The Jewell Road shelter has had a hard life, to put it mildly, and as a result it's impossible to know for sure what the interior looked like. I don't remember seeing any pictures of a shelter interior. For that matter, I don't even know exactly what the interior of Wheaton Station looked like, which would be a lot more interesting. But for now, let's just consider the inside of the shelter.
The current floor is fairly thin plywood, which needs to be covered over or replaced. Three 4x8 sheets of exterior-grade plywood will do it. But was this covered with linoleum or something similar?
And then I don't know about lighting. There is evidence where wiring ran into the shelter and was attached to something, presumably lighting, but that's mostly gone. You would think they must have had at least one light bulb inside; lighting was probably 600V DC, and that would require a five-bulb circuit with exterior lights. There was an exterior sign light over the door which we plan to replace.
The final interior color of the walls is well preserved. So the next question is whether there was a bench or other seating provided. On the back wall there are a couple of "shadows" where something was attached at floor level. These are only 12" high, however, which seems too low for a bench; typical seating has a height of 16" to 18".
3 comments:
Didn't Fox River have a shelter they preserved? Some kind of structure, anyway. Maybe there is some evidence, plus a few fans must still be around who were in these buildings.
O. Anderson
Here at the Fox River Trolley Museum we have two shelters preserved: the CA&E Hollywood Shelter and the CA&E Wayne Shelter. I would reach out to us if think that seeing the interior of either of these shelters would be of any help.
Anderson Pries
Fox River Trolley Museum Volunteer & Newsletter Columnist
Thanks. I would like to see the interiors at some point, if it's convenient, or at least some pictures. I'm sure we'll be keeping in touch!
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