Trolley Dodger Mailbag, 10-4-2015, Etc.

October 4, 2015April 6, 2016David Sadowski 4 Comments

Updates

We are pleased to present a previously unknown two-color version of a 1936 Chicago Surface Lines brochure about the new streamlined PCC streetcars. This material has been added to our E-book Chicago’ PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available from our Online Store.

Milwaukee Electric Railway (The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Co.) car 1137, westbound on the Rapid Transit Line, 68th Street Bridge, July 22, 1949.

Photo Updates

FYI, we now have an improved version of the TMER&T photo reproduced above, since we have been fortunate enough to acquire the original 1949 4″ x 5″ negative. This has been added to our recent post Traction In Milwaukee.

Three more photos have been added to our post West Towns Streetcars In Black-and-White. One of them shows a West Towns streetcar making the connection with its Chicago Surface Lines counterpart at Lake and Austin.

Reader Mail

The following question was posted to the Chicagotransit Yahoo Group by robyer2000:

I was looking at the letters in The Trolley Dodger about the construction of the reversing loop in the Howard Yard in 1949. The letter from the man at CTA public affairs indicated that before skip stop service trains that terminated at Howard were usually yard put-ins. That seems unlikely, at least since the opening of the State Street Subway in 1943, after which most Jackson Park trains terminated at Howard, other than during owl hours.

My question is this: before they built the reversing loop, just how did they reverse trains at Howard that weren’t put-ins?‎ In rush hours, they were 8 car trains. Where did they switch ends?

I replied:

You must be referring to our recent post Railfan Ephemera.

There is some circa 1975 correspondence between Tom Buck, then Manager of the CTA’s Public Affairs department, and an individual who had asked about a 1949 photo showing the construction of a turnaround loop in the Howard Yard.

The photo is reproduced, along with a brochure detailing the changes brought about by the adoption of A/B “skip-stop” service on the North-South L in 1949.

Previously, there were many trains that terminated at other places such as Wilson.

As Graham Garfield’s web site notes:

North Side “L” service used to be more commonly through-routed into Evanston, with Evanston trains running through to Jackson Park on what’s now the Green Line, from 1913 to 1949. In 1949, the CTA instituted a North-South service revision, at which time the suburban portion was divorced into its own line, running as a shuttle to meet the new North-South trunk line at Howard. Thus was the modern Evanston Route, with the shuttle service at all times and downtown rush hour express service, born.

Starting in 1949, there were a lot more trains terminating at Howard, both from the north and the south. Meanwhile, North Shore Line trains continued to pass through via the Skokie Valley and Shore Line Routes.

Around this time, CTA proposed turning over the Evanston/Wilmette service to the North Shore Line, in exchange for having all NSL service terminate at Howard. As CNS&M already wanted to abandon the Shore Line Route, this proposal went nowhere.

Robyer2000 wrote:

I don’t ever like to doubt Graham, but at least after the State Street Subway opened in 1943, few, if any, day time subway trains went past Howard and‎ fewer still terminated at Wilson unless they were putting in there. Consider there were only 455 steel cars that could operate in the subway and alternate daytime trains ran to Kimball, and assume 10 pct. of the cars were needed for spares, 410 steel cars were available for schedules of which 205 would have been in Howard service. That would be enough for 25 Howard – Jackson Park trains. If the route took 125 minutes round trip with lay over (remember in one direction it had to make all stops from Indiana to Congress), that would have been a steel train to Howard every 5 minutes, or a total of only 24 trains an hour through the subway. Even if I am wrong with my assumptions or my arithmetic, how wrong can I be?

I have seen many pictures of Howard Street Express Via Subway t:rains over the years, but never one signed Evanston Express via Subway, although I know it was an available route on the sign curtain because I have one.

Additionally, that red brochure the CTA issued on the opening of the subway indicated Jackson Park trains would terminate at Howard, except after midnight.

I know too that after 1943 there were Evanston Express via “L” Loop trains that circled the Loop at least many of which ran express south of Loyola and which presumably had wooden consists.

So the question remains, what was the operation for reversing trains at Howard before the reversing loop was built?

I know that what became the loop track at Howard Yard terminated in a bumping post at the landfill to Evanston before the loop was built by tunneling across the landfill. If they used that track to reverse ends, the trains must have had to go through the yard switches to that track, reverse ends and then return through the yard switches.

I replied:

Hopefully, someone here will know the answer.

If they did in fact use the yard track to change ends, they either would have needed personnel at both ends of the train, ready to reverse course, or the motorman would have had to walk through the train to do so, making it more difficult to maintain tight schedules.

The City realized that operating the subway with the 455 steel cars (there was actually a 456th but it was an older, experimental one, not part of the 4000s fleet) was not the optimal situation, but it was enough to get service going in the State Street subway in 1943.

Of course, they still had the “L” route to the Loop, so there were many additional wood car trains going that way besides.

M. E. answered:

I’m averse to posting in threads, but I want to chime in about the L turnaround at Howard St.

I grew up on Green St. south of 63rd. Between our residence and the L, the city tore down all the houses to make a parking lot for businesses on 63rd St. So I had a bird’s-eye view of the L.

Plus I rode the L a lot, by myself, when I was young. These days that’s a no-no, but back then it was safe.

The timing for all this was the late 1940s, after the State St. subway opened. I don’t remember seeing wooden cars on the Englewood L.

I rode the Englewood/Ravenswood L a lot, all the way to Lawrence and Kimball and back. I don’t think I ever changed to the Jackson Park L to go north past Belmont.

As an aside, I also remember wooden cars on the Kenwood L sharing the track with south side steel cars between Indiana and 18th St.

I distinctly remember that the Jackson Park L went north only to Howard. Not into Evanston.

Also, I remember being surprised one day by seeing that the CTA built a loop north of Howard to reverse direction. I don’t exactly remember when that was, just that I was surprised by it.

Given that the Jackson Park L terminated at Howard, and there was no reversing loop yet, there are several possibilities:

(1) The Rapid Transit system put two crewmen on every Jackson Park train — one at the south end, the other at the north end. This would have made it simple to reverse at Howard (as well as at 63rd and Stony Island). But very expensive to operate. This would also have had to be true of any other stub-ending L line with long trains.

(2) At Howard, trains pulled in from the south, changed crew at the station, and took off again heading south, all within a very short time. This seems not too feasible because it would probably delay Evanston and CNS&M trains from using the station.

(3) Suppose the trains proceeded north of Howard into the yard. Perhaps a new crew boarded the south end of the northbound train (which I want to call Train 1) at the Howard station. Then Train 1 pulled straight into the yard. The new crew at the south end took over and brought Train 1 back into Howard station heading south. Then at Howard the northbound crew got off.

(4) Train 1 arrived from the south at Howard. Its crew got off, and walked to the south end of the platform. Two other crews, assigned only to work at Howard, boarded Train 1 — one crew at the north end of the train, the other crew at the south end. These two crews took the train into the yard, reversed direction, and brought Train 1 south to the Howard station. There, the “road” crew, which had previously walked to the south end of the platform, re-boarded Train 1 and took it south from Howard. After that, the two Howard-only crews repeated to handle subsequently arriving trains from the south.

The more I look at these possibilities, I like #4 the best.

When I use the term “crew”, I mean motorman. That’s because on L trains back then, there were conductors between every car. Yes, really. Apparently there was no central control for opening and closing doors, so one conductor could control only his car’s doors. Also, every conductor from rear to front had to ring a bell twice to indicate all was clear to proceed. Those bells rang in each car, one at a time, from rear to front.

Furthermore, to my recollection, the longest trains through the subway had six cars. Not eight. For six cars there were five conductors. Another reason I say six cars is that station platforms were lengthened to accommodate eight cars. Those longer sections were narrower (not as deep) as the original platforms. In fact, the northmost track at the 63rd and Loomis terminal was extended over Loomis to accommodate eight-car trains. By that time there were no more double-deck buses on Loomis to preclude extending the L structure over the street.

Also, there were no married pairs of steel cars at that time. I remember seeing one-car trains on Sunday mornings. Consider also the Normal Park branch. Before it became a shuttle from 69th to Harvard, the Normal Park car coupled onto the back of an Englewood train. West of Harvard, people on the tracks coupled or uncoupled the Normal Park car, which had its own motorman and conductor. With a maximum of six cars, this means an Englewood train west of Harvard would have had only five cars max, so that the Normal Park car became the sixth car.

I have seen pictures of two-car Normal Park trains, but I never saw that personally.

I concede it’s possible that there were six cars on Englewood trains, plus one Normal Park car, total seven cars. I’m just not sure.

Everything I say here is based on 65-year-old memories. I may have some facts wrong, but I simply don’t know.

Then, robyer2000 wrote:

Thank you for your post. It is fascinating to me to hear your memories.

They in fact used 8 car trains, but due to the door control issues you mentioned, the furthest front and back doors were not used so an 8 car train could berth at a platform which would be a 6 car platform today.

