History of CA&E 308

CHICAGO AURORA AND ELGIN CAR 308

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
History
Conditions in Service
Modifications During Service
CA&E Paint Schemes
Miscellaneous Modifications
Acquisition by IMOTAC
Acquisition by IRM
Restoration
Operation

FOREWORD

The interurban electric car is a hybrid - sired by a steam coach and damned [sic] by a horse car. Niles cars are "chips off the old block" rather than "Mama's boys" ...[1]

The whimsical language of this advertisement makes a valid point. Although the Niles Car and Manufacturing Company was in the electric railway business only about sixteen years, it had a profound impact on the development of Midwestern interurban car design. The earliest interurban cars were little different from the street railway equipments of the time, but Niles was a pioneer in adapting the construction standards of steam road passenger cars to interurban use. Niles built the first cars for the AE&C, and their architectural features were carried over through following orders of wooden cars. Niles was also the only builder to get repeat orders from the AE&C.Car #308 was the first example of this builder's work in the IRM collection[2].

This car is one of an order of ten ordered from Niles and delivered to the AE&C in 1906. It was used for over fifty years in revenue service, and was still in use on the day the railroad abandoned passenger service.

As mentioned above, the 308 was the first Niles car in the IRM collection, and the only one that is complete. From the outside, it is nearly identical in appearance to the 309, except that on the 308 the oval windows were removed in a later rebuilding. On the inside, however, the 308 differs from the other two CA&E wood cars in our collection in that it does not have the interior arched stained glass windows. The window shades are stored up inside the walls, so there are no window shade boxes. Also, it has only single sash, and so is equipped with channels and brackets for attaching storm windows from the outside. Another notable feature is the sliding (rolling) bulkhead doors, equipped with the large brass loop handles that were a Niles trademark.

The 1906 order included nine coaches, numbered 300 to 308, and one parlor car, the Florence. Coach 305 was later converted to a parlor car as well.

There are at least 21 cars built by Niles presently preserved in North America[3]. These cover a wide range of designs, and are in widely varying states of repair. On October 10, 2000, the Museum acquired a second Niles car, Lake Shore Electric #150. Like the 308, it is a wooden interurban car built in 1906. However, there are major differences in design. Like most Midwestern interurban cars, the 150 was single-ended, with motorman’s controls at one end only. It had couplers and MU controls but no train doors, since most interurban lines seldom needed to run multi-car trains. The upper sash and clerestory windows are glazed with etched clear glass rather than leaded stained glass. The ceiling is a “partial-Empire” type, similar to the ceilings of the CA&E shorties, rather than the so-called “full Empire” style of the 308 and 309 (and 321 as built). The 150 does not have the CA&E-style exposed steel side sills. It is definitely a more representative example of the Niles standard interurban design.

When the Lake Shore Electric was abandoned in 1940, the 150’s body was sold for use as a house in Milan, Ohio. (This is an example of “adaptive reuse” in professional museum jargon.) As a result, the car is missing its trucks, underbody equipment, electrical equipment, seats, most interior fixtures, etc. This includes structural members: truss rods, needle beams, and platform knees. Most of the bulkheads, the sliding doors, toilet compartment, and heater compartment were also removed. In 1964 it was moved to Fremont and again used as a house. In 1977 it was acquired by a restaurant complex in Pittsburgh, and mounted on shop trucks (from CTA 4000s). It was most recently used as a flower shop. For the immediate future, LSE 150 has been cosmetically restored for static display.

HISTORY
CONDITIONS IN SERVICE

The 308 was used in daily revenue service for over 50 years, from 1906 until passenger service was stopped on July 3, 1957. By this time the Chicago Aurora and Elgin was the last American interurban to operate wooden coaches in regular service[4].

The car could operate singly, of course, or in trains of up to eight cars (limited by the length of station platforms.) The 308 could train only with other wooden cars, not the steel equipment, that had different couplers and type of control system.

