ly invisible underground projects is not easy in these tight times. Highly visible station improvements are easier to sell to the pub- lic. Political dysfunction has made it very difficult to make much progress in matters having to do with spending or taxes. Let’s hope that the public and the politicians wake up and see the truth. Thanks to Neal Wozniak and Charlie Bogart for inspiration.


LVT Co. Tunnel Celebration On the Lehigh Valley Transit Company’s Liberty Bell Limited interurban route, Perkasie, Pa., was a high point on the trip. Not only was there the notoriously sharp Perkasie curve, but there was also a tunnel under the Reading Company’s Bethlehem branch. The tunnel is still there and has been made subject to beautification. A young woman named Meghan Kennedy set up the project as her Girl Scout Silver award. Local businesses contributed funds to plant flower gardens at the entrances to the tunnel and to purchase supplies used to paint murals on the interior of the tunnel. It is reported that none of these murals show LVT car 1030. I am happy to say that I have taken rides on 1030 through the tunnels many years ago and that the fine car, origi- nally one of the famed high-speed cars of the Indiana Railroad in the 1930s, is at the Seashore Trolley Museum at Kennebunkport, Maine. Thanks to Carl Edd for the news.


Centennial Celebration for the Westchester On July 14, 2012, R&R associate editor Otto Vondrak hosted an special day-long event in New Rochelle, N.Y., commemorating the centennial of the opening of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway (profiled in the July issue). More than 200 people came out to learn and share information about this unique high-speed electric commuter railroad built by the New Haven and only in service from 1912 to the end of 1937. Not a


bad turnout for a railroad that has all but been erased from existence over the last 70 years.


Computer illustrator Chris Iorillo


(www.beyond-real.com) opened the confer- ence showing how he creates detailed photo- realistic scenes from his 3-D models. He de- buted his latest project, a full color rendering of a NYW&B heavyweight Still- well m.u. car. This was followed by a pre- sentation by transportation consultant and historian Michael Weinman (ptsitranspor tation.com) who explained the “Innovations of the NYW&B” that were pioneered more than 100 years ago and still in use today, such as center-door passenger cars and high-level platforms for rapid loading, train- line controls and more. Otto Vondrak intro- duced us to “The People of the NYW&B” and explained how powerful men like J.P. Mor- gan and New Haven president Charles Mellen interfaced with industrial engineers, bankers, and eventually trustees and bank- ruptcy judges. Roger Wines is a Professor Emeritus of History at New York’s Fordham University, and is a life-long historian of the NYW&B. “The End and the Aftermath” ex- plained the rescue attempts to save the NYW&B after it was shut down in 1937. Following the presentations and displays


at the New Rochelle Public Library, a bus tour was conducted to visit various sites throughout suburban Westchester County where traces of the NYW&B could still be found. For more information about the NYW&B, please visit www.nywbry.com.


Flashes Perhaps the only thing more tedious than a National Public Radio Fund Drive is waiting for the new SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY to be finished. So far I calculate that the wait has been more than 70 years. There is no wait for the announcement of the color that will identify the Second Avenue Sub-


MICHAEL T. BURKHART


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The Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation had the idea for a light rail system around Colorado Springs and purchased nearly a dozen PCC trolley cars from SEPTA, the Philadelphia commuter carrier, in the early 1990s. The idea was big, but funds were small and plans have been much delayed. One PCC car was made operational and runs occasionally on 400-feet of track. The rest are stored behind the Rock Island round house that serves as a museum.


Kennebunkport, ME 04046-1690 (207)967-2712


Seashore Trolley Museum P.O. Drawer A


e-mail: carshop@gwi.net www.trolleymuseum.org


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