Willamette River that will carry MAX trains, Portland Streetcars, buses, bikes, and pedes- trians, but will not carry automobiles. After crossing the river, the new rail line
will turn generally south toward Milwaukie, terminating at a station at Southeast Park Avenue. Service on the alignment is sched- uled to open in early fall of 2015 and one can follow the line’s progress on its Facebook page for continual updates at
www.facebook.com/ portlandmilwaukie/info?tab=page_info.
Branford Acquires the Oldest Streetcar
The March 2015 issue of the Branford Electric Railway Journal (published by the Shore Line Trolley Museum, operated by the Branford Electric Railway Association, 17 River Street, East Haven, CT 06512;
www.shorelinetrolley. org; 203/467-6927) has several articles of in- terest. One article is on the acquisition of car No. 76 from the Museum of the City of New York on December 4, 2014. Some of the story of No. 76 is obscured by time; although the exact date is not certain, it is known that the John Stephenson Company constructed the car sometime in the 1850s. The car, a sample of a lightweight car pulled by one horse with a single crew member, appeared on transit properties seeking economy in the mid-19th century. The recently acquired car was used by one of the many horse car operators in New York City and was probably operated on one of the north-south lines serving the avenues in Manhattan. The article includes information from a text written by German observers assessing U.S. urban transit. The text, dubbed the Henz-Benson Text, written in 1859, gives much information on opera- tions on Sixth Avenue and also includes illus-
trations from the German article. The Branford article contains many excel-
lent examples of historic rolling stock and fea- tures a very interesting section on the early street railway process, including material on streetcar rail. I’ve found visits to the museum to be very rewarding and would advise one to get to the museum in good travel weat her. I don’t travel anymore, but if I could I would beat a path again to the museum.
Copper Theft
When the Chicago Transit Authority was abandoning streetcar service in the 1940s and 1950s, power was kept on in the copper over- heard wires until the CTA got around to re- moving it. Copper commands a price of about $3.25 a pound and, because some people will steal almost anything, New York City’s subway system is a major target for copper thieves. In the spring of 2015, passengers on an
A train traveling the 30 miles between the Rockaways to Inwood in upper Manhattan were disgruntled to find their train lost pow- er around midnight near the Howard Beach station. It was discovered that 500 feet of cop- per cable had been stolen from over a dozen places along the tracks. The police depart- ment’s transit bureau believes the cable was removed in small amounts over the course of a few weeks. Service was subsequently sus- pended for ten hours and it took most of the day before service was resumed. New York is not alone in suffering cop-
per theft. The South Shore Line commuter rail line of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District has lost copper cable in the signal system in the east end of the line
A Fine New Book!
American Car & Foundry Box Cars, 1960-1981 by Edward S. Kaminski
Complete history of AC&F’s last manufacturing of box cars, 1960 to 1981, with complete production record and thorough photo coverage. 256 pages, 466 photos (most color), 41 graphics.
Price: $75 California residents add $6.00 sales tax. Free shipping, domestic individual orders; $40 foreign ($30 Canada) SIGNATURE PRESS
www.signaturepress.com • DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED
Order direct: 11508 Green Rd., Wilton, CA 95693 • Visa & Mastercard orders: 1-800-305-7942 •
Railroads Illustrated Annual Pre-printing sale!
Starting in 2015, Railroads Illustrated has transitioned from being a monthly magazine to an annual publication. This inaugural Railroads Illustrated Annual is 100 pages dedicated to creative railroad photography past and present.
For more information, flip to the back cover. $22.00 Plus FREE Offer good through October 31, 2015.
shipping!
Order online day or night at
WhiteRiverProductions.com P.O. Box 48, Bucklin, MO 64631 • Toll-free (877) 787-2467
Connecticut Company’s Streetcars
Profusely illustrated, this book covers every line of the Connecticut Company,
the trolley empire controlled by the New Haven Railroad. Great vintage photography from classic Connecticut cities like Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven, and more.
HARDCOVER $26.95
PLUS S&H ITEM CRS-CCSH
877-787-2467 TOLL-FREE 660-695-4433 NON-US
WhiteRiverProductions.com 21
The Illustrated Atlas of
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
Maine’s
$46.00
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74