east of the station.) The tunnels continued west beyond the station to a point under the river and were used to store trains on the weekends. We were able to explore the 4000’s stored there. When the Eisenhower Expressway was being built and the subway was extended to meet it, we would sometimes accompany Dad on little weekend “inspection” trips through the unfinished subway.

It happened that while the expressway was still under construction Chicago experienced a lot of rain. The expressway began to flood. There are pumps that normally keep the pavement dry. They were in place and working although the roadway was not open. The problem started because the expressway cut was not landscaped. It was mostly mud, which washed down into the pumps and clogged them. As the water in the expressway rose, it found a ready drain in the new subway tubes. The water flooded into the subway.

Dan and I went with Dad to see how bad it was. The first access stairs we went down was flooded way above the level of the subway. Our second try took us down to the crossovers east of the LaSalle Street station. The subway opens into a “room” there which is two stories high. There is a walkway along the walls above the top of the tunnels. We could get to the walkway but the water was above the top of the tubes. The funny part was that all the lights were burning below the water. Needless to say we stayed well clear of the water. Our last look at the damage was from the south end of the Jackson Station under Dearborn Street. The water was up to the ties through the station. Looking south along the tracks you could see the tunnel disappearing down into the water, again with all the lights burning.

Dad told us later that the water had gotten to the point that high water alarms were going off in the State Street subway. The CTA asked the fire department to pump water out of the expressway but they couldn’t help because their pumps were not capable of sucking up water that far. Dad and others asked them to put their pumpers down on the expressway pavement and pump the water up. This is what they did and the water stopped rising. The State Street subway was never shut down.

When the Dearborn subway was finally pumped out, the work of removing all the mud and repairing all the electrical equipment began, and continued for quite a while. I will never forget the sight of all those lights burning away, under water. For many years one could see the high water mark along the tubes leaving Jackson Station.

-Brother Chris Buck, FSC

On July 14, 1957, the Chicago Tribune reported:

The Chicago area counted property damage in the millions of dollars and a toll of at least nine dead yesterday as public and private agencies and thousands of householders struggled to recover from the impact of the heaviest 24 hour rainfall in the city’s history.

In the 24 hours ended at 7 a. m. yesterday the storm dumped 6.24 inches of rain on Midway airport, and in some places the total was greater. The previous all-time record was 6.19 inches on August 2 and 3, 1885…

Water seeping into subways caused disruption of service and damaged electrical controls.

The Congress st. expressway was closed to traffic last night as 21 fire department pumpers worked steadily to lower flood waters that covered the roadway at Halsted st. Other pumpers worked on smaller bodies of flood waters at Ashland av., Francisco av., LaSalle st., and Oakley blvd. Fire department officials said the expressway might be opened today if there are no new rains.

The July 16 Tribune noted:

Service on the Logan Square subway was returned late yesterday afternoon to its normal terminus at the LaSalle-Congress station, after fire trucks finished pumping water out of the flooded station.

The following day, the Trib reported:

Service was restored to the Congress and LaSalle st. subway, flooded by the record rain, and the first train since Friday night was sent thru.

(Editor’s Note: “Thru” was an example of the Chicago Tribune’s “simplified spelling” effort, which lasted from 1934-75. This had been championed by Col. Robert R. McCormick, although he did not start it. You can read more about it here.)

During the flood, service had been cut back to the Jackson station. I would guess that service was operated along a single track going back to the nearest crossover. The Congress portion of the line was not connected up with the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway until the following year. Until then, trains from Forest Park ran downtown on the Garfield Park “L” to the Loop. Part of this line was then operating on temporary street-level trackage on Van Buren Street.

The subways have flooded at least once since 1957. 35 years later, the old Chicago Tunnel system made famous by Bruce Moffat’s book “Forty Feet Below” filled with river water, which then inundated the State and Dearborn tunnels.

The Congress expressway only ran as far west as Laramie in 1957, as the portion crossing the Des Plaines River had not yet been built. This section required the right-of-way of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban, which had just “temporarily” suspended passenger service on July 3rd, less than two weeks before this deluge. The expressway was extended west in 1960.

-Ye Olde Editor

Virgil Gunlock, CTA chairman of the board, looks at the 12 feet of water in the subway at LaSalle and Congress on July 13, 1957. (Editor’s collection)

The CTA wasn’t alone on July 13, 1957. Here motorists are stranded under the Milwaukee Road viaduct on Cicero avenue near Grand. (Photo by Pauer)

Dennis Headley, CTA ticket agent, points to the flooded subway at the LaSalle and Congress station on July 13, 1957. (Editor’s collection)

July 13, 1957: “The Congress expressway early Saturday looked more like a ship canal than a superhighway. This photo was taken at the expressway’s intersection with Ogden Av., looking east. The route was closed to traffic after hundreds of autos were marooned.” (Photographer Unknown) You can just barely make out a CTA train of 6000s running at left, on the Van Buren temporary trackage.

A close-up view of the photo above. CTA service in the expressway median did not begin until June 1958. (Photographer Unknown)

The Congress expressway at Halsted on July 13, 1957. (Editor’s collection)

Ist Division Fire Marshall Frank Tokars and a crew of firemen survey the pumping project on the Congress expressway at Halsted. Water was overflowing from the expressway in the CTA section where the “L” trains would tie in with the subway the following year. (Editor’s collection)

CTA workers sandbag retaining wall of westbound expressway on west side of Halsted (July 13, 1957).

July 13, 1957: “Looking EAST on Congress st. expressway, from Halsted st. where the CTA L tracks will leave the expressway, and go underground, and tie in with the subway. Water flows into this section of subway.” (Photo by Larry Nocerino)

CTA sandbag crew, July 13, 1957. We enjoy having an opportunity to show the real working people of this country, whose contributions are often forgotten or taken for granted.

Workmen William Metzger and Dennis Moriarty wash down the muck left by the flood on the platform of the subway at Congress and LaSalle streets on July 14, 1957. (Editor’s collection)

A CTA test train of 6000s in the brand new Congress Expressway median line on June 18, 1958, a few days before regular service began. (Editor’s collection)

Brothers Dan and Chris Buck, who piloted the three-car train of CA&E steel cars at the IRM 2013 Trolley Pageant.

The Preservation Movement in Early Days, Part 2

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:42:23 GMT

Reaction to our original post The Preservation Movement in Early Days (April 5) was very positive, so we decided to write a follow-up.

On the one hand, we are struck by the haphazard nature of what got preserved. Some very important car types were all scrapped, while numerous examples of less important ones were saved.

Sadly, none of Chicago’s “Sedans” (aka Peter Witts) were saved, even though they were some of CSL’s finest cars ever. Here we see 3377 on May 6, 1951, at 95th and Cottage Grove. (Author’s collection)

The 1929 Chicago Surface Lines “Sedans,” also known as Peter Witts, were all scrapped by 1953, and therefore none were saved for posterity. Today, you can ride Milan Witts in several cities, including San Francisco, but none from Chicago- or Cleveland, for that matter, where Peter Witt got his start.

Again, what a shame that none of the Cleveland “Peter Witts” were saved. Here, we see CTS 4098 at the Euclid Car House on June 12, 1950. This car was scrapped on November 10, 1953. Car 4144 was sold to Norman Muller in 1954, and moved to his residence in South Lorain, where it was painted green and lettered “Arlington Traction Co.” Muller had a whistle and pipe organ installed. Unfortunately, when the car came up for sale again, Gerald Brookins had just purchased an abundance of CA&E cars and took a pass. Thus the last Cleveland Witt was scrapped in 1962. (Author’s collection)

One of the Cleveland Witts survived until 1962, and it is unfortunate that Gerald E. Brookins did not buy the car. He had just purchased several ex-Chicago, Aurora & Elgin cars, including the only four of the 451-460 series that were saved. Those cars had only seen 12 years of service in Chicago, and still had plenty of miles left in them.

Chicago, Aurora & Elgin car 458 in a photograph taken October 8, 1955 on an inspection trip in Elgin. This car was part of a 10-car order built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1945, sometimes called the last order for “standard” interurban cars in the US. Originally purchased by Gerald E. Brookins in 1962, this car is now preserved at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin. (Author’s collection)

If things had been different, all 10 cars might have ended up in Cleveland airport service. They were considered for purchase during a time when the airport extension would have been paid for with local money, and this would have been a low-cost way of getting things started. But when local politics intervened, the budget for the extension was diverted somewhere else, and the extension finally opened with new rolling stock in 1968. (We will include the source for this story at the end of this post.)

Early scenes from trolley museums show the cars all stored outdoors, where they were likely to deteriorate, strewn about surrounded by muddy fields. Thankfully, things are much improved nowadays.

The Seashore Electric Railway Museum in Maine on October 26, 1955. At left we see ex-Los Angeles Railway narrow gauge car 521, with ex-CRANDIC (and C&LE) high-speed car 118 on the right. (Author’s collection)

The Seashore Electric Railway Museum in Maine on October 26, 1955. Ex-Boston Elevated “drop center” car 6270 is at the front, while LVT 1030 brings up the rear. (Author’s collection)

A young railfan at the Branford Electric Railway Association Museum in East Haven, Connecticut on October 23, 1955. Pictured is Connecticut Co. open-bench car 923. (Author’s collection)

Sometimes, cars were saved from the scrapper on their original property, only to fall victim to some other disaster in museums or elsewhere. On the other hand, there are a few examples where a car has been, or will eventually be returned to run in the same city where it did decades earlier. This is particularly gratifying.

CNS&M 216 survived the abandonment of that interurban in 1963 to become Iowa Terminal Railroad tool car 31. Here it is shown on April 27, 1964 at Emery Shops, just after being repainted. Unfortunately, this car was destroyed in a fire on November 24, 1967. (Author’s collection)

Double-end PCC cars like this ran in Dallas from 1945 to 1956, and then in Boston from 1959 to 1981. Sister car 612 (renumbered 3334 in Boston) has been purchased by the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority and may run again on Dallas streets, once restored. Here we see 616 in July, 1946. (Author’s collection)

Some properties, like Lehigh Valley Transit, were in such a hurry to get out of the interurban and streetcar field that they destroyed both tracks and cars in a very short period of time. Yet today, when we see pictures of LVT trains speeding between Allentown and Philadelphia, we are reminded of how we once had high-speed intercity rail in many places in this country.

An LVT Liberty Bell Limited speeds along the Pennsylvania countryside in this undated photo. We once had high-speed rail between many cities, and all we had to do was keep it and improve it. Since we largely didn’t, now we need to reinvent the wheel. (Author’s collection)

LVT 1008 southbound between Zion Hill and Shelly Road on May 1, 1951, just a few months before abandonment. None of the ex-C&LE high-speeds that LVT had were saved. (Author’s collection)

LVT cars 1006, 910, 1021, 1002 and C17 on the scrap track at Bethlehem Steel on January 23, 1952. In some cases, LVT scrapped city streetcars the day after they were taken out of service. (Author’s collection)

Systems like the Liberty Bell Limited route, or the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee, were developed and improved piecemeal over a period of decades. But today, to bring back high speed rail, systems such as these would need to be rebuilt from scratch, at a cost of untold billions. It would have made more sense to keep what we once had- which we could have done, had it been considered an asset to society.

Unfortunately, in too many instances, towns and cities simply said, “Good riddance.” But I question whether the improved future that was promised once streetcars and interurbans were eliminated ever came to pass. Instead, it seems more likely that their absence helped hasten urban decay.

Altoona and Logan Valley 56 going to Holidaysburg Pennsylvania on the last day, August 7, 1954. I question whether this resulted in a better Altoona or anywhere else. Now the pendulum has swung back in the direction of streetcars. (Author’s collection)

Now things have come full circle. In many places across the country, the streetcar’s return is heralded and welcomed, as a way of improving urban life. And high-speed intercity rail, which we once called “interurbans,” seems poised for a gradual comeback of its own, as a matter of government policy.

We present these historic photos for your enjoyment and ask that you draw your own conclusions.

-David Sadowski

CRANDIC 120 at Iowa City on November 27, 1952. This car is preserved today at IRM as Indiana Railroad 65. (Author’s collection)

Chicago Rapid Transit all-steel “L” car 2717 was originally built as an experiment in 1904 by ACF to replace a wood car that had burned up. It ran on the Metrolpolitan West Side Elevated, but unfortunately was not saved. (Author’s collection)

The last streetcar run in Dayton, Ohio on September 28, 1947. However, Dayton still runs trolleybuses, and they are celebrating 80 years of service this April 23rd. (Author’s collection)

West Penn Railways 720 at Scottsdale on August 22, 1950. Supposedly, West Penn quit when television broadcasting came to the area in 1952. The line is said to have had a lot of evening riding. (Author’s collection)

West Penn railways 286 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on July 12, 1952. The trolley represents a way of American life that has vanished much as the nearby Packard automobile has. But it is making a comeback. (Author’s collection)

CRANDIC 116, ex-C&LE, in Iowa City on October 26, 1952. This car is preserved at the Branford Trolley Museum. (Author’s collection)

Even in the modern era, not all historic cars can be saved. Here is SEPTA “Bullet” car 201 and some Strafford cars at a scrap dealer in New Jersy in June, 1987. (Author’s collection)

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 16, 1968:

Writer’s Dream of ’59 Realized

By Wilson Hirschfield

The rapid transit extension to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, opened amid fanfare yesterday, was a dream come true for this former transportation reporter.

No advocate of rail rapid transit for Cleveland, then or now, this writer in December 1959, urged County Engineer Albert S. Porter to advocate building the airport line because it appeared to afford a unique opportunity to improve public transportation and at the same time enhance Cleveland Hopkins as a major airport.

Porter, himself no booster of rail rapid, saw merit in the proposition and was the first to publicly espouse the project. Within a few weeks, this reporter was able to convince Gaspare A. Corso, a
Cleveland Transit Board member, to get behind the proposal. He took it up like a crusade.

At the beginning, the project was supported only by Porter, Corso, and The Plain Dealer. Once it started to get off the ground, there was strong behind-the-scenes opposition, particularly from the parking, taxi and limousine interests at Cleveland Hopkins. There was even some activity against the extension by Playhouse Square realty and business interests that did not want to see Public Square win another transportation benefit.

Foes of the airport extension managed to throw many a roadblock in its path. Corso worked out a plan whereby CTS could have paid for most of the project out of the farebox, with the help of two bond issues that the voters approved in 1960 for $5.8 million.

Part of the program was to defer bus purchases, and to renovate old buses as has been done by successful transit systems in other cities. Another step to be taken was to retain for several years service, the comfortable, fume-free trackless trolleys that still were operating on a number of lines.

This writer and Corso worked together in planning these moves, along with Harry Christiansen, a transit expert and executive assistant to Porter.