I believe that trains of all 4000 series car only needed what they called a “gateman” every other car because the far doors of a car could be separately controlled at the opposite end of the car. One of the gateman was the conductor, I’m not sure where he stood in a long train. Logically, he would have been at the rear as he had to ascertain the train was properly berthed before opening the doors, but he may have been near the middle if at that time they already had lines drawn on the platform edge to assist the conductor.

Train door control wasn’t instituted until 1952-1954.

Your alternative 2 doesn’t sound possible because of the necessity of moving the train to the Southbound platform at Howard.

And then, M. E. wrote:

Some things I thought of after sending my last note:

Exit doors on 4000-series steel cars were at the ends of the cars. So at any coupled cars, there were exit doors at the rear of the first car and exit doors at the front of the second car. The conductor assigned to that location stood outside, over the coupling, and operated controls for the exit doors immediately to either side of him. The conductor could see the unloading and loading activity at each of the two exit doors, so he knew when all that activity was finished. He then rang the bell twice to indicate that his station was clear. As anyone can imagine, during winter the conductor had a very cold job.

The rearmost conductor was the first to ring the bells twice, then the second rearmost conductor, and so on to the frontmost conductor, who was stationed between cars one and two.

Because there was no conductor at the rear of the train, nor one at the front, passengers could not use the exit doors at the very rear and the very front. At the front, the motorman’s cabin occupied the right-side exit door area. And the motorman did not operate the left-side front exit door.

There was no public address system on those cars. Each conductor had to enter each of the two cars at his station to announce the next stop.

At that time it was permissible to walk between cars. Every car had doors at the ends of the cars that passengers could open to change cars. For safety, over the coupling area there were extended metal plates to walk on, and there were chains at each side of the walkway. (In effect, cars were connected not only with couplers but with chains too.) There were three chains vertically on each side of the walkway, from about knee height up to below chest height.

Unlike in the 6000-series cars, there was no railfan seat at the front opposite the motorman. As I recall, in 4000-series cars the seats closest to the exit doors were side-facing, and there was a solid partition between the seats and the exit door area. The only way to watch the track ahead was to stand at the front, next to the motorman’s cabin, and look through the glass in the end-facing door. Yes, there was a front-facing window in the exit door area, but that window was blocked by the route sign on the front of the train. The sign itself was wooden and was hung onto grillwork that spanned the window.

Earlier I mentioned another cold winter job: Coupling and uncoupling Normal Park cars to the rear of Englewood trains. Not only was it cold, it was also dangerous, because it was close to third rails. I cannot imagine the Environmental Protection Agency ever permitting such work today.

What became of the Normal Park car’s motorman and conductor? After a northbound run from 69th to the Englewood line west of Harvard, the Normal Park motorman likely detrained at Harvard, walked downstairs, across to the other side, and up to the south platform. Then he waited for the next southbound Englewood train, boarded it, and took his position in the last car, the one destined for Normal Park. Meanwhile, the northbound Normal Park conductor would have to stay with the Englewood train to be assigned to the newly coupled cars. In the southbound direction, the conductor assigned between the rearmost two cars on Englewood trains would therefore go to Normal Park after the uncoupling.

CSL Work Car Info

Following up on our earlier series about Chicago Surface Lines Work Cars (Part One here, Part Two there), Andre Kristopans writes:

I am sending you eight scans for your viewing (and distributing) pleasure. Four hand-written ones were copied from Jim Buckley’s notes in Roy Benedict’s possession by me years ago. The two lists of trailers were made from CTA records.You notice it goes back to 1914, and includes cars never r# by CSL.

Here is some more stuff:

Salt Cars
AA1 17266 12/27/55 ex 1430
AA2 17266 12/27/55 ex 1431
AA3 13266 08/02/51 ex 1433
AA4 13266 10/26/51 ex 1435
AA5 13266 07/03/51 ex 1437
AA6 13266 12/17/51 ex 1440
AA7 17266 09/08/55 ex 1441
AA8 19141 05/17/58 ex 1443
AA9 18181 09/27/56 ex 1444
AA10 16283 02/18/55 ex 1445
AA11 13266 10/26/51 ex 1446
AA12 16283 09/09/54 ex 1447
AA13 16283 09/09/54 ex 1448
AA14 16283 10/07/54 ex 1459
AA15 13266 01/07/52 ex 1462
AA16 13266 01/25/52 ex 1474
AA17 13266 10/30/51 ex 1475
AA18 13266 11/06/51 ex 1482
AA19 13266 01/07/52 ex 1483
AA20 16283 10/07/54 ex 1488
AA21 16283 05/26/55 ex 1492
AA22 13266 08/02/51 ex 1493
AA23 16283 09/09/54 ex 1496
AA24 16283 09/09/54 ex 1501
AA25 17266 09/08/55 ex 1502
AA26 19141 05/17/58 ex 1107
AA27 19141 05/17/58 ex 1142
AA28 18181 12/14/56 ex 1145
AA29 18181 12/14/56 ex 1166
AA30 17266 12/27/55 ex 1183
AA31 17266 09/08/55 ex 1198
AA32 18181 12/14/56 ex 1205
AA33 17266 12/27/55 ex 1213
AA34 16283 10/07/54 ex 1215
AA35 12603 02/09/51 ex 1219
AA36 19141 05/17/58 ex 1220
AA37 19141 05/17/58 ex 1224
AA38 18181 09/27/56 ex 1231
AA39 16283 09/23/54 ex 1235
AA40 13266 08/10/51 ex 1239
AA41 13266 11/06/51 ex 1240
AA42 13266 11/21/51 ex 1241
AA43 16283 10/07/54 ex 1243
AA44 13266 10/05/51 ex 1248
AA45 12391 08/24/50 ex 1249
AA46 17266 12/27/55 ex 1250
AA47 13266 10/26/51 ex 1252
AA48 13266 07/20/51 ex 1255
AA49 14175 05/27/52 ex 1259
AA50 17266 12/27/55 ex 1260
AA51 17266 12/27/55 ex 1266
AA52 17266 09/08/55 ex 1277
AA53 19141 05/17/58 ex 1302
AA54 18181 12/14/56 ex 1303
AA55 16283 11/10/54 ex 1304
AA56 17266 12/27/55 ex 1305
AA57 18181 12/14/56 ex 1306
AA58 18181 09/27/56 ex 1307
AA59 18181 09/27/56 ex 1308
AA60 17266 12/27/55 ex 1309
AA61 18181 09/27/56 ex 1310
AA62 18181 09/27/56 ex 1311
AA63 10218 03/11/59 ex 1374 to ERHS
AA64 16283 11/10/54 ex 1451
AA65 15451 04/05/54 ex 1453
AA66 19141 05/17/58 ex 1454
AA67 13266 08/17/51 ex 1455
AA68 13266 12/17/51 ex 1457
AA69 18181 12/14/56 ex 1458
AA70 15451 07/17/54 ex 1463
AA71 13266 08/02/51 ex 1465
AA72 19209 02/28/58 ex 1467 to ERHS
AA73 16283 09/27/56 ex 1468
AA74 16283 11/10/54 ex 1471
AA75 18181 09/27/56 ex 1472
AA76 19141 05/17/58 ex 1477
AA77 18181 09/27/56 ex 1478
AA78 17266 12/27/55 ex 1480
AA79 15451 04/05/54 ex 1481
AA80 16283 09/09/51 ex 1484
AA81 18181 12/14/56 ex 1487
AA82 13266 07/20/51 ex 1489
AA83 16283 10/07/54 ex 1494
AA84 15451 02/17/54 ex 1495
AA85 18181 09/27/56 ex 1497
AA86 18181 12/14/56 ex 1498
AA87 13266 01/25/52 ex 1499
AA88 13266 07/03/51 ex 1500
AA89 16283 09/09/54 ex 1503
AA90 18181 09/27/56 ex 1504
AA91 17266 09/08/55 ex 1545 /48 10143
AA92 17266 12/27/55 ex 2826
AA93 19141 05/17/58 ex 2841
AA94 13266 08/17/51 ex 2842
AA95 10218 06/18/59 ex 2843 to ERHS
AA96 17266 12/27/55 ex 2844
AA97 19141 05/17/58 ex 2845
AA98 10218 12/05/58 ex 2846 to ERHS
AA99 none 08/20/48 ex 2847 (replaced with another retired car from AFR 10412)
AA99 2nd 18181 06/06/56 ex 5031
AA100 13266 07/03/51 ex 2848
AA101 18181 12/14/56 ex 2849
AA102 13266 08/10/51 ex 2851
AA103 15451 02/17/54 ex 2852
AA104 18181 12/14/56 ex 2853
AA105 15451 02/17/54 ex 2854
AA106 13266 10/11/51 ex 2855
AA107 13266 01/25/52 ex 2856
1466 13059 03/09/51
2626 13059 /51
4001 T12 /53 to shed; from Pass 1948 S10143
7001 T12 /53 to shed; from Pass 1948 S10143

AA1-AA52 to salt cars 1930-31, AA53-AA62 01/34, AA6306/33; AA1-AA25 r# 10/1/41, AA26-AA90 r# 04/15/48

additional salt car conversions:
1122 scr 04/23/37
1188 scr 04/30/37
1201 return to passenger 3/6/43
1208 return to passenger 3/4/43
1211 destroyed 1/30/39 111th/Sacramento vs GTW, scr 3/8/39
1212 return to passenger 2/20/43
1223 return to passenger 4/11/43
1225 return to passenger 3/4/43
1226 r# 1357 1937, return to passenger 5/15/43
1228 return to passenger 5/29/43
1229 return to passenger 3/27/43
1234 return to passenger 3/5/43
1238 return to passenger 5/15/43
1244 return to passenger 3/12/43
1245 return to passenger 3/8/43
1251 return to passenger 5/9/43
1253 r# 1257 1937, return to passenger 5/11/43
1254 return to passenger 6/11/43
1257 r# 1253 1937, r# 1385 1937, return to passenger 3/11/43
1280 return to passenger 1/13/44
1286 return to passenger 7/3/43
1466 to instruction car 1/13/13
1486 to instruction car 9/30/12, sold 11/12/17 to Tri-City Ry (IA)

Interestingly, Andre’s information shows that CSL Mail Car H2, pictured as being operable and in its original paint scheme in 1938 (see our post Chicago Surface Lines Work Cars – Part 1), was apparently scrapped in 1942. This explains why H2 was not used in the 1943 parade celebrating the opening of the State Street Subway, or in the one day revival of street railway post office service for a convention in 1946.

