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.
Used with permission of Frank Hicks from the April 9, 2015 Hicks Car Works Blog.
History of Chicago Surface Lines 2843
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.
BY EDITOR on MARCH 13, 2015 • ( 0 )
Eric Bronsky shared these photos taken at 56th Street and 1st Avenue in Kenosha during a Skokie Park District Seniors outing on March 11. Having helped to plan the trip to the Kenosha Public Museum and the nearby Jelly Belly warehouse, Eric ensured that a streetcar ride would be one of the day’s highlights.
The “Pittsburgh” PCC car (ex-TTC 4609, built by Canada Car & Foundry in 1951) was operating that day. The ride definitely scored points with the group. For some, this was perhaps their first streetcar ride in decades. Overheard: “I remember riding this streetcar in Chicago!”
Coincidentally, only the day before, Jelly Belly publicly announced plans to close their Wisconsin facility and relocate to Tennessee.
PS- CERA is a strong supporter of the Kenosha streetcar and we have featured it in several previous posts. You can find these here.
Originally posted on The Trolley Dodger:
This is the second installment in our ongoing series featuring color pictures of Chicago streetcars. (You can read our earlier post here.)
As always, half the fun is trying to guess some of the locations where we do not have the information. I am always surprised at how knowledgeable and clever some of our readers are.
CTA 7216 southbound on route 22.
If you can help us out with some of the missing facts, please let us know. Each picture has an image number (for example, the first picture is #585) so please refer to the image numbers when discussing individual photographs. As always, you can bring up a larger version of each picture in your browser by clicking on it.
Unfortunately, we don’t know the names of the shutterbugs who took these pictures. When we do know who pushed the button, rest assured we will always give proper…
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It’s August 28, 1936 on north Ashland Avenue, and time for a parade. One week earlier, streetcar service had been extended north of Cortland in one of the final extensions under CSL. Prior to this time, this portion of the route had run on Southport, two blocks to the east. North Chicago Street Railroad “Bombay roof” horsecar 8 is ahead of the experimental 1934 Brill pre-PCC car 7001. Ironically, the older car survives at the Illinois Railway Museum, while 7001 was scrapped in 1959. Check out the barber stripes on the 7001’s trolley pole.
Our earlier feature Chicago Streetcars in Black-and-White has been very popular, so here is another heaping helping of classic photos by some of the greatest railfan photographers of all time. As always, clicking on each picture will bring up a larger version in your browser.
If you can share some interesting tidbits of information about these…
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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…
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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.
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.
The Lake Room, University Center
525 S. State St, Chicago, IL
July 25, 2015, marks the 60th anniversary of the North Shore Line’s “Shore Line Route” abandonment. January 21, 2015 marks the 52nd 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 50th 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
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