Another proposal from this reporter was for the rapid to cross the Berea Freeway at grade at the entrance to Cleveland Heights, with use of flasher lights and traffic signals. Two lines of the Shaker Heights rapid transit had been crossing busy Shaker Square at grade for years with no safety problems.

The idea was put both to Porter and to William B. Henry, then division engineer here for the State Highway Department, and both of them said it would be feasible- and safe. All of us agreed that when money would become available, the extension could be tunneled under the freeway and into the airport terminal.

It was Christiansen who came up with the news that some former high-speed interurban cars were available in Wheaton, Ill., that could be renovated for the extension. Corso went there and came back with some cost figures to purchase the cars- at about scrap price- and renovate them. Of course, they wouldn’t have been glamorous like the shiny new Airporter cars, but they would have done for a while.

But CTS management insisted that the 70-foot long interurban cars could not negotiate the curves in Union Terminal and therefore were out of the question. Incidentally, the shiny $175,000 Airporters are 70 feet long.

Corso, board member Allen J. Lowe and former member Charles P. Lucas were a majority bloc on the transit board for about two years. Then the majority fell apart and Corso was left by himself. The project was shelved, to be revived when the Federal Mass Transportation Act became law in 1964.

Had it not been for all the opposition, the airport extension probably could have been opened five years ago. But in Cleveland, public improvements don’t come easily.

(PS- Here is a timeline from the same issue showing when certain decisions were made.)

Dec. 21, 1959- County Engineer Albert S. Porter proposes rapid transit extension to airport.

Jan. 7, 1960- Transit Board member Gaspare A. Corso endorses idea and becomes its champion at CTS.

April 21, 1960- Board votes 5-0 to build airport rapid. Management still cool to idea.

May 6, 1960- Board votes 4-1 against Corso to spend $1 million for buses, using money intended for rapid extension. Order trimmed 25% a month later.

Nov. 8, 1960- Voters of city and county approve by wide majorities $5.8 million in bonds to build extension.

Sept. 6, 1962- Board members Allen J. Lowe and Charles A. Lucas desert Corso’s pro-extension majority to endorse management’s request to purchase 60 new buses with funds being held for rapid extension. This meant death of locally-financed airport rapid.

(So, chances are that CA&E cars were being considered sometime between Nov. 1960 and Sept. 1962. I believe the last car to leave Wheaton was #320 in Spring 1962, and the unsold cars were scrapped starting in January 1963. The reference in the above article to 70 foot cars, of course, is in error, as the CA&E steels had to conform to Chicago “L” clearances, meaning a 48 ft. length.)

A Love Letter to Boston

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:35:20 GMT

Boston has long been one of my favorite cities, and one I have visited on many occasions. As we mourn the senseless loss of life from the recent Patriot’s Day terror bombings, and celebrate the heroism of the first responders in the face of adversity, we take this opportunity to remind ourselves what makes Boston so special to us.

My first visit to Boston was in 1967, when my uncle got married. My mother and I flew in for the wedding. I was only 13 years old, and when the others were off doing different things, I had a choice to either sit around in our motel room, or go ride the trolleys. Guess which choice I made.

I was just three years old when the last Chicago streetcars ran, so by 1967 they were a distant memory. I had caught fleeting glimpses of trolleys in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia while passing through on family vacations, but by 1967 the only place you could ride a trolley near the Chicago area was at the Illinois Railway Museum, and the tracks then were much shorter than they are today.

So, for me, Boston in 1967 was a revelation. I instantly fell in love with the PCCs and in the three days I was there, I made sure to ride all the lines, which at that time included Watertown, which was “temporarily” bustituted in 1969. As with nearly all the northside lines in Philadelphia, these substitutions became permanent, although the tracks and wire remained in place for years to allow access to the Watertown Yard.

Over the years, Chicago’s transit system took a different path from Boston’s, which in some ways represents “what might have been.” Chicago got rid of its extensive streetcar system in a relatively short period of time. But if Chicago had built an east-west streetcar subway, as it wanted to do for many years, things might have been different. Chicago’s system could have consolidated down to a half dozen trunk lines using PCCs, somewhat resembling Boston’s, but alas, it was not to be.

Boston and Chicago were alike in other ways. When I first went to Boston, they still had the old Orange Line elevated, which reminded me in many ways of Chicago’s “L”. Along with some friends, I made a special winter trip to say goodbye to the Orange Line el in 1987, just before service was switched over to the current alignment. The old Boston el has since been torn down.

There are some very picturesque locations on the Boston trolley lines, and some that are now considered forerunners of today’s “light rail.” The Riverside branch, opened in 1959, is one of these, but so is the Ashmont-Mattapan “high speed trolley,” which dates back to the late 1920s. For many years, ending about 1979, service on this shuttle line was provided by ex-Dallas double-end PCC cars, which quickly became some of my favorites. Fortunately some of these cars have been saved, and one may still eventually run once again in Dallas, on the McKinney Avenue heritage trolley line.

Chicago opted for greater standardization, while Boston has a lot of diversity in its equipment. Boston’s three rapid transit lines have different equipment that cannot be interchanged. While this makes things more complicated from an operational standpoint, it also makes things more interesting to the railfan. Boston was a pioneer in color-coding its lines, a practice that has been successfully copied here.

The Boston transit system has had its share of adversity. In 1952, it was possible to build a highly reliable PCC streetcar, but a lot more of a challenge in 1972. The resulting Boeing LRVs were plagued with problems in both Boston and San Francisco. Fortunately, the art of trolley building has made quite a comeback since then.

There is so much more history in Boston, in the cradle of liberty. Chicago hardly has anything that predates the 1871 fire, and certainly nothing dating back to the Revolutionary War. Boston has the oldest subway in the nation, opened in 1897. Our first one didn’t arrive until nearly 50 years later.

Today, while we soberly reflect on the victims of this cowardly act of terror, I am certain that the spirit of our freedom-loving people cannot be undermined by a few faceless, sadistic cowards. We send our thoughts, prayers, and support to the citizens of Boston, and look forward to a time when we will once again be with you in the city by the bay. Until then, we are with you in spirit.

-David Sadowski

Double-end PCCs on the Watertown line in 1962. (Author’s collection)

MBTA LRV 3446 on the Commonwealth Avenue line in the late 1980s. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Interior of a Red Line train. (Photo by David Sadowski)

A Red Line train at Alewife. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The very ornate Copley subway station entrance. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The old Orange Line el, shortly before it was discontinued in 1987. (Photo by David Sadowski)

MBTA LRV 3446 on the Commonwealth Avenue line in the 1980s. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Interior of an Orange Line elevated station. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Double-end PCC car 3344 at Mattapan in the late 1960s. (Author’s collection)

MBTA PCC 3114 in the subway in 1969. (Author’s collection)

Two “D” trains pass each other in the 1980s. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Four different types of streetcars in one picture: a “Type 5,” PCC, Toronto CLRV, and a Boeing LRV. (Author’s collection)

A two-car train of double-end PCCs on the Riverside line in 1959, soon after it opened. (Author’s collection)

MBTA “Type 7″ car 3645 in the 1990s. (Author’s collection)

MBTA snow plow 5138 at work on January 22, 1978. (Author’s collection)

MBTA 3334 and 3338 at Mattapan in 1977. (Author’s collection)

The 4000s Are On the Move

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:37:32 GMT

CTA “L” cars 4271-4272, built by Cincinnati Car Co. around 90 years ago, were moved from Linden to Skokie Shops on Sunday, April 14th. These are the last 4000-series cars to remain on the CTA, and were retired from active service 40 years ago. They last ran on the Evanston line, prior to its conversion from trolley pole to third rail operation.

The move was necessitated by the imminent five-month shutdown of the Dan Ryan line. The space used at Linden Yard by these cars will be needed by others in Red Line service.

The pair of 4000s has been lovingly cared for over the years by a devoted group of volunteers. Outfitted with cab signals, they have been used for charters and special events over the years, but have been seen less and less, as they have grown increasingly fragile.

There were two series of 4000s built. The first batch from 1913, called the “baldies,” had rather spartan bowling-alley type seating. The second group, from about 10 years later, had better amenities and earned the name “plushies.”

Many of these cars were purchased by railroad museums around the country, but not that many remain operable today, and several have succumbed to the tin worm and the ravages of time, weather, and neglect. Fans love them, however, since they make “all the right noises.” If you’ve ever heard the distinctive sound of train of 4000s approaching, it’s an experience you are not likely to forget.

The sound, I’ve been told, has something to do with the gearing. The only thing that comes close to the same sound occurs when I drive over a certain cobblestone street at just the right speed. It’s a sound that takes me right back to the early 1970s, when 4000s still rumbled around the Loop on the Evanston Express.

According to CERA member (and former CTA motorman) David Harrison, who was on the trip:

The move on Sunday was a transfer from Linden to Skokie. The crew was to survey rail car clearances and test rail car performance. Guests were primarily CTA employees, both current and retired, who have experience with the Antique rail cars.

The Linden-to-Skokie jaunt, which would generally involve changing ends at Howard, got extended downtown as the cars went around the Loop for “test” purposes. Fortunately, we do have some excellent pictures, thanks to the courtesy of David Harrison. To these we will add a few vintage shots showing the 4000s in bygone days, when they were the mainstays of CRT/CTA service. (If not for the 4000s, Chicago Rapid Transit wouldn’t have been able to open the State Street Subway in 1943. They were 455 out of the 456 all-steel cars CRT had.)

The future of any 90-year-old rapid transit cars must always be considered iffy and very much in doubt. You never know, but this trip may have been something of a “last hurrah” for 4271-4272 on the CTA. I understand they got up to a very respectable 44 mph top speed on this run, which they probably never would achieve in museum service.

For whatever reason, Chicago never warmed to New York’s practice of saving entire trains of “type” cars and using them in charter service. Perhaps it would have made more sense to save additional cars here. A four-car train of 4000s might have been more marketable for charters than just the pair. Then again, there is always the conundrum that increased use means wearing things out faster.

Rumor Central says it’s even possible that 4271 and 4272 may split up and go their separate ways, after decades of “marriage.” While they started life as individual double-ended cars, CTA turned them into semi-permanently married pairs in the early 1950s, around the same time that the new 6000s were being delivered as pairs. Apparently there is a 20-year-old “gentleman’s agreement” between two local railway museums that may result in their uncoupling. Perhaps they will find true love with new partners.

While the pairing of 4000s was a retrofit, they have been attached for so long that it would be somewhat of a disappointment, in a way, to see them divided with one sent (perhaps) to IRM and the other to Fox River. But either way, and whatever the future may hold for them, I say enjoy them while you still can. After all, they still make all the right noises.

-David Sadowski

CTA 4271 at Dempster (Skokie Swift) on October 21, 1973, shortly before being repainted in brown. (Photo by Arthur H. Peterson, Author’s collection)

Special sign celebrating the 90th birthday outing of 4271-4273. (Photo by David Harrison)

4271-4272 on the Loop, April 14, 2013. (Photo by David Harrison)

4271-4272 at Sheridan, April 14, 2013. (Photo by David Harrison)

4271-4272 at Oakton, April 14, 2013, the first time these cars were at this station. (Photo by David Harrison)

4271-4272 at Dempster/Skokie, April 14, 2013. (Photo by David Harrison)

In this May 1964 shot, the C&NW bi-levels, running left-handed, are moving away from us, while a train of 4000s approaches the Harlem terminal on Lake. The outer portion of Lake was relocated to the embankment in 1962. The 4000s on this line would soon be replaced by new 2000s. (Author’s collection)

4000s in the twilight (literally) of their Evanston/Wilmette service in the early 1970s. (Author’s collection)

4000s when the Lake Street “L” ran around the Loop. (Author’s collection)

A Lake Street “B” train on the Loop “L”. (Author’s collection)

An early 1970s fantrip on the Skokie Swift. (Author’s collection)

Looking majestic, a four-car train of 4000s approaches the Dempster terminal on the Skokie Swift. (Author’s collection)

4000s in Lake Street “L” service in April, 1964. (Author’s collection)

The Game of “Trolley”

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 15:55:07 GMT

Media, Pennsylvania, celebrating 100 years of continuous trolley service this month, is kind of an exception rather than the rule in American life today. But there was a time when the trolley was a ubiquitous part of everyday life. As evidence of that, we present the 1904 card game “Trolley.”

Board games and card games are another interest of mine, so the game of Trolley is for me a “cross-collectible,” meaning it’s a doubly whammy. “Business” card games, which involve transactions based on aspects of everyday life, became very popular in the 1890s. By contrast, board games became more popular later, culminating in Monopoly, which became a national obsession in 1935.

There were several card games based on commodities trading, and Gavitt’s Stock Exchange, dating back to 1903 or perhaps even earlier, was among the most popular. Here is what the Strong Museum of Play has to say about Gavitt’s:

Gavitt’s Stock Exchange (G.S.E.) card game was developed in 1903 by Harry E. Gavitt (1875-1954), a printer in Topeka Kansas. The game proved successful and soon it was taken over by Parker Brothers, redesigned by Edgar Cayce, and released in 1904 as Pit. Pit made success as well and is still played today.

To be more precise, Pit is a “knock-off” of Gavitt’s game. Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), best known as the so-called “Sleeping Prophet,” claimed to have invented the game (which he probably did not) and sold it to Parker Brothers.

In the straight-laced Victorian era, these games were something of a revelation. For one thing, they were played by men and women together. For another, they were often boisterous affairs, where people would jump up and yell, “Corner!” if they had all the right cards to corner the market on wheat, corn, or oats.

In the Gavitt’s game, one card is called “The Fatal Telegram,” reflecting on an era when receiving a telegram invariably meant bad news.

These games often had very complicated rules, and could be played more than one way. The rules for Trolley are too complicated to be given here, so we will instead just present the beautiful lithography of the box and cards for your perusal, a reminder of a simpler time, when gender and other societal roles were much more rigid than they are today, during the Time of the Trolley.

If you’re looking for another way to celebrate the Media trolley centennial, there will be a fantrip on May 5. You can read about it here. To commemorate the anniversary, SEPTA has put a red overwrap (in the style of the former Red Arrow lines) on one the LRVs used on the Media and Sharon Hill lines.

-David Sadowski

SEPTA Kawasaki-built LRV #106 near the Avon Road station in Upper Darby, PA in August 1983. (Author’s collection)

Red Arrow Brill-built “Master Unit” interurban trolley #77 at Ardmore on July 23, 1949. (Photo by James J. Buckley, Author’s collection)

SEPTA LRV #101, done up with a special red overwrap to celebrate the 100th anniversary of trolley service to Media PA. (Photo by Bob Foley)

From the CERA Mailbag

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:58:46 GMT

Letters, questions, comments, odds and ends and other news from the CERA home front:

Jerry Hund writes:

I have really enjoyed reading your blogs related to the CERA. Keep up the great work.