Andre also wrote:

You have mentioned several times the B&OCT line that runs along the Eisenhower Xway. A couple of items of note: 1) The B&OCT ownership extends to Madison St, where SOO ownership started. CGW’s started at Desplaines Ave Jct. 2) Note I said B&OCT – this is still the legal owner of all CSX track north and west of Clark Jct in Gary. In fact, B&O still has its own employees, train service and others, and in a really odd twist, is the legal owner of a substantial number of CSX’s new GE locomotives!

Finally, for a while in the late 1950’s, B&OCT used the old L tracks from Desplaines to west of Central while their right-of-way was being dug out. Considering that this was light rail to begin with, and well worn at that, it must have been somewhat frightening to run a freight train thru there!

I replied:

Very interesting information. Wasn’t there some steam train type commuter rail service out to Forest Park along these lines?

I still wonder just why CTA paid the CA&E $1m for their fixed assets between Laramie and DesPlaines Avenue in 1953.

They didn’t buy the land, which I think was bought by the state for the highway project. They didn’t buy the Forest Park terminal, either. CA&E still had at least a partial ownership in this when passenger service was suspended in 1957 (I think Cook County had bought some for the highway project).

So, what did CTA buy other than some worn rail, signals, roadbed, stations, etc. that were all going to be replaced within a few years anyway?

Andre wrote:

Basically they bought the right to continue running to Desplaines after the line was rebuilt. Otherwise, if CA&E still owned it, the state would have been dealing with CA&E, and if CA&E just said “screw it”, the Congress L would have ended at Laramie. Remember, we are dealing with accounting stuff here. What was there then wasn’t worth much, though the ROW was probably CA&E owned, which CTA then bought and sold/traded to the state for where the L is today.

Back in the days of the “primordial ooze” there was service on the B&OCT out to Forest Park. This was part of the Randolph St business and the line out 16th St to Harlem. But it was all gone by early 1900’s, especially after the Met L was built.

SOO did run a more-or-less commuter round trip for many years, actually a local from I think Waukesha that ran at the right time.

We thank all our contributors. Keep those cards and letters coming in.

-David Sadowski

Historic Chicago Buses

September 8, 2015September 9, 2015David Sadowski 8 Comments

CTA Marmon-Harrington trolley bus 9620 at the Cicero/24th terminal on July 3, 1967. (Stephen M. Scalzo Photo)

While our main interest is in electric transit (streetcars, light rail, rapid transit and interurbans), from time to time we get requests to show bus pictures. We don’t have many, but we figure it’s time to make good on our promise to show what we do have.

Buses have been an important part of Chicago’s transit scene since the 1920s, when the Chicago Motor Coach Company began using them.

Whether you call them trolley buses, trolley coaches, or trackless trolleys, rubber-tired buses with overhead wires were used in Chicago from 1930 to 1973 and were very popular. I have fond memories of riding them as a kid, since I lived near Grand, Fullerton, North Avenue and several other such northwest side routes.

Despite an internal CTA study that showed trolley buses were very profitable in the early 1950s, the agency gradually phased them out between 1959 and 1973. (You can read more about trolley buses here.)

They remain in use in half a dozen North American cities to this day.

It is not widely known, but the Illinois Railway Museum has an operating trolley bus line and actually has six Chicago trolley buses in its collection, in addition to some from other cities.

In our recent E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available in our Online Store, we discuss how Chicago transitioned to an all-bus surface fleet.

From 1930 to 1947, the Chicago Surface Lines believed in “Balanced Transit,” where streetcars were best for the heaviest routes, trolley buses for the medium sized ones, and gas buses for the lightest routes. The 1937 “Green Book” study commissioned by the City of Chicago, following national trends, envisioned replacing about half of the streetcar system with buses. However, the report, mainly written by Philip Harrington, who became the first head of the Chicago Transit Board, governing body of the CTA, also said that in the future, it might be advantageous to replace all the streetcars with buses.

If not for World War II, Chicago might have undergone a more orderly transition to buses over a longer period of time. But the delays caused by wartime shortages and the Great Depression meant that much of CSL’s rolling stock was quite old by the end of the war.

There was a pent-up need for change, and it should therefore be no surprise that as soon as CTA was created in 1945, they pressed CSL and the bankruptcy courts that controlled it to order large numbers of buses in addition to the 600 PCCs that were purchased for the busiest lines. (You can view the original CSL/CTA delivery records for those 600 streetcars further on in this post.)

Although CTA did not take direct control until October 1, 1947, they felt they had been given a mandate to make transit improvements immediately. Therefore, they “stage managed” equipment orders and actually dictated on what routes the new equipment was used on.

During this period, many CSL routes received extensions to areas of the city that had been developed since the last streetcar lines were built. Express bus routes were also started.

Transit unification in Chicago finally became complete when the CTA purchased the assets of the Chicago Motor Coach Company, effective October 1, 1952. CMC was a privately owned bus operator whose routes mainly ran on Chicago’s boulevards and parks. By 1952, they had a fleet of about 600 buses.

The Motor Coach was profitable, while CTA during this period was losing money. CTA felt that CMC was skimming the profitable “cream” off the city’s surface routes, and they wanted desperately to buy them out.

As it happens, the CTA had to pay at least $1m more for Motor Coach than they had wanted to, since they were, after all, a profitable enterprise that was owned by a national company that did not really want to sell.

The CTA applied some “hardball” tactics in the run-up to the sale. They tried to stop accepting transfers from CMC buses, and since there was a fare differential, began collecting the difference between the lower CMC fare and the higher CTA fares when riders did transfer.

In addition, they began competing directly against CMC on the Austin Boulevard route. There was more of this to come, and CMC saw the handwriting on the wall and sold out. After all, they had never actually been operating under a franchise from the City of Chicago, while the CTA, the courts determined, had few constraints on what they could do.

Mayor Martin H. Kennelly made public statements that opposed the sale, although there is some evidence that he was in favor of it privately.

Immediately upon taking over Motor Coach, the CTA raised the fares on those routes so that they matched the CTA’s higher rate.

Perhaps not coincidentally, it was right at the time that the CTA announced their so-called “PCC Conversion Program,” whereby 570 of the 600 Postwar cars were eventually scrapped, and some of the parts recycled for use in new rapid transit cars.

At this point, the CTA had achieved a virtual monopoly on surface transit in Chicago, and no longer had to try and compete with the Motor Coach Company. Interestingly, CTA did not purchase the Motor Coach name, which is why it is now in use by a private operator.

-David Sadowski

PS- For more Chicago trolley bus pictures, check out Tom’s Trolleybus Pix.

CSL trolley buses at a storage yard at Central and Lexington. The Garfield Park “L” is at left.

CSL 6511 and other TDH 4506’s in Garfield Park.

CSL 623 at the North and Cicero garage.

CSL 3405 at Archer and Rockwell.

From the St. Petersburg Tram Collection web site:

The largest group of coaches ordered by CSL from a single builder was 3400-series White 798 buses, 297 units at total. First 40 were delivered in 1944-45 (allocated to CSL by Office of Defence Transportation). In 1946-1948 257 coaches of 3441-3697 series arrived, last 100 were ordered by Chicago Transit Authority and had some improvements, such as marker lights on the roof, brigher interiors with improved lighting. Coaches 3496-3697 were automatic transmission-equipped. The post-war Whites arrived in then new Mercury green and Croydon cream livery and the fleet was centralized at Archer for turns on the new 62X Archer Express service, CSL first limited-stop bus line, which made its debut on October 21, 1946 between the Loop and Midway Airport.

Trolley bus 395 on route 78 – Montrose.

CSL 516, signed for route 57 – Laramie.

Chicago Motor Coach Company 63 on Michigan Avenue, in front of the Fine Arts building.

