The Milwaukee Electric Interurban Cars

HISTORY OF

THE MILWAUKEE ELECTRIC INTERURBAN CARS

1129 AND MENOMINEE

Many thanks to Scott Greig who provided several of the photos (labeled SG), much of the text, and made many valuable suggestions and corrections.

Thanks also to Tim Fennell for supplying the builder's photo from the Don Ross site.

By far the largest electric railway system in Wisconsin, and one of the larger Midwestern systems, was The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co., usually abbreviated “TMER&L” or just “TM”.  TM had all types of electric railways: it operated the extensive city system in Milwaukee, streetcar operations in small towns, a network of interurban lines radiating outward from Milwaukee, and some electrified industrial freight lines. And parts of the interurban system were built to rapid-transit standards.

Out of this variety, the interurban lines were, not surprisingly, the first to fall victim to the automobile. As a result, while many pieces of TM equipment have been preserved, there are only two TM interurban cars in existence, both at IRM. They have a convoluted and interesting history.

AS BUILT

1101 at Watertown, en route to Oconomowoc

During the period of expansion, in 1909 TM ordered a series of 15 deck-roof interurban cars from Kuhlman, very similar to a series of ten cars built by St. Louis in 1907.  These were not built to the usual design for wooden interurban cars of the period, but more like over-sized streetcars. As built, they were equipped for operation on both 600V DC and 3300V AC, although AC operation did not last long.

1102 showing some of the underbody equipment.

And at the same time, an associated company, Wisconsin Traction, purchased six cars to the same design for use on its DC line in the Appleton area.  They are said to be identical to the Kuhlman 1100’s on the Milwaukee lines, although presumably without AC electrical equipment. They were numbered 101-106, and ran in this form for the next 15 years on Wisconsin Traction.  Here is the builder's photo from Kuhlman, before installation of electrical or brake equipment.

The only picture we have found of the Appleton cars in service doesn't show very much.  As built, the controls were on the left side (facing forward), and in the picture below, from left to right are the hand brake, the Christensen straight-air valve, a sander, and the C-6 controller.  Neither the Milwaukee nor Appleton cars were equipped for MU operation. 

Wisconsin Traction car, 101-106 series (SG)

The car is signed for APPLETON-NEENAH-MENASHA.  And I believe the dash sign is advertising a Chautauqua at Sunset Point Park, Jun30th(?) - Jul3rd, and is probably covering the car's number.

The Kuhlman cars, however, were bigger and heavier than Wisconsin Traction needed, and so in 1924 they were traded to TM in exchange for ten streetcars. And at the same time, TM was planning to upgrade its interurban service with parlor and dining cars, and more modern and comfortable coaches. Rather than buy new equipment, TM decided to undertake an intensive rebuilding program at its Cold Spring shops.

THE 1924 REBUILDING

1136 Menominee on the Greendale line (SG)

The first step was to rebuild four of the Kuhlman cars into parlor cars, of a completely different appearance than as built.  One of these was WT 102. The shops made the following changes:

1) The double-ended cars were converted to single end, although they still had two trolley poles for backup movements. Instead of four doors, there was now a single passenger door and stepwell at the right rear, and a small motorman’s door at the right front. The left side was blind.

2) Since train operation was desired, the ends were rebuilt with train doors.  Controls were moved to a motorman's cab at the right side of the front end.

3) The deck roofs were changed to railroad roofs.

4) The window arrangement was completely changed. The narrow single windows as built were replaced with much wider windows, and wider posts in between.

5) The interior was arranged with a small smoking section at the front, with parlor chairs and two booths with space for removable card tables on one side, facing a vertical parcel rack, followed by a washrooom on one side, and then the main compartment with large, comfortable parlor seats.

6) The rear platform received solarium windows.

Parlor car Mendota at Cold Spring shops after rebuilding (SG)

Parlor car interior (SG)

7.) The original St. Louis 23 trucks and GE  motors were replaced with new Baldwin trucks and Westinghouse motors, and the original straight air brakes were replaced with new Westinghouse AMM automatic brakes.  The original control equipment under the cars was reused during the 1924 rebuilding.

WT 102 initially received the name Menominee, but soon lost its name and was instead renumbered “2”.