Before the arrival of steel equipment in 1923, this type of car was used in both local and express service over all parts of the railroad. (Except, perhaps, the Geneva branch. Pictures of this branch during the wood car era seem to show only "shorties". If so, this was probably due to sharp curves in the streets.) After that time, it was generally used only in Chicago to Wheaton service, mostly locals. It was probably seldom used on the Batavia shuttle, since this service was generally handled by a four-motor car. Also, after conversion to a half-motor, the car generally ran in trains rather than as a single car. Particularly in the last few years, the car probably made only rush hour trips.

In the early years, Sunday was actually the busiest day for the railroad, since many people took trips on their one day off to amusement parks and/or cemeteries served by the AE&C. Later, of course, Sunday riding fell off, and the service on that day would usually have been provided by steel cars. Saturday was a workday (or half a day) for many people until well after WWII.

The cars were stored outside in the yard at Wheaton when not in use (or, during the day, at other locations); there was no inside storage except when in the shop. As a rule, the pumps and electric heat remained on so the cars would be ready for service. (Pictures always show a pole up when under wire.)

The car was completely resided at least once during its service life. As detailed below, it was completely repainted about once every ten years, and the roof canvas was probably replaced about as often. The upholstery fabric was replaced at least once, but the seat cushions and frames were unchanged. The structural members and interior finish of the car are as built in 1906, with the exception of the platform ends. All surviving wood cars have new wood spliced into the doorposts in the vestibules. Furthermore, the 308 was in at least one serious collision that wrecked most of the roof over the #1 end vestibule. By removing the vestibule dome light, it can easily be seen where the roof was rebuilt.

It was the practice to turn the cars around on the loop at Wheaton once a month to equalize wear and tear on the paint job and running gear. After 1953 this was no longer necessary since the cars turned around on every trip to Forest Park.

MODIFICATIONS DURING SERVICE

1. Installation of the railroad's standard horizontal-bar pilot (very early)[5].
2. Installation of dash lights and folding signs (c. 1911)[6].
3. Removal of window guards (between 1915 and 1925)
4. Removal of coupling chains (between 1915 and 1925?)
5. Installation of clerestory ventilators, clerestory sash fastened shut (1920)
6. Removal of National fare register and installation of ticket clips (between 1922 and c.1925)
7. Installation of retrievers (c. 1925)

8. Trolley wheels replaced by shoes (c. 1935)
9. Converted to two-motor car (before 1939)
10. Side doors replaced by CA&E design (1935-1940; motorman's side doors were done first)
11. Rebuilding[7]
12. Interior walls painted, entire ceiling repainted (Oct. 20 to Nov. 15, 1939) -- See below for details on paint schemes
13. Pilots modified to provide better third-rail clearance: the second bar from the bottom was shortened, and the vertical bars were moved inwards about 2" (c. 1942)
14. Flag/marker brackets moved downwards about 18" (c. 1950)
15. C21 controllers changed to C6 (between 1946 and 1957)[8].

Also, the control system on all of the wood cars was modified so that one line was used for the buzzer. This change was effected by adding new interlocks on one each of the series and parallel contactors. This allows C6-equipped cars to be trained with cars equipped with C21 controllers.

CA&E PAINT SCHEMES

There were five basic paint schemes during the car's service life:
1. Green: Entire body was Pullman Green; doors and window sash were brown; gold leaf lettering and striping. Roof color was probably buff. The vestibule interiors were also Pullman Green. All interior walls and trim were stained and varnished mahogany; ceiling was light yellow, with extensive stenciling around the edges of each panel. As built, until c. 1925.
* On this car every basic paint scheme is preserved on the steel side sills, starting with the Pullman Green.
2. Red: Entire body was red; doors and window sash were brown; gold lettering with black outlining. Roof color was probably also red. No change to interior or (probably) the vestibules. Until c. 1932.
3. Maroon ("coffee and cream"): Body and window sash were maroon, except for the letterboard, end windows, and window sills which were cream; doors were light brown or tan; gold lettering with black outlining. Roof was probably also maroon. No change to interior or (probably) the vestibules. Until 1939.

