One very good bit of news is that all of the car cards in the 36 and 319 are in good condition. (I have no idea how to restore ones that are damaged or deteriorated.) Nearly all of them are duplicates of ones we've already seen from the 309, but there are three or four new ones.
I vaguely remember ads telling you to write for information on one thing or another c/o your postmaster. I can't imagine that works any more. When did that go out of fashion?
Can you show me the one about the rewarding career in the law?
Seriously, Bruce Wells, a couple of years ago at ARM showed how to reproduce car cards rather inexpensively. I believe I gave Frank a copy of the handout that has the blow-by-blow. I'm going to try this myself. I'm going to try these methods to reproduce some St. Louis-area ones for our PCC.
One of the ideas they're trying down the road at FRTM is to take a photo or scan of a given card, and then "clean" it up using Photoshop or similar software.
I've given them photo files of 4-5 old CA&E posters, the typical posters that would have been posted at various stations announcing different events and telling you to ride the CA&E there.
Haven't seen any of their efforts as yet, but as an idea, it certainly seems to hold some promise. Also provides a good way to reproduce a replica so the originals can be kept protected.
We've used many reproduction car cards, and even made a couple ourselves. The problem is that you need a fairly good original to start with. If the original is damaged, it can't easily be restored, and many of the old ones are so fragile they'll rip if you try to remove them.
Yes, I saw all the ad cards piled up in the CA&E cars there in Cleveland and suggested that I would like to photograph them for the archive I have put together at PA Trolley Museum. No luck so far. PTM recently took a contract on a laser/dye-sub copier is capable of prints up to 12 x 48. It does an even better and more economical job of printing the cards than the inkjet I demonstrated at the 2007 ARM. All that is needed is the paper. I also believe in getting the repros laminated because it helps them last.
IF you like what you see, you can help by sending a tax-deductible donation to the Illinois Railway Museum. See the "fundraising" box at the top of this column. Thanks! And if you're a member, we can always use more hands-on help, too!
The "Hicks Locomotive and Car Works" banner at the top is taken from original artwork of the company, which was in business from 1897 to 1911. The picture behind it shows the four restored CA&E wood cars at the Museum, starting with #309, which was built by the Hicks Locomotive and Car Works in 1907.
This is not an official website for the Illinois Railway Museum. It represents only the personal views of the authors.
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Any reproduction or other use of the material posted here for personal or commercial profit or financial gain would be a miracle. So don't try it.
Our Current Projects
CA&E 36, 308, 309, and 319
For 2025, the 309 and 319 should be available for revenue service. The 308 may be used as a trailer. The 36 has a broken leaf spring, and fixing this will be a priority.
CA&E 451, 453, and 460
We are working on reupholstering the seats in these cars.
Shaker Heights 18
The 18 is operational; repairs and repainting are now underway.
4 comments:
Can you show me the one about the rewarding career in the law?
Seriously, Bruce Wells, a couple of years ago at ARM showed how to reproduce car cards rather inexpensively. I believe I gave Frank a copy of the handout that has the blow-by-blow. I'm going to try this myself. I'm going to try these methods to reproduce some St. Louis-area ones for our PCC.
One of the ideas they're trying down the road at FRTM is to take a photo or scan of a given card, and then "clean" it up using Photoshop or similar software.
I've given them photo files of 4-5 old CA&E posters, the typical posters that would have been posted at various stations announcing different events and telling you to ride the CA&E there.
Haven't seen any of their efforts as yet, but as an idea, it certainly seems to hold some promise. Also provides a good way to reproduce a replica so the originals can be kept protected.
John C
We've used many reproduction car cards, and even made a couple ourselves. The problem is that you need a fairly good original to start with. If the original is damaged, it can't easily be restored, and many of the old ones are so fragile they'll rip if you try to remove them.
Yes, I saw all the ad cards piled up in the CA&E cars there in Cleveland and suggested that I would like to photograph them for the archive I have put together at PA Trolley Museum. No luck so far. PTM recently took a contract on a laser/dye-sub copier is capable of prints up to 12 x 48. It does an even better and more economical job of printing the cards than the inkjet I demonstrated at the 2007 ARM. All that is needed is the paper. I also believe in getting the repros laminated because it helps them last.
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