Chicago Motor Coach Company double decker bus 162.

The cover illustration from a Surface Lines brochure printed in August 1947.

Postwar Chicago PCC Delivery Dates

Thanks to the generosity of Andre Kristopans, we now have copies of the original CSL/CTA records that give exact delivery dates for all 600 Postwar Chicago PCC streetcars. This information has been added to Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story:

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

Chicago Motor Coach’s routes as of 1943.

Chicago Surface Lines Work Cars – Part 2

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015David Sadowski 9 Comments

Work car AA59 at Devon Station (car house) on November 15, 1953. Andre Kristopans gives a scrap date of 1956 for this car. Don’s Rail Photos says, “These cars were built by St. Louis Car in 1903 and 1906 for Chicago Union Traction Co. They are similar to the Robertson design without the small windows. Cars of this series were converted to one man operation in later years and have a wide horizontal stripe on the front to denote this. A number of these cars were converted to sand and salt service and as flangers.” The “Matchbox” 1374 at IRM is part of this same series (1101-1425). Looks like a Postwar PCC behind it.

Celebrating Labor Day, here is the second in a two-part series featuring Chicago Surface Lines work cars. You can find part one here.

Much of what we know about these cars comes from Don’s Rail Photos, a very comprehensive source of information.

As always, if you know more than we do, please share it with us, so we can improve our efforts. You can leave a comment on this post, or e-mail us directly at: thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

We asked Andre Kristopans if it might be possible that CSL streetcar RPO (railway post office) car H2, shown in our previous post, may be the same car also pictured later as money car M201.

Here is his reply:

CSL did a lot of scrapping in the late 30’s, partially in order to “balance the books” after the pre-war PCC’s came. They had to retire an “equivalent value”, which is why a lot of Matchboxes (1100-1400’s) were scrapped around then, along with old work cars, and interestingly some old single-truckers that had been in storage since about 1918 as what would now be called a “contingency fleet”. More than likely H2 went in that purge, though I can’t say for sure.

Sometimes the Surface Lines kept cars in storage for decades, just in case they might be usable for some purpose in the future.

Sweeper E223 is one of the very few pieces of CSL work equipment that have survived. It was purchased by Dick Lukin in 1956 and eventually made its way to the Illinois Railway Museum.

You can read the story of how that came to be here on the excellent Hicks Car Works blog.

Thanks.

-David Sadowski

You can help support our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

This former mail car ended its days as a CSL supply car. Not sure if this is the same car as H201 in our previous post. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

SS1 appears to be a portable substation. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos says, “S3 was built by Chicago Rys in 1911 as 3. It was renumbered S3 in 1913 and became CSL S3 in 1914.” Note the trolley coach at rear.

Don’s Rail Photos says, “L202 was built by Chicago City Ry in 1909 as CCRy C50. It was renumbered L202 in 1913 and became CSL L202 in 1914. It was rebuilt as S343 in 1959 and acquired by Railway Equipment Leasing & Investment Co in 1979. It was acquired by Fox River Trolley Museum in 1983 and restored as L202.”

Sweeper E18 in action. From the Park Theatre in the background, we can tell that this is Lake Street at Austin Boulevard, the west city limits and end of the #16 Lake Street route. There are a couple more photos of the same movie theater in our earlier post West Towns Streetcars in Black-and-White.

E304 at work.

E209 at 69th yards in January 1941. (Vic Wagner Photo)

Sweeper E215.

Sweepers E8 and E7. (Stephen D. Maguire Photo)

Plow E6 on January 9, 1954. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

CSL 701, built by the Pressed Steel Company in 1909. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “These cars were built to the same design as the Pullmans.” (Earl Clark Photo)

Snow plow F305.

Sand car/snow plow D212 at 70th and Ashland.

Home-made snow plows F301 and F304. Chances are these were scrapped prior to the 1947 CTA takeover of CSL.

Don’s Rail Photos says , “E57 was built by Russell in 1930.” (Stephen D. Maguire Photo)

Sweepers E27, E221, “Matchbox” 1362, and sprinkler/plow D4. Don’s Rail Photos says, “E27 was built by McGuire-Cummings as CRys E27. It became CSL E27 in 1914.”

Sweeper E227 in action.

Sweeper E234.

Sweeper E205.

Apparently this photo, which was mis-marked as Chicago, must be from somewhere else. As Andre Kristopans points out, Chicago’s sweepers were all in an E or F series, and the paint scheme of the streetcar at right is not CSL. Perhaps one of our readers can help us figure out where this is from. (Roy Bruce Photo)

Heavy duty sweeper E18 in action. (Stephen D. Maguire Photo)

Sweeper E25 in action on February 5, 1942. (Robert S. Crockett Photo)

L201.

Sand car R202 at South Shops in March 1948. (C. Edward Hedstrom, Sr. Photo)

Sweeper E40 awaiting scrapping at South Shops, with L201 at rear, on February 22, 1955. (C. Edward Hedstrom, Sr. Photo)

Sweeper 0103 on Sloane Avenue in 1941.

While not Surface Lines equipment, electric loco S-104, which CTA inherited from the Chicago Rapid Transit Company, does fit in with the overall theme of this post (labor). Don’s Rail Photos says, “S-104 was built by Baldwin-Westinghouse in August 1920, #53555, as Northwestern Elevated RR S-104. In 1923 it became CRT S-104 and CTA S-104 in 1948. In 1978 it was sold to Toledo Edison Co as 4. It was sold to Rail Foundation in 1996.” This photo was taken in April 1955.

Chicago Surface Lines Work Cars – Part 1

September 5, 2015September 5, 2015David Sadowski 6 Comments

Don’s Rail Photos says, “X4 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1910 as CRys 2. It was renumbered N2 in 1913 and became CSL N2 in 1914. It was rebuilt as X4 in 1946 and rebuilt as S344 in 1958. It was sold to Electric Railway Historical Society in 1963 and donated to Illinois Railway Museum in 1973.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

This is Labor Day weekend, and we could think of no better way to celebrate this than to feature some classic photos of Chicago Surface Lines work cars. We salute both the cars and the hard working employees of the Chicago Surface Lines, who helped make Chicago the world-class city it is today.

This is part one of two parts. We will post another batch of work car photos later this weekend, so watch this space.

CSL was, at its peak, the largest street railway system in the world, and this is reflected in the wide variety of equipment seen here.

While the passenger cars usually get the bulk of attention, any functioning railroad depends on its work cars. Some of these were hand-me-downs, leftovers from a much earlier era that were kept on the property a long time after they were no longer needed for revenue service. In many cases, they were modified over time. One car could have many different careers in its lifetime.

In some cases, cars were saved from the scrap heap simply because they were converted to work service as salt spreaders and the like. Occasionally, such cars have been restored to their former glory by railway museums. An example is the “Matchbox” 1374, which became salt spreader AA63 in 1947. It lasted long enough to be bought by the Electric Railway Historical Society in 1958 and came to the Illinois Railway Museum in 1973, where you can ride it today.

Most of the pictures in today’s post were taken by the late Joe L. Diaz (1924-2002), who worked for the Chicago Surface Lines and did his best to document its operations for posterity.

Joe Diaz was a fixture at Central Electric Railfans’ Association meetings and the like and I remember him well. He was quite a character with his pipe and beret. According to his obituary, he was a veteran who served his country and participated in the D-Day invasion in 1944.

We can be thankful for individuals like Mr. Diaz and others like George Krambles and Bill Hoffman who, through their cameras, did so much to preserve bits of transit history for future generations.

We have tracked down information on some of these cars. Much of what we do know comes from Don’s Rail Photos, a tremendous resource of information that keeps getting better and better.

As always, if you know more than we do, please share it with us, so we can improve our efforts. You can leave a comment on this post, or e-mail us directly at: thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

Some of these cars have already appeared in our earlier blog posts. For example, crane car X3 shows up in Track Work @Clark & Van Buren, 1954 (Feburary 12).

Have a safe and relaxing weekend with your family and friends.

-David Sadowski

PS- Since we began this venture on January 21, we have published 74 posts. Occasionally, we add material to earlier articles. We’ve just added a photo showing construction of the turnback loop at Howard Yard, circa 1949, to our recent post Railfan Ephemera (August 26). There is some interesting correspondence that goes with it.

Over time, we are creating a body of work that people can refer to in the future. This site is run for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. Your help and your participation is an important part of what we do here.

You can help support our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

Andre Krostopans writes:

I am sending you a file copied from CTA accounting records which is a complete listing of streetcar work cars that CTA took over from CSL (on October 1, 1947), along with known retirements. For reasons unknown, the salt cars only had years disposed of listed. (There were also a few transfers.)