Car 308 came in 4-27-37 exterior only
for scrapping [sic] blister open joints loose paint
oiled + primed same. Washed exterior 1 coat
body red scraped + 1 coat varnish entire car
Out May 7 37[9]

4. Blue ("Early American"): Body was dark blue; side windows and posts were light grey (not white); ends were bright red, with red stripes below the belt rail and over the windows; yellow lettering with black outlining. The side sills and end plates were black on this car (at first; painted blue in 1949). Also, the "Sunset Lines" herald on this car was painted with no background (i.e., over the blue – see photos ). Roof was light grey; repainted with a “special” paint that was nearly white in 1949. The vestibule interior was the same blue as the exterior. Until 1951.
* Note that the red is not the same red as in the final paint scheme - although it's close.
* On this car the railroad probably stripped the car exterior to bare wood, then painted it blue without primer. If the vestibules had been painted anything other than Pullman Green, this was stripped off, and the blue was applied over the Pullman Green. I could find no evidence that the vestibules were repainted prior to the blue paint scheme (same for 309, 310, and 318).

Car 308 in shop 9-21-39
Start burning 10-20- 39
Top Light Tint? Green
Center Med. Black Chr Y Med Raw Umber
Bottom+Racks Raw Umber C Y Med black
Out 11-15-39[10]

Car 308 in Paint shop

Start Painting 1-26-49
Burn off paint int. Prime putty + glaze no? Surfacer
“ “ “ ext. “ “ “ + Surfacer
New roof 2 coats Continental Asbestos Refining? Corp.
Gray Liquinoleum Roof Paint (Special)
2 coats Tint Cream Head Lining Color
2 “ Green Center
2 “ “ Deep Bottom
2 “ Green Sash
Black window sills arm rest Door casing + Hand ?
Completed car 3-5-49[11]

5. Scarlet: Ends, doors, and sides below the belt rail were bright red ("Pimpernel Scarlet"), windows, posts, and letterboard were a light blue-grey. Yellow lettering with black outlining. Roof was black (coated with black Liquinoleum, a tar-like substance). The vestibule interior was the same red as the exterior. The entire ceiling was painted white, including the molding strips and the clerestory window panes. Until end of service.
* The railroad sanded down the car, but not to bare wood; a coat of brown primer was then applied over what was left of the blue paint scheme. Then this was painted red.

Car 308 in Paint shop 6-15-51
Paint roof 1 coat black Liquinoleum
Sand, putt, Glaze 1 coat ½ + ½ Surfacer
Paint Red, Gray, underframes
Interior Touch up Head Lining, paint window capping + arm rest Black
1 coat floor paint
Completed 6-30-51[12]

Car 308
9-14-54
Paint Roof Lucas paint
Sand loose cracked paint,
Paint Gray from letterboard to pelt rail [sic]
Spots paint red.
Completed 9-17-54[13]

MISCELLANEOUS MODIFICATIONS

Several minor modifications were also made, some of which may no longer be apparent.

The car was originally equipped with a fare register system. The register itself was mounted on the coach side of the bulkhead. The shaft ran under the 89" molding on the opposite side from the panic cord; the locations of the brackets are still apparent in some places from the holes in the moldings. The hole in the bulkhead where the shaft passed through was covered with small pieces of sheet metal.

The window tracks were modified, presumably by the railroad, so that the windows can no longer be raised as far as they might. The tracks have been blocked so that the tops of the window frame cannot rise up behind the letterboard, as they do on the other two cars. The brass castings on the window shade tracks, however, were clearly designed so that the windows could be raised approximately 20”, rather than the 10” or so that is now possible. Why this was done is unknown.

It's hard to say just how much rewiring has taken place; the electrical cabinets show evidence in several places of changes. The #1 end cabinet shows obvious signs of the contactor cutout drum switch that was removed when the car was converted to two motors. On the roof, the original wiring for the headlight circuit ran under the eaves on the "R" side of the car, along with a wire for the buzzer circuit; these were later disconnected, and a new wiring was run in the conduit that was installed under the eaves on the other side.

