The Lake Shore Electric was the earliest big interurban system. Created in 1901 by combining and connecting several smaller electric lines in the area between Toledo and Cleveland, it set a pattern for Midwestern interurban development. The system's initial earnings reports were very favorable, and these reports helped fuel a rapid investment boom in interurban lines across the country, which continued until the Panic of 1907.
In 1906 the railroad began ordering a series of cars from the Niles Car & Manufacturing Co. in Niles, Ohio, and these became the best known of the line's wooden cars. They were rebuilt over the years, as detailed below, and several continued to provide service over all parts of the system until the end of passenger service in 1938.
When service ended, there were few remaining electric lines interested in used interurban cars, and only three found continued use
with other railways. But most of the remaining cars were sold for adaptive reuse as diners, houses, cottages, and sheds of various sorts all across northern Ohio. Dennis Lamont says that they still contained the seats, water heating system, bathrooms and baggage racks along with match strikers, ticket holders and miscellaneous little parts when they were sold off. At least 77 cars are known to have been disposed of in this fashion. As a result, for a long time there was a large number of carbodies still in existence. Sixteen of these have been acquired by various museum groups and individuals, among them car 150. None of them are operational, and most are in various states of disrepair. I do not expect any of them to be restored to operable condition in the foreseeable future, apart from freight trailer 810. Most of the other carbodies have by now been dismantled.
In 1938 there was no organized railway preservation movement. In contrast, 25 years later when the North Shore and CA&E cars became available, there were many active groups interested in electric railway preservation, and so a large number of cars were preserved with their equipment intact, from Iowa to Maine. Many of these have been restored and continue to operate. On the other hand, by that time nobody was any longer interested in using old trolley cars as diners or chicken coops, so there was no adaptive reuse. But I digress.
Acknowledgements
Dennis Lamont supplied us with several pictures, and made many valuable comments and corrections to the material.
THE NILES CARS
(Dave Mewhinney collection)
In December 1905, the LSE ordered ten new coaches from Niles, numbered 150-159. These were single-ended cars seating 52, with a separate smoking compartment. They were furnished with a combination of hot-water and electric heat. As built, they had Van Dorn couplers and MU and bus connections, so a two-car train could be operated with one pole. Several cars were destroyed in wrecks or fires, and some were rebuilt into freight motors. A second order of similar cars, ten coaches (numbered 141-149, plus a second 152) and five combines (160-164), were built in 1907. Of these, three coaches and two freight motor bodies still survive.
Similar car 143 in service. Cars had only one trolley base, but carried two spare poles for emergencies.
Identical cars 158 and 155 meet in Norwalk, showing a comparison of the two ends of the car.
Interior of car 155.
MODIFICATIONS DURING SERVICE
One of the Niles cars as built. Van Dorn couplers, no MU jumpers, headlight in the up position.
Photos from the Dennis Lamont collection.
Cars 155 and 152 meet at Norwalk station in 1909. Again, we have the drop platforms, Van Dorn couplers, and MU jumpers below the floor.
Two Niles cars trained together, in original configuration.
155 and 152 in Fremont, 1910. By now the couplers have been changed to knuckles, the MU jumpers are mounted in the dash. Note the lower left lantern bracket and the one on the left side window post; this was to comply with Michigan regulations.
Modifications during service included:
- The couplers were changed to Tomlinson M.C.B. type with regular knuckles (c1910?), later (by 1925) to the larger knuckles.
- Angled "dasher" panels over the bumpers were eliminated (c1910?).
- Anti-climbers were added (c1910?).
- The arched end windows were squared off.
- Addition of sign boxes.
- Addition of right side mirror.
- Addition of exterior under-floor platform lights ("ditch lights"), c.1937.
- At some point, on this car the original Niles pocket doors were replaced with ordinary hinged doors or removed, but this probably happened after service ended. The 151 still has one of its pocket doors in place.
The motorman's position at the center window, looking through the open bulkhead door.
The following pictures were provided by Dennis Lamont and may not be reproduced without permission.
This is car 159 looking towards the front. You can see the controller at the front. The smoking compartment is not very big, so its bulkhead is near the front. To the left is the open door to the heater compartment, which was lined with sheet metal. Although these were single-ended cars, they had walkover seats.
This is a view of car 151, looking towards the rear. Nice closeup of the seats! The body of this car is still in existence; it was used as a workshop and storeroom for many years on Paul Eckler's farm, and was well maintained.
This is car 149 looking towards the rear. At the back, we can see the toilet compartment on the right side. At the top of the wall is a screened opening for ventilation. This car was lengthened by the LSE in 1923, and its body also still survives.
This inventory sheet from the LSE gives details on the car's equipment: WH-121A motors, GE C36A controllers, D2-EG compressor, etc.
Dennis Lamont collection
This is Paul Eckler, who after the end of service acquired the 151 and had it on his farm as a workshop for many years.
A nice drawing of this series of cars, probably prepared for modeling use, drawn in 1961 by Fritz Hardendorf.
IRM collection
151 at Beach Park shops.
CONDITIONS IN SERVICE
The Lake Shore Electric was fairly typical of interurban lines in the Midwest. In contrast with the lines radiating out of Chicago, which adapted over time to become primarily commuter carriers, the LSE always subsisted on intercity passenger traffic. The main line ran from Cleveland to Toledo, with through service continuing over the Detroit United to Detroit. Much of the passenger traffic carried by the railroad was local traffic to towns along the line: Lorain, Elyria, Vermilion, Norwalk, Bellevue, Fremont, and Sandusky, where the railroad's main shops were.