Car# – Builder – Year – Built – Date Retired (or scrapped) – Work Order#

ST= Single Truck

Concrete Mixer ST

A1 – CRys – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R

Concrete Mixer Trailer

A202 – Drake – 08 – 05/xx/48 – 10345R

Newspaper ST

B201 – CCRy – 96 – 06/08/50 – 12286R

Coal Trailer ST

C52 – CUT – 01 – 10/12/49 – 11312R
C54 – CUT – 01 – 10/12/49 – 11312R
C61 – CRys – 09 – 11/10/49 – 11526R
C62 – CRys – 09 – 11/10/49 – 11526R
C63 – CRys – 09 – 10/11/49 – 11312R

Sprinkler/Plow

D1 – McGC – 09 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
D2 – McGC – 09 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
D3 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D4 – McGC – 09 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
D5 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D6 – McGC – 09 – 03/19/56 – 17266R
D7 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D8 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D9 – McGC – 09 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
D10 – McGC – 09 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
D201 – McGC – 09 – 03/19/56 – 17266R
D202 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D203 – McGC – 09 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
D204 – McGC – 09 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
D205 – McGC – 09 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
D206 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D207 – McGC – 09 – 03/20/56 – 17266R
D208 – McGC – 09 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
D209 – McGC – 09 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
D210 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D211 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D212 – McGC – 09 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
D213 – McGC – 09 – 11/24/50 – 12556R
D302 – CE – 09 – 07/02/48 – 10483R
D304 – McGC – 09 – 03/19/56 – 17266R

Sweeper ST

E1 – L&F – 95 – 11/24/50 – 12556R
E2 – L&F – 95 – 12/06/51 – 13266R
E3 – L&F – 95 – 11/29/51 – 13266R
E4 – Brill – 95 – 11/16/51 – 13266R
E5 – Brill – 95 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E6 – Brill – 95 – xx/xx/56 – 18181R
E7 – Brill – 95 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E8 – Brill – 95 – 11/16/51 – 13266R
E9 – Brill – 95 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E10 – Brill – 95 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E11 – Brill – 95 – 07/20/51 – 13266R
E12 – Brill – 95 – 07/20/51 – 13266R
E13 – Brill – 95 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E14 – Brill – 95 – 07/20/51 – 13266R
E15 – Brill – 95 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E16 – Brill – 95 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E17 – McG – 95 – 08/12/51 – 13266R
E18 – McG – 95 – 01/25/52 – 13266R
E19 – McG – 95 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E20 – McG – 96 – 07/26/51 – 13266R
E21 – McG – 96 – 02/29/52 – 13266R
E22 – McG – 96 – 11/16/51 – 13266R
E23 – McG – 96 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
E24 – McGC – 06 – 12/23/52 – 14430R
E25 – McGC – 06 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E26 – McGC – 06 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E27 – McGC – 06 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
E28 – McGC – 06 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
E29 – McGC – 08 – 12/17/55 – 17266R
E30 – McGC – 08 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E31 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E32 – McGC – 08 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
E33 – McGC – 08 – 08/02/51 – 13266R
E34 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E35 – McGC – 08 – 03/30/59 – 10218R
E36 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E37 – McGC – 22 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E38 – McGC – 08 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E39 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E40 – McGC – 08 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E41 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E42 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E43 – McGC – 08 – 05/17/58 – 19209R
E44 – McGC – 10 – 02/28/51 – 13011R
E45 – McGC – 20 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E46 – McGC – 20 – 09/27/56 – 17266R
E47 – McGC – 14 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E48 – McGC – 14 – 09/27/56 – 17266R
E49 – McGC – 14 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E50 – McGC – 14 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E51 – McGC – 14 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E52 – McGC – 14 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
E53 – McGC – 20 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E54 – McGC – 20 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E55 – McGC – 20 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E56 – McGC – 20 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E57 – Russell – 30 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
E58 – Russell – 30 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
E201 – McGC – 07 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E202 – McGC – 07 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E203 – McGC – 07 – 11/10/51 – 13266R
E204 – McGC – 07 – 12/23/52 – 14430R
E205 – McG – 95 – 02/09/52 – 13266R
E206 – McG – 95 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E207 – McG – 95 – 07/20/51 – 13266R
E208 – McG – 96 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E209 – McG – 96 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E210 – McG – 96 – 01/25/52 – 13266R
E211 – McG – 96 – 11/21/51 – 13266R
E212 – McG – 96 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E213 – McG – 96 – 09/17/56 – 18181R
E214 – McG – 96 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E215 – McG – 96 – 11/10/51 – 13266R
E216 – McG – 97 – xx/xx/51 – 13266R
E217 – McG – 97 – 12/27/55 – 17266R
E218 – McG – 97 – 09/15/51 – 13266R
E219 – McG – 97 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E220 – McG – 97 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E221 – McGC – 08 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E222 – McGC – 08 – 03/30/59 – 10218R
E223 – McGC – 08 – 08/29/58 – 10218R
E224 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E225 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E226 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E227 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E228 – McGC – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E229 – McGC – 08 – 09/08/55 – 16283R
E230 – McGC – 08 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
E233 – McGC – 11 – 09/27/56 – 18181R
E234 – McGC – 11 – 12/24/52 – 14430R
E235 – McGC – 20 – 05/20/59 – 10218R
E236 – McGC – 20 – 05/20/59 – 10218R
E301 – CE – 93 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
E302 – McG – 94 – 01/25/52 – 13266R
E303 – McG – 95 – 11/16/51 – 13266R
E305 – McGC – 09 – 08/10/51 – 13266R
E306 – McGC – 09 – 09/15/51 – 13266R
E307 – McGC – 11 – 02/09/52 – 13266R
E308 – McGC – 11 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
E309 – McGC – 13 – 09/27/56 – 17266R
E331 – McGC – 07 – 09/15/51 – 13266R
E332 – McG – 96 – 09/27/56 – 18181R

Sweeper

E237 – Russell – 30 – 03/20/59 – 10218R

Plow

F28 – McGC – 24 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
F29 – McGC – 24 – 12/14/56 – 18181R
F30 – CSL – 30 – 05/17/58 – 19209R
F305 – CSL – 30 – 04/28/60 – 10218R

Mail ST

H7 – CUT – 00 – 05/16/49 – 11233R
H201 – CCRy – 07 – 07/02/48 – 10483R
H204 – ? – xx/xx/56 – 16389R

Dirt Trailer ST

I201 – CCRy – 09 – 06/06/56 – 16389R
I202 – CCRy – 09 – 12/26/52 – 14443R
I203 – CCRy – 09 – 06/16/50 – 12286R
I204 – CCRy – 09 – 12/26/52 – 14443R
I205 – CCRy – 09 – 05/27/52 – 14175R
I206 – CCRy – 09 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
I207 – CCRy – 09 – 12/22/55 – 16389R
I208 – ? – 06/16/50 – 12286R
I209 – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
I211 – CCRy – 02 – 12/26/52 – 14443R
I212 – CCRy – 02 – 05/27/52 – 14175R
I213 – CCRy – 02 – 12/26/52 – 14443R
I214 – CCRy – 00 – 05/27/52 – 14175R
I215 – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
I216 – ? – 05/27/52 – 14175R
I217 – ? – 12/26/52 – 14443R
I218 – ? – 07/02/48 – 10483R

Electric Shovel

J1 – Thew 16 – xx/xx/48 – 10345R

Crane

J201 – ? – 08 – 11/12/56 – 18219R
J202 – ? – 08 – xx/xx/73 – 8262G
J203 – ? – 08 – xx/xx/64 – 8946

Crane – Crawler

J2 – Brownhoist – 22 – xx/xx/56 – ?
J205 – Thew – xx/xx/48 – 10345R

Lumber ST

K201 – CCRy – 08 – 12/27/55 – 16389R

Lumber Trailer ST

K251 – CCRy – 08 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
K252 – CCRy – 08 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
K253 – CCRy – 08 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
K254 – CCRy – 08 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
K255 – CCRy – 08 – 12/27/55 – 16389R

Locomotive ST

L1 – CRys – 08 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
L204 – CCRy – 08 – 07/02/48 – 10483R

Locomotive

L201 – CCRy – 08 – 10/02/61 – 11239R
L202 – CCRy – 08 – 06/09/58 to S343 T158
L203 – CCRy – 08 – 05/20/59 – 10218R

Money ST

M201 – CCRy – 07 – 06/16/50 – 12286R

Dump

N1 – Koppel – 11 – 03/17/61 – 10821R
N3 – Diff – 18 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
N4 – Diff – 18 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
N5 – Diff – 18 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
N201 – Diff – 18 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
N202 – Diff – 18 – 06/08/50 – 12286R

Dump Trailer

N51 – OA – 16 – 05/13/58 – 10158R
N52 – OA – 16 – 05/31/55 – 16389R
N53 – OA – 16 – 05/13/58 – 10158R
N54 – OA – 16 – 05/13/58 – 10158R
N55 – OA – 16 – 05/13/58 – 10158R

Meter Test

O1 – CRys – 12 – 06/08/50 – 12286R

Wreck ST

P4 – CUT – ? – 07/02/48 – 10483R
P5 – CUT – 00 – 02/09/51 – 13011R

Wreck Trailer ST

P251 – CCRy – 03 – 05/27/52 – 14175R

Sand ST

R201 – CCRy – 11 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
R202 – CCRy – 11 – 06/18/53 – 15231R