About 1916 the AE&C published an article that detailed how several of the cars had been rebuilt with steel braces added to strengthen the structure[14]. The railroad as originally built had 60' rails with the usual staggered joints. And since the truck centers on the cars are almost exactly 30' apart, as the joints started to sag this caused considerable torquing to the car bodies as the trucks passed over low joints on opposite rails, leading to serious structural problems. (After 1922, this problem was solved by relaying the main line with heavier rails of standard 39' length.) The article shows a picture of a car that had its interior paneling completely removed; steel reinforcements were then applied at the corners and the bulkhead. On the 308, these steel corner braces can be seen when the bulkhead windows are opened. There are also steel angle braces in the roof that were exposed when parts of the ceiling had to be replaced. They’ve been covered up again, of course, but we took pictures of them. Another result of the rebuilding is that when the panelling was re-installed, the railroad had to insert several screws in odd places, and more nails. These are still visible. (In most wooden passenger car construction, there are no exposed screw heads except for removable parts such as brass fixtures and window shade tracks, which must be removed to take out the window frames.)

ACQUISITION BY IMOTAC

After passenger service was abandoned, six cars were selected and moved into the shop building for eventual preservation. It’s not known exactly who made the decisions. In any case, the 308 was one of these cars.[15] When the CA&E cars finally became available after abandonment, the 308 was purchased by Jan Girardot and his wife Pat, who were founding members of the Indiana Museum of Transport and Communication (IMOTAC).[16] The car was then moved on its own wheels to Indianapolis in 1962. The following information comes from Bill Stewart:

The 308 was first stored on a siding directly below the hump tower at the New York Central Railroad’s Big Four Yard in the western Indianapolis suburb of Avon, ironically only yards from where another CA&E car, the 318, would be destroyed in a switching accident a decade later. There the roof was sealed during the summer of 1962 by IMOTAC volunteers Jan Girardot, Bill Stewart, and Greg Nicely. Later, some peeling exterior paint was sanded and primed in anticipation of repainting the entire car in authentic CA&E colors. In 1963 the 308 was moved to a siding in the former Bee Line City Yard (once used as a Big Four coach yard and as team tracks for unloading perishables and other “hot” carloadings) approximately one-half mile east of Indianapolis Union Station on the north side of the Indianapolis Union (NYC-PRR main line) tracks. It was a featured attraction on the Traction Tour of the 1963 National Model Railroad Association National Convention; three or four Indianapolis Transit GM transit buses negotiated the steep ramp from street level to Bee Line City, and dozens of traction fans inspected and photographed the 308 (and passing freight and passenger trains) as the ITS drivers struggled to turn the buses around in the narrow confines of a railroad coach yard. During 1963 and 1964 Dr. Howard Blackburn began negotiations with the city of Noblesville, Indiana, for a permanent IMOTAC museum site in Forest Park. Until that site was secured and an initial siding constructed off the Norfolk & Western (ex-Nickel Plate Indianapolis Division) in 1966, the 308, North Shore 172 (privately owned), and a half-dozen other pieces of steam-road passenger and freight equipment recently added to the Museum’s collection were stored on sidings at the recently-closed Ball Bros. Co. strawboard box works on Noblesville’s south side. The 308 was IMOTAC’s first car.[17]

308 alongside North Shore 172 at Noblesville

John Horachek installed a new canvas roof, working by himself, from a ladder.  He did a very creditable job under difficult circumstances.   With some minor repairs and new paint, this is the roof that is still on the car.  The clerestory windows were refurbished, some of the interior walls were stripped down to bare wood, and a few other repairs were made.

Most of the rest of the work on this car was done by Fred Stone.  Evidently his first step was to paint the exterior in the blue and grey paint scheme.  This appears to have been done more or less correctly except that the red stripes above and below the side windows were missing.  (By 1996 neither the blue nor the grey seemed to be quite correct, but the paint was badly weathered.)  The letterboard was lettered correctly, but the numbers were never applied.  Also, the vestibules were never repainted.  The car was made operational by 1973, and ran on the first day of revenue operation at Noblesville, along with North Shore #172, on March 24, 1973.  It operated only a few times at Noblesville, however.The original D3-EG compressor was replaced with a D3-F while at IMOTAC. The replacement was obtained from the CTA. The cradle was modified to fit the D3-F, which is designed to be hung without a cradle. Notches were torched into the bars at two places, and these later had to be repaired.