Next, I remember reading an article several years ago about an abandoned rail line that traveled from Union Station/Northwestern station to Navy Pier (in Chicago). The tracks are mostly gone now, but it did mention how it served as a freight line serving various buildings over the years. It traveled along the river. Do you know what I am talking about? If so, could you write about this?

I see it as a great light rail line to connect the two train stations with Navy Pier and a great tourist line.

There was until recent years a Union Pacific freight line that ran along Carroll Avenue between the Chicago River and Navy Pier, going as far as the Jardine Water Purification Plant at 1000 East Ohio Street. This spur line crossed the river on a bridge which is still in place, but is now kept in the “up” position.

I recently took a picture of the right-of-way at LaSalle street and the tracks are gone now. Years ago, I recall seeing some private varnish down there. Some rich person’s private car was temporarily stored there during a trip to Chicago.

All this was on a lower level than most of the streets in the area, since the street grid was raised above ground level a long time ago. Carroll Avenue runs at the actual ground level. In some cases, the freight spur ran right through buildings such as the Merchandise Mart.

Until fairly recently, the branch was kept in place for newsprint deliveries to the Sun-Times. You would think the Tribune also used it before Freedom Center opened in the 1980s, but you would be wrong. Tribune Tower took all newsprint deliveries by water from their own dock. The Tribune Company produced their newsprint in Canada and had it shipped via the Great Lakes.

The Sun-Times was the line’s last customer, and when that building was torn down and replaced by Trump Tower, it was abandoned and tracks were removed.

Apparently, C&NW ran a short-lived RDC commuter shuttle along this line in the mid-1950s, but it didn’t last long enough to build up traffic. Another problem was the need for five employees to work a three-car train. After the shuttle quit, the Wendella commuter boat operation began in 1962 along the Chicago River, and continues to this day.

There were plans in the 1980s for a light rail line connecting Union Station, Northwestern Station (now theOgilvie Transportation Center) and North Michigan Avenue, and in fact I wrote an op-ed piece in one of the Chicago dailies promoting it. The idea got pretty far along before it was killed. More recently, the City has planned for much the same thing but with a dedicated busway instead of rail.

Carroll Ave. freight right-of-way at LaSalle St. in March 2013. (Photo by David Sadowski)

There may eventually be a “heritage” streetcar of light rail line in Chicago, as there are already in several US cities. As I have said before, the word “streetcar” is gradually creeping back into the urban American lexicon.

In the 1970s and 1980s, “light rail” became a popular concept, introduced as something new and distinct from streetcars, which were still considered somewhat obsolete by urban planners. However, more and more cities are now embracing the streetcar as a concept distinct from light rail. Witness Portland, Oregon which has both light rail lines and streetcar lines, distinct from each other.

Now, streetcars are considered a lower-cost alternative to light rail, and have lighter-weight cars, track, and overhead, as well as more street running.

1st Loop Test Train – Go By Streetcar – Portland OR 12-14-2011 (Photo courtesy of Portland Streetcar, Inc.)

In response to our recent post The Preservation Movement in Early Days (April 5), Scott Greig writes:

Remarkably, there were a number of major fans from the early days who were against any efforts at preserving cars.

Without getting into personalities, it is worth noting that there was really very little interest in this country of preserving anything old before maybe the 1960s and 70s. Today, we think of Frank Lloyd Wright as a genius and many of his homes are practically like museums. But when he was building them, chances are he wasn’t thinking about posterity.

More likely, he thought the stuff he built would have perhaps a 30-year useful life and then get torn down and replaced by something else. After all, that’s what he did- his buildings and renovations replaced earlier stuff that had gone out of favor.

Wright went public in 1957 to try and save the Robie House from the wrecking ball, but prior to that, I am not aware that he made any complaints when many of his greatest works were demolished, such as the Larkin Company Administration Building in Buffalo, New York, which was leveled in 1950.

But I don’t know that FLW was really much of a preservationist, considering his renovations to the Rookerybuilding in Chicago, or the sort of changes he made to the Isabel Roberts House in River Forest, Illinois. Given the choice between preserving the house, which he might have had a sentimental attachment to, Wright chose to remodel it into practically a brand new building.

Today, many Louis Sullivan buildings are considered landmarks. In the 50s and 60s, all this great stuff was getting torn down, and they weren’t saving anything, not even the fabulous decorations. The early preservationist Richard Nickel was like a lone figure in the wilderness trying to save some of this stuff, documenting it in pictures and actually climbing into buildings that were being torn down to salvage certain pieces.

Nickel was killed in 1972 when part of the old Stock Exchange building collapsed on him. I don’t know whether Richard Nickel was a railfan, but I do think there were many others like him who had a similar attitude about saving the rapidly disappearing streetcars and interurbans in the 1950s.

So, in our culture, there wasn’t much interest in saving anything old, whether it was buildings or streetcars. I can see why someone would have thought it best to simply record these things in photographs. After all, even if you preserve a streetcar or interurban, it’s no longer in its original context.

That’s been part of the challenge in the preservation movement- to provide a useful and meaningful context to display and operate old equipment. Some museums have been better at this than others. For example, when you ride Chicago Pullman streetcar 144 today at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, the experience and context is very much different from when this car ran in service in Chicago. Much of the trolley loop is on open track, which Chicago did not have a lot of, and not in city streets surrounded by houses and storefronts. There may eventually be such a “Yesterday’s Main Street” at Union, and at least they have the beginnings of one planned.

Likewise, it seems slightly disconcerting to see a 2000-series pair of Chicago “L” cars operating with a trolley pole, since these were the first series of cars on the system that never had overhead current collection. The same is true of the P&W “Bullet ” cars in museums. But it would be impractical from a safety standpoint to run a railway museum with third rail power, so what choice do they have?

But when the museum movement started, no railway museums like this existed- for some, it was simply enough to save a certain railcar, and maybe they would figure out what to do with it later.

As for providing a context, Henry Ford, whatever his other faults, was a pioneer with this in the 1930s, when he established Greenfield Village, today part of The Henry Ford Museum. Ford had historic buildings moved to his site and rebuilt with their contents. Henry Ford was a preservationist.

When some of the streetcar lines were abandoned, newspapers sometimes ran editorials that essentially said, Good Riddance. It was a disposable culture. Thankfully, since then, we have learned to keep at least some of the things worth saving.

CTA 2153-2154 at IRM on July 7, 2012, powered by trolley poles. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Chicago Red Pullman 144 running on open track at IRM in the mid-1980s. (Photo by David Sadowski)

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce an urban setting such as this in a railway museum. (Author’s collection)

CA&E 427, soon to be scrapped, in 1963 at Wheaton. (Author’s collection)

What was left of CA&E 405 in 1963 at Wheaton. (Author’s collection)

In other news, we congratulate longtime CERA member (and, former President and Director) Norman Carlson on his appointment to the Metra Board.

At the March CERA Board meeting, we accepted the resignation of Director and Secretary John M. Anderson. We thank him for his service and wish him well in future endeavors.

The Board then appointed longtime CERA member John Nicholson to fill out the remainder of Anderson’s term as Director and Secretary. John is well-known in the CERA community and has been active in our organization for a long time. You will find his name listed in some of our publications going back to the mid-1960s.

Finally, we lament the passing of longtime CERA member Robert (“Bob”) Selle. Bob joined CERA on November 15, 1948 as member #1335. To put this into perspective, this was 64 years ago, and less than two weeks after the Chicago Tribune ran the famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline. He will be remembered as an excellent photographer, and we have already used some of his photos in other blog posts. Bob Selle was also an early member of both the Illinois Railway Museum and the Electric Railway Historical Society.

We send our condolences out to Bob’s family on behalf of the entire CERA family. He will be sorely missed, but his good works survive him. You can read more about Bob Selle here.

Keep those e-mails, cards, and letters coming in, either to cerablog1@gmail.com or CERA, PO Box 503, Chicago IL 60690.

-David Sadowski

The Preservation Movement in Early Days

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:08:28 GMT

As long as there have been railroads, there have been railfans. During the Depression years of the 1930s, as one streetcar or interurban after another vanished from the scene, small groups of railfans banded together in an ad hoc fashion to save bits and pieces before it all disappeared completely. At first, some of these collections had nowhere to operate, and over time, short stretches of track were built to run them on.

That was about as much of an agenda as they had back then, but over time, these efforts created fledgling railway museums in various parts of the country. Some have grown and thrived, while others failed and have fallen by the wayside. In some cases, museum tracks are on old interurban rights-of-way, while others were built from scratch.

Over time, old techniques were reclaimed, redeveloped, and relearned from the experience of an earlier age, or even, in many instances, done from scratch through a process of trial and error. In the process, some amazing work has been done, and a few of yesterday’s chicken coops are today’s operating cars.

The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine started in 1939, but at first, even its backers didn’t call it a museum- it was the Seashore Electric Railroad. But as these are generally “demonstration” railroads that don’t take people from point A to point B, it made more sense to think of it as a museum.

Some of the first cars to be saved were open-air trolleys, which were quickly going the way of the dinosaur. Fairmount Park Transit in Philadelphia was the last regular operator of open cars in the US when it was abandoned in 1946.

The Illinois Railway Museum, which today has the largest collection in the country, began life on the property of the Chicago Hardware Foundry in North Chicago, adjacent to the CNS&M. But as the collection grew, and the North Shore Line quit in 1963, a larger, and more permanent home had to be found. You can read the entire fascinating story here on the excellent Hicks Car Works blog.

Even those museum operations that failed served as a bridge that preserved equipment that eventually found a new home somewhere else later on. The Columbia Park and Southwester, aka “Trolleyville USA,” in Olmstead Township, Ohio is a case in point. Businessman Gerald E. Brookins had the wherewithal to assemble a collection of about 30 cars in the 1950s and 60s, and maintained them with a staff of several mechanics. Brookins’ contemporaries did not have these resources, and as a result, much rolling stock that would have been lost got saved, despite the sometimes inauthentic paint schemes he had them done up in.

His operation was part trolley museum, part practical transportation, as trolleys carried people between his trailer park and his shopping center. After his death in the early 1980s, his family kept the line going for several years, but the museum had to close after they sold the trailer park. The collection was brought to Cleveland with plans for a “heritage trolley” there, but when this fell through, the entire collection was sold at auction. Illinois museums were the main beneficiaries of this sale, since the Brookins collection was rich in both CA&E and AE&FR cars.

More and more often, these cars have spent more time in trolley museums than they did in regular service. CA&E car 20 is an example. The oldest operating interurban car in the country, car 20 ran on the CA&E from 1902 to 1957, a total of 55 years. (CA&E was also the last interurban to operate wood cars.) But this year will mark 56 years since the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin ceased passenger service.

In many cases, saving a car did not keep it from deteriorating over time. As an example, compare this 2006 photo of Five Mile Beach Electric Railway car 36 with one from 1945, when it was acquired by the Connecticut Trolley Museum. But at least the car still exists and could be restored.

The Magee Transportation Museum in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania is another example of one that did not make it. After assembling a collection of perhaps a dozen cars or so, the museum fell victim to both the death of its namesake and the ravages of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. You can read the sad story in a profile of the late Ed Blossom here.

As CERA celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, we tip our hat to those earliest railfans, whose herculean efforts helped preserve history for future generations to come. Under the circumstances, it’s a wonder that anything at all was saved, not that so much was lost. We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants.

-David Sadowski

CA&E wood car 36 on January 1, 1963, shortly after being acquired by Gerald E. Brookins for the Columbia Park & Southwestern, aka “Trolleyville USA .” This car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photo by Richard S. Short, Author’s collection)

Elgin and Belvidere Electric Company car 209 had just been freshly painted in 1930 after being converted to one-man operation, when the line quit abruptly. The car sat at Marengo for years in hopes of finding a buyer. The Illinois Railway Museum runs over a portion of the former Elgin and Belvidere right-of-way. (Photo by Ed Frank, Jr., Author’s collection)

Elgin and Belvidere Electric car 203 sits abandoned in this 1930s photo. I think the photographer added the flags and the lantern to make the picture look better. (Photo by Ed Frank, Jr., Author’s collection)

Elgin and Belvidere Electric car 201 sits abandoned in this 1930s photo. (Photo by Ed Frank, Jr., Author’s collection)

A 1930s view of the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River right-of-way, near the site of today’s Fox River Trolley Museum. (Photo by Ed Frank, Jr., Author’s collection)

The Lehigh Valley Transit scrap track circa 1938. (Author’s collection)

Here, we see Five Mile Beach Electric Railway car 36 in 1945, being transported to its current home at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor. (Author’s collection)

Knoxville trolleys abandoned in a field after the last run in 1947. (Author’s collection)

In this early 1950s view, a Lehigh Valley Transit Co. city streetcar has been converted into someone’s storage shed or chicken coop. (Author’s collection)

The abandoned right-of-way of the Liberty Bell Limited interurban in Pennsylvania, during the winter of 1951-52. Some of the signals from this line are now in use at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine. (Author’s collection)

Aurora, Elgin & Fox River 306, shortly after it arrived at the Columbia Park and Southwestern aka “Trolleyville USA” in 1954. Gerald Brookins acquired it from Shaker Heights Rapid Transit. This car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photo by George Snyder, from Author’s collection)

North Shore Line city car 354 on November 27, 1954, at the Chicago Hardware Foundry Co., one of the first acquisitions of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, today’s IRM in Union. (Photo by Bob Selle, Author’s collection)

CA&E 320 was the last car moved off the property in early 1962. The car was purchased by the Iowa Chapter of NRHS and is shown here later that same year. It is now at the Midwest Electric Railway in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. (Author’s collection)

North Shore Line cars await potential buyers while the weeds grow up around them after the 1963 abandonment. (Author’s collection)

CNS&M cars sat around outside for at least a year at North Chicago before being scrapped. I don’t think this car was saved. (Author’s collection)

Lehigh Valley Transit interurban car 801, built by Jewett Car Co. in 1912, became a cottage for a time, but was eventually restored. Here we see it about to receive the trucks from sister car 808, which spent time in the Philadelphia subway doing trash collection. Currently, 801 is at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, PA. (Author’s collection)

CA&E 319 in Ohio on the Columbia Park and Southwestern aka “Trolleyville USA” in 1984. This car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Photo by David Sadowski)

Even some of the museums have not survived. The Penn’s Landing Trolley (shown here in 1985) operated in Philadelphia from 1982 to 1995. (Photo by David Sadowski)

CA&E 20 at the Fox River Trolley Museum in the 1980s. It is the oldest operating interurban car in the US. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The Beat of a Different Drumhead

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:11:45 GMT

According to the Wikipedia:

The term drumhead refers to a type of removable sign that was prevalent on North American railroads of the first half of the 20th century. The sign was mounted at the rear of passenger trains, and consisted of a box with internal illumination that shone through a tinted panel bearing the logo of the railroad or specific train. Since the box and the sign were usually circular in shape and resembled small drums, they came to be known as drumheads.

Drumheads were mainly associated with the steam railroads, and were often used on some of the “named” intercity routes. There is an excellent illuminated drumhead display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. You will find examples from this collection at the end of this post (photos taken by the author).

For many years, a CERA drumhead was used on many of our fantrips. Although not illuminated, the drumhead was often hung on the front of the car, not the back, as in the case of the steam railroads.

The CERA drumhead on a North Shore Line fantrip. (Author’s collection)

That got me to wondering whatever became of our drumhead, and I got the following response from John Marton:

J.M. Michaels was CERA’s first corporate sponsor. He was also Passenger Traffic Manager of the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad.

The drum head was a gift to CERA from him to be used on fan trips, as well on the rear of Car 300, which he also provided for club use.

The drum head was made in the Highwood Illinois Shops under his direction and it bears chalk markings as to its origin and is dated 1939. While it was not in evidence for the first four fan trips, it was in existence by June 25, 1939 and it, or one similar to it, was displayed on Car 35 of the CSS&SB RR on Trip Number Nine.

Sometime in the mid-60’s, the drum head was damaged on a fan trip and retired. A director’s statement said it was “scrapped,” but it was stored instead and remains in the possession of longtime CERA member John Marton, where it remains today.

It’s good to know that the drumhead survives, even if somewhat worse for wear. It has outlasted many of the railroads it was used on, which are now “fallen flags.” We will display it at our 75th anniversary banquet in September.

-David Sadowski

Gary Railways car 19 at Indiana Harbor on an early CERA fantrip (March 19, 1939). Regular service here had ended the day before. Notice no CERA drumhead, however. (C. Edw. Hedstrom photo, Author’s collection)

Car #479 on Schreiber near Clark, CERA fantrip, May 16, 1954 (CTA Historical Collection)

CNS&M 150 at the head of a CERA fantrip on the Libertyville-Mundelein branch in late 1962. The drumhead still appears to be in good shape. (Author’s collection)

CRT/CTA 5004, shown here in 63rd St. Lower Yard, on a 1963 CERA fantrip (Author’s collection)

A newish 2000-series CTA “L” car leads the way on a mid-1960s fantrip. (Author’s collection)

NRHS drumhead at the rear of a 1955 Illinois Terminal fantrip. (Author’s collection)

Those aren’t drumheads on these 1950s Johnston PA streetcars, just advertising. “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that’s a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you” (Author’s collection)

The CERA drumhead today. (Photo by John Marton)

Roarin’ Elgin on the North Shore?

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:32:09 GMT

A long time ago, I heard a rumor that some CA&E equipment ran on the North Shore Line during World War II. Today’s picture might show just that, but as with most things, the situation is a bit more complicated than it might seem. According to Don’s Rail Photos:

In 1936, the CA&E leased 11 surplus cars from the CNS&M. These cars were modified for service by raising the coupler height, installing electric heat instead of the coal-fired hot water heaters, modifying the control, and adding jumper receptacles and other minor fittings to allow them to train with the other CA&E cars. Since these were 50 mile per hour cars, and the CA&E cars wer 60 MPH cars, they were soon operated only in trains of their own kind rather than mixed in with other cars. In 1945 they were returned to the North Shore where they operated briefly. They were purchased (by CA&E) in 1946 and last ran in regular service in September, 1953.

The September 1953 end-of-service date coincides with when CA&E service was cut back to Forest Park during construction of the Congress Super-Highway. These cars (numbered 129-144) were built by either Jewett or American Car Co. circa 1907-10 for the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric, a predecessor of the CNS&M. They were rebuilt in 1914 with train doors and narrowed ends to allow operation on the Chicago “L” system.

CA&E cars ran downtown to a terminal just outside the Loop “L” structure. To move these cars to the North Shore Line, and vice versa, they would have crossed the Loop. Hopefully, someone snapped a picture.

After CA&E quit, the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago acquired some of their cars. At this point the North Shore was still running, so IERM came up with the idea of a NS fantrip using CA&E cars. Management ultimately rejected the idea, but not before sending a mechanic to check out the CA&E equipment, which he declared was in better shape than some of their own.

CA&E cars 130 and 139, on CERA Fantrip #46 (July 14, 1946). Location is Franklin St. siding in Waukegan. (Author’s collection)

CERA has covered by the North Shore and the Roarin’ Elgin extensively, most notably in the early 1960s, with the classic books Interurban To Milwaukee, Route of the Electroliners, and The Great Third Rail. All are out of print but available on the used market.

CERA B-141, Before the North Shore Line

A few years back, CERA published a “prequel” to the two North Shore books with B-141, Before the North Shore Line by Edward Tobin:

Waukegan was the birthplace of the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, one of the nation’s premier interurban electric railways. Author Ed Tobin recounts the railroad’s humble origins as the Bluff City Electric Street Railway and traces its rapid evolution into the high speed Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway, taking the story up to the time that the company came under Insull control. This 224 page book is packed with never before published information and photographs depicting the railway in its early days. You will also learn about A.C. Frost, a tireless promoter who helped create “America’s fastest interurban.”

You can purchase a copy here. The price is $29 for CERA members, and $39 for non-members.

-David Sadowski

1946 CERA Fantrip ticket (Collection of John T. Csoka)

The 129-144 series were not the only ones that had their ends altered to fit the Chicago “L” system, with its tight turns. Here is ex-WB&A 38, reconfigured as CA&E 603. (Author’s collection)

Checking with Don’s Rail Photos again, we note:

In 1937, the CA&E needed additional equipment. Much was available, but most of the cars suffered from extended lack of maintenance. Finally, 5 coaches were found on the Washington Baltimore & Annapolis which were just the ticket. 35 thru 39, built by Cincinnati Car in 1913, were purchased and remodeled for service as 600 thru 604. The ends were narrowed for service on the El. They had been motors, but came out as control trailers. Other modifications included drawbars, control, etc. A new paint scheme was devised. Blue and grey with red trim and tan roof was adopted from several selections. They entered service between July and October in 1937.

603 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in 1913 as WB&A 38. It was sold as CA&E 603 in September 1937.

Here we see CA&E 701, ex-WB&A 81, at Wheaton yard on September 5, 1943. This car was built by Cincinnati Car Co. in 1913. (Author’s collection)

At least some ex-WB&A cars lasted until the end of CA&E service. Here we see car 604 (former WB&A 39) at Wheaton yard on June 25, 1961. (Author’s collection)

Red Rocket Redux

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:33:51 GMT

Our March 13 feature The Old Math (144 = 225) helped prompt this sequel, where we present more Chicago streetcar fantrip photos circa 1954-58. Except for one, these pictures are from the CTA Historical Photo Collection.

Car #479 on Schreiber near Clark, CERA fantrip, May 16, 1954 (CTA Historical Collection)

Even a partial list of those present reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Chicago railfan community in the 1950s. Here are some we were able to identify, in no partiucular order:

George Foelschow
Bob Heinlein
Jeff Wien
Ray DeGroote
Dick Lukin
Maury Kleibolt
John Marton
Zenon Hansen
Barney Neuberger
Joe Zucker
Glenn Andersen
Chuck Tauscher
Mike Megowan
Jim Buckley
Bob Gibson
Don Idarius
Larry Kostka
Connie Morrell
Howard Odinius
Bill McGregor
Bob Selle
Jim Konas
Maury Klebolt
Frank Butts
Bill Hoffman
Ray Zielinski

It’s easy to spot longtime CERA member Ray DeGroote- he’s the nattily dressed fellow with the hat and bow tie.

Included here are photos from a CERA farewell fantrip on May 16, 1954, two weeks before the Red Cars were officially retired by CTA; IERM (or was it ERHS?) and Illini Railroad Club trips on February 10, 1957; and the final red car trip, sponsored by ERHS on June 15, 1958. This was just six days before the last Chicago streetcar ran.

ERHS stands for Electric Railway Historical Society, a local group active from about 1952-73. You can read their story on the excellent Hicks Car Works blog here. ERHS published books and also helped preserve several streetcars. IERM is short for Illinois Electric Railway Museum, then located in North Chicago. Today, it’s IRM in Union, as the collection has been expanded to cover steam and diesel besides electric.

Jeff Wien writes:

Yes, there were two Red Car trips on Feb 10, 1957 which was the farewell to Broadway (last car operated on Feb 15th). This was my first Red Car trip and I happened to be on the Illinois Electric Railway Museum charter which used 144. The Illini Railroad Charter with Maury Klebolt operated car 225. The reason that I recall that event is because after December 4, 1955, streetcars only operated southbound on State Street between Kinzie and Polk once route 36-Broadway/State was cut in half. Northbound Broadway cars went west on Polk to Dearborn; north on Dearborn to Kinzie, east on Kinzie to State and north on State. When 144 went south on State Street, I captured her on the State Street Bridge.

Klebolt’s trip caused a stir at CTA because he operated car 225 NORTH on State between Polk and Kinzie where no streetcar had operated since December 1955! This of course was against operating procedures at the time because streetcars were not supposed to operate northbound on State between Polk and Kinzie, but Maury was not the kind of guy to be told NO! He basically did as he pleased!

Looking at the Surface Division Track Map that I have from 1952, there was a crossover just south of Harrison on State Street which Maury no doubt used to get the 225 to go NORTH on State Street! The Railway Museum group was not bold like Klebolt, so they operated 144 south on State to Polk to Dearborn to Kinzie to State as they were supposed to do.

Actually Maury didn’t commit a cardinal sin so to speak because after May 30, 1954, there were no longer any Red Cars in service, only PCC cars. Since the PCC cars were not double ended, there was no way to reverse them on State Street after route 36 was cut in half. Only a double ended car like 225 or 144 could reverse ends on State Street and go back north. Maury had the chutzpah to do just that. It was amazing that the car could operate on the northbound track on State Street because the flanges must have been filled with dirt and gunk where no car had operated for over two years time. I didn’t see 225 operate there. I was just told about it. Sort of railfan folklore these days.

Yesterday’s Railfans peer out at us from these wonderful photographs, with their box cameras, Argus C3s and even the occasional 35mm or twin-lens reflex. The world was so much younger then, and the pace was slower, with much less “information overload.” Some of these people are still with us, and others have sadly passed from the scene. These are moments frozen in time.

As John Lennon famously said, “You only remember the good times.”

-David Sadowski

Car #479 on Schreiber (which is near Devon). (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #225 at Kinzie and State (CTA Historical Collection)

“Green Hornet” PCC Car #4401 (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #479 interior, CERA fantrip, May 16, 1954 (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #225 on Schreiber near Clark on an Illini Railroad Club fantrip, February 10, 1957 (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #225 on Clark Street, on an Illini Railroad Club fantrip, February 10, 1957. No, the car is not moving- this is a posed shot. (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #144 interior on an ERHS fantrip, February 10, 1957 (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #144 inside Limits Car Barn, on an ERHS fantrip, February 10, 1957 (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #479 on Schreiber. This is the same photograph as one of our earlier shots, but with less cropping. (CTA Historical Collection)

Car #144 at Vincennes and 80th, on an ERHS fantrip June 15, 1958. The very last Red Car operated on the Chicago streetcar system. (Photo by Bob Selle)

A Tale of Two High Speeds

Elmer Haneberg — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:09:04 GMT

There were three series of high-speed, lightweight interurban cars built during the Depression era. There were 20 “Red Devils” built for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie in 1930, one of which raced an airplane in a famous publicity stunt. There were 15 of the famous “Bullet” cars (10 double-ended for the Philadelphia and Western) built in 1932-33, 16 if you count a replacement car. (Both were the inspiration of Dr. Thomas Conway, a very forward thinking pioneer in electric transportation who was involved with reviving and modernizing several interurban properties.)

In addition, there were 35 high-speeds built for Indiana Railroad in 1931. Although the largest group in number, this batch had the fewest survivors- in fact, only two cars were saved, #55 and #65. Interestingly, they were built by two different manufacturers, as IR had the order split. American Car and Foundry (ACF) built 14 cars, while Pullman made 21.

Car #55, preserved today as Lehigh Valley Transit #1030, is an ACF product, while #65 is a Pullman. All 35 of the Indiana Railroad high-speeds can be considered improved versions of the C&LE cars. There are various differences despite their obvious similarity. The Red Devils have a squared-off rear end, while the Indiana cars have a curved end. The Indiana cars could be coupled together and operated as a multiple unit, which the C&LE cars could not do. Despite a greater use of aluminum, the IR cars actually weigh two tons more than the Cincinnatis (which, incidentally, were built by Cincinnati Car Company).

Despite their similar origins, the stories of cars #55 and 65 are as different as night and day, and we can be grateful that any of these fine interurbans were saved. Just how fast these cars could go remains a matter of some conjecture, but it seems likely they could do at least 90 mph, in short bursts of speed- perhaps even more.

Interurban service on the once-great Indiana Railroad quit in 1941. As things sputtered to a close, about 25 of the high-speeds sat for months in storage with no buyers. Eventually, they were taken outside, stripped of valuable parts, and scrapped. (Ironically, if they had been kept just a few months longer, their value possibly would have gone up, with the outbreak of war. Chances are there were operators across the country who could have used these cars during WWII.)

After service to Fort Wayne was abandoned in January 1941, a few cars were retained for a curious, and little-known daily round trip between Indianapolis and Seymour. This has been described as a “franchise run,” but the situation was actually more like a sub-lease. This rump interurban service continued until September 1941, when the unthinkable happened, a head-on collision between car #78 and the line car. Service was discontinued immediately, an inglorious end for the IR.

You can read the entire story in CERA B-128, Indiana Railroad- The Magic Interurban, by George K. Bradley, published in 1992.

Car #65 was a lucky survivor of the Seymour operation and was shipped to Iowa in June 1942, where it went into service on the CRANDIC- the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway, where it was renumbered car #120. There it remained until the end of electric interurban service in 1953, whereupon it became the first car purchased by the new Illinois Electric Railway Museum, which originally kept its collection at a foundry in North Chicago. The IERM repainted the car into Indiana Railroad colors and it went back to being #65, which it has remained since.