In 1926-1927 the car underwent a complete mechanical rebuilding and received new trucks and control. This included an eighteen-switch contactor box of the same type as the 600/1200 volt cars that were being rebuilt as the "deluxe" 1100s at the time. It also received new Standard C-80P2 trucks and Westinghouse AMU brakes to match the deluxe 1100s. At that time it was again renumbered, to 1136. Regarding the electrical equipment, both of our cars were originally equipped with GE C-6A controllers, and initially retained them when rebuilt. However, both cars later received C-74A controllers to match the rest of the 1100 fleet.

As it happened, the original deployment of the parlor cars on Waukesha and Watertown runs did not prove viable, so they were reassigned to operate parlor service on the Sheboygan line, in two-car trains with a coach, and we believe these changes were made both to make them more compatible with the deluxe 1100s and to simplify support in the field.  In 1930 the 1136 was rebuilt to a coach.  (When IRM was given Cold Spring Shops' woodworking equipment in 1972, Bill Nedden found several original parlor car chairs being used as office furniture around Cold Spring.  We were able to exchange newer office chairs for them...there wasn't a full car's worth, but most of one.)

The four parlor cars, and the seven Green Special coaches that followed, were essentially prototypes for the eventual conversion of the rest of the 1100 fleet. Cold Spring Shops tried out different ideas and made changes to the design as they progressed to the 1111-1125 group in 1926.

One of the rebuilt coaches

When more of the original cars, including WT 104, were rebuilt to "Green Specials" the following changes were made:

1) Converted to single end, with two poles, and a single passenger door at the right rear, small motorman’s door at right front, and blind left side.

2) Roofs rebuilt

3) Window arrangement completely changed, as with the parlor cars.

4) The interior was arranged with a smoking section at the front and larger coach section at the rear.  Nice new seats were installed, not really "bucket" seats, but called "Sedan" seats.  They were Spanish-grain leather like the deluxe 1100s, but had lower backs.  Some were destroyed at North Chicago, others were in the 1136 during its meeting-room years, but at least half of them are still in the car.

5) The rear vestibule had a washroom and the stove cabinet.

6) As with the initial parlor car rebuilds, the cars received new Baldwin trucks and Westinghouse 548 motors, but retained their original control equipment.  Westinghouse AMM brakes were applied to the cars.

1129 and 1128 at National Station
Image copyright Krambles-Peterson archive

Interior of car 1126 (SG)

WT 104 was renumbered to 1129.

The "Green Special" 1100s were initially assigned to the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha route, but were soon reassigned to Burlington-East Troy runs and special service, such as summertime Waukesha Beach specials and employee trains for WPA projects, that kept them closer to Cold Spring. Their last use was reportedly as extras during the American Legion convention in Milwaukee in the spring of 1941.

SALE TO L&PS

The Depression further cut into the interurban business, and by 1940 several of the interurban lines had been cut back and service reduced, so that some of the rolling stock was surplus. However, the London and Port Stanley, an electrified steam road in Canada, was in immediate need of more passenger cars, since Canada was already engaged in WWII, and to meet wartime requirements they arranged to buy four TM cars, including the 1129 and 1136, in 1941.  These cars were already out of service by this time, and they were sold as bodies on trucks, without propulsion or braking systems.

The L&PS operated on 1500V DC, so the TM cars received completely new equipment.  The 1129 remained an unpowered control trailer.  The control and air brake equipment now under the Menominee is ex-Toronto Suburban Railway equipment that the L&PS managed to purchase from the Niagara St. Catherines & Toronto in 1941-42.  

And the cars were renumbered: the 1129 became L&PS 21, and the 1136 became 16.

The 1129 on the L&PS. Note the lack of underbody equipment and poles, the roof-mounted headlight and horn, and the huge pantograph on the following car, a TM ex-parlor car.

The Menominee on the L&PS.

The four TM cars continued to operate on the L&PS until 1955.  They generally were operated in two-car trains of a powered ex-parlor car and a trailer coach, and occasionally as a four-car train.  They could not train with other L&PS equipment.  For reference, here is a table of the various renumberings and names of the TM - L&PS cars.

As built		On TM			L&PS	Today
TM	WT	c.1924		c. 1927
1101(1st)		4	Winnebago	1133	Scrapped in 1952
1110(1st)		3	Waubeesee	1134	23	Part of house in Ont.
	102	2	Menominee	1136	16	1136	Menominee
	104			1129	21	1129
	106	1	Mendota	1135	18	Scrapped c. 1955?