Evidently the wooden floor of the #2 vestibule had started to rot where it extends out from under the end walls, as well as the bottoms of the walls and door posts. This is a common problem with these cars, and Mr. Stone decided to fix it. The vestibule was disassembled so the floor could be removed. Also, the bottom of the train door at this end had evidently deteriorated, so it was rebuilt.

After the original wooden floor was removed, he decided to replace it with a 1/4" steel plate. Unfortunately, he did an excellent job of welding this plate onto the car. However, Mr. Stone died at this time, and no one took over the project. The car had been moved into the barn for storage prior to this, I should think. In any case, it now remained stored inside the barn and no work was done for the next twenty or so years. (This occurred at least a couple of years prior to 1979, when I first saw the car.)

ACQUISITION BY IRM

By 1995 control of IMOTAC, now the Indiana Transportation Museum, had passed into the hands of persons unsympathetic to the preservation of an artifact that could not be restored or displayed, that was taking up valuable barn space, and that had no connection with Indiana. They preferred to concentrate on running profit-making mainline excursion and dinner trains and decided to make the 308 available for purchase. We heard about this, and late in 1995 IRM made what was meant as a starting bid of $10,000 (with Jim Johnson’s money). Nothing more was heard from ITM for months. On April 26, 1996, I went on a railfan drive through Indiana with Norm Krentel and Jeff Brady, and suggested we go to Noblesville to look at the 308, among other things. We met Dave Beck, who mentioned that we had been outbid (at $15,000) and that there was going to be an ITM board meeting in two days to ratify the sale of the 308 to the other bidder. We urged him not to make any decisions, and promised to get back to him with a higher bid. This was a very close call. 

Nick Kallas and Jim then continued the bidding process, until about the middle of May when the car was ours for $22,500. Of course, great thanks is due to Jim Johnson, who financed this acquisition.  Although the ITM people had said they wanted to use the barn space as soon as possible, nothing happened for another six months. Finally, in November of 1996, the remaining obstacles in the barn were cleared out, and the car was ready for shipment.

 On Friday, November 22, the 308 was moved to Union by Dave Diamond, Nick Kallas, and the late Ray Fessenden.



The 308 still sitting on the trailer after arrival from Indiana. Note that the #2 vestibule had been disassembled. The trucks were loaded onto another trailer.

During unloading in Yard 10.

The body remained sitting on the trailer until Tuesday, November 26, when it was put back on its trucks and moved into Barn 6; the unloading was done by Dave Diamond and Al Choutka, helped by Bob Bruneau and myself. For both loading and unloading two rented cranes were used to lift the body. Of course, by this time there was no possibility of moving a wooden car with cast steel wheels on the railroads, and there was no danger of a switching accident like the one that destroyed the 318. However, the coupler at the #1 end was bent, evidently due to the car shifting forward on the trailer during a rapid stop.

RESTORATION

Exterior restoration started in November 1998. Exterior stripping and repainting were mostly complete by the summer of 2001, so that the car could be featured on the 2002 IRM calendar.

The 308 in 2001, during repainting

During July and August of 2001 I finally removed the metal floor plate from the #2 end and ground down the remaining metal. Woodwork on the end then started in earnest, especially after the car was moved into Barn 4. New flooring was installed, and was complete by the beginning of January, 2002; then corner and door posts were built, trimmed, and installed, followed by the rest of the framing and exterior siding. The new end was painted just in time for the 308’s first revenue service on July 4, 2002.

Over the winter of 2002-2003 the #1R corner was rebuilt. The floor here had rotted out, and the bottom 6” of the corner post was completely gone. The floor was patched, the corner post was removed up to the CA&E ship lap, and new wood was installed. Work also started on the interior: a new member, Jack Biesterfeld, stripped and repainted the smoker ceiling and started on the main compartment. The cradle was repaired, and the IMOTAC compressor was replaced with a D3-EG. Window rebuilding also continued.

Starting in May of 2003, the 308 was used in revenue service one weekend a month, and restoration continued in the meantime.

Over the winter of 2003-2004, Jack repainted most of the walls, and continued to work on the ceiling of the main compartment. Nearly all of the side windows were repainted or replaced with new construction. Woodwork on the #2 vestibule was completed. I started installing the side light fixtures, using replacement light sockets from the hardware store. These sockets were electrically tested before installation. The control equipment was installed at the #2 end, including a C21 controller. During 2004, Jack finished painting the center ceiling panels in the main compartment, even while the 308 was being used with the 309 in revenue service, generally two weekends per month.

A C21 controller being rebuilt in 2004.

Over the winter of 2004-2005, work continued on the lower ceilings of the main compartment. The smoker walls had all bad veneer replaced, and the entire compartment was repainted. The controller at the #1 end was replaced with a C21. And about half of the seat backs and cushions were reupholstered as needed.

During 2005 the car was again used in revenue service with the 309. Due to new information from the paint book, we decided to change the restoration period to 1950, so the exterior was repainted in the middle of the summer. The “Sunset Lines” heralds were painted over, the words “Do Not Board a Moving Car” were added, and the bumpers and side sills were painted blue. Over the winter of 2005-2006 the ceiling was completed, the floor was painted, etc.

OPERATION

On July 2nd, 2006, we held a dedication ceremony at the west end of Barn 4 to mark the car’s 100th birthday and to mark the completion of the restoration.


During 2007 the car was rarely operated, since the 309 was undergoing major interior restoration, and we prefer to avoid operation of a single car on two motors. A replica of the toilet ventilator was made and installed.


During 2008 the car was operated one day in Jefferson shuttle service, and several times with the 309 on the main line after the 309 was completed.

Since that time the car has often been used in revenue service.  Minor improvements have been made to the interior, especially a better selection of car cards.

In 2019, however, one of the traction motors flashed over and damaged the commutator.  Both motors have now been removed from the truck, and we are trying to find a reliable contractor for rebuilding traction motors.  The car can still be used as a control trailer.

Footnotes

[1] Advertisement from the 1906 Street Railway Journal, reproduced in Traction Heritage, Vol. 3, No. 1.

[2] Unfortunately I am not aware of any detailed treatment of this company. See appendix "Principal Interurban Car Builders" in Hilton, George W. and Due, John F. The Electric Interurban Railway in America, Stanford University Press, 1960 (1st ed.), p. 424.

[3] Hicks, Frank Preserved North American Electric Railway Cars.

[4] The best and most comprehensive treatment of this railroad and its operations is found in: Plachno, Larry Sunset Lines (2 vols.), American Bus Trader (publ.), 1986 (vol. 1), 1989 (vol. 2). Note that until 1922 the company name was Aurora Elgin and Chicago (AE&C).

[5] Pictures of other cars from this series show them in service with an unusual vertical-bar pilot.

[6] Plachno, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 257-259

[7] CERA (Central Electric Railfans' Association) Bulletin #105: The Great Third Rail, 1961, p. 90 (out of print)

[8] CERA (Central Electric Railfans' Association) Bulletin #5: Chicago Aurora and Elgin, 1940 (out of print)

[9] Paint Shop Ledger from Wheaton Shops, 1937-1956 (unpublished manuscript from the Ralph Taylor Collection), p. 7.

[10] Ibid., p. 70

[11] Ibid., p. 193

[12] Ibid., p. 230

[13] Ibid., p. 298

[14] Electric Railway Journal; see Plachno, ibid., p. 265.

[15] The 309 was another; forty years later they would be reunited in Barn 8 at Union.

[16] Jan Girardot, private communication.

[17] William B. Stewart, private communication.