The collection was moved to Union in the early 1960s and the car is operated occasionally. I most recently rode the car last summer during the annual Trolley Pageant. It is a thrill to experience the car’s quick and nimble speed. In the early days, when there was a lot less track, the museum was almost afraid to operate it, but nowadays there are several miles for the car to run on. The car is fitted with what might be called leather bucket seats and remains one of the jewels of IRM’s vast collection.

What happened to IR #55 is even more interesting. In early 1941, it was sold to Lehigh Valley Transit, which ran a 55-mile interurban route between Philadelphia and Allentown, partly over shared trackage of the P&W’s Norristown High-Speed Line. Configured as a club car, LVT had the car modified to more closely resemble other ex-C&LE speeders they had purchased in 1938-39.

These modifications were carried out in LVT’s own shops but used some Brill styling talent as outside consultants. The P&W (better know today as “Red Arrow”) insisted that an extra door be added to one side of the car for an emergency exit. This was due to one of the Bullet cars having burned up a few years earlier on the Schuylkill River bridge. Such exit doors were never added to the Bullets, however.

LVT renumbered the car #1030 and it was placed into service on August 28, 1941. Employees nicknamed it the “Golden Calf,” since at first the car was brought in for cleanup and inspection after every run. The car ran in service with other ex-C&LE “Red Devils” on the 55-mile route, and both types ran with the Bullets on the 14 miles shared with the P&W.

Ridership on the Liberty Bell Limited greatly increased during WWII, and soon the rigorous inspection schedule went out the window. In 1949, after LVT abandoned its other interurban, the Easton Limited, the easy chairs were removed from #1030 and replaced with leather bucket seats salvaged from some of the Cincinnati curved-side cars used on that route. These were essentially like those in IR #65, and that is how car #1030 finished up its 10 years of LVT service in September 1951, when buses were subbed for railcars. Interestingly, the bus substitution of the Liberty Bell limited was not a success and only lasted another five years.

There were no third-hand takers for the remaining ex-C&LE cars that LVT had, and all were scrapped. Traction motors were sold to the P&W for use on the Bullet cars, which continued to operate into the early 1990s.

Fortunately, LVT #1030 was saved, and was bought by the Seashore Electric Railway Historical Society, Inc., which we know today as the Seashore Trolley Museum, in Kennebunkport ME. The car was moved by rail to Boston, where it was temporarily stored by the MTA before being trucked the rest of the way to Maine.

The leather bucket seats were removed, and were replaced by lounge chairs salvaged from some of the LVT’s ex-C&LE cars. Car #1030 remains at Seashore today, where it is occasionally operated.

There is a final Indiana connection. In his book Interurban Railways of Allen County, Indiana (1958), Roy M. Bates writes:

Mr. Theodore Santarelli De Brasch of Boston, Massachusetts, a great-grandson of Oliver P. Morton, Indiana’s Civil War Governor, was President of the Seashore Electric Railway Museum. Through his efforts #55 was acquired and preserved.

CERA has returned time and again to the LVT story, publishing a roster in B-48, and featuring it on the cover of B-81, one of the “Trolley Sparks” series. There is significant coverage of LVT in B-140 (Pig & Whistle), at least about the shared operations on Norristown, and, most recently, an LVT section in B-142 (Keystone State Traction). I am sure it is a subject we will revisit again in greater detail in our future publications.

Meanwhile, we can all be glad that at least two of the finest lightweight interurban rail cars ever made were saved, to be enjoyed today and in future generations to come.

-David Sadowski

IR #65 in 2012 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The cover of CERA B-91 shows a three-car MU train of lightweight high-speeds, with car #66 in the lead.

IR #65 in 2012 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. (Photo by David Sadowski)

The stylish Indiana Railroad logo. (Photo by David Sadowski)

IR #68 in action at the PRR underpass (Author’s collection)

IR #66 on the Fort Wayne local. (Author’s collection)

IR #54 signed for Fort Wayne – Hoosierland. (Author’s collection)

On the back of the photo, it says, “Indiana RR lightweight interurban #64. Snapped in Ft. Wayne, April 1, 1939. Color- orange + green roof. Built 1930 by Am. Car Co., Jeffersonville, Ind.” (Author’s collection)

IR #65 on June 2, 1956. The first car purchased for the fledgling Illinois Electric Railway Museum, we see it here in North Chicago, being repainted in IR colors after running on CRANDIC. (Photo by Bob Selle – Author’s collection)

From a 1952 Seashore Electric Railway special report on car #1030 Author’s collection)

Indiana Railroad #55, reincarnated as Lehigh Valley Transit #1030, seen here in Alletown PA on an August 28, 1941 NRHS fantrip. This was the beginning of the car’s 10-year career here. (Author’s collection)

LVT #1030 on September 9, 1951, after interurban service was abandoned. (Author’s collection)

From a 1952 Seashore Electric Railway special report on car #1030 Author’s collection)

From a 1953 issue of Transit Topics, the LVT employee publication. (Author’s collection)

IR #65 at left in CRANDIC service, renumbered as #120, with an ex-CLE high-speed at the right (Author’s collection)

1930 Cincinnati & Lake Erie “Red Devil” #118, shown here in CRANDIC service in Iowa. In 1954, this car was sold to the Seashore Trolley Museum, where it is preserved today. (Author’s collection)

SEPTA ex-P&W “Bullet” car #202 in service on the Norristown High-Speed Line in 1985. (Photo by David Sadowski)

April at CERA: Illusion Travels By Streetcar

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:12:08 GMT

Friday, April 26, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL

Admission is free.

PS- Interestingly, a few years after this movie was made, Mexico City considered buying some postwar Chicago PCCs, but they would not fit due to clearance problems. As a result, car 4391 was saved locally and can be enjoyed today at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Somewhere West of Laramie

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:14:08 GMT

This 1923 ad copy became more famous than the Jordan Playboy, the car it promoted:

SOMEWHERE west of Laramie there’s a bronco-busting, steer roping girl who knows what I’m talking about. She can tell what a sassy pony, that’s a cross between greased lighting and the place where it hits, can do with eleven hundred pounds of steel and action when he’s going high, wide and handsome. The truth is – the Playboy was built for her. Built for the lass whose face is brown with the sun when the day is done of revel and romp and race. She loves the cross of the wild and the tame. There’s a savor of links about that car – of laughter and lilt and light – a hint of old loves – and saddle and quirt. It’s a brawny thing – yet a graceful thing for the sweep o’ the Avenue. Step into the Playboy when the hour grows dull with things gone dead and stale. Then start for the land of real living with the spirit of the lass who rides, lean and rangy, into the red horizon of a Wyoming twilight.

The “west of Laramie” I have in mind today is the old Garfield Park “L” line that ran on the surface to Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park. Looking back 55 years after scenes such as these disappeared, to be replaced by the Congress rapid transit line (today’s Blue Line), some of the poetry still seems apt. The “Sunset Lines” rode off into the sunset.

Here are some scenes showing this portion of the old Garfield Park line as it once was. At times, it can be a bit difficult to determine the exact location, but we know some of our readers will help out.

Although used by the CTA, this trackage was actually owned by the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin. CA&E and CTA’s predecessors swapped trackage rights in 1902- allowing CA&E to go downtown, and Met “L” cars west of Laramie. (East of Laramie, trains went up a ramp to steel structure the rest of the way downtown.)

Circa 1949-51, plans were being finalized to build the City of Chicago’s portion of the Congress Superhighway, which needed about half of the Garfield right-of-way for the road. The portion in direct conflict was relocated in September 1953 to temporary street-level tracks on Van Buren Street. The original plan was for a temporary wooden “L” structure in the same location, but a local alderman objected, voicing the concerns of local business owners. Not wanting to see the project tied up in litigation, the City caved and the street trackage was the result.

You might wonder why there were no grade crossings or gates on Van Buren, but at first the City referred to this as “streetcar trackage,” although none of it was. It used third rail throughout, except at major intersections, where there was a gap. I don’t think CTA could have found enough cars with trolley poles to run it with overhead wire.

CA&E liked the idea of a modern grade-separated right-of-way in the expressway median, and in 1951, predicted using it would shave several minutes off their running times. But alas, it was not to be.

Fearing the Van Buren operation would become a dangerous quagmire, CA&E refused to run their trains on it, meaning service would need to be cut back to a transfer point with CTA. Laramie would have been a logical place for this, since it was the point where CA&E’s tracks ended, but it suited both CA&E and CTA to shift the transfer point west to Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park. CA&E allowed CTA to reconfigure the station to facilitate such transfers, where riders would need to pay a CTA fare and vice-verse. CA&E also insisted that the track connection between the two railroads be severed, to create an additional obstacle in case they were ordered to resume service downtown.

Destroying the track connection may have also played a part in the earlier abandonment of the CTA Westchester branch, which was also owned by CA&E. CTA was happy to substitute bus service (the #17, which lasted until a few months ago) and CA&E sold off the land in the rapidly developing area and gave the cash to their shareholders rather than reinvest it in the interurban. This was the first in a series of such land sales, which helped grease the skids for CA&E’s eventual abandonment.

There were conflicting press reports on whether CA&E would ever go back to running downtown, even after the completion of the expressway segment. But in exchange for selling the land between Des Plaines and Laramie to the State, CA&E was supposed to get its own express track in that section, so that its trains could be kept separated from CTA’s. By the time this section was built, CA&E had abandoned passenger service and the third track was never built. This track would have been north of where the current two-track right-of-way is today.

You can see a third portal on the tunnel east of Central Avenue, where the CTA line shifts into the expressway median. The extra portal may have had an additional use besides CA&E. While these plans were being made, CTA still anticipated needing to use Laramie Yard. If so, the City would have built a track connection between Laramie Yard and the rest of the Congress line, and this involved crossing the highway. Chances are this would have been the point at which a subway tunnel would have gone under the roadway, with a ramp up to the surface.

As it was, an at-grade track connection was retained to Laramie Yard for about one year after the eastern part of Congress opened in June 1958, but this of course kept the highway, which would have crossed it, at bay.

Once CA&E quit passenger service in 1957, indicating a willingness to sell the Des Plaines terminal land, plans were changed to make that the CTA terminal, yard, and shops facility for the line. Doing so saved the City the substantial costs of building a tunnel to Laramie Yard.

While expressway construction progressed in the City during 1953-58, the trackage at Laramie and points west was largely untouched. Once the Congress line opened in June 1958, the new portion of line ended near Laramie and then connected to the existing grade-level alignment going west, which included a junction where the line crossed the B&O freight line, now thankfully grade separated.

Once the eastern portion of the Congress line opened in 1958, work began on our featured section, with a series of shifting temporary rights-of-way and temporary stations before things reached final form in 1961. By this time, local transit activists had persuaded the CTA to add secondary entrances to the Austin, Oak Park, and Harlem stations, in part to make up for the reduction of the total number of stations in the area. Stations in odd places like Gunderson were eliminated.

Today we can enjoy riding the Blue Line rapid, while at the same time lament the loss of CA&E and wonder what might have been. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear in our photo essay, when life was a little bit slower and less hectic, in the days when the Garfield Park “L” ran on the ground, somewhere west of Laramie.

-David Sadowski

(All photos from the Author’s collection.)

CTA 5002 westbound at Laramie, December 1947. The four experimental articulated cars were patterned after the earlier BMT “Bluebirds” in New York. While they were ordered by CRT in their waning days, the fledgling CTA and the City of Chicago stage-managed this behind the scenes, as they also did with the CSL order for 600 “Green Hornet” streetcars. Car 5001 was already on CRT property before CTA took over on October 1, 1947. (Photographer unknown)

CTA 6037-6038 heading west at Laramie on a CERA fantrip on May 1, 1955, showing how the line curved off a bit to the south, before straightening out temporarily to cross Lockwood before veering off again to run parallel with the B&O. We have attempted to bring the color back as much as possible in this early Ektachrome slide, which has a very pronounced “red shift.” (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

Here, just a bit west of the previous picture, we see the sweeping curve from the other perspective, looking east. Note the position of the shack at left in the other picture. May 9, 1954 (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

CTA 6042-6041 westbound at Austin Boulevard on May 9, 1954. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

CTA 6055-6056 eastbound at Austin on May 9, 1954. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

6000s eastbound at Austin in Oak Park on May 9, 1954. At right we see the large gas tank that was once a Forest Park landmark. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

Looking east from DesPlaines avenue in Forest Park on March 18, 1956, near where the Garfield line crossed the B&O. (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

CA&E car 408 near DesPlaines avenue on October 16, 1955 (Photo by Ray DeGroote)

In this nighttime shot, a CA&E train sits at Des Plaines terminal in April 1957. (Photographer unknown)

Perhaps the last remnant of the Garfield Park “L”, a bit of track peeks out through asphalt at the Lockwood crossing in this 1980s photo by David Sadowski.

Mystery Photo of the Day – Illinois Terminal, 1950s

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:17:29 GMT

Here is a vanished bit of small town Americana, trundling through Yesterday’s Main Street. This is Illinois Terminal, and we can say it’s the 1950s, looking at the autos, but WHERE was this mystery photo taken?

Let us know your thoughts by either posting a “Comment” or by writing to us at:
cerablog1@gmail.com

We always appreciate hearing from our readers!

-David Sadowski

PS- That round, white object at right could be a Flying Saucer… maybe the Republic serial “Flying Disc Man From Mars” was playing at the local Bijou… or it could just be one of those times when the moon is visible in the daytime, I don’t know. Draw your own conclusions.

IT 285, 1950s (Author’s collection)

Mystery Solved-

John Howard writes:

You probably know by now, but just in case… The mystery photo was taken in Carlinville from the corner of North West and West First North Streets – looking south. Davenport’s Cafe is south of the station. City Hall’s siren can be seen above the Cafe. The steeple at the south end of town (on South West Street) was St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. It’s now a restaurant sans steeple.

Thanks!

ex-SEPTA PCC 2185 Enters Service in Kenosha

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:20:05 GMT

If you want to ride a PCC streetcar in regular service, you can still go to Boston, Philadelphia, or San Francisco, but since 2000, you can also ride them in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on a loop track of slightly less than two miles. On Saturday, March 16th, Kenosha Transit put 1948 vintage ex-SEPTA PCC 2185 into service, representing Philadelphia.

The sun shines on ex-SEPTA PCC 2185, now in service in Kenosha.

This makes a fleet of 8 PCCs in all, with one being store inoperable. The original five cars, all ex-Toronto circa 1951, and representing different cities, were lined up outside the Joseph McCarthy Transit Center for photos. Kenosha’s streetcars retain the numbering from their prior homes.

Cars 2185 and 4617 were acquired from the East Troy Electric Railroad. East Troy decided to stick with double-ended cars, rather than construct expensive turning loops at both ends of their line.

The people of Kenosha are very friendly, and the line was operating on a 15-minute headway the day I was there. They are even railfan-friendly. There were several photographers along the trolley loop, and our operator was happy to oblige with a photo stop now and then, especially when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds for about a minute. The PCC rolled along at a leisurely pace of about 10-12 mph for the most part.

Kenosha streetcar mechanic Bradley Preston gave us a grand tour of the shops, including a demonstration of how a PCC’s traction motor works:

Bradley Preston Explains How PCC Streetcar Resistors Work

PCC 2185 rounds a bend near the Kenosha METRA station on March 16, 2013:

PCC 2185

A fine time was had by all. It was a kick to ride car 2185, and it’s entirely possible I already rode the car before on the streets of Philadelphia, 25 years ago or more. Even more interesting, this car had its trucks exchanged and now rides on former Chicago PCC trucks. Car 4617, also acquired from East Troy, also runs and together, the two cars are a nice addition to a well-maintained fleet.

It appears Kenosha’s system is going to expand, as we were told they have now secured funding for an additional 22 blocks of trackage in a north-south loop line. Construction may begin in 2014. As the word “streetcar” slowly creeps into the lexicon of American cities once again, it looks to have a very bright future in Kenosha.

-David Sadowski

(All photos and videos were taken by the Author on March 16, 2013 unless otherwise noted.)

The five original Kenosha PCCs, all ex-Toronto, lined up outside the carbarn (4606-4609-4616-4615-4610).

4606, the ersatz Chicago car (Chicago’s PCCs were all longer than standard dimensions).

4609 represents Pittsburgh.

The Cincinnati tribute car.

4615 represents Johnstown, PA, the smallest city in the US to have PCCs.

4610 represents Toronto.

2185 in action, still signed for the SEPTA #56 streetcar line (Erie-Torresdale).

Most of Kenosha’s cars are ex-Toronto, but only 4610 and 4617 are in TTC colors.

Kenosha also has ex-SEPTA 2120, which is not in operable condition.

Interestingly, a couple of PCCs in the shop are not on rails. The metal under the wheels is there simply to protect the floor. Cars can be moved on and off the tracks in just a few hours by one man.

We tour the shops.

Signs that will be increasingly needed in Kenosha’s future.

The carbarn fits 8 PCCs comfortably.

4616 above the pit.

Stylish Pittsburgh Railways logo on 4609.

4606 looking very shiny in the carbarn.

4615 and 4616 at rest.

4610 in the carbarn.

As you can see, the interior of 2185 is in great shape.

2185 near the Lake Michigan shoreline.

2185 in action.

ex-SEPTA 2185 rounding a curve near the Kenosha METRA station.

It is still possible to find an AMC Pacer in the city where they were built.

The former North Shore Line Station in Kenosha is now the Cesar E. Chavez Learning Station.

SEPTA PCC 2168 in Philadelphia service on the #47 line in 1973. (Author’s collection)

CERA Inspection Trip #206 In Pictures

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:30:39 GMT

The first half of our fantrip, with 2200s, begins at Rosemont.

People take pictures of each other…

Subway stop… I think this was Logan Square.

Photo stop at Ashland on the Green Line.

We got off at 35th for a run-by.

35th-Sox Park.

Our train has returned.

We are let off at Madison and Wabash.

Our train of 2200s departs while we take a lunch break.

Here come the 5000s.

We get off at Oakton for a run-by.

Northbound at Oakton.

5000s southbound approaching Oakton.

5000s at Wilson, where North Shore trains once stopped.

5000s interior.

A Pink Line train passes us at Morgan.

Our trip ends in twilight at Morgan on the Green Line.

CERA sponsored a fantrip on the CTA rapid transit system on November 18, 2012, highlighting both the “old” and the “new.” The old was represented by a train made up entirely of 2200-series cars from 1970. These are the last cars on the system that use “blinker” doors and are thus not handicapped accessible. For many years, the 2200s have only been used in conjunction with other series cars that have sliding doors, so this charter was a rare and perhaps final opportunity to experience them as they once were used in service.

Tony Coppoletta, who organized this trip for CERA, told me it was his intention to showcase the 2200s on the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressway lines, where they ran for so many years. After 43 years of faithful service, they are gradually being retired.

I boarded the train at Rosemont on the Blue Line. We stopped in the Kimball subway to pick up more people, then through the Dearborn subway. Next, we went up the ramp to the Douglas/Pink Line and changed ends. Then, it was back to the Loop over the Lake St./Green Line trackage, then out over to the Dan Ryan line via the “old” connection that was used before completion of the short subway connecting the Howard and Dan Ryan.

We stopped at 35th for a run-by, and then it was back downtown for a lunch break. The 2200s went back around the Loop for one more photo opportunity, but we headed off to McDonald’s.

After lunch, around came our “new” train, the 5000s. The transverse seating has been very controversial, and much commented on in the local press, but the new cars have very smooth acceleration, since they do not use points or “chopper” controls, converting DC to AC instead. This change means they cannot be trained with the older series of “L” cars.

Despite it being the middle of November, the weather was very reasonable and we even had some sun that day. We did go out to around 35th on the Orange Line before changing ends and going back up north via the Loop “L”, the Brown Line, and on the Howard/Red Line. Our train then turned onto the Yellow Line, the former “Skokie Swift,” a remnant of the North Shore Line’s “Skokie Valley Route” for a run-by at the newish station at Oakton.

Then we proceeded south with a final photo stop at Wilson Avenue, before going back downtown and ending our sojourn at the other new CTA station, Morgan on the Green Line. A fine time was had by all. If you were there that day, we are glad to have seen you and thank you for your support.

If you couldn’t make it, you can get a pretty good idea of our trip through these pictures, mostly taken by yours truly (except as noted).

-David Sadowski

FYI, the Illinois Railway Museum will hold its annual “Snowflake Special charter on the CTA on March 24th, using an 8-car train made up of four different series of railcars. More info here.

CTA 2318 leads the way at Lake and Ashland on November 18, 2012. (Photo by Jeff Wien, courtesy of the Wien-Criss Archive)

The Old Math (144 = 225)

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:34:07 GMT

Ten years before the “New Math,” 144 was equal to 225, at least for one day. The occasion was a December 1956 Chicago fantrip, using one of the last surviving Red Pullman streetcars.

Red Cars were phased out of regular service by CTA in 1954, and nearly all were scrapped soon after, but a few were kept, including cars 144, 225, and 460. Today 225 is at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine, while the other two are at the Illinois Railway Museum. Car 144 was one of the first purchases made by the fledgling museum, now celebrating its 60th year, and 460 was stored for decades as part of the CTA historical collection before it too found its way there.

CTA #225 masquerading as 144, on an Illini Railroad Club fantrip in December, 1956 (George Foelschow collection). Location is on Dearborn near Washington.

CTA #144 on an Illini Railroad Club fantrip in December, 1957. We are looking north on Dearborn Street near Randolph. We see buses here since by this time, PCCs did not run on weekends on the #22 Clark-Wentworth line. (Author’s collection)

CTA #144 on the 12-29-57 fantrip, at 81st and Vincennes, on Vincennes Avenue looking north (Author’s collection)

#144 at the intersection of 81st and Vincennes, on the 12-29-57 fantrip (Author’s collection)

144 northbound on Dearborn, on the 12-29-57 fantrip (Author’s collection)

CTA #144 in regular service, at the west end of the 63rd Street line, on May 14, 1953 (Bob Selle photo, Author’s collection)

Red Chicago streetcars #144 and #1374 at the Illinois Railway Museum (Author’s photo)

It’s a miracle that any additional cars were saved. You can read the story of how this did in fact happen on the excellent Hicks Car Works blog.

I was just three years old when the last Chicago streetcar ran on that fateful day June 21, 1958, but at least my father had the foresight to make sure I rode one of the PCCs on the south side before the end. By this time, the north end of Clark-Wentworth had already been converted to bus, and streetcars had to turn at Kinzie.

Between 1954 and 1958, there were a number of Red Car fantrips on the CTA, sponsored by CERA and other contemporary organizations. CERA ran three and hosted the final such trip on May 25, 1958. Often, these trips also included a PCC car. The Illini Railroad Club ran two such trips, around Christmas time in both 1956 and 1957. Information on all 206 CERA fantrips from 1938 to 2012 will be included in our upcoming publication Trolley Sparks Special #1.

The curious renumbering in our first photo requires an explanation from longtime CERA member George Foelschow. This was on the December 1956 sojourn. Apparently, trip organizer Maury Klebolt had advertised they were going to use 144, and when they ended up with 225 instead, he didn’t want to disappoint anyone. So a few swatches of oilcloth were painted red and numbered 144, and were placed over the actual numbers.

The Illini fantrip using car 225 renumbered for the day as 144 was held on a December Sunday in 1956. (It was rather silly to “renumber” 225 for one day since most fans were happy to ride a red car, any car, but that was a quirk of Maurice Klebolt of Illini Railroad Club.) I saved one of the oilcloth 144 signs and it hung in my childhood bedroom in Elgin for many years as a memento. It was lost when the house and most contents sold after my parents died and I was living in San Diego.

The day after the trip the Sun-Times had a front page story illustrated with a photo of the car on Dearborn Street near Washington Street with me in a prominent place in the car’s front window. You can see that the 144 tag was a slightly lighter shade of red. The PCC car in the photo was also part of the charter since this was the period of weekend bus substitution. Many, if not most, of the riders were CERA members, though I can name only two besides myself. I am in the car’s right front window against the corner post. Dick Kunz is two persons to my right waving his ungloved hand. Bob Heinlein is at the rear front door wearing a camera bag. I don’t remember if Jeff Wien was on that trip.

Jeff Wien writes:

These black & white pics (3, 4 and 5) were taken on Sunday, December 29, 1957 on the first fantrip that I ever attended at the age of 16. The trip only operated on Clark-Wentworth. I have 8mm color movies of the fantrip as well as other Red Car fantrips which have been digitized. It would only have gone to the Loop (Clark-Kinzie) because Clark Street was converted to bus on September 6, 1957. Red Car movies of various fantrips are covered in my Chicago Streetcar Memories DVD.

Along the way, regular transit riders tried to board the cars, seemingly oblivious to the fact they’d been taken out of service for a few years. That is a testament to how the Big Red Cars were ingrained into the city’s consciousness, during the heyday of CSL, the Chicago Surface Lines, a predecessor of the CTA. Jeff says people back then were often incredulous when he told them he was taking photos and movies of streetcars. They could not understand why anyone would do that, and some even had a “good riddance” attitude about the demise of Chicago trolleys.

But we do not write this blog for any of those people. Now the pendulum has swung the other way, first in the guise of “light rail,” whatever that means, but we are starting to hear the word “streetcar” creep back into the urban environment, in at least a few and growing number of American cities.

Jeff recalls that Maurice Klebolt’s Illini Railroad club eventually fell by the wayside, and he did not see him again until 1982, when he ran into him in San Francisco. While Chicago trolleys bit the dust, Klebolt went on to bigger and better things, as the main “spark plug” behind the San Francisco Trolley Festival. The original idea was to create an alternate tourist attraction, when the famous Cable Cars were taken out of service for a long overdue rehab.

Streetcars were being taken off Market Street as the Muni Metro subway was phased in circa 1980-82. But thanks to Klebolt’s hard work, vision and a bit of “chutzpah,” the historic trolleys soon became an integral part of San Francisco transit, and were eventually extended to Fisherman’s Wharf, paving the way (or more appropriately, unpaving the way) for historic trolley lines in several other US cities.

You can read an appreciation of Maurice Klebolt here.

But given the choice between the New Math and the Old Math, I’ll take the days when 144 equaled 225 every time.

-David Sadowski

You can find more information about the Muni F streetcar line here.

PS- A few words about CTA streetcar abandonment dates. After I wrote this post, I got the following correction from Jeff Wien:

Where did you get that erroneous date of June 22nd? I was on the last car. It pulled in at 6am on Saturday, June 21, 1958. For years, CTA has been putting forth the erroneous date of June 22nd. I don’t know where you got that, but it is wrong.

In the future, I would suggest that you be very careful as to when you quote Streetcar abandonment dates. A number of years ago I learned that the CTA regarded the official conversion dates as taking effect on Sundays. However, that was often not the case because in most of the streetcar abandonments that involved the operation of two man cars, the Saturday prior to the Sunday official conversion date was the real end of streetcar service. If a streetcar line was operated with one man cars, it probably ran streetcars 7 days a week. However, if two man cars were operated, they only ran on weekdays with weekend bus operations. Current CTA staff haven’t a clue as to what went on 50 years ago with weekend bus operations, and because they only know that official route changes are made effective on Sundays, they conclude that the streetcars were withdrawn on Sundays rather than Saturdays.

The Last Chicago Streetcar is a good example of their doctrinaire thinking about route changes. The last car operated on the morning of June 21st which was a Saturday morning. Weekend bus operation began immediately after the Last Car operated. However, the official conversion of the route was effective on Sunday,June 22nd. So, you can see how a current era CTA employee, basically unfamiliar with the history of the Authority, would conclude that the last streetcar ran in the early morning of Sunday, June 22nd. Since I rode and photographed the Last Chicago Streetcar in person, I can refute the revisionists view of streetcar abandonments. I don’t suppose that there are many of us who understand what I have described.

I’ve changed the date in the text to the correct June 21, 1958.

CTA Red Pullman 144 on a fantrip in December 1957. (Author’s collection)

Car 225 on a fantrip (probably February 10, 1957). (Photographer unknown)

CTA Brown Line via Subway

Elmer Haneberg — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 18:40:15 GMT

While half the 91-year-old Wells Street bridge over the Chicago River is being replaced this week, railfans have a rare opportunity to ride the CTA Brown Line (formerly Ravenswood) “L” trains in the State Street subway. This is the first time Brown Line trains have run in the 70-year-old subway on anything like a regular basis.

CTA Brown Line Loop shuttle, March 8, 2013

CTA Brown Line Loop shuttle at Lake and LaSalle, March 8, 2013

CTA Brown Line train in the State Street Subway, March 8, 2013

Subway-bound CTA Brown Line train, southbound at Fullerton, March 8, 2013

CTA Brown Line subway trains passing each other at Armitage, March 8, 2013

CTA Brown Line train turning back at Merchandise Mart, March 8, 2013

Wells St. bridge replacement work, March 8, 2013

When I rode the trains earlier today, looking for some photo opportunities, everything seemed to be running smoothly, with riders taking things in stride. With the bridge out temporarily, one out of every three Brown Line trains terminates at the Merchandise Mart, while the other two run through the Red Line subway. Meanwhile, to help move people around on the Loop “L”, they’ve revived the old Loop Shuttle train. Brown Line riders in the subway can go as far south as Roosevelt Road, although the trains turn back further south of there.