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, TM’s business had declined rapidly after the end of the war, and by 1950 the company was trying hard to get out of the interurban business. There was a brief and disastrous period of operation by the Speedrail company, but in 1951 that came to an end. All remaining TM interurban cars were scrapped in 1952, with the exception of car 1138. It was set aside by request of Jay Maeder, the president of Speedrail, to be shipped to his home in Avon, Ohio, near Cleveland. He had wanted the complete car, but by mistake at Waukesha the trucks and underbody equipment were removed and scrapped, and only the car body was delivered. He was naturally outraged, but there was nothing to be done, so the body was set on the ground at his property.

ACQUISITION BY IRM

That meant that when the Illinois Electric Railway Museum was founded in 1953, there were no TM interurban cars remaining in the US. The museum consisted of a single car, IRR 65, plus the derelict 354, which still belonged to Frank Sherwin. Several of the early members were TM enthusiasts, though, and were eager to do what they could to preserve its legacy.

Thus, when the TM cars of the L&PS were offered for sale in 1955, the one-car railway museum embarked on a new course: acquisition and expansion!  IERM members traveled to London (Ont.) and selected what had been TM 1129 and 1136 for preservation.

As government property, the cars were sold via sealed bid, and our group went out on a bit of a limb and stated that they would bid $1 above the next highest bid submitted.  In the end, the Museum paid roughly $850 for the two cars and additional parts.  Tom Jervan recalled that the L&PS personnel, and their master mechanic in particular, were very helpful throughout the process.

  A famous TM company photo of the parlor car Mendota was used for fundraising (see above), and many people got the idea that the Mendota, not the Menominee, was the parlor car the Museum was acquiring.  Be that as it may, the two cars and some spare parts were transferred across Michigan to Ludington, and then across Lake Michigan by a C&O car ferry to Milwaukee. And so they arrived at North Chicago on Sept. 8, 1955. The second issue of the IERM newsletter has all the details.

It appears that even at the beginning there were doubts about the structural integrity of the cars, especially the 1129. In 1957 three of the Museum’s members (Larry Goerges, Don Ross, and Joe Barth) drove out to Avon to inspect the body of the 1138, which was still stored at Jay Maeder’s home. They reported that the appearance was discouraging, but nonetheless recommended that the Museum acquire the 1138, put the 1129’s body on the ground for use as a storehouse, and put the 1138’s body on the 1129’s trucks.  Tom Jervan purchased the body of 1138 from Jay Maeder c. 1958, during one of several visits by him and Howard Odinius.  But Frank Sherwin reportedly forbade its being brought to North Chicago, because he did not want any car bodies without trucks on the Foundry property.  Museum members subsequently went back east and stripped what they could from it for our two cars; the remaining hulk was finally hauled away for scrap around 1960.

Tom Jervan with the newly-arrived TM cars at North Chicago, 1955.  Photo by Bob Konsbruck. (SG)

 

Scott adds:

I'm not sure how much of an issue was made of the 1129's structural integrity vis-a-vis the 1138 in the 1950s, so much as seeing the chance to preserve a real "deluxe" 1100 instead of faking one up.  A major problem with the 1138 was that, in order to load it on the flatcar for shipment, the lower chords of the bolsters had been torched off, similar to what happened with Michigan Electric #28.  While not impossible to repair (as demonstrated by the 28), at North Chicago in 1958 that would have seemed like an impossible task.  (I recall Tom telling me that an additional idea that was floated was to put the 1129's trucks under the 1138, put St. Louis 23 trucks under the 1129, and super-backdate it to its Wisconsin Traction Light Heat & Power origins.  Could you imagine that??)

The two TM cars saw minimal maintenance or restoration done at North Chicago, and further deterioration of the bodies was unavoidable.  While at North Chicago, the Menominee was used as the Museum's board meeting room.

TM Cars at North Chicago, August 1959
Used by permission of TrolleyDodger.com

The cars were relocated to Union in 1964 along with the rest of the collection, and they have been stored inside since about 1985. 

TM cars in Yard 1, 1968.  Photo by Tom Desnoyers.

