For many years after street railway service ended, the CTA kept a collection of historic cars in storage at the Lincoln and Wrightwood barn. The projected museum never materialized, and in 1985 most of the collection came to IRM. Tom Hunter sent us these pictures from 1976. The collection was not open to the public, and he had to sneak in. Thanks, Tom!
(L) The mail car is now at FRTM in South Elgin. (R) The cars in this picture came to IRM. Bill pointed out that the buses are motor buses fitted with sleet-scraper trolley poles.
(L) This is PCC #4021, now at the west end of track 73. (R) The CTA retained South Side Rapid Transit Car #1 until 2005, then donated it to the Chicago Historical Society, where it is now on display.
(L) CTA Pullman #460.
(R) Our horse car, #8.
14 comments:
Neat photos! I wonder what the large blue piece of equipment is on the floor next to the horse car?
That thing on the pallet next to the horsecar looks like a piece of shop machinery, like a specialized lathe or something similar.
Lincoln-Wrightwood had not been used as a carbarn since the early 1950s, and was used for general storage. I think snowfighting equipment for the streets was kept there as well.
Nice pic of the 460 before it subsequently got trashed by vandals.
It looks like beyond horse car #8 there is another car with a Bombay roof. I wonder what that might be? Did MSI get their horse car at the same time we got ours?
I did a little poking around and found this post card, purportedly from the 1950s on the website for the Chicago Postcard Museum. It shows MIS's horse car and cable car in the 1950s. I wonder what the other car is?
http://www.chicagopostcardmuseum.org/images/exhibit_halls/museum_of_science_and_industry/MSI_Ca1955_Int_Early_Chicago_Street_Cars_F.png
I'm surprised at the condition of the 4021 in CTA hands. Looks like a real mess. Looks much nicer at IRM. Obviously a lot of TLC has been done to the car. What would it take to get the 4021 in revenue service?
Bob
@Bob:
I believe the 4021 has serious structural problems and would also require complete rebuilding of the electrical and air systems. I'm sure others, such as Scott or Joe, know more about it than I do.
Bill Wulfert sent me an e-mail suggesting that the thing with the Bombay roof behind our horsecar may actually be an omnibus numbered 217 that was in the CTA collection; he reports that it too had a Bombay roof and is rather tall. I'm thinking it may have gone to the Chicago History Museum but I'm not sure. Anyone know where the thing ended up and/or have photos of it?
4021 also needs to have the controls changed back to hand from foot pedals to be converted to two man operation as it was when new... add to that the compromise wheels required for operations at IRM... wait this is sounding like a Bob K response.
Tom H
Yes...4021 has substantial body rot, thanks to street salt and about ten more years' hard service over the Green Hornet, so I suspect it will require body work almost on the level of the Cleveland PCC. Not to mention it needs to be converted back to a two-man car (which would include finding one of the three-chime fare registers made for the cars), re-wheeled etc.
It's certainly not impossible, but will require a major commitment of time and money, like most everything out here.
Perhaps restoring it to "new" isn't a practical outcome during the lifetime of anyone reading this board. What about restoring it to what it was when it was retired from CTA service? - using existing controls, one man operation, same door configuration, etc.
Thanks
Bob
Bob,
That is an interesting suggestion, however I think what the other comments were getting at, is to put the car back into operation, in its present 1 man configuration would require significant amounts of body work. It's likely that anyone who would be interested in leading such a project would rather put the car back as a 2 man car. Plus, I don't think the car ran that long as a one man car, but one of our resident CSL experts could elaborate more.
Thanks for the comments.
Bob
The horse car and grip car at MSI were given to the museum by Chicago City Railways on September 22, 1938. As far as I know, they are replicas, although they may contain some original parts.
According to the October 1938 issue of Surface Service magazine, CCR proposed making this gift in the late 1920s. By the time they got around to it, both men involved in the deal (Julius Rosenwald and Leonard Busby) were long dead.
Some sources say the two replicas were built in 1934 but I have not been able to find anything indicating they were displayed at A Century of Progress. I think part of the delay in getting them to MSI involved the museum preparing to accept them.
The horse car and cable car replicas were presented to MSI by Chicago City Railways on September 22, 1938. They were supposedly built in 1934 but may contain some original parts.
This was the fulfillment of a promise made by CCR head Leonard Busby to Julius Rosenwald in the late 1920s. By the time the gift was actually made, both men were long dead.
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