Light on the Motors: A Single-Trucker Comes to Grief

Light on the Motors

A Single-Trucker Comes to Grief

by Frank Hicks and Art Peterson

All photos from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

For a locomotive roster shot, “light on the trucks” is essential for a good portrait. FM switchers with their thick frames cast giant shadows and made this a challenge. Here’s a set of photos of a single-truck open car working on the Fort Smith (AR) Light & Traction, where the first shot is notable for having superb light on all the underbody components, thanks to the car lying on its side.

Fort Smith had mule cars from 1883, and by 1893 had moved onto electric cars; the population had nearly quadrupled over this period. All lines were electrified by 1899, at which time the track gauge was 3’-6” and the system had six miles of track. The listing in the 1899 edition of “American Street Railway Investments” noted that Fort Smith Traction Light & Power (FSTL&P) was one year into a 50-year franchise agreement. It was noted that six “Laclede cars” were used (Laclede had been established in 1883 and was acquired by St. Louis Car 20 years later), but no other information was given.

Conversion to standard gauge must have occurred shortly thereafter, as American Car records indicate that Fort Smith Light & Traction (the successor company to FSTL&P) received orders 274, placed in 1899 for three closed cars, and 433, for four closed cars, with order 433 being filled in 1902. Car 10 (preserved in Fort Smith) is a member of order 433. On March 24, 1905, American order 585 for 15 ten-bench open cars numbered 50-64 was received from Fort Smith Light & Traction (FSL&T). Exactly one year later, another order, this time order 642 for six ten-bench open cars numbered 65-70, was placed by FSL&T.  In 1908, FSL&T ordered six double-truck, semi-convertible cars from American on order 782, numbering them 20-25.

Fort Smith car 58 (a member of the March 1905 order) shows all its underbody details in this view. The motors may be GE 80s, 40-hp units which each weighed 2,850 pounds. Visible in this great light are the corner braces (diagonal members) as well as the two transverse floor timbers running across the width of the car either side of the truck. The two substantial members either side of the truck, straddling the centerline of the car, are the platform sills. These also provided an anchor for the drawbars. Both drawbars have slumped down once the car was overturned – the drawbar carry iron (an iron strap suspended from the underside of the car’s bumper beam) has retained the drawbars, exactly as it was intended to do. Also note the separate grid boxes and the various angles at which they’re mounted under the car – an unusual arrangement. No records survive to indicate why this had been done, unless somehow they were knocked loose in the accident, though the authors confess nothing else under-car seems to have been knocked about.

While the photographer noted the date of the incident, he didn’t note where in Fort Smith this happened, nor did he include his name on any of the prints. We also don’t have any info as to the circumstances that resulted in this car overturning. A head-on collision on the Denver & Rio Grande, which killed five that same day, pushed any coverage of this incident out of the surviving newspapers from the area.

This down-on view includes a bit more of the overall scene. The thin metal members running the width of the truck between the motors are the motor suspension bars. The longitudinal member running the length of the truck is the brake rod. The thicker members at either end of the truck are the equalizing lever (outermost member) and the brake beam (just inboard of it). The car must be hand-braked – typical for a smaller car of the era – as no air compressor, air tanks, or brake cylinder are visible. The “right” end of the car must have been the front when it turned over because the fender is deployed, or at least what’s left of it is. A close look in between the platform sills reveals the car’s gongs.

In his 1993 book “Breezers,” Steve Meyers noted that as single-truck cars grew longer they had a tendency to gallop at speed. The combination of a lightly loaded car traversing less-than-ideal track at higher speeds made conditions right for a rough ride and/or derailment.

From this angle, you can see the platform hood (the roof section on the end platforms). On most open cars, the platform hood was framed separately from the body roof, but joined to the roof without a break. Although this car is fairly new, there was a tendency for the platform hoods to droop as the car aged (perhaps you’ve seen photos of the Lancaster [OH] cars, which displayed this tendency in the extreme). Mounted to the underside of the hood is the “hood switch” or “canopy switch” that could be used to electrically cut out the motors. The fender appears to be an Eclipse, which was one of the more popular types of folding streetcar fenders of the era.

This close-up view of the end platform of the car shows the GE K-10 controller (moderate-capacity equipment, used on 2- or 4-motor cars up to a total of 160 hp) and the brake wheel on the end platform of the car. You can also see how the angle-iron bumper construction is suspended out from the car’s platform sills. The wheel-type hand brake is a bit unusual for a hand-braked car; gooseneck handles were more common. Just to be clear, the “Little Rock” reading is the line within Fort Smith on which the car was working; this was not an interurban trip to the state capital (one-way distance = 161 miles!). The poster advertises a "tent show" starring Rentfrow's Jolly Pathfinders, at one point advertised to be "the top traveling tent show in the country," at - where else - Electric Park.

With the car upright, at least we can see that the company name was on the running board riser and the pole has been tied down. The horizontal board just below the letterboard could be slid down to armrest height to block passengers from alighting from the street side of the car. In the foreground, you can see various rerailing accoutrements including click jacks, blocking, and ropes or cables. Of course, not only are a bunch of kids hanging around a wreck site, but they’re almost all barefoot!

FSL&T was managed by HM Byllesby & Co. out of Chicago. It was one of 17 utility operations (including electric, gas and railways) that the investment firm controlled. By 1914, FSL&T had 27 miles of track, required 43 motor cars to provide service and was carrying around 5 million riders annually. Birney cars (from Cincinnati) came to FSL&T from 1919. A repeat order for Birneys (this time, supplied by American Car) was placed in 1926. Two members of that order have been preserved in Fort Smith, car 221 as part of a house and car 224 as a fully restored and operational streetcar, while car 205 from the 1919 Cincinnati order is also preserved as a body at the museum there. The last streetcars in Fort Smith ran on November 15, 1933.

Several industry publications (as noted above) were consulted to put a little more meat on the bones of this piece. In particular, the 1911 “Electric Railway Dictionary” was used to provide some additional details on car components/construction visible in these unusual views. In addition, online sources were reviewed as were the production records of American Car and other car builders. As always, the willingness of Randy and Frank to publish this on the blog is most-sincerely appreciated! -Art