This is exciting news -- we now have the opportunity to acquire a set of spare walkover seats of the right type for the 308 and 309. These are being offered to us by our friends at Mid-Continent, under basically the same terms as the North Shore seats we got last fall.
Six or seven of the seat frames in the 309 have parts of the end castings broken, so that the seat backs come out of their tracks when you try to walk them over. So we currently have several pairs of backs connected with cable ties to keep them from moving. It's embarrassing. If we can get complete frames, it will be easy to fix this situation.
When Mid-Continent acquired EJ&S #2, an ancient wooden combine, back in the early 60's, it had been in camp service and was missing its seats. For a while, it had been running in passenger service with people sitting on folding chairs. 
So MC bought all the seats from CA&E car #300 to equip it. Interurban seats are too narrow and not the right type, but they were available, and a big improvement over folding chairs. Now, however, they have the time and resources to do a more thorough restoration, so the seats seen here are surplus.
As usual, we need money. It will be $1500 for 15 complete seats, plus a couple hundred more for the transportation. Your generous donations to the 309 fund (R309) will help make this a reality. We hope to be able to make the move sometime in the next month or so. Please let us know if you can help. Thanks!
So MC bought all the seats from CA&E car #300 to equip it. Interurban seats are too narrow and not the right type, but they were available, and a big improvement over folding chairs. Now, however, they have the time and resources to do a more thorough restoration, so the seats seen here are surplus.As usual, we need money. It will be $1500 for 15 complete seats, plus a couple hundred more for the transportation. Your generous donations to the 309 fund (R309) will help make this a reality. We hope to be able to make the move sometime in the next month or so. Please let us know if you can help. Thanks!
6 comments:
Randall,
who would have thought that Interurban seatswould be available in the 21st century!
AT RJV we had to cast a set of frames for our two Peninuular Interurbans.
Ted Miles
IRM Member
WRM Member
The EJ&S Combine has an interesting history also related to the Hicks Car Works, in that it was sold to the EJ&S by the Hics Car Works. They must have done a pretty good business on the used equipment market.
Yes, it's amazing that a car this old, dating back to the Civil War, is still in existence. It needs a lot of work, though, and if I didn't have a few other prior commitments, it would be interesting to try to determine which of its various rebuildings each piece dates back to. It's too bad C-14 dating couldn't be used!
Randall and all,
if you go to the Mid-Continent railway Museum web site and then to the equipment roster and then to wooden passenger cars you get to East jorden & Southern #2 a passenger coach later rebuilt as a combine.
As Randall noted it was built the first time in 1864 and later rebuilt in 1902.
Mid-Continent calls it their oldest passenger car!
Ted Miles
IRM Member
If you let me know ahead of time I can see about helping load them there if you indeed get them. It should only take an hour at most to get there from home.
Thanks, Pete! We'll be posting the information as it becomes available.
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