Supply

S1 – CRys – 09 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
S2 – CRys – 09 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
S3 – CRys – 11 – 09/02/55 – 16389R
S4 – CRys – 11 – 06/18/53 – 15231R

S201 – CCRy – 08 – 09/27/56 – 18181R

Supply ST

S51 – CUT – 06 – 10/26/49 – 11312R
S53 – CUT – 06 – 11/25/49 – 11312R
S54 – CUT – 06 – 05/14/51 – 13134R

Cupola Trailer ST

U251 – CCRy – ? – 06/16/50 – 12286R

Line

V201 – CCRy – 07 – 12/14/56 – 18181R

Work

W1 – CUT – 05 – 09/08/55 – 16389R
W3 – CRys – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W4 – CRys – 08 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
W5 – CRys – 08 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W6 – CRys – 08 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
W7 – CRys – 08 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W8 – CRys – 08 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W9 – CRys – 09 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W10 – CRys – 09 – 12/14/56 – 16389R
W11 – CRys – 09 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W12 – CRys – 09 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W13 – CRys – 09 – 05/27/52 – 14175R
W14 – CRys – 09 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W15 – CRys – 09 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W17 – CRys – 09 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W18 – CSL – 46 – (1609) 04/03/55 – 16389R
W201 – CCRy – 07 – 10/21/54 to S317 T63
W202 – CCRy – 07 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
W203 – CCRy – 07 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W204 – CCRy – 07 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
W205 – CCRy – 07 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
W206 – CCRy – 07 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W207 – CCRy – 07 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W208 – CCRy – 07 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W209 – CCRy – 07 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W210 – CCRy – 07 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W211 – CCRy – 07 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W212 – CCRy – 07 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W213 – CCRy – 07 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W214 – CCRy – 07 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W215 – CCRy – 07 – 12/11/54 – 16389R
W216 – CCRy – 08 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W217 – CCRy – 08 – 05/08/51 – 13135R
W218 – CRy – 08 – 12/11/54 – 16389R
W219 – CCRy – 08 – 12/11/54 – 16389R
W220 – CCRy – 08 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W221 – CCRy – 08 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W222 – CCRy – 08 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W223 – CCRy – 08 – 12/31/52 to S309
W224 – CCRy – 08 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
W225 – CCRy – 08 – 11/10/54 – 16389R
W226 – CCRy – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W227 – CCRy – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W230 – CCRy – 01 – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W301 – CCRy – 07 – 11/20/53 to S314 T61
W302 – CCRy – 07 – 12/11/54 – 16389R

Work Trailer

W51 – CRys – ? – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W52 – CRys – ? – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W53 – CRys – ? – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W54 – CRys – ? – 06/18/53 – 15231R
W56 – CSL – 46 – (1636) 12/11/54 – 16389R
W251 – CCRy – ? – xx/xx/55 – 16389R
W252 – CCRy – 07 – 12/11/54 – 16389R

Work ST

W33 – CRys – 07 – 12/26/52 – 14443R

Work Trailer ST

W61 – CRys – 07 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W62 – CRys – 07 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W63 – CRys – 08 – 12/26/52 – 14433R
W64 – CRys – 08 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W65 – CRys – 08 – 02/09/52 – 13266R
W66 – CRys – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W67 – CRys – 08 – 05/17/58 – 19141R
W68 – CRys – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W71 – CRys – 08 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W72 – CRys – 08 – 06/12/50 – 12286R
W73 – CRys – 08 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W74 – CRys – 11 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W77 – CRys – 07 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W78 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W79 – CRys – ? – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W80 – CRys – ? – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W81 – CRys – ? – 12/14/56 – 16389R
W82 – CRys – 13 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W83 – CRys – 13 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W84 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W85 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W86 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W87 – CRys – ? – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W89 – CRys – ? – 10/26/49 – 11312R
W90 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W91 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W92 – CRys – 08 – 01/12/55 – 16389R
W93 – CRys – ? – 05/14/51 – 13134R
W94 – CRys – ? – 12/26/52 – 14433R
W95 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W96 – CRys – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W97 – CRys – ? – 07/02/48 – 10483R
W98 – CRys – 10 – 10/12/49 – 11312R
W99 – CRys – 13 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W100 – CRys – ? – 12/14/56 – 16389R
W101 – CRys – ? – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W102 – CRys – ? – 12/14/56 – 16389R
W261 – CCRy – ? – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W262 – CCRy – 02 – 06/05/50 – 12286R
W263 – CCRy – 00 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W264 – CCRy – 00 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W265 – CCRy – 00 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W268 – CCRy – 00 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W269 – CCRy – 00 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
W270 – CCRy – 00 – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W271 – CCRy – ? – 06/08/50 – 12286R
W299 – CCRy – ? – 07/02/48 – 10483R
W316 – CSC – ? – 07/02/48 – 10483R
W317 – CSL – ? – 06/05/50 – 12286R

Derrick

X1 – CRys – 10 – 03/11/59 – 10218R
X2 – CSL – 17 – 12/27/55 – 16389R
X3 – CSL – 10 – 04/10/59 – 10218R
X4 – CSL – 47 – (N2) 06/09/58 to S344 T158
X201 – CCRy – 07 – 03/30/59 – 10218R

Baggage

Y303 – CE – 11 – 09/27/56 – 18181R

Sweeper Trailer

no# – CSL – ? – xx/xx/56 – 18181R

Salt Cars

AA1 – 17266 – /55
AA2 – 17266 – /55
AA3 – 13266 – /52
AA4 – 13266 – /52
AA5 – 13266 – /52
AA6 – 13266 – /52
AA7 – 17266 – /55
AA8 – 19141 – /58
AA9 – 18181 – /56
AA10 – 16283 – /55
AA11 – 13266 – /52
AA12 – 16283 – /54
AA13 – 16283 – /54
AA14 – 16283 – /54
AA15 – 13266 – /52
AA16 – 13266 – /52
AA17 – 13266 – /52
AA18 – 13266 – /52
AA19 – 13266 – /52
AA20 – 16283 – /54
AA21 – 16283 – /55
AA22 – 13266 – /52
AA23 – 16283 – /54
AA24 – 16283 – /54
AA25 – 17266 – /55
AA26 – 19141 – /58
AA27 – 19141 – /58
AA28 – 18181 – /56
AA29 – 18181 – /56
AA30 – 17266 – /55
AA31 – 17266 – /55
AA32 – 18181 – /56
AA33 – 17266 – /55
AA34 – 16283 – /54
AA35 – 12603 – /52
AA36 – 19141 – /58
AA37 – 19141 – /58
AA38 – 18181 – /56
AA39 – 16283 – /54
AA40 – 13266 – /52
AA41 – 13266 – /52
AA42 – 13266 – /52
AA43 – 16283 – /54
AA44 – 13266 – /52
AA45 – 12391 – /50
AA46 – 17266 – /55
AA47 – 13266 – /52
AA48 – 13266 – /52
AA49 – 14175 – /52
AA50 – 17266 – /55
AA51 – 17266 – /55
AA52 – 17266 – /55
AA53 – 19141 – /58
AA54 – 18181 – /56
AA55 – 16283 – /54
AA56 – 17266 – /55
AA57 – 18181 – /56
AA58 – 18181 – /56
AA59 – 18181 – /56
AA60 – 17266 – /55
AA61 – 18181 – /56
AA62 – 18181 – /56
AA63 – 10218 – /59
AA64 – 16283 – /54
AA65 – 15451 – /54
AA66 – 19141 – /58
AA67 – 13266 – /52
AA68 – 13266 – /52
AA69 – 18181 – /56
AA70 – 15451 – /54
AA71 – 13266 – /52
AA72 – 19209 – /58
AA73 – 16283 – /54
AA74 – 16283 – /54
AA75 – 18181 – /56
AA76 – 19141 – /58
AA77 – 18181 – /56
AA78 – 17266 – /55
AA79 – 15451 – /54
AA80 – 16283 – /54
AA81 – 18181 – /56
AA82 – 13266 – /52
AA83 – 16283 – /54
AA84 – 15451 – /54
AA85 – 18181 – /56
AA86 – 18181 – /56
AA87 – 13266 – /52
AA88 – 13266 – /52
AA89 – 16283 – /54
AA90 – 18181 – /56
AA91 – 17266 – /55 – x-1545 – /48 – 10143
AA92 – 17266 – /55
AA93 – 19141 – /58
AA94 – 13266 – /52
AA95 – 10218 – /59
AA96 – 17266 – /55
AA97 – 19141 – /58
AA98 – 10218 – /58
AA99 – 18181 – /56
AA100 – 13266 – /52
AA101 – 18181 – /56
AA102 – 13266 – /52
AA103 – 15451 – /54
AA104 – 18181 – /56
AA105 – 15451 – /54
AA106 – 13266 – /52
AA107 – 13266 – /52

1466 – 13059 – /51
2626 – 13059 – /51
4001 – T12 /53 to shed; from Pass 1948 S10143
7001 – T12 /53 to shed; from Pass 1948 S10143

Thanks, Andre, for sharing that with us. This blog is a collaborative effort with our readers. We share the information that we have, and you in turn have been kind enough to share some things with us. The result is that we all know more than we did before.