For many years the LSE ran through trains in cooperation with other interurban lines, mainly to Detroit via the Detroit United, and to Lima via the Western Ohio. Many of these trains would use one car from each line, so the LSE car would be MU'd with a DUR car, for instance. Another unusual aspect is that there were two routes between Ceylon Junction and Fremont, as you can see from the map. So a westbound two-car train would be split at Ceylon Jct., and the two would take different routes to Fremont, where they were joined together again.
One of the earlier interurban systems, the LSE was not a very high-speed operation. The interurban cars were not geared for high speeds such as those seen on the CA&E. Car 150 would have seen extensive low-speed operation down city streets, including access to the city centers of Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit, as those cities lacked a rapid transit network that could be used by the interurban lines. The limited trains between Toledo and Cleveland generally took a little over four hours. (You can now drive this on the interstate in less than two hours.) Times varied over the years; the fastest schedule ever attempted took 3 hours and 45 minutes, but that didn't last long. A limited from Cleveland to Detroit was carded for six hours.
Much of the LSE's business came from local traffic. There were over 310 designated stops on the main line, about three per mile. Most of these were little-used flag stops, but a local car was required to stop at any of them.
By the late 1920's automobile competition was increasingly affecting the business of interurban lines like the LSE, and the railroad saw freight traffic as one way to offset these losses. Freight business was emphasized and more freight motors and freight trailers (like LSE 810, now preserved at IRM) were acquired. Some coaches like car 150 were even rebuilt as freight motors, and two of these have been preserved. The limits of the railroad's infrastructure, though, severely limited the effectiveness of these efforts. Tight-radius curves on city streets precluded the haulage of railroad freight cars and circuitous routes slowed down service. As passenger traffic continued to fall during the Depression, the victim of a poor economy combined with better roads and more automobiles, the LSE could not compete. In May 1938 service was abandoned.
ADAPTIVE REUSE
As mentioned before, when the Lake Shore Electric abandoned passenger service in 1938, many of the carbodies were sold for adaptive reuse. The body of car 150 became a house in Milan, Ohio, from 1938 to 1964. It was then moved to Fostoria and used as a house there by James Jencks from 1964 to 1977.
Photo by Tom Hunter
In May 1977 it was moved to the Station Square complex in downtown Pittsburgh, and modified for use as a flower shop. There it was placed on trucks from Chicago 4000's purchased from IRM.
In 2000 when the station complex was being redeveloped, the 150 was sold to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum which immediately resold
the body to IRM. It was then moved to Union in October 2000, placed on another set of CTA 4000 trucks, and put on indoor display.
(Photos by Scott Becker)
In 2005-2006 it was partially repainted in LSE colors, some window repair work was done, and an anchor casting was fabricated and installed under the rear platform. Other than this, no significant restoration work has been performed. For current pictures of the car's interior, go here.
Click here for an illustrated history of car 150's time on the Lake Shore Electric by Art Peterson.
APPENDIX A
PRESERVED L.S.E.Ry. EQUIPMENT
All equipment listed is missing its original trucks and electric control equipment.
- #7 - wood coach, built 1900 by Barney & Smith, adapted for unknown reuse (likely storage or dwelling) after abandonment, in private ownership. Picture here.
- #38 - steel freight motor, built 1920 by L.S.E., made into a hunting cabin after abandonment, recently sold into private ownership and stored in Avon Lake, OH
- #39 - steel freight motor, built 1920 by L.S.E., adapted for unknown use (likely storage shed) after abandonment, in private ownership.
- #42 - wood freight motor, built 1907 by Niles as coach 141 (identical to 150) and rebuilt by the L.S.E. for freight service in 1929, used as a storage shed east of Sandusky after abandonment, preserved at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum (NORM). Picture here.
- #46 - wood freight motor, built 1906 by Niles as coach 152 (identical to 150) and rebuilt by the L.S.E. for freight service in 1929, adapted for unknown reuse (likely storage or dwelling) after abandonment, preserved at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum in Belleview.
- #149 - wood coach, built 1907 by Niles as coach 141 (identical to 150), body lengthened by L.S.E. in 1923, adapted for unknown use (likely storage or dwelling) after abandonment, purchased for preservation in 1965, now at NORM. Picture here.
- #151 - wood coach, built 1906 by Niles (identical to 150), sold for use as a backyard storage shed after abandonment, now at NORM. Picture here.
- #167 - steel coach, built 1915 by Jewett, adapted for use as a summer cottage near Vermilion after abandonment, purchased for preservation in 1962, now in private ownership in fair condition. Picture here.
- #171 - steel coach, built 1918 by Jewett, turned into a diner in Monroeville, O. following abandonment, acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum in 1987. Pictures here and here.
- #174 - steel coach, built 1918 by Jewett, sold for use as a dwelling south of Vermilion after abandonment, acquired 1996 by The Works in Newark, O. and cosmetically restored. Picture here.
- #181 - steel coach, built 1918 by Jewett, adapted for use as a cottage west of Vermilion following abandonment, acquired 1985 by NORM. Picture here.
- #464 - wood freight trailer, built 1919 by L.S.E., adapted for use as a pig pen after abandonment, acquired 1979 by NORM. Picture here.
- #810 - wood freight trailer, built 1924 by Kuhlman, purchased from Michigan Electric 1630 in 1929, used as an agricultural shed following abandonment, acquired 1984 by IRM and currently under restoration. Pictures here.
- #C - wood snow sweeper, built 1910 by McGuire-Cummings, adapted for unknown use (likely storage shed) after abandonment, currently in private ownership. Picture here.
