Museum Puts DSR Streetcar Up for Sale
The Ohio Railway Museum is deaccessioning some items it can no longer care for, and that includes Detroit Street Railways Peter Witt car No. 3876. This is one two surviving standard Detroit streetcars from the mid-1920s. The car is listed for sale for $15,000 at the web site of railroad equipment broker Ozark Mountain Railcar, at
http://www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com/...ilway_3876.htm
The car is presumably located at the Museum in the Columbus suburb of Worthington, Ohio, just off Proprietor's Road.
Photos at the web site show the car to have been given a partial restoration in the 1960's and deteriorated quite a bit since then. It appears to need a new wood-and-canvas roof, upholstery, heavy rust repair to its riveted steel carbody, and probably new wood in its interior. Similar work was done to the surviving sister car at the Henry Ford before that car was sold to Illinois Railway Museum a few years ago.
Is anyone willing to repatriate and restore a 50-foot, 20-ton piece of Detroit history? Probably over $100,000 worth of expenditure would be required to restore the car visually, with more needed to make it runable, if there were 600-volt trolley track and overhead available. The Michigan Transit Museum in Mount Clemens is probably not in a position to take this on. Ideally someone with money, access to a disused secure industrial shop, and friends with metalworking ability, would acquire this car against the time when a place can be found to exhibit it in its home town.
DSR 3876 to be fully restored
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rocko
Kennebunkport Maine to the Seashore Trolley Museum.
I haven't been on this board much lately, but this is still a pertinent and interesting topic! For six months now, I've been one of the few paid staff members at the Shore Line Trolley Museum [[Branford Electric Railway Association) in East Haven/Branford, Connecticut. As the office manager, I see all of the mail coming in, including the newsletters from other trolley and traction museums, which most of these types of establishments tend to exchange on a regular basis.
We recently received Seashore Trolley Museum's latest newsletter and 2010 Annual Report. The Kennebunkport, Maine museum is the largest and oldest electric traction museum in the world, and has a collection of over 200 pieces of trolley and related equipment. They are the ones who purchased DSR Peter Witt 3876 from the Ohio Railway Museum a couple years back. Below is the writeup in their Annual Report about the history, acquisition, and future of one of the few remaining DSR cars in existence.....and the future looks great!
Quote:
Traditional Detroit Streetcar Acquired by Museum
By Frederick J. Maloney
The acquisition of City of Detroit Department of Street Railways [[DSR) Peter Witt streetcar No. 3876, of 1930, is of particular importance to the development of The National Collection of American Streetcars. For over 50 years Detroit has been, by far, the largest American city not represented in the Museum collection. The city's peak population approached 2 million in 1950, while its street railways peaked in 1930 at 534 track miles and 1776 cars, with almost all of the system within the city limits.
This signature car is one of a huge fleet of 781 two-man single-end Peter Witt cars procured from six carbuilders over 14 orders from 1921 to 1930. No. 3876 is one of 130 cars from the final order, built by St. Louis Car Company. All but the initial 50 cars had various forms of the distinctive Detroit feature of large protruding flat angular front destination signboxes with multiple signs. The later orders also had sun visors.
After World War II No. 3876 was one of a relatively modest number of cars to have center conductor stands removed in conversion to one-man operation. The last few Peter Witt cars were retired in early 1954 In spite of the then-recent modernization of four key routes, conflicted transit policies resulted in the end of streetcar service in 1956. The large PCC car fleet was sold to Mexico City, where most cars ran for over 20 years. Late in 2010 significant federal funding was awarded to Detroit for a planned new light rail line, with mostly streetcar operating characteristics, running along the route of the city's last first generation streetcar line, on Woodward Avenue.
While numerous representative streetcars are preserved from almost all of the country's largest older cities, which had extensive and long-lived street railways, the preservation movement virtually overlooked Detroit. This was in spite of the survival into the post-World War II era of most of the system, with a wide variety of car types in use as passenger or work cars. Only two conventional streetcars survived into preservation. It is ironic that both cars are now in their second post-retirement homes. Indeed, with each car having had an uncertain future, at different times years ago, both survivors had been approved for acquisition by Seashore's Board. The other car, No. 3865, is now at the Illinois Railway Museum, after its initial preservation by the Henry Ford Museum.
No. 3876 was acquired in 1954 by Detroit area transit enthusiasts for preservation at the Ohio Railway Museum [[ORM), in Worthington. The car was nicely restored, and operated for visitors for at least a decade. It was eventually eclipsed by a restored double-end Columbus car which could be operated more easily as the ORM line has no turning loops.
In 2009 ORM deaccessioned No. 3876, and kindly sold the car to Seashore for a reasonable price. In May the car was loaded onto a trailer in a major logistical effort by members of ORM, Shore Line Trolley Museum [[CT), Northern Ohio Railway Museum, and Seashore's rapid transit department. The rig was driven to Maine by legendary streetcar mover Jim Lilly of Philadelphia.
We are very grateful for the large measure of inter-museum expertise and hard work which resulted in the car coming to Seashore. On arrival at the Museum, the car was inspected and cleaned. Although No. 3876 requires heavy restoration, it is fully complete and intact, even though it was out of service for decades at ORM.
The car's primary sponsor has committed to underwriting restoration of the car, with No. 3876 now included in the Society's five-year restoration program. Meanwhile, as a great assist, one of the Society's foremost activists and benefactors, has afforded the car indoor storage space to eliminate the need for full tarping of No. 3876 pending expansion of carhouse space. Thus the Detroit car is available for any degree of inspection or preliminary work by shop staff at any time pending its move to the shop.
A copy of the page from the newsletter with current photo can be viewed here: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...85243289_n.jpg
As someone who sees all the inner workings of an operating trolley museum, any and all interest and donations to help repair and restore vintage streetcars are greatly appreciated!! In my own experience, great things have happened when people have stepped up with their time, talents and money, and beautifully restored operating streetcars are the outcome. Here is Seashore's website: https://www.trolleymuseum.org/. And the Shore Line Trolley Museum's website [[brand new and still under construction): www.shorelinetrolley.org.
Check it out! It's great to see Seashore taking this important Detroit preservation task!