Brown Line trains are all back on the regular route by Fullerton and points north, but the subway trains have to skip Armitage, since it is past the crossover, and very close to the portal.

The CTA dovetailed some track work north and south of the bridge to coincide with the project, making the Mart station a literal one-track operation. The other track has been removed and is in the midst of being replaced. A bumper post is there to keep trains from getting too close to the bridge.

This rerouting also requires unusual signage. The Loop Shuttle has one of those old-fashioned metal hanging signs, the kind that used to say “Ball Game Today,” or “Last Stop River Road.”

Southbound Brown Lines that go through the subway are signed for Roosevelt. The new 5000s are not being used for this service, in part because the electronic signage supposedly cannot be reprogrammed, but also because there are still operators who have not yet been trained to run these cars.

Fears that the roof boards on some 3400s might have clearance problems turned out to be groundless. Those cars were the last to be equipped with overhead current “pan trolleys” in Yellow Line (Skokie Swift) service, but that line was completely converted to third-rail operation some years back.

Yes, a train of the 1-50 PCC single car units had its trolley poles ripped off in 1994, because of clearance problems, but this had to do with work being done by a contractor, and not an issue with the subway itself. So far, it appears to be smooth sailing in the State Street subway, but those rails must be pretty warm, being used at a much higher capacity than is typical. But years ago, those trains ran on some very tight headways indeed, often one train every two minutes or less.

The current diversion is merely Round 1, with Round 2 coming up in April when the other half of the Wells St. bridge gets the same treatment.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, they have their own bridge problem, on the SEPTA Norristown High-Speed Line. The underwater supports for the Schuylkill River bridge leading to the Norristown terminal have deteriorated and need replacement. At present, funds are not available to do the work, and SEPTA announced last December that it would close the bridge, perhaps indefinitely, once warm weather returns.

I hope to be in Philadelphia on May 5 for a Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys fantrip on the SEPTA Media and Sharon Hill trolley lines, celebrating 100 years of service. I’m hoping the bridge will still be in use then, in spite of global warming, for one last ride to Norristown.

But I have a message for Philadelphia… take a look at what we can do in Chicago. Find the money somehow, and fix that bridge!

-David Sadowski

P&W “Bullet” car #200 on the Norristown High-Speed Line, in a picture probably taken in the late 1950s (Author’s collection)

Trolley Sparks, Lost… and Found!

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:43:45 GMT

In a recent blog post (“Trolley Sparks” Revisited, Feb. 24), we discussed some of CERA’s earliest publications. Trolley Sparks was originally a newsletter (today we would call it a “fanzine”) started by the late Barney Neuberger in 1944. The following year, it came under the CERA umbrella, where it had its own numbering system for a time, and was eventually continued as part of the numbered bulletin system that continues today.

Today, even the CERA completists don’t seem to be able to account for every issue of Trolley Sparks. Ray DeGroote, who joined the organization more than 60 years ago, doesn’t have copies of every issue. He wasn’t sure if all the supposed 11 pre-CERA issues were even published. Well, now we have evidence that suggests they were.

A copy of Trolley Sparks #11 has turned up, dated June 1945. This would be the final issue Barney Neuberger put out himself, before it became an official CERA publication. The first CERA issue was T-12, from July 1945, just a month after this one. We have scanned the entire four-page publication, and you can read it for yourself, by downloading a 2mb PDF file you will find at the end of this article.

As Ray explains it, Trolley Sparks had shorter articles in it than some of our early Bulletins. The Bulletins eventually grew like Topsy and evolved into our acclaimed series of books. Along the way, the Trolley Sparks banner fell by the wayside, but we are in the process of bringing it back.

As part of our “Diamond Jubilee” celebration for this, our 75th anniversary year, we are working on Trolley Sparks Special #1. Not only will it pay tribute to CERA’s “founding fathers,” so to speak, it will include complete lists of all our publications and fantrips, plus much more. A “special,” in railroad parlance, is an extra train, and this Trolley Sparks special will be an extra book, not counted as part of our regular annual book entitlement for our members. I am sure it will be very reasonably priced.

Trolley Sparks #11, although not an official CERA tome, does include information about the organization as it was in 1945. There is a nice review of the April 27, 1945 meeting, held only about two weeks after FDR died, and just before the end of WWII in Europe. The late lamented Cincinnati and Lake Erie interurban was featured. There is a blurb about upcoming CERA publications.

The history of the old Chicago Harvard & Geneva Lake interurban, which ran from 1899 to 1930, is covered. The heyday of the “Interurban Era” (as the late William D. Middleton called it) was brief and reached a peak right around WWI. It was the “high tech” of its day, and often a very speculative business.

One interesting tidbit in the article is how some of the power for this line was generated by equipment originally used by the Intramural Railway at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was an early predecessor of the sort of “L” system we have today, powered by third rail current. The original Chicago “L” system, which was not connected with the Intramural operation, used steam-powered locomotives.

Finally, there are pictures of some O-scale models built by James H. Richards of Philadelphia. Today, you can see some of his handiwork on display at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, PA.

All in all, a very interesting slice of early railfan history!

-David Sadowski
TrolleySparks11

Trolley Sparks #11, June 1945 (front cover)

Mystery Photo #1

Elmer Haneberg — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:47:36 GMT

From time to time, we come across old pictures that are hard to identify, and this is one of them. It’s obviously trolley freight, which has somewhat the look of just having been abandoned, possibly, although the wire is still up, and usually that’s the first to go.

???? (From Author’s collection)

So, what is it? If you have an idea, let us know, either by using the “comment” button, or contacting us directly at: cerablog1@gmail.com

Thanks!

-David Sadowski

Photo of the Day – From the “Railfan Seat”

Elmer Haneberg — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:52:27 GMT

Time was when you could look out the front window, or the back window, of the train you were riding on, and could often get a fantastic view such as we see here. But times changed. The fabled Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Electroliners were gone from these tracks less than five years after this photo was taken. They then ran for another dozen years or so on Philadelphia’s “Red Arrow” line to Norristown, but are now relegated to museums.

Railfan seats are also a distant memory on CTA rapid transit cars, victims of full-width cabs and one-man operation. But we can still dream, thanks to yesterday’s railfans, who so faithfully and lovingly documented fleeting scenes like this one.

-David Sadowski

A train of CTA 6000s, as seen from a CNS&M Electroliner, looking north at Howard St., in a photograph by Lawrence H. Boehning, taken on May 8, 1958 (Author’s collection).

Photo of the Day – Brilliner in 1941

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 18:55:10 GMT

With this, we inaugurate a new feature, a “photo of the day.” To get things started, here is a shot of brand-new Philadelphia Suburban “Brilliner” #1 at the end of the Sharon Hill line on August 24, 1941. (Photo from the Author’s Collection.)

The Brilliner was the “last gasp” of venerated Philadelphia railcar builder J. G. Brill, once the largest producer of streetcars and interurbans in the US. It was an attempt to produce a modern streetcar much like the PCC, but without paying any royalties for the use of its patents. The effort was not very successful, as only a few orders came in. Besides the 10 built for Red Arrow, there were 24 Brilliners sold to Atlantic City, three to Philadelphia, and one each to Cincinnati and Baltimore- nothing like the success of the PCC.

Unable to compete in the railcar business any longer, Brill merged with American Car and Foundry (ACF) in 1944 to create ACF-Brill, and continued to manufacture both motor and trolley buses for another decade. They ceased using the Brill name in 1956.

This is an interesting photo, since it was taken by the official photographer for Lehigh Valley Transit Co., which used the Red Arrow’s Norristown line for 14 miles of its 56 mile Liberty Bell Limited route between Philadelphia and Allentown. LVT was not in a position to buy new railcars in 1941 and their last used purchase (made that same year) was car #55 from the nearly defunct Indiana Railroad. With some assistance from Brill employees (either working as consultants or possibly moonlighting) LVT reconfigured car #55 into the venerable #1030, which is preserved today at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine.

So, while LVT was not going to buy any Brilliners, there was a business relationship with Brill, at least to some extent, and they naturally would have been interested in seeing the new Brill product.

The Brilliners were fairly successful in Red Arrow service and continued in use until 1982. Some have been saved in museums.

You can read more about the Red Arrow in CERA Bulletin 140. Pig & Whistle: The Story of the Philadelphia & Western Railway by Ronald DeGraw can be purchased through our web site here.

-David Sadowski

Brilliner #8, now in SEPTA colors, nears the end of service in this August 16, 1981 view on the Media trolley line by Elwood C. McEllroy (Author’s collection)

The Ghosts of Fantrips Past- South Shore in 1964

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:01:25 GMT

As CERA celebrates its 75th anniversary, we can look back on a long, rich history of inspection trips on electric railways all over the United States, and even some in foreign lands.

Years ago, people liked putting things into scrapbooks, and I recently purchased a railfan’s old scrapbook from the early 1960s on eBay. Just about everything and anything comes up for sale eventually, and chances are the original scrapbook owner is no longer with us, but his mementos fortunately remain

Among them, I found a CERA fantrip brochure and ticket from 1964, nearly 50 years old. This was a trip on the South Shore Line using freight equipment. I did not find photos from the trip in the scrapbook, but I do have other South shore pictures from that general time period (1963-65), and I have included a few at the end of this post.

The fantrip took place a year after the North Shore Line quit, and about two years after what remained of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin was finally scrapped. So railfans naturally turned their attention in 1964 to the South Shore, Chicago’s last remaining interurban.

There has been an ongoing debate for a long time whether it is America’s last interurban. Some people would put the Red Arrow lines, currently operated by SEPTA, into that category. These include the Media and Sharon Hill trolleys and the Norristown High-Speed Line. None of these approach the 90 mile length of the South Shore, however.

Is BART, which runs between San Francisco, Oakland, and many other places, an interurban? The PATCO line between Philadelphia and Lindenwold, NJ also has some characteristics of an “interurban,” which is a somewhat fuzzy concept to begin with, and no precise definition has been forthcoming. But the bulk of ridership on all such lines today is made up of commuters, and this includes the South Shore. But the line, under the operation of NICTD, still runs service between Michigan City and the outskirts of South Bend, along a single track right-of-way that still reflects its long interurban heritage. And a small amount of street running remains in Michigan City.

Gone are the days when you could flag down a South Shore train by holding up a burning newspaper. The classic 1920s South Shore railcars are long gone as well, replaced by more modern equipment in 1983. But for those of a certain age, the memories linger… along with the memorabilia, movies, and photographs of times now past. Many of the old South Shore trains are preserved in various railway museums around the country. They may not run as fast as they once did between Chicago and South Bend, but they are still worth a ride.

-David Sadowski

The Old South Shore (America's Last Classic Interurban Railway)

March at CERA- The South Side “L” by Bruce Moffat

Elmer Haneberg — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:11:05 GMT

Long-time CERA member and author Bruce Moffat will present a PowerPoint slide program about the history of what is known today as the southern half of CTA’s Green Line. Originally opened in 1892 by the Chicago & South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company, and commonly referred to as the Alley “L”, Chicago’s first elevated railway soon was expanded to a system having 5 branches that went through many changes over the years, including through routing of trains with the North Side lines in 1913 and the opening of the State Street Subway in 1943.

Bruce Moffat

Mr. Moffat is the author of Forty Feet Below – The Story of Chicago’s Freight Tunnels, The Chicago Tunnel Story: Exploring the Railroad “Forty Feet Below” (CERA B-135), and The “L”: The Development of Chicago’s Rapid Transit System, 1888-1932 (CERA B-131).

Friday, March 22, 2013
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605
Admission is free.

The Third Avenue El: Through a Glass, Warmly

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:14:36 GMT

I bought a clock a few years ago that supposedly came from a New York elevated station, and although there is no way to tell other than a resemblance to old photos, it pleases me to think this is so.

In a similar vein, last week, two pieces of stained glass that may be remnants of Manhattan’s old Third Avenue El sold for about $200 on eBay. Naturally, it’s hard to say for sure that’s where they came from, but they look exactly like stained glass shown in color photos of Third Avenue El stations. The seller says they came from a New York City resale shop. All this brought many things to mind.

Looking rather Marilyn Monroe-ish, a young woman checks her hair at a Third Avenue El station in the 1950s. (Photograph by Lothar Stelter)

These beautiful artifacts are at odds with the popular notion that the El “blighted” areas it ran in such as the Bowery. In the 1930s, popular New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia campaigned against the three Manhattan Els, which ran on 3rd, 6th, and 9th Avenues. The Third Avenue line, which had begun operation in 1878, was the last to go and the final runs in Manhattan took place on May 12, 1955.

Shortly before service was discontinued, Joseph Cornell, a famous surrealist artist best known for his “shadow boxes” commissioned experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage to shoot some 16mm color footage of the El, which was edited into The Wonder Ring. Cornell was not satisfied with the result, and so re-edited and “improved” it by reversing the film from left-to-right, and this version is called Gnir Rednow, which you can see here:

Joseph Cornell - Gnir. Rednow. 1955

There are fleeting glimpses of just the same kind of stained glass as sold on eBay. The surrealistic effect you see while looking out the window is caused by the old, wavy glass. Cornell was, if anything, nostalgic. Watching the film, we view the past through wavy glass that both enhances and distorts our view. My Dad used to say he wanted to “look at the world through rose-colored glasses.” Perhaps I would like to see it through Third Avenue el stained glass instead.

History abounds in ironies. The beauty of the glass and the images that remain ask us to reconsider whether the El was really as ugly and blighted as history would like us to think. I’m sure there was a lot of truth to the popular notion of The Bowery as the ultimate “Skid Row,” but somehow I have to wonder if tearing down the El was truly necessary to revitalize the neighborhood, especially when that made it much harder to get around.

There are other ironies. Most people today probably do not realize that New York still has more elevated trackage than Chicago does- it’s just that none of it is in Manhattan. Likewise, it’s also not commonly known that parts of the Third Avenue El continued in use until 1973, only in the Bronx.

Meanwhile, I’ll bet there are many people who live and work in Manhattan who wish there still was a Third Avenue El to take. They’ve been waiting for the promised Second Avenue subway to materialize for about 80 years now. I’m sure it will get finished one of these decades.

We lived through some of this in Chicago. For 40 years, from 1939 to 1979, it was the City’s official policy to seek the eradication of the Loop elevated. Fortunately, it was saved from the wrecking ball and is still a Chicago icon. There doesn’t seem to be much blight underneath it in the Loop these days, despite how many people used to say that the darkness underneath the L would breed crime. And you can still take it to get from point A to point B, unlike New York’s Third Avenue El.

-David Sadowski

Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)

The Bowery At Night, by William Sonntag (1895)

The last run of the Third Avenue El in the Bronx, April 28, 1973 (author’s collection)

Charles L. Goeller: Third Avenue, 1934 (Photo credit: cliff1066™ / Foter.com / CC BY)

“Trolley Sparks” Revisited

Elmer Haneberg — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:27:10 GMT

The question sometimes comes up of whether anyone has a complete collection of CERA bulletins. Yes, Virginia, there are at least two that we know of. The organization has a complete set, kept in a safe deposit box, and one of older members has another.

But here’s where things get a bit more complicated. What constitutes a complete set? To date, we have published 145 bulletins, the latest being Transit In the Triangle volume 1. But there were also publications under the heading of “Trolley Sparks,” that did not get counted as bulletins.

Trolley Sparks from June 1947, aka CERA bulletin #71, with a cover shot of a Dallas double-end PCC car. Eventually these cars wound up in Boston.

One of our members asks, “I am trying to complete a collection of CERA/Troley Sparks publications and I was wonder if issues: 1944 Aug #1, Dec #5, 1945-Jan #6, Feb #7, and Mar #8 were ever published?”

Here is the reply from longtime member Ray DeGroote:

There has always been confusion over the term “Trolley Sparks” in conjunction with CERA Bulletins. It is my understanding that Barney Neuberger, as his own publication, issued news sheets titled “Trolley Sparks” starting around 1944. Then he must have joined with George Krambles, a good friend of his, to publish items under the CERA name but still calling some issues “Trolley Sparks” until the name drops out and “Bulletins” is used exclusively.

An official list of CERA publications dated 1951 shows Trolley Sparks listed with T numbers. The first one is T-12 of July 1945, followed by T-13 in August, T-14 in September, T-15 in October, and T-16 in November. B-62 is issued in November and B-63 in December.

Then for December, 1945 there is T-2-1 followed by T-2-3 through T-2-8 each month through July, 1946. Then comes B-64 in August, followed by T-2-9,10 Aug-Sep. (one combined issue). Numbering resumes with T-2-11 for October and T-2-12 for November which also has B-65.

T-3-1 shows for Dec. 1946 and T-3-2 for Jan. 1947. After that there are no more issues showing a T, just B for Bulletins, the first being 66 and continuing up to today’s B-145.

There is no short answer to the gentleman’s question. My guess is that Barney Neuberger did issue something with numbers 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (maybe also 9 and 10) but I have never seen any of them. Unfortunately most of the older members who might know the answer are gone.

So, there are issues of Trolley Sparks that were not put out by CERA, and there are others that were put out by CERA, with more than one numbering system. Finally, there were issues of Trolley Sparks that were numbered as bulletins. Trolley Sparks included shorter bits of news, rather than the more in-depth approach of our usual bulletins.

With our 75th anniversary this year, CERA will put out a special publication to commemorate this. This book, which will not count as the yearly membership entitlement, will go out under the heading of Trolley Sparks #1, in tribute to the rich history of our early publications. More information will follow as details become available.

-David Sadowski

The July 1947 issue of Trolley Sparks, aka CERA Bulletin #72, shows Illinois Terminal car #103 in limited service between Alton and St. Louis.

Celebrating the North Shore Line

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:37:49 GMT

CERA celebrated the North Shore Line at our January program, 50 years after the last trains ran between Chicago and Milwaukee on that fateful frigid day. An overflow crowd was treated to a special professionally done feature-length video presentation prepared just for us by CERA Director Jeff Wien, with the assistance of Bradley Criss. This amazing video took us from Milwaukee to Chicago along the Skokie Valley Route, with side trips along the Mundelein Branch and Shore Line. As the North Shore Line ran into Chicago over the “L” system, there was a lot of CTA equipment in the mix too.

As an added bonus, we even got to see substantial footage of the Electroliners in their “second life,” reincarnated as Liberty Liners from 1964-76 on the “Red Arrow” Norristown High-Speed Line in Philadelphia’s suburbs. (The idea may have been to bring back a bit of the deluxe service formerly operated in these parts by the fabled Lehigh Valley Transit’s “Liberty Bell Limited,” which had quit in 1951.) The Liners were a bit hamstrung on the 14-mile-long P&W and could not really open up to 90 mph as they were once free to on CNS&M, but at least the two sets were eventually saved in museums- and they can both now run.

The presentation included 20 minutes of vintage North Shore audio, taken from a 1961 LP, painstakingly synchronized to film footage by Bradley Criss, who explained to me that this was a week’s work all by itself. Too often we fail to realize how much hard work goes into some of these programs. Many people said this was one of the finest railfan programs they have ever seen.

While there are no plans to make this video available commercially, it was an experience that we will long remember as a just and fitting tribute to a fondly remembered high-speed, high-class electric interurban railroad. The phrase that comes to mind is, “you had to be there,” if you were lucky enough to actually ride the North Shore Line, or were here in Chicago for the January CERA program. An excellent time was had by all.

The only thing that could have improved the evening would have been a juicy Electroburger, fried by 600 volts DC… but what do you want, egg in your beer?

Our picture* shows one of the two Electroliners on the “L” in 1942. Fellow CERA Director John Marton has pointed out that this early view (the Liners were only one year old at the time) shows the original nameplate, which was a decal, and not the raised metal lettering that soon replaced it.

-David Sadowski

*Author’s collection

Chicago’s Subways and the “Bluebirds”

Elmer Haneberg — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:32:55 GMT

Artist’s rendering, from a 1940 Postcard, showing a BMT Bluebird rapid transit train running in Chicago’s subway, then under construction

In 1938, when FDR’s public works czar Harold Ickes (head of the New Deal agency PWA) decided Chicago would have two subways instead of just one, this presented a bit of a problem. After all, the Chicago Rapid Transit Co. only had 455 (or, depending how you count them, 456) all-steel rapid transit cars- enough to get the State Street tube started, but not enough for Dearborn-Milwaukee as well.

Circa 1940 postcard: “Cut-away view of Chicago’s subway in the Central Business District. Shown are the main tubes; the downtown center platform, which is 3500 feet long; the two-way escalators to the mezzanines with store connections; and the State St. surface level. Features of the subway are ventilation, illumination, escalators, safety, comfort.” The Bluebird-type subway car is a “State St. Shopper’s Special.” (Author’s collection)

Ickes had overruled Chicago Mayor (and political rival) Ed Kelly’s 1937 plan for two east-west downtown streetcar subways for a revival of the Dearborn-Milwaukee plan, which dated back to the 1920s. Ickes solved the problem of what to connect this second subway with by routing it to the west in the median of the Congress expressway. You can trace the origins of that highway back to the 1909 Burnham Plan, but more as a boulevard, since there were no cars then capable of driving highway speeds. Kelly had wanted many of the west side “Ls” to be converted into New York-style elevated highways with buses running on them, except for the Garfield line, which would have been saved. Instead, the opposite happened. Garfield was transformed into the Congress line and the other “Ls” were kept.

The Illinois Commerce Commission ordered CRT to obtain 1000 new modern steel subway-L cars in 1939 by any means necessary, but the bankrupt private operator had no funds to do much more than to make a full-scale car mockup. As a backup plan, Ickes had the subways engineered so they could have been operated by bus. The newest L cars were the 4000-series, the last of which was built in the early 1920s by defunct Cincinnati Car Company. Where to get new inspiration from?

New York’s BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit) had a new three-section articulated car under development- commonly called the “Bluebird” but officially “Compartment Cars,” the first PCC rapid transit cars. Top speed was only 42mph but with rapid acceleration. BMT expected to use them as fast locals that could keep up with older, slower cars used in express service. Chicago was certainly impressed, showing Bluebirds as they would look running in the subways once finished. Newsreel footage of the Bluebird prototype made it into the promotional film “Streamlining Chicago” (http://vimeo.com/30568829) and the Bluebirds were the obvious inspiration for the first 5000-series L/subway cars here, built in 1947-48. (Not to be confused with the current 5000-series cars with AC propulsion and transverse seats.)

But like the 5000s, New York’s Bluebirds had a somewhat disappointing career. BMT had ordered 50 Bluebirds from Clark Equipment Company, supplier of PCC parts, but the City of New York took over the BMT in 1940 and immediately tried to cancel the contract. (BMT had intended to use them on many elevated lines that the city decided to tear down anyway.) Clark had completed five sets and NY had to take these. This meant only six sets in all, if you include the prototype that never had couplers installed.

The Bluebirds, as oddball equipment, lived out their service lives on the BMT Canarsie Line and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, before being scrapped in 1956. Chicago’s four experimental 5000s had a somewhat similar fate, being relegated to occasional use before finally being assigned to the Skokie Swift in the mid-1960s. Chicago did not open the Dearborn-Milwaukee subway until 1951, and then only after receiving the initial order of 6000s, which were very much more successful cars than the Bluebirds or the 5000s ever were.

-David Sadowski

Tribute to the BMT Bluebird

A 3-section “Bluebird” at left in 1956, just prior to scrapping, with a Budd 5-section prototype from 1934-5 awaiting a similar fate (R. E. Jackson photo)

Fresh Pond Yard, Queens, April 22, 1956 (Author’s collection)

A similar scene but in color.

Fresh Pond Yard, April 22, 1956. (Photographer unknown)

A fanciful 1944 view of Chicago’s new State Street subway, patterned after a famous 1943 photograph, but showing a BMT-style “Bluebird” in red.

BMT “Bluebird” prototype at the Clark factory, 1939

February 7, 1939 – Press release from Cal Byoir and Assoc.: “Trucking” in Rubber. Trucks which carry new BMT subway cars, work on which is being rushed at Battle Creek in preparation for New York debut in March, are result of six years scientific research. Rubber “sandwiches,” which support steel tires or wheels, and rubber springs were produced in B. F. Goodrich Company research laboratories. Other features of car, which telescopes full quarter-century in rapid transit industry, include streamlined aluminum body, green mohair seats, plate mirrors and air-conditioning. Workmen are shown making field inspection at preview. (Editor’s note: These cars did not have air conditioning, but they did have forced air ventilation. This picture (by an unknown photographer) was taken at the Clark Equipment Co. plant.)

CRT/CTA 5004, shown here in 63rd St. Lower Yard, on a 1963 CERA fantrip (Author’s collection)

The “other” Bluebird PCC rapid transit cars- Cleveland’s, built in the mid-1950s, are shown here in this photograph by the Author, just prior to their retirement in the early 1980s.

Central Electric Railfans Association Untitled page

Traction Models

The Blog is Back! Photos of Robert Konsbruck

In Memoriam: Roy G. Benedict

Chicago Transit Digest Number 6905

The Return of Talgo

Inside Talgo

More about the History of Talgo in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Streetcar Construction Enters Next Phase

OT::Milwaukee - KITI-TV: welding of steel rail for streetcar begins

OT: Milwaukee - "urban milwaukee": streetcar rail has arrived for downtown

*Mar 16th, 2017 05:05 pm*

First step to new CTA rail cars: Build the factory in Chicago

CTA to Reroute Some Red Line Trains During 95th Street Station Work

OT: Milwaukee - "urban milwaukee": Kiewit to hire workers to build streetcare line

The Electroliner Restoration Project

Historic Michigan Avenue Sign to Light Up Again at the Illinois Railway Museum in McHenry County

WA: Seattle's George Benson Waterfront Trolleys to Roll in St. Louis

Alan Berner On Oct 25, 2016

In: South Shore to Explain Plans to Speed up the Ride

Andrew Steele On Oct 3, 2016

'A real urgency'

Talgo will return to Milwaukee to refurbish trains for Los Angeles

Metra Receives Final Metra Electric Highliners

OT: Milwaulkee - Lead Contractor Hired for Streetcar; Work Starts this Fall

Bradley Criss

Oh, Canada! Toronto Beats Chicago on Transit with More Riders, Funding

Proposed Fares, Operating Schedule Announced for Milwaukee Streetcar

CTA to renovate historic Quincy station in Loop

CTA to renovate historic Quincy station in Loop

Ask Geoffrey: A Look Back at Chicago's Streetcar Era

OT: Washington, D.C. - U.S. Streetcars Making Comeback After Nearly Going Extinct

Tue May 17, 2016 7:10 pm (PDT) . Posted by: "Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000

Milwaukee Seeks $20 Million Grant for Streetcar Extension

Milwaukee Seeks $20 Million Grant for Streetcar Extension

City Opens Bidding to Lead Milwaukee Streetcar Construction Project

East Troy (Wis.) Railroad Is Going Big In 2016

CTA Board Approves Contract to Replace Half of Rail Cars

Texas Museum to Turn Chicago Highliners Into High-Tech Classrooms

Metra Electric’s Original Highliner Cars Officially Retired

City picks streetcar manufacturer

A rendering of a Brookville streetcar in Milwaukee's Third Ward. Milwaukee's streetcars will be manufactured by U.S.-based Brookville Equipment Corp.

RAILFAN Magazine review of CERA's Chicago Streetcar Pictorial

City gets $14.2 million federal grant for streetcar expansion

El Paso streetcar nearing construction, vehicle rebuilding start-up

IN: South Shore Ready for Bikes Next Spring

South Shore declares express service a success

MILWAUKEE STREETCAR DEVELOPMENTS

The following is from a yahoo groups blog, by "Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000

Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:11 am (PDT) .

Obituary for Alan R. Lind

Life Time Membership Awarded

B-146 currently shipping

CERA at Printers Row Lit Fest this Saturday and Sunday

Chicago Green Hornet Streetcars

Kansas City, St. Louis - streetcar projects at two Missouri cities

Fri May 15, 2015 9:47 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Edward Havens" watsonscruff2000 of the Philly_Traction Yahoo Group

Coal-fired SS Badger set to resume service after retrofit

History of Chicago Surface Lines 2843

March @CERA: Celebrating the Centennial of George Krambles

How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Another Fine Mess

February @ CERA: Pittsburgh Area Traction

Our Next Program:

Pittsburgh Area Traction

Annual Meeting

Friday, February 27, 20151900 hrs / 7:00pm University Center 525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

North Shore Line Encore

Myles A. Jarrow Memorial Service 12-30-14

Myles A. Jarrow

One Moment Please...

Another Milestone

December @CERA: Going Down Under

Our Next Program:

Friday, December 26, 20141900 hrs / 7:00pm University Center 525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Tonight @CERA - The North Side "l"

Our Next Program:

Friday, November 28, 20141900 hrs / 7:00pm University Center (Map)

The North Side “L” by Bruce Moffat

Giving Thanks - Part 2

Mar 16th, 2017 05:05 pm

Friday, February 27, 2015
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Friday, December 26, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center
525 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Friday, November 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center (Map)

Friday, November 28, 2014
1900 hrs / 7:00pm
University Center (Map)