Waterloo Cedar Falls and Northern car 100. This car is featured on Railroad Record Club LP #2. Don’s Rail Photos: “100 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1914. It was built as a second motor to operate behind the 140s as a two car train. The baggage compartment was a kitchen, and the rear end was an open platform observation. The buffet section was replaced with coach seats in 1918. The car was then rebuilt with a control station and baggage compartment in 1928 and the rear platform was enclosed at that time. It was the last interurban left on the WCF&N when it became diesel freight, and it was donated to the Iowa Chapter of the NRHS in 1956. It was moved to Centerville and operated on the Southern Iowa Ry. When the SI cut back its operation and dieselized, the Iowa Chapter transferred the car to the Iowa Terminal RR in 1966. Shortly after it was repainted and put into charter service, it was destroyed in the carbarn fire early November 24, 1967. It had been the only car saved from the WCF&N roundhouse fire on October 31, 1954, when the other two cars of its class burned.”
No one person has been more responsible for preserving the historic artifacts connected with William A. Steventon‘s Railroad Record Club than our good friend Kenneth Gear. A while back, Ken acquired many of the original RRC tape recordings, some of which were never issued.
I have referred before to the RRC output being the “tip of the iceberg,” so to speak, and thanks to Ken, we are beginning to see what the rest of the RRC archive consisted of. While we had already issued some “new” RRC recordings, taken from discs found in the Steventon archive, we have something even more exciting to announce today– newly uncovered audio recordings of the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee interurban, the fabled North Shore Line, unheard for perhaps as much as 60 years.
These recordings have been digitized from original RRC tapes that Ken purchased, and are now available for the first time on compact disc. More details about that will be found at the end of this post.
Because we feel it is important for Ken to get back at least some of the substantial investment he has made, in order to preserve these and other historic materials, we are paying Ken a royalty of $5 for each disc sold. Our humble offerings are already reasonably priced, and we don’t make much money from them. On top of that, the Trolley Dodger has, to date, operated at a loss for every year. Our original losses were in excess of $10k per year. This was reduced to $6k in 2017, and we recently did our taxes and are pleased to report that we cut the loss to just $1400 in 2018.
Our goal with this enterprise is historic preservation and education, to provide an archive where people can get, and exchange information about electric railways. In some ways it is the modern equivalent of what my friend Ray DeGroote calls the “intelligence network” of railfans, which has been around since the 1930s or even earlier, just updated for the Internet age.
It used to be that you had to know somebody to be part of this intelligence network, and information was passed from one person to another. Now, it is accessible to anyone and everyone who wants it, via the world wide web.
With that in mind, our goal has always been to break even, in order to make the Trolley Dodger a self-sustaining enterprise.
But we have to give credit where credit is due. Without Kenneth Gear’s personal sacrifices, it’s possible that these materials would have been lost forever, and would have ended up in a dumpster somewhere. You never would even have known they existed.
That’s why I hope you will help support Ken’s gallant efforts by purchasing a copy of this new CD offering.
Because we are not entirely mercenary, Ken is also sharing dozens of classic railfan photos which he purchased as part of the Railroad Record Club archive. Presumably, all or nearly all of these were taken by the late William A. Steventon (1921-1993) himself, as many reflect the areas he lived, worked, and traveled to in his career.
A few of these we already published, but most of these appear here for the first time.
As always, if you can help provide any additional information about these photos, we would love to hear from you.
Enjoy!
-David Sadowski
Altoona and Logan Valley car 74. Don’s Rail Photos: “74 was built by Osgood-Bradley Car Co in 1930.”
This photo was originally misidentified, but actually shows Indianapolis Railways Peter Witt car #132, apparently on a fantrip, probably circa 1950. The streetcar was a Master Unit (that was a Brill trade name), built circa 1932-33, making it one of the last such orders before the PCC era. Master Units were supposed to be a standardized car, but in actuality I believe no two orders were exactly the same.
A Chicago, Aurora & Elgin train street running in Aurora in 1931. The CA&E was relocated off-street here in 1939.
A Capital Transit PCC and bus at Catholic University in the Washington, DC area.
Denver and Rio Grande Western 476, which was featured on Railroad Record Club LP SP-1.
Denver and Rio Grande Western 481.
Des Moines and Central Iowa cars #1701 and 1704 in the scrap line, November 19, 1939.
Des Moines and Central Iowa #1705 in October 1938.
Des Moines and Central Iowa car 1710.
East Broad Top #15 on a rainy day, very likely while Railroad Record Club LP #3 was being recorded.
Evansville and Ohio Valley car #134.
Hagerstown and Frederick #19 in Frederick, MD on May 30, 1939.
The same picture cropped.
A Hagerstown and Frederick work car in Fredercik, MD on May 30, 1939.
Hagerstown and Frederick 164.
Illinois Terminal car 285. Don’s rail Photos: “285 was built by St Louis Car in 1914. It was rebuilt as a parlor car in 1024 and as a coach in December 1928. It was air conditioned in August 1938 and got new seating in December 1952. It was sold for scrap to Hyman Michaels Co. on May 16, 1956.”
An Illinois Terminal local on Caldwell Hill in East Peoria about 1936.
A fuzzy picture of Illinois Power Company loco #1551.
A builder’s photo of Illinois Terminal #207.
Illinois Terminal 1201 at Peoria. Don’s Rail Photos: “1201 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1910 as an express motor with 20 seats at the rear. In 1919 it was rebuilt with a small baggage section at the front and the trucks were changed from Curtis to Baldwin.”
Indiana Railroad box car #550.
Indiana Railroad loco #752 waiting for loads at a mine scale.
Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed car #64. Howard Pletcher adds, “Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed car #64 is at the Fort Wayne passenger terminal.”
The Indiana Railroad passenger terminal in Fort Wayne. (Howard Pletcher Collection)
Indiana Railroad #93 at Anderson, IN on September 4, 1938.
Indiana Railroad box motor #722.
Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed car #80 on an Indianapolis local. It was built by Pullman in 1931 and scrapped in 1941.
Indiana Railroad box motor #115.
Indiana Railroad car #375. Don’s Rail Photos: “375 was built by St Louis Car Co in 1926 as Indiana Service Corp 375. It was ass1gned to IRR as 375 in 1932 and rebuilt as a RPO-combine in 1935. It was sold to Chicago South Shore & South Bend in 1941 as 503 and used as a straight baggage car. It was rebuilt in 1952 with windows removed and doors changed.”
Indiana Railroad car #446.
Indiana Railroad car #730.
Indiana Railroad loco #792.
The same picture, restored.
Indiana Railroad Vigo with rails ripped out.
Indiana Service Corp., looking forward from car at speed on Spy Run Avenue showing car on #6 line, May 22, 1939.
Indiana Service Corporation #820 at Wabash station on August 3, 1936.
Indiana Service Corp View across the Broadway bridge, showing double truck car in distance, August 18, 1940. (But what city is this?) Mike Peters writes: “he ISC city car is in Fort Wayne, a block away from the south end of the Broadway line. The bridge carries Bluffton Road and the ISC interurban to Bluffton over the Saint Marys River. A good map of the Ft. Wayne system can be found in “Fort Wayne’s Trolleys” (George Bradley). ISC did provide service in several smaller cities, but these lines did not survive the 1930’s.”
Interstate car #711, ex-Indiana Public Service Corporation 427, on September 3, 1939.
Interstate car 711 on shop siding west of Greencastle on June 3 1939.
Indiana Railroad lightweight car #94. Don’s Rail Photos: “90 thru 99 were built by Cummings in 1930 as Northern Indiana Ry 350 thru 359. In 1935, they were returned to Cummings, who rebuilt them and sold them to the IRR. They were retired in 1940.”
Indiana Railroad line car 763 at the Muncie station on May 19, 1940.
Indiana Railroad lightweight car 96.
Indiana Railroad lightweight car #90 at New Castle, IN on July 4, 1936. Note the Woolworth’s at right.
Indiana Railroad lightweight car #95 at the Indianapolis terminal.
Indiana Railroad lightweight car #99.
Indiana Railroad #787.
Lake Erie and Northern car #795.
Lake Erie and Northern car #797.
Lake Erie and Northern car #939.
A Lehigh Valley Transit Allentown Limited on the Liberty Bell Route, descending the ramp at Norristown (where LVT shared tracks with the Philadelphia & Western for access to Philadelphia, at least until 1949).
Lehigh Valley Transit lightweight high-speed car 1002, presumably in Allentown PA.
Mason City and Clear Lake car #34 (photo restored).
Mason City and Clear Lake car #34 (unrestored photo).
Mason City and Clear Lake car #106.
Mason City and Clear Lake car #14.
Mason City and Clear Lake steeple cab #52.
Niagara St. Catharines and Toronto Railway yard.
A Niagara St. Catharines and Toronto Railway snow plow.
A Niagara St. Catharines and Toronto Railway trolley.
A nice right-of-way photo with no information, other than the date– March 31, 1936.
Jeff Wien: “TMER&T, route 13: Clybourn Downtown Milwaukee.”
.
No information.
This is a three-car train of Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speeds in multiple-unit service on a fantrip, circa 1938-40.
No information (photo restored).
No information (unrestored photo).
Does ST F Co RR stand for Santa Fe? At any rate, this is car #54 at Farmington, MO.
Salt Lake and Utah loco #101.
Sand Springs Railway (Oklahoma) loco #1001.
Unidentified car and person. Mike Peters: “The photo of 817 and employee would also be Fort Wayne. After passenger operations ceased, this motor was retained for switching the Spy Run power plant and several nearby industries. The roster in “Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Trolleys” (CERA #122) shows the 817 as being retired in 1952.”
Unidentified steeple cab locomotive.
Unidentified steeple cab locomotive.
Union Electric Railway loco #80.
Utah Idaho Central #905 in June 1945.
Utah Idaho Central #905 in June 1945.
Washington and Old Dominion car #44 and a Railway Express Agency truck in Rosslyn VA.
A Washington and Old Dominion locomotive.
A Washington and Old Dominion RPO (Railway Post Office) on a mail run outside Rosslyn VA.
The Washington and Old Dominion shops.
Recent Finds
The CTA DesPlaines Avenue terminal in Forest Park in July 1955. This is an unusal view, looking west from Desplaines Avenue. At left, you can just barely see some streetcar tracks, which were used by West Towns Railways trolleys no later than 1948. That could be a CTA Route 17 bus, and you can also see some Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban cars in the station. The CA&E cut back service to here in 1953.
CTA 1775 at Cermak and Kostner on March 21, 1954, about two months before streetcar service ended on Route 21.
CTA 7213 on Route 49 – Western on August 2, 1949. This car would later become the last Chicago streetcar to operate.
North Shore Line 254 “at freight station on “L”structure near Loop – January 27, 1962.”
The North Shore Line shops interior in Milwaukee, September 24, 1961.
Chicago Surface Lines 5258 at Lowe Avenue in the 1940s (not sure of main street, perhaps 79th?).
CTA 6180, a one-man car, picks up passengers at an “L” station in the early 1950s.
CTA 7216, a St. Louis Car Company PCC, is northbound on Route 36 – Broadway in the 1950s. Jeff Wien: “Cars laying over on 119th at Morgan.”
CTA 4362, a Pullman PCC, on Route 8 – Halsted, most likely in the late 1940s. Jeff Wien adds, “Rt. 8 car has just pulled off of Broadway onto Waveland to head south on Halsted to 79th Street loop. Photo ca 1951 when Halsted was operated with PCCs, most Pullmans.”
TRACTION AUDIO, NOW AVAILABLE ON COMPACT DISC:
RRCNSLR
Railroad Record Club – North Shore Line Rarities 1955-1963
# of Discs – 1
Price: $15.99
Railroad Record Club – North Shore Line Rarities 1955-1963
Newly rediscovered and digitized after 60 years, most of these audio recordings of Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee interurban trains are previously unheard, and include on-train recordings, run-bys, and switching. Includes both Electroliners, standard cars, and locomotives. Recorded between 1955 and 1963 on the Skokie Valley Route and Mundelein branch. We are donating $5 from the sale of each disc to Kenneth Gear, who saved these and many other original Railroad Record Club master tapes from oblivion.
Total time – 73:14
The Trolley Dodger On the Air
We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicago’s Subways on the Dave Plier Show. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here.
Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways
There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago:
60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)
75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)
80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)
To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways.
While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!
Bibliographic information:
Title Building Chicago’s Subways
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2018
ISBN 1467129380, 9781467129381
Length 128 pages
Chapter Titles:
01. The River Tunnels
02. The Freight Tunnels
03. Make No Little Plans
04. The State Street Subway
05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway
06. Displaced
07. Death of an Interurban
08. The Last Street Railway
09. Subways and Superhighways
10. Subways Since 1960
Building Chicago’s Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. Order your copy today! All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.
The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States.
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Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)
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Thank you for making these photos available. The ISC city car is in Fort Wayne, a block away from the south end of the Broadway line. The bridge carries Bluffton Road and the ISC interurban to Bluffton over the Saint Marys River. A good map of the Ft. Wayne system can be found in “Fort Wayne’s Trolleys” (George Bradley). ISC did provide service in several smaller cities, but these lines did not survive the 1930’s.
The photo of 817 and employee would also be Fort Wayne. After passenger operations ceased, this motor was retained for switching the Spy Run power plant and several nearby industries. The roster in “Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Trolleys” (CERA #122) shows the 817 as being retired in 1952.
Thanks for the information.
That “Washington Baltimore & Annapolis 92” is an Indianapolis Railways Peter Witt. Most likely the caption actually refers to the “no information” photo of the wooden interurban car numbered 92 further down in your post. And ST F CO RR is the St Francois County Railroad.
Thanks for the corrections.
Your are correct sir! Closer inspection of the photo shows the car to be Indianapolis Railways Peter Witt car No. 132.
Thanks!
Ken Gear
I will update the caption accordingly.
David,
The image captioned “Chicago Surface Lines 5258 at Lowe Avenue in the 1940s (not sure of main street, perhaps 79th?)”, filename img031.jpg, is most likely 79th Street looking east. The current Google streetview background is a close match, and historical maps concur. The high bridge is the CRI&P mainline (now Metra), the mid level is the C&WI with tenant C&EI and others with trackage rights (now Union Pacific), and the 79th CSL under all that at street level.
Thanks!
I believe the DC Transit streetcar and bus is at Michigan Ave. and North Capital St. N.E. The plow-pit where the conduit plow is attached to the front of the rear truck of the streetcar and the trolley would pulled down and hooked.
Thanks!
I meant to add that the car is close to the plow pit which is just after the car negotiates the turn.