Green Bay & Western 109 Update

Thanks to Gregg Wolfersheim for sending along a photo of his latest side project: Green Bay & Western 109. This attractive wooden coach, which by the way was built to what was effectively a Hicks Locomotive & Car Works design, had its interior largely restored by our old friend and "Project 308" worker Jack Biesterfield in the 2010s. But it's got some structural problems; doesn't really fit with our regular all-steel operating fleet; and doesn't have any seats, all of which are reasons it's not a great candidate for operational restoration. But Gregg and his compatriots have a plan: utilizing the largely empty, but very attractive, interior of car 109 as classroom space in Barn 3.

Here are some pics of the wood passenger car being refurbished for use as a classroom/meeting room. 

 The south side and east end of the car. Note the broken end beam.

Some of the typical deteriorating wood components.

Half of this side was opened up years ago by some volunteers [ed: not Jack] with plans to restore it.

Closer view. This is a steel underframe car. No truss rods.

This was the beginning of repairs where a 5 inch wood beam had been.

The steel was air hammered and wire wheeled.

Primer was applied.

Several 2x8's were applied and staggered. Carriage bolts hold them against the steel beam. The wood was treated with water seal.

A final layer of white oak was laid over the previous boards. The siding will be attached near the bottom.

Uprights are being spliced in to the window posts. Shorter ones under each window also. The two darker ones in the middle are original. They were still fairly solid.

 There are several more to go. The cupola's will be removed and the opening filled in for now.

 The interior walls and ceiling are in nice condition from earlier work done by Jack. A few new windows will have to be replicated for the ones that are missing.

The Seats Are In

Frank writes...

We hit a milestone with the 460 on Sunday: all the seats being replaced in this round are now installed in the car! Many thanks to Richard, who worked with me to get two more seats put in. The day's results are shown below: the #2 end "corner single" and the rotating "railfan seat" facing the end window of the car.

Now, the job isn't exactly complete, even on the 460 - never mind the 451 and 453, which will come next! I still need to go through and drive a bunch of upholstery tacks into these; the leatherette antimacassars have decorative upholstery tacks along the back of each seat. I also need to clean up any old tacks, bolts, threads, fuzz, and miscellaneous debris from the project.

There are also two seats we haven't done yet. The "corner single" at the #1 end and the seat against the toilet compartment at the #2 end haven't yet been replaced because we don't have the correct reupholstered seats. We're saving a few original seats in reasonably good condition, selected from across the three curve-siders. These will all be relocated to the 453 for continued service, but one of the seats being saved is a corner seat in the 451, and since that seat didn't go out to get reupholstered, we don't have a reupholstered corner seat to go into the 460. And that seat against the toilet compartment is different in the 460 than the other two cars because they don't have toilet compartments! But soon we will replace these two seats as well and the 460 will have a full complement of newly redone seats.

Doesn't it look nice? I'm not sure whether the 460 will run on the 6th for opening day, but it should be running the following weekend for Bunny Trolley Hop..

In other news, the big project for the weekend was inspecting the 4391, with workers including Brian, Jeron, Will, Dan, Ashten, and Joel (sorry if I missed anyone!). They found a resistor ribbon that had burned up and shorted to the adjacent ribbon, so those needed to be replaced. They were also working on getting the heat in the car working again. Rumors of air brake issues with this car have been greatly exaggerated. Greg and Nick were doing line work, including replacing a "No-Bo" trolley wire insulator on Station Track 2 that was "leaking" current. Joel and others were working on setting up more shelving and other improvements in the new shop extension, while Tim was hard at work on the 268, as usual

Robert Clemons Collection - Indiana Railroad

This is a collection of photographic prints from the collection of Robert Clemons, all donated by Thomas Clemons to the Illinois Railway Museum. Many thanks to Thomas and the Clemons family for their generous donation. All images are copyright Illinois Railway Museum. Images may not be reproduced or distributed without authorization.

These photos are of Indiana Railroad subjects, presented more-or-less in numerical order by car. EDIT: Many thanks to Art Peterson for sending in locations and additional info!

Indiana Railroad (IR) 55, location unknown

IR 55, location unknown but surely on a fan trip, given the photographers.

Interior of car 55, which was - and still is, today at the Seashore Trolley Museum - set up as a parlor car.

This view of car 58 at Bluffton is dated August 20, 1938, and noted as being a CERA trip.

This photo of car 58 looks like it's on a fan trip, too, so it's possible it may be the same trip. Art Peterson: Location is Springport.

IR 60, location unknown

Car 65, which would become the "mother car" of the nascent Illinois Electric Railway Museum some 13 years later, is shown leading cars 57 and 58 over the White River Bridge near Chesterfield, Indiana, on a May 19, 1940, fan trip promoted by the Indianapolis Railfans Club.