 The exteriors have been painted, and the 1129 has been lettered as 1111 (known as the "Four Aces").

By the mid-80's the 1129 was inside, and had been repainted by Bill Nedden.  Photo by Ron Doerr.

The longtime plan had been to make the 1129 into a replica “1111” in the flashy “speed stripes” paint scheme of the mid-1940s.  Tom Jervan wanted to recreate the deluxe 1100s that he fondly remembered riding as a child, and only three of them (1111, 1112, and 1119) had the same window spacing as the Green Special coaches.  Car 1119 was never a speed striped car (and was destroyed in a collision in August of 1949), so that left only the 1111 and 1112.  1111 was nicknamed “Four Aces” by the fans of the day, and Tom had ridden it on a charter trip over the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha line in June of 1946, so that car was chosen to be “recreated”.  While no significant alterations were made to the 1129 at IRM (though the interior was substantially dismantled), the late Bill Nedden repainted the car as a speed striped “1111” on his own initiative in the 1970s.

1129 on display in Barn 6 in 2010.  Photo by Frank Hicks.

Menominee during switching in 2016.  Photo by Frank Hicks.

Menominee during switching in 2021.  Photo by Bill Wulfert.

These two cars remain an instructive and essential part of IRM's unparalleled collection of Midwest electric equipment.  And if you want to read even more about them, there's an excellent article by Jack Gervais in issue 202 of Rail&Wire from 2004.

And some miscellaneous info: The body of parlor car 1134 Waubesee (L&PS 23) was incorporated into a house in Grand Bend, Ontario at 35 Alberta Street [sources: Canadian Trackside Guide 2020 p. 3-75, and photo of cottage in Wisconsin Electric Lines 2009 issue 272].  Wisconsin Electric Lines issue 272 supplement has detailed information as to how the cars were transported from Ontario to IERM and info on changes made by L&PS. 

Saturday Snapshots

On Saturday, HHR was in full swing.  Everything seemed to be going well.  I had signed up for the cushy job of Streetcar Relief, which provides ample time during the day for taking pictures or talking about Car Dept. projects with the people involved.

Several projects in the car shop were continuing:

Fred Zimmerman assembles a rebuilt controller for the 306.

Tim spreads glue on ceiling panels for the 1268.

...helped by Buzz.

One of the unsung heroes of HHR:  Bob Opal is there just about every day, all day, providing holiday-themed musical entertainment in the depot:

On the car line, Chris  Czyzewski was running the 3142:

Keith Letsche was conductor on the 749:

Marcus was motorman during the day, later relieved by Zach.

And some twilight views:

As twilight approached, the 749 received a headlight:

And the oil-fired marker lights:

And as always, there were many others helping out whom I missed.

1931 as Bob Mehlenbeck Saw It

 1931

As Bob Mehlenbeck Saw It

by Art Peterson

All photos are by Bob Mehlenbeck, from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

A family trip in 1931 gave Bob Mehlenbeck, then approaching his 18th birthday, the opportunity to shoot a lot of traction action in nearby states. This trip wasn’t made by train; the family auto was the conveyance. If you look at the typical 1931 state road map, you’ll find paved roads, but also a lot of gravel (“improved”) roads and some that were clearly noted as not being “all-weather routes.” Despite the potential challenges these conditions represented, Bob and his family would visit some unusual destinations/properties in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

A couple of local shots are included prior to the road trip, just to illustrate the variety of subjects available to an enterprising traction photographer. The photos are arranged in chronological order. As a closing note, the prints were scanned straight from the album in which Bob saved them – we apologize in advance for any staining in the prints, etc., but that does make them authentic!

Illinois Terminal (IT) 1593 – Peoria Freight House – March 8, 1931

If you’d been here five days earlier, there wasn’t a trace of snow in Peoria. That all began to change on the 5th of March and the snow kept on through the 7th. Five inches of snow fell on just the 7th, which still is a record for that date in Peoria’s weather history.

The big Class C had been built at Decatur in September 1928, and in common with all other Class Cs, used three sets of cast frames (one each forming the end platforms plus one under the cab) from Commercial Steel in Granite City. The Niedringhaus brothers opened Granite City’s first iron rolling mill in 1878. Steel founding in Granite City dates to 1894 and has continued to this day.

This locomotive made it into the later days of the IT electric freight era, being retired on April 29, 1955, after which it was sold for scrap. IT’s Peoria freight house was located on the southeast corner of Washington & Walnut, just a block east of the passenger station.

Illinois Power & Light (IP&L) 359 – SB Knoxville & Nebraska – June 14, 1931

The franchise for the East Bluff Peoria Horse Railway Company was granted on September 21, 1886. Operation of horse cars on the Knoxville line commenced on Christmas Day 1887. Successor operator Central Railway converted the line to electric cars which entered service on July 29, 1891. Increasing ridership led to double-tracking of the Knoxville line from June 5, 1895.

In 1931, Illinois Power & Light was operating 113 passenger cars over 47 route miles. They already had 31 buses rostered with bus route-miles totaling 22.1. From November 13 of that year, IP&L would add five Brill trolley buses to the fleet when they converted the Monroe line (it would remain the system’s sole trolleybus line). Car 359 was one of 15 St. Louis-built cars delivered in 1918.  It would operate until the end of streetcar service on October 2, 1946. More information on the Peoria system is here.

Rockford & Interurban (R&I) 303 – EB Mulberry at Church – August 5, 1931

Although the negative is damaged, this is still a great shot of one of the seven American Car-built 1927 lightweights (Order No. 1445) at work on a Loves Park local trip. The Elgin, Belvidere & Rockford operation had ended on March 9, 1930, while the R&I interurban lines from both Beloit and Freeport finished up service on September 30, 1930. Delivered in a maroon & white scheme, Bob noted this car now wore an orange with yellow and black trim livery. The Electric Railway Journal reported on the R&I order in its 1927 issues, indicating the contract for the seven cars at a cost of $160,000 ($22,857 per car) had been signed in its March 19 issue and that delivery of the cars was expected in May.

The multi-story building in the back was the Lafayette Hotel. The 120-room hotel had opened in September 1927. The building still stands, now adaptively reused. After the end of the Rockford streetcars on July 4, 1936, the seven American lightweights were sold to the Oklahoma Railway. As it happens, Rockford was another property (like Bob’s hometown Peoria) that had converted one of its streetcar lines to trolleybus operation. Four Brill buses were delivered in late 1930 to operate the North Main-Harlem route, which coincidentally passed through this same intersection. More information on the Rockford system is here.

Twin Cities Rapid Transit (TCRT) – 7th-Wabasha, St. Paul – August 7, 1931

The dueling marquees of the Orpheum and Paramount Theaters identify this location as being in St. Paul’s theater district. The location remains the center of a thriving entertainment district today, though both theaters are gone and this section of 7th Street is now a pedestrian-only mall.  

A TCRT “standard car” (one of 1,234 the company built, first at its Nicolet Shops, and from 1907 at the Snelling Shops) is working Minnehaha Falls-Hazel Park through-routed (Minneapolis-St. Paul) trip. This route pairing became effective in August 1927 and was superseded in September 1932. The 1931 “McGraw Electric Railway Directory” reported that TCRT had a fleet of 1,045 passenger cars and was operating a system that encompassed 522.6 track-miles. The following year, TCRT would report income of $9 million and had transported 113 million passengers. St. Paul’s 17 streetcar routes were abandoned between November 1951 and October 1953.

Duluth Street Railway (DSRy) – Duluth Incline – August 9, 1931

“Other Duties as Assigned” – the job description catch-all describes Snelling Shops’ responsibilities, as in addition to building all the “standard” streetcars for both the Twin Cities and Duluth-Superior systems, the shops also built the two incline cars supplied to DSRy (and assigned car numbers 220-221) in 1911. These cars replaced a pair of deck-roof cars that had run the incline since 1890.

The counter-balance transported riders up/down the 500-foot rise along 7th Avenue West in Duluth. At the top of the incline was the isolated Highland Avenue car line. These cars were 24 feet long by 11 feet wide and could make the ½-mile, one-way trip in 16 minutes. Buses finally replaced the incline operation on September 16, 1939. A walkway along the route of the former incline railway still exists.

DSRy 176 – WB Superior near 6th Avenue W – August 10, 1931

The multiplicity of hotel signs in this view (two immediately alongside the streetcar, plus the Lenox Hotel beckoning in the next block of Superior Street) tells one that this was a key arrival point in Duluth at the time. Indeed, it was – just one block removed from the NP’s Duluth Union Station (today, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum).

DSRy 176 (a member of the 163-177 group, built in 1904-05 at Nicolet Shops) is working a Hunter’s Park line trip in Bob’s view. TCRT supplied 142 “standard” cars for the Duluth system, with build dates between 1901 and 1918. The streetcar lines were replaced by buses on July 8, 1939, though Duluth had begun to convert some lines to trolley bus from October 1931.

The Keynoil truck drawing alongside the streetcar is also worthy of comment. Keynoil was a product of the White Eagle Oil Co., which was formed in the wake of the Standard Oil break-up in 1911. White Eagle Oil disappeared into the Mobil empire during the 1930s.

Lake Superior District Power Co. (LSDPC) 18 – EB Main near Vaughn – August 10, 1931

LSDPC Birney 18 heads east on Main Street near Vaughn in Ashland, Wisconsin, in Bob’s view. The spire in the background is the Ashland City Hall. Vaughn Street, which the car had just crossed is named in honor of Samuel Vaughn a prominent businessman and a backer of some of the early railroad ventures in this part of the state.

Horse cars began running in Ashland on November 2, 1887. Converted to electric operation, the first test runs were made on January 22, 1893. Streetcar operation in Ashland ended on September 25, 1933. The 1931 issue of the “McGraw Electric Railway Directory” noted that LSDPC was controlled by Northwest Utilities, based in Chicago. LSDPC rostered five passenger cars and one service car at the time and was operating on 4.8 miles of track. The fare in 1931 was seven cents.

As for car 18, it had been built by American Car in 1922 as part of a three-car order (cars 16-18) for the Ironwood & Bessemer Railway & Light Co. of Ironwood, MI. When LSDPS bought the Ironwood system (also in 1922), the three cars were transferred to the Ashland property.

Wisconsin Public Service Co. (WPSC) 56 – August 12, 1931

WPSC 56, a member of the six-car order from St. Louis Car (Job No. 1284, with an order date of September 5, 1922) was photographed on South Washington near Crooks in Green Bay. A similar photo of one of the Green Bay Birneys working the Main-Mason line appeared in CERA Bulletin 111. This location was on the way to the carbarn, meaning that Bob (and other fans) would have a better-than-even chance of capturing more “action.” In addition, the Milwaukee Depot was also on this street, explaining presence of the “tourist information” office off to the right of the streetcar.

In 1931, the “Electric Railway Directory” noted that WPSC was under the control of Standard Gas & Electric of Chicago. There were 22 passenger cars and 5 service cars available for use in Green Bay at that time and the company operated over 15.1 track-miles. A single fare cost 10 cents in 1931.

After the end of the Green Bay streetcars in 1937, car 56 headed to the Columbus & Southern Ohio, becoming that property’s car 874. The six cars of this series next moved to Virginia Electric Power’s Norfolk operation in 1940, where the former 56 became car 903.

Escanaba Power & Traction (EP&T) 115 – August 12, 1931

EP&T interurban combines 114-115 were built on American Car Order Number 539 of March 30, 1904. Note the unusual truck design used on these cars – that’s an American 11A truck. Normally, American would have been using trucks designed by Brill, its parent company. American, founded in 1891, was in the hands of trustees by 1902. On September 12, 1902, interests associated with the Brill Company bought American Car.

The interurban car is shown in front of the EP&T carbarn on Stephenson north of Ludington. EP&T had its beginning the development of the in-city lines and the line to Wells in 1892. Service was expanded in 1911 from Wells to Gladstone, where a chemical extraction plant provided considerable traffic for the electric cars. The company’s franchise expired in 1932, at which time the streetcar and interurban service ceased.

EP&T 118-120 – Stephenson/Ludington – August 13, 1931

Despite years of searching, the author has never been able to come up with a complete order list for the McGuire-Cummings Car Co. or any of its predecessors. William McGuire built his first interurban/streetcar truck as early as 1888. Originally based on Sangamon Street, Chicago, the company established its Paris, IL, manufacturing facility in 1902. Reorganized as McGuire-Cummings from January 1, 1904, the company went on to patent numerous electric and mainline railroad devices and car designs. The Chicago plant was closed in 1919.

These two EP&T cars certainly have the look of other McGuire-Cummings products and the trucks under that car closest to Bob look like McGuire 10As. CERA Bulletin 80 indicates that EP&T ordered a single double-truck “semi-steel” city car in 1914, another in 1916 and two similar cars in 1920 (though the 1920 pair were said to be for “interurban” use). The two cars are turning off Stephenson onto Ludington, which would take them to the terminal at the Municipal Docks.

EP&T rostered 10 passenger cars, one freight motor and three service cars in 1931. The company’s rail line consisted of 16.8 track-miles at the time.

Milwaukee Electric (TMER&L) 176 – WB Wells-4th – August 13, 1931

Development and rebuilding of older Milwaukee streetcars into two-car articulated trainsets addressed several problems this property faced coming out of World War One. Crew shortages had meant there were times when TMER&L couldn’t put all the required equipment on the street. The property found that increased costs of labor and materials consumed 90% of the increased operating revenue TMER&L had posted in 1917. These trends continued into the 1920s; from 1918 to 1926, the Electric Railway Journal found that wages (industry-wide) had increased by 85%.

Rebuilding of the older (in this case, 1899 St. Louis-built double-truck cars) into articulated units allowed TMER&L to do more with the available crewmen it could muster. To achieve this economy, a clear center aisle between the cars of a unit was essential, so that passengers boarded at the center entrance and the train could begin moving while fares were still being collected.  Wells-Downer (all branches included) was a line that benefited from the assignment of the higher-capacity trains. In 1926, this route carried 24.6 million riders and reported 8.1 revenue passengers per car-mile, the highest of the Milwaukee streetcar lines at that time. Depression-era ridership decreases led to the withdrawal of these older articulated sets over the 1933-35 timeframe.

Acknowledgements: Several industry publications (as noted above) were consulted to put a little more meat on the bones of this piece. In addition, CERA Bulletins 97 on Wisconsin (1953), 99 on Illinois (1955), 103 on Michigan (1959) and 111 on TMER&L (1972) were of use, as was Interurbans Special 14 on the TCRT (1953). Numerous online sources were reviewed to include local context. As always, the willingness of Randy and Frank to publish this on the blog is most-sincerely appreciated! This article was laid out and edited by Frank Hicks.

IT 277 Progress

Steve Smunt and Paul Hough send us another impressive report of their work on Illinois Terminal 277.

 Steve Smunt installs interior and storm window sashes #9,10 in the coach section. The baggage-smoker section is visible behind the bulkhead.

Paul Hough adjusts the roller shades of the completed double window and transom.

The coach rehab team has shifted to the adjacent double window unit #7,8.

The lower wall has been painted brown beneath windows 7,8,9,10, and below the bulkhead windows. Since about 60% of the original mahogany veneer is intact, the team decided to use Abatron wood epoxy to fill defects.  The first application has been placed.

Wintry Wednesday

 It was cold, but that doesn't stop anybody from using our nicely heated shop facilities.

Here Frank Kehoe is stripping molding pieces for the 1808:

Inside the car, which is nicely heated, Tim has been completely rewiring the lighting circuits for safety. 

Here you can see the wires hanging out of the junction boxes, where the fixtures will be placed.

The conduit and boxes are very small, and getting everything to fit is extremely difficult.  But Tim is not easily discouraged.

Here Buzz is laying out new windows for the Pennsy tool car.  The first step is to make careful plans for each piece, as seen above.

And Bill is painting parts for the tool car.

Steve Sanderson was there too, working on Liner parts.  And Greg and Nick E. were doing some switching, but I didn't get any pictures of them.  I had a few miscellaneous tasks to do, sorting parts and so forth.  So that was another productive day at the Museum.  Stay warm if you can!

HHR tickets are sold out for the next two weekends, and that's great!  But there are still open positions for volunteers that need to be filled.  

Oohs and Ahhs

Frank writes...

Yes, the fireworks show returned successfully - and spectacularly - on Sunday night! But more about that in a minute. I arrived in the early afternoon on Sunday just in time to serve as a "car line relief" motorman. I ran the 3142 for a little while so that its motorman for the day, Matt, could get a lunch break. After that, it was back to work - in this case, on Veracruz 19.