Don’s Rail Photos says, “L201 was built by Chicago City Ry in 1909 as CCRy C49. It was renumbered L201 in 1913 and became CSL L201 in 1914.”

Although not marked, this may be L203. Don’s Rail Photos says, “L203 was rebuilt from a passenger car.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

3286 shares the repair bay with two other cars at Noble Station (car house). (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Instruction car 1466 on Franklin at Congress. Don’s Rail Photos says, “1466 was built by CUT in 1890 as CUT 4509. It was rebuilt as 1467 in 1911 and became CSL 1466 in 1914. It was converted to a training car. It was used on the grade out of the Washington St. tunnel to help students learn car control on hills. It was scrapped on March 9, 1951.” One of our earliest posts showed a similar car engaged in just such tunnel training. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos notes, “X3 was built by Chicago Rys in 1909 as CRys 66. It was renumbered W16 in 1913 and became CSL W16 in 1914. It was rebuilt as X3 in 1928.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Crane X2. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos says, “L203 was rebuilt from a passenger car.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos says the “Sunbeam” was built by Pullman in 1891. It was used as a party car, later for storage. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Sprinkler D61. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

D201. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Sprinkler D4. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

A snow plow, converted from two sprinkler cars, at Elston Avenue Station (car house). (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

H201. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

W227 with short, single-truck trailer carrying a load of motor armetures at Burnside Station (car house). (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

A closeup view of the tracks around Burnside Station circa 1946.

S1. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Supply car 2765.

Sand car R201 at South Shops. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Money car M201. Its days as a US Mail car long gone, M201 has traded its resplendent white livery for utilitarian green paint. At South Shops. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

S4. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

5404 at South Shops, loaded with transfers printed there, bound for Noble Street Station. Though just rebuilt, this car is in work service, not passenger service. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

E53 at North Avenue Station (car barn). (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Plow/sprinkler D205. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

W-203 northbound on a curve north of 104th Street, about to pass 6248 outbound on South Deering to 112th and Torrence. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

S-53 at West Shops. An unusual 3/4 closed, 1/4 open car. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Sweeper E27. Don’s Rail Photos says, “E27 was built by McGuire-Cummings as CRys E27. It became CSL E27 in 1914.” Joe L. Diaz Photo)

S2. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos says, “1457 was built by CUTCo in 1900 as CUT 4500. It was rebuilt as 1457 in 1911 and became CSL 1457 in 1914. It was rebuilt as salt car AA68 in 1948.”

Dump car N201. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “N201 was built by Arthur Koppel Car Co in 1915.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

S4.

Crane car X201 passes by the Hotel Luzerne, which was located at 2004 N. Clark. The cigar store on the corner urges you to “call for Philip Morris.” Johnny Roventini (1910-1998) played the part of Johnny the Bellboy for the cigarette brand for more than 40 years, issuing this famous call more than one million times by his own estimation. This pitchman became one of the first “living trademarks.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Except for a ceremonial event in 1946, the era of Chicago streetcar RPOs ended on November 21, 1915, less than two years into the CSL era. This photo was taken on October 14, 1938 by Edward Frank Jr., who described the car’s colors as tannish yellow gold with gold letters and trimmings. The location is the Lincoln Avenue car barn (aka “station”). According to Don’s Rail Photos, “H2 was built by West Chicago Street Ry in 1895 as 3. It became CRys 3 and renumbered H2 in 1913. It became CSL H2 in 1914.” Presumably it survived at least until 1938 as some sort of work car.

Chicago PCC Q&A with Andre Kristopans

August 19, 2015March 20, 2016David Sadowski 5 Comments

The cover of the 1957 version of Chicago’s Mass Transportation System, which is included as a Bonus Feature of our E-book.

Andre Kristopans is well-known in railfan circles as one of the most knowledgeable transit historians in the United States, certainly the foremost concerning buses used here in Chicago. He recently shared a complete list of Chicago PCC delivery dates and scrapping dates with The Trolley Dodger, which we added to our e-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available through our Online Store.

E-book Update Service

One advantage an electronic book has over a printed one is that it can be improved upon. We have always intended that to be the case with Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story.

If you have already purchased a copy of this e-book, and wish to get the most updated version, we can send you a link so that you can download it at no additional charge via Dropbox. Dropbox is a free service that allows people to transfer large files via the Internet. The book is about an 850mb download. Even better, as further improvements are made the updated files can be automatically downloaded onto your computer via Dropbox if you wish.

Besides the list of delivery and scrapping dates, we have also added about 25 more photos to the book since it was first published, plus a system map for the Chicago Motor Coach Company. We have additional updates planned for the future, and want to make sure that whenever you purchase your copy, you will be assured of having access to these updates as they become available.

If you would prefer not to download 850mb and would prefer a new disc with the most current version, simply keep what you already have, and we can send you an updated DVD data disc for just $5. If you are interested in these offers, drop us a line at:

thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

Sales of this and our other fine products help support the original research we feature here on The Trolley Dodger blog. You can also make a donation via our Online Store.

All the images used in this post are recent additions to our E-book.

Thanks.

-David Sadowski

The cover illustration from a Surface Lines brochure printed in August 1947.

Chicago PCC Q&A with Andre Kristopans

Studying Andre’s list brought up a number of different issues, which we discussed with him in the following exchange:

DS: Were the cars that had fareboxes installed the same ones that were converted to one man, or did some two-man cars also get some?

AK: All cars that were going to be around for a while got at least the pedestals for fareboxes installed. One thing I am not certain of is when CTA decided to get rid of the fare registers and replace them with (used) J-boxes. I know the buses all got fareboxes around this time, but I don’t know if, or when, the 2-man PCC’s did. Would have been by conductor’s station.

DS: What is a J-box?

AK: J-boxes were the 1940’s fareboxes that were only able to take quarters and tokens. Made by Johnson Farebox as model J, they actually showed up at CTA in around 1950 as they were bought second-hand from somewhere unknown (and later sold off after CTA went to exact fare in 1969!). The more modern ones from the 1960’s that were bigger and took all types of coins were Johnson type K’s. Johnson later became Keene Farebox.

DS: Also, how would this list be affected by the postwar PCCs that were renumbered? (The list is in my e-book—there were 13 such cars.)

I believe the renumberings were caused by CTA having entered into contracts with St. Louis Car Company that specified certain car numbers for shipment as part of the so-called “conversion program.” Then, for whatever reasons, CTA wanted to send a different car instead of one that was specified, so they took another one and renumbered it to fit the sequence of cars being shipped.

AK: Exactly. CTA had no official record of any renumberings. What it was loaded on the flatcar with was how it was entered on the property card.

DS: Later on, I think the contract wording was changed in later orders so that CTA was allowed to substitute.

AK: The numbers are very specific in the AFR’s – these cars under this AFR*.

DS: We already know what the renumberings were. Roy Benedict had the information, which had been compiled by the late James J. Buckley.

Most of the cars were renumbered in 1956-57, but there were also a couple in 1954.

So there would be a “first” 7210 and a “second” 7210, etc. etc., and I would expect that the information on your list of scrappings would somehow correlate with the renumbering list.

AK: Remember though as far as property accounting department was concerned, this NEVER HAPPENED! This was done by S&E** at South Shops on an ad-hoc basis, with downtown never being the wiser! Some railroads were notorious for this, Milwaukee Road being probably the worst offender, as when HQ sent a work order to shops to “scrap 800 and 801”, shops would find two dead ones, renumber them 800 and 801, renumber the “real” 800 and 801 to the numbers they picked out, and sent a notice back to HQ “800, 801 scrapped”. Now where it got really funny was when they picked two replacements that were of a different though similar model, and the “rescued” ones stuck around for years to railfans’ delight!

DS: If as I recall the later contracts with St. Louis Car Co. were revised to allow for substitutions of different cars, this would mean somebody was aware of the renumberings. I think I read this when I studied the Chicago Transit Board minutes from the 1950s.

AK: Maybe, but nothing was ever recorded on the property cards, which I copied.

DS: Interesting that car 7213, the last car to run, actually was shipped off to St. Louis as part of the contract that built the 1-50 cars, while the other 25 cars that were still on the property simply were sold for scrap.

It is also interesting that the 4391, the one postwar car that was saved, was designated for scrapping along with one other car, while an additional 20 were scrapped as part of a later order.

AK: Bus scrapping is an even more convoluted matter – why a vehicle goes on a specific AFR is sometimes hard to understand. I suspect 4391 was retired “early” because it had some sort of failure. Not necessarily anything major at that point, but something happened to it. When IRM restored it to operation, they probably had to fix more than a few problems, and one of them was likely the reason car was retired.

DS: Is it possible that CTA held off on selling the final 20 until they were certain that there was no chance that CTA would get control of part of the CA&E? I know there was a 1956 plan where service would have been temporarily operated between Forest Park and Wheaton using some prewar PCCs, with construction of a turning loop in Wheaton.