IR 68, location unknown

IR 81 in Yorktown, between Anderson and Muncie. The car's skirts are gone so it's probably near the end.

A three-car train of high-speeds in Columbus, Indiana.

High-speed 52 passes car 55, which presumably was on a fan trip, at Port, Indiana.

IR 375-377 were rebuilt from combines to coach-RPO cars in 1935 and were fan favorites. The location of this wintertime shot of IR 375 is unknown.

A truck under IR 375. This car exists today on static display in Scottsburg, but is on Bettendorfs.

This is a famous photo shoot from a fan trip; note the bridge lettered for Union Traction. Art Peterson: This bridge is over Falls Creek in Pendleton.

IR 376 enters street trackage (Art Peterson: this is in Pendleton). This car is preserved today at IRM, albeit in heavily modified condition as South Shore line car 1100.

IR 376 as seen out the window of another car. Art Peterson: I think the view of the 375-class car from another car is Burr Cut Siding and that view would be from the 1150 on the trip they ran with it on 1-1-41.

IR 376 is stopped in Yoder, between Fort Wayne and Bluffton. The Yoder depot is still there, as is the grain elevator in the background.

IR 377 is lit up under the Indianapolis Traction Terminal train shed with a high-speed in the background. This car, too, is preserved at IRM in highly modified condition as South Shore package trailer 504.

IR 442, pictured in New Castle, was built by Jewett in 1913 as Grand Rapids Holland & Chicago 20. It ran for a time on Michigan Railway as their number 112, then was sold to Union Traction in 1927 as car 442 "Eaton." It was rebuilt as a one-man car, with its original rear end turned into its front, around 1935.

IR 445, shown in Indianapolis, has an identical history to 442 except that it was GRH&C 23, MRy 115, and then UTC 445 "Daleville."

IR 458 is pulling a trailer (probably an ex-IPS car in the 301-303 series) on a fan trip in Columbus, Indiana, on August 21, 1938. (Other photos taken on this trip are dated August 1, 1938 - anyone know for sure?) This car was built by St. Louis in 1926 as Indiana Service Corp 379, part of the same order as the 375-377 series cars.

The same consist is shown in this photo (incorrectly labeled as the Ohio River Bridge - thanks to Art Peterson for noting this), August 21, 1938.

Amo, Indiana, is halfway between Indianapolis and Greencastle on the line to Terre Haute. An unknown car, possibly 457 or 458 but it's hard to tell, is stopped at the attractive Amo depot in this undated photo. The car in the foreground may be a portable substation. The depot building still stands today.

IR 1150 was a wrecker converted in 1934 from combine 443, the "Elwood." It had originally been built in 1913 by Jewett as GRH&C 21, later Michigan Railways 113, then back to GRH&C before becoming UTC 443 in 1927. Art Peterson: Location is Anderson.

This isn't an IR car, of course, though it would have encountered IR cars daily. It's an unidentified Indianapolis Railways car, a Peter Witt from the 101-190 series built by Brill in 1932-34. These were just about the most modern streetcars built before the advent of the streamliner and PCC era. This photo was taken after IR was gone, with the streetcar in its later red/white/black livery.

These last two photos are, of course, post-IR. They are dated February 9, 1962, and show the Indianapolis Traction Terminal train shed as it existed at that time, serving as a bus station.

The story goes that the train shed was dismantled and the pieces donated to the Indiana Museum of Transportation and Communication, or IMOTAC, located in Forest Park in Noblesville. Some years later, the pieces were all sold for scrap.

Robert Clemons Collection - Indiana Railroad Predecessors

This is a collection of photographic prints from the collection of Robert Clemons, all donated by Thomas Clemons to the Illinois Railway Museum. Many thanks to Thomas and the Clemons family for their generous donation. All images are copyright Illinois Railway Museum. Images may not be reproduced or distributed without authorization.

These photos are mostly of interurban lines that were later folded into Indiana Railroad, presented more-or-less in alphabetical order. Thanks to Art Peterson for supplying locations and additional information for several of these.

This ought to look familiar! Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley 504, the "Talisman," is of course today preserved at IRM.

This ought to look pretty familiar, too. It's sister car FW&WV 503, which may have been the "Woodstock" but I'm not certain.

Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction 308 is pictured at the company shops in Rushville with its unusual bow trolley raised. More photos and a history of this line can be found here.

Indianapolis & Louisville Traction ran between Seymour and Sellersburg and was later folded into Interstate Public Service, or IPS. Car 203 was built by Niles in 1907 and later became IPS 304.

I&LT car 204 was also built by Niles in 1907.

Indianapolis Columbus & Southern (IC&S) was the other major line that was folded into IPS. It ran from Indianapolis south to Seymour (this was also the last Indiana Railroad route to be abandoned, in 1941). Car 21 may have been built by Jewett in 1901.

Indianapolis New Castle & Toledo 306 is a striking "Windsplitter" car that ran on "The New Castle Line." This route later became part of Union Traction Company (UTC).

Indianapolis & North Western 32, built by Jewett in 1903, is pictured in Mulberry, Indiana. The I&NW later became part of the Terre Haute Indianapolis & Eastern (THI&E). The two THI&E cars preserved at IRM, cars 50 and 58, started out as I&NW cars.

Interstate Public Service (IPS) rostered some of the handsomest steel interurban cars ever built. Combine 150, shown here, was built in 1921 by Cincinnati Car Company. It's shown towing a modernized wood trailer.

Car 150 is shown a few years later under the train shed at the Indianapolis Traction Terminal. By this time its front end has acquired just about every accoutrement you can imagine: horn, whistle, bell, city headlight, interurban headlight, two mirrors, and two dash signs to go with its two built-in roll sign boxes.

This shot of car 150 was quite possibly taken at the same time as the previous photo.

This classic, and well-known, publicity photo shows IPS 153 and a parlor trailer pacing an early intercity bus. Art Peterson: This was taken south of Greenwood; the bus is a White with a Bender body, driving on Highway 31.

Only three interurban lines ran sleeping car service, and one was IPS. Sleeping car 167, the "Scottsburg" (IPS named its sleeping cars after on-line cities in proper Illinois Terminal fashion!), trails a very odd consist that includes a parlor car, box motor, and combine. Car 167 still exists at a museum in British Columbia.

IPS sleeping car 168, the "Louisville," is laying over in Indianapolis. As far as I know, these sleepers were trailers, so I wonder what the grid boxes under the car are for.

IPS 302 is a wooden interurban car built in 1907 by AC&F as IC&S 102 and modernized in 1920.

Photo labeled Indiana Service Corporation (ISC) 503, likely a typo; may actually be ISC 305?

ISC parlor-buffet car 390, the "Little Turtle," was one of two cars of this type built in 1926 by St. Louis. It ran for just four years before being put into storage in 1930. It was scrapped in 1939. Art Peterson: This was taken at Spy Run Shops, Fort Wayne.

This view of the Fort Wayne Traction Terminal shows ISC wood combine 320, Fort Wayne Van Wert & Lima wood car 45, and ISC lightweight 325. Car 325 is identical to Fort Wayne-Lima 91, today preserved at IRM.

Terre Haute Indianapolis & Eastern (THI&E) car 39, built in 1907 by Cincinnati and later named "Walnut Creek." Location somewhere on the line to Paris, Illinois.

THI&E car 47, the "Butler," painted in the line's later livery of chrome yellow, black letterboard and striping, and tile red roof. Art Peterson: This and the following two images of cars 47 and 48 were taken at Anderson, likely on August 11, 1933.

This view of car 47 was likely taken at the same time.

THI&E 48, the "Indiana," was built by Laconia in 1903 as part of the 40-58 (evens only) series that also included cars 50 and 58, today preserved at IRM. Car 48 was modernized in a somewhat similar fashion to car 50; unlike car 50, which only received steel sheathing above the belt rail, car 48 had its sides sheathed in steel all the way up.

Union Traction Company (UTC) 270 in Atlanta, Indiana, north of Indianapolis. This car was built by Cincinnati in 1903 as part of the UTC 265-284 series.

UTC 273, the "Peru," is seen in a broadside shot. If you think this car bears a resemblance to IRM's FW&WV 504, the "Talisman," it's not a coincidence: car 504 was part of a joint order between UTC and the FW&WV placed three years after 273's construction with the same builder, Cincinnati.

UTC 274, another 1903 Cincinnati product, location unknown.

UTC 298 was one of two parlor cars built by Cincinnati in 1906 on the same order as Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley 501-504.

UTC 400-409 were very early examples of all-steel interurban cars and were built by Cincinnati in 1912.

We'll finish with a few views of the impressive Indianapolis Traction Terminal. This looks like a pretty early view but the print isn't great quality and I can't ID any of the cars.

I'm not certain but I think that's a THI&E car off to the left and possibly UTC cars in the center. The date could be sometime in the 1910s or 1920s.

The first and third cars from the left appear to be THI&E Laconias, possibly 52 and 40, with a THI&E Cincinnati between them. Under the center of the shed, unmistakable with its bow trolley, is an Indianapolis & Cincinnati 300-series car, possibly 310.

Another view of the Traction Terminal. I can't ID the car at far left; the second car looks like a UTC combine.