Our beloved open car's air compressor has the annoying habit of blowing a lot of water into the system, and that water likes to collect in the motorman's straight-air brake valve and start it rusting. As such, the valve had frozen up so badly that even after taking the thing off the car and putting it in a vise, it took a wrench with a cheater bar to budge the stem. But, Richard and I finally got the valve apart, as shown here, and cleaned it up. With the water out of it and some new grease, it was put back on the car. Thanks, too, to Nick and Greg, who helped reinstall one of the cross seats on the 19. Who's up for a ride on a one-truck open sleigh?

After all that, I took a tour through Barn 6, which is impressive during the day but truly awe-inspiring at night. Jim has really outdone himself - it's a spectacular addition to the exhibits we offer visitors during the HHR event. And then it was time for the fireworks show! Those of us who were in the car shop braved the 18-degree weather and trooped over to the 50th Avenue platform to watch the display. Above is Joel, Greg, Nick, Jimmy, and Richard.

This was early in the show - it went on for seven or eight minutes and concluded with a terrific finale that any municipality would be proud of.

And the show was certainly popular with the attendees! They were lined up along the station platform (our people wisely held off boarding until after the fireworks show was over so that nobody had to choose between seeing the show and boarding early), up and down Depot Street, and along Railroad Avenue.

It seemed like the first weekend of the event went pretty smoothly overall. There were a few hiccups, but nothing major. I certainly want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has been working so hard to keep HHR running. This year we've sold a record number of tickets, and all the smiling faces of the attendees are a testament to the untiring efforts of all the volunteers and staff who made it happen.

Krambles-Peterson Collection

The Krambles-Peterson Collection

The Krambles-Peterson Collection here includes select photos generously provided to the Hicks Car Works blog by Art Peterson from the Krambles-Peterson Archive. There are also numerous historical articles and photo essays researched and written by Art especially for this blog.

Photos and images in this collection are the property of the Krambles-Peterson Archive and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.

Electric Railway Articles

Bay Area Behemoths: The Southern Pacific's East Bay System

Chicago & Southern Traction

Earlier Days at Trolleyville

Early Days at Trolleyville

Finding Their Niche

Eye-Catching Paint and Upgraded Service in the 1920s

The Great East Side Electric Railway System

Hope Springs Eternal

Windsor Essex & Lake Shore

Indiana Railroad Work Car Variety

Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction

Pans Up in Virginia!

Richmond & Chesapeake Bay

Regarding the Red Cars

Northern Ohio Traction & Light

Some THI&E Stop Species

Southern Illinois Railway & Power Photo Album

Tour the Chicago Aurora & Elgin in 1962

Unbridled Optimism - About the Lake Erie Bowling Green & Napoleon

Electric Railway Cars

Chicago Aurora & Elgin Wood Cars

Common Specifications: Stone & Webster Interurban Cars

Illinois Terminal: Main-Line Cars

Illinois Terminal: The Office Cars

Illinois Terminal: Suburban, Branch Line, and Freight Equipment

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

Odds and Ends

Speaking of Motor Cars...

Traction Miscellany

Diners and More

Diners and More, Part I

Terre Haute Indianapolis & Eastern

Diners and More, Part II

Diners and More, Part III

Diners and More, Part IV

The South

Diners and More, Part V

Michigan Electric

Diners and More, Part VI

IRM Collection Highlights

Early Days at North Chicago

IRM Before 1970

IRM in 1970

CA&E and South Shore Cars from the IRM Collection

CNS&M Cars from the IRM Collection

CNS&M Album, Part 1

Cars 160, 251, and 253

CNS&M Album, Part 2

Cars 714 and 749

CNS&M Album, Part 3

Cars 213, 229, and 354

Electric Locomotives from the IRM Collection

Fort Wayne Cars from the IRM Collection

Illinois Terminal Cars from the IRM Collection in Service, Part I

Cars 101, 233, and 234

Illinois Terminal Cars from the IRM Collection in Service, Part II

Cars 277, 415, 504 "Peoria," 518, and 1565

Indiana Railroad 65, Part I

Indiana Railroad 65, Part II

Lake Shore Electric 150

Milwaukee Electric Cars from the IRM Collection, Part I

TMER&L 966, 972, 1129, "Menominee," L3, and L4

Milwaukee Electric Cars from the IRM Collection, Part II

TMER&L M1, M15, and M37