AK: That was one really sad episode. CTA was willing, CA&E was willing, but not without subsidy, and the towns along the line could not agree on who would pay how much. The off-line town like Addison refused to pay anything, but online towns said residents of off-line towns used the line too, so those towns should pay too. So in the end nothing happened.

DS: CTA’s efforts to operate a portion of CA&E continued through 1959. The idea was to use PCCs for about 18 months, which would have bought the CTA time to order new rapid transit cars that presumably would have been able to operate downtown over the new Congress rapid transit line.

I assume these cars would have been versions of the 1-50 single car units, with possibly more plush seats and high-speed motors.

AK: Most likely not “high speed” as CTA would have most likely run all-stops, with a stop every mile or so. Basically would have been just another “L” route.

DS: CTA spent several years working with various manufacturers to test and develop high-speed trucks. It seems that construction of the Congress rapid transit line led to a lot of interest, among the public and various officials, in having rapid transit cars that could go as fast as the autos on an expressway.

CTA held a public hearing in the early part of 1958 in conjunction with the purchase of the final 100 cars in the PCC conversion program, and the only negative comments were that these were not going to be high-speed cars. CTA officials pointed out that high-speed cars would only provide a small amount of time savings over regular cars, and that they did not want to waste the perfectly good motors being salvaged from 100 PCC streetcars.

CTA’s experiments with high-speed motors continued after this and eventually resulted in the 2000-series cars delivered in 1964.

If CTA had been able to extend service over a larger portion of the abandoned North Shore Line, they would have ordered more cars, high-speed versions of the single car units, pretty much the same as the 1-4 cars used to provide initial service on the Skokie Swift.

I guess the high-speed motors weren’t really perfected yet when CTA might have taken over portions of the CA&E. Simply extending service west of Forest Park using existing equipment would have been the simplest and made the most sense. Not sure why CTA felt it necessary to propose operating it as a feeder operation using PCCs.

AK: Here is another tidbit:

The Pullmans came with B-3 trucks and GE motors and St Louises with B-2’s and WH motors. Before they were shipped to SLCC the Pullmans and St Louis swapped trucks and motors as the B-3’s were considered less suitable for high speed operation. However, only 288 B-2’s were actually used, as 6489-6490 which should have had B-2’s came with B-3’s.

Later, of course, B-3’s were indeed used under 6491-6720 and 5-50, though it is true that these cars did indeed vibrate more at higher speeds, such as on the O’Hare Extension.

As far as I can figure the following groups were swapped out:

4102-4371 (270) swapped with 7115-7274 (160), 4372-4411 (38), 7045-7114 (69), plus trucks/motors from the three retired cars 7078, 4381, 4394

4062-4101 (40) swapped with 4052-4061, 7035-7044 (20), with last 20 going with original trucks/motors as trades on 6491-6510. Now where the two extra sets of GE motors for 6489-6490 came from is a good question, possibly spares.

Later “L” cars, 6511-6720 and 1-50 came with B-3’s and GE’s, except of course 1-4, of which 1-2 were GE, 3-4 were WH. Also, for a while 6483-6488 had GE motors, too, swapped with 23-26, 29-30 when they went into Skokie Swift service.

DS: If you read the narrative about how PCC 4391 was saved (which is also reproduced in CERA Bulletin 146):

http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2009/01/erhs.html

It says that there were 18 cars that were in operable condition at the end of service, which CTA put out for bid, and two cars that were not in operating condition, which were a separate bid. You could bid on them as a whole lot or otherwise.

That would seem to imply that 4391 was one of the two cars that were inoperable. Maybe the narrative about the 18 cars really should read 20 cars, to match your list.

AK: I do believe so!

DS: However, according to CERA B-146, car 4391 was operated on the last day, as the third-to last car in service.

AK: Just because a car ran on the last day does not mean the motorman didn’t put in a defect ticket after pulling in.

DS: According to the narrative, the ERHS crowd wanted to buy 4391 from the scrap dealer, who had failed in his attempt to sell the cars to Mexico City. His next idea was to scrap the cars and sell components to Belgium.

CTA still had some damaged cars that it needed to sell, and so the ERHS people bought 7218 and swapped it for the 4391.

The 7218 appears on your list but with a somewhat higher work order than the final batch of PCCs operated on Wentworth. Did the CTA change their numbering sequence for these work orders at some point?

AK: Yes – after the AFR’s in the 19000’s, they went back to 10000’s.

DS: You had also at one point mentioned that you heard that part of the 7078 body (damaged in a May 25, 1950 crash with a gasoline truck, the so-called “Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster” of the book by the same name) was actually used to put another car together that was seriously damaged. Any idea which car this might have been?

AK: The one that wrapped itself around the safety island at State/Root (the number escapes me at the moment).

DS:

Found this online in a forum:

“Parts from 7078 were used to rebuild car 7205, which wrapped itself around a pole at State and Root the previous summer (1949) after splitting a switch.”

“I often wonder which of its parts were used to rebuild 7205. That car suffered a gash right in the middle by the center exit doors resulting in a badly bent frame. Maybe they cut the frame off 7078 as well as some body panels and grafted them onto 7205.”

AK:

Probably correct, in that 7078 basically burned above the floor line and the frame appears to have survived relatively intact. Also, in that era (and really much later, into the 1980’s) repairs were done locally and if things didn’t come out exactly “as new”, that was not a problem. For instance, there was a Gary Transit fishbowl that got into a major wreck of some sort in the late 70’s and when they fixed it (themselves), they couldn’t quite get the left side of the body straight, so it had a definite “dip” in the sliversiding near the back door. But nobody seemed to mind.

On July 18, 1949, the Chicago Tribune reported on the accident where CTA PCC 7205 was damaged. It was later apparently repaired using part of the body from car 7078, from a disastrous crash the following year, where 33 people were killed.

DS:

Another thing that I discovered, while perusing the Chicago Transit Board minutes, is how much information they contained early in the CTA era, and how little was included later on.

Early in the CTA’s history, it seems as though the Chicago City Council was voting to approve each and every bus substitution on a streetcar line, but later on, the CTA was acting pretty much on its own regarding a lot of these decisions.

In 1952, as I recall, there was a local judge who said that CTA, having been created by act of legislature and a referendum of voters, was pretty much a law unto itself as regards what type of service to offer the public, and how much. So, if they wanted people to ride the North Avenue trolley bus, instead of the Humboldt Park “L”, the public had no recourse through the courts.

So when CTA decided in 1955 to end the Broadway-State through-route and substitute buses on southern half, the City seemed to be caught somewhat by surprise. Newspapers reported that the City had not been given time to study the matter. CTA said they were going ahead with it anyway because the new employee “pick” had already been made.

When they did the same thing to Clark-Wentworth in 1957, apparently there was no public outcry. Despite the fear in 1955 that this might inconvenience 5000 riders, who in theory took advantage of the through-route, the 1957 change was done with very little fanfare.

And when CTA approved the conversion of Wentworth to bus, this was done about two weeks before it took effect.

AK: This was one of the big deals that was highly touted when CTA was formed – that it was not beholden to the state or the city but could do pretty much as it pleased. In the early days, CTA went to the trouble of asking the city’s “acquiescence” on conversions, as it did after involve streets and who was obligated to maintain and plow them. However, at some point around 1950 or 1951 amid the mass abandonments, CTA got the city to agree to a mass takeover of responsibility for maintenance, so CTA no longer felt obligated to ask for city “approvals”. By 1955, the system was pretty well stabilized, and there was little talk of protesting changes, because there weren’t many.

DS: One of the cost savings claimed from substituting buses for streetcars came about by convincing the State legislature to exempt CTA from having to pay fuel taxes. They were unsuccessful in obtaining a subsidy, but they were able to do this much.

*Authorization For Retirement. (AFE is Authorization For Expenditure.)

**Shops & Equipment – the official name of the Shops Department.

CSL 7027 is southbound at Dearborn and Monroe, the east end of route 20 Madison, in June 1946. (Ohio Brass Photo, John F. Bromley Collection)

CSL 4010 and 4035 in experimental paint at the Madison-Austin loop on November 24, 1945. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CTA 4399 heads south at Clark and Roosevelt on July 16, 1957.

CSL 4062, the first postwar Chicago PCC, shown at South Shops shortly after delivery from Pullman, probably in September 1946. It is signed for Clark-Wentworth, the first route where the new cars were assigned.

CSL 4040 at the Madison-Austin Loop on December 15, 1942.

CSL 4004 at the west end of route 20 on May 15, 1940.

CSL 7062 at St. Louis Car Company in a builder’s photo prior to shipment to Chicago, most likely in April 1947. Andre’s list gives a scrap date of December 16, 1955, when this car was sent back to SLCC as part of the “PCC conversion program” for “L” cars 6471-6550.

Postwar Chicago PCC 4065 being delivered to South Shops by CSL locomotive S-202 in late 1946.

CSL 4010 in experimental colors in April 1946. This car is turning out of the loop at Madison and Austin to head east.

CSL 4052 at 81st and Halsted, the south end of route 22 Clark-Wentworth, most likely in 1947.

81st and Halsted today. We are looking to the southeast.

Here are some examples of Johnson fareboxes: