Search Results for: Collection
IRM Brings Home the Bacon
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) has acquired a rare 36′ billboard meat refrigerator car. At one time, “reefers” like this were a common sight on American railroads, transporting perishable products from coast to coast. Brightly painted advertisements touted the products they carried, from beer to butter to bacon. Kingan and
Chicago & North Western X261497
Chicago & North Western X261497 is a standard railroad flat car built for general freight service and later employed in maintenance-of-way service. It was originally numbered 44291 and then starting in 1970 it was made into half of a permanently-coupled pair of flat cars numbered 49101 before being rebuilt for
Rio de Janeiro Tramway Light & Power 1889
Rio de Janeiro Tramway Light & Power 1889 is an open car built in 1912 following a St. Louis Car Company design. It operated throughout Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into the 1960s including pulling trailers in regular service. In 1965 it was among several Rio open cars imported to the
Janesville Transit System 433
The most significant bottleneck in boarding and alighting from traditional high-floor buses has always been the steps just inside the entrance and exit doors. Wheelchair users and others with limited mobility who can’t climb the steps are unable to ride the bus if it is not equipped with a wheelchair
Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority 9809
During the 1990s, the fall of the “Iron Curtain” led some Eastern European firms, which had largely only sold to other Communist countries, to seek new business in the West. In the Czech Republic, Škoda, a large industrial conglomerate, was known for its trolley buses, trams, and railway equipment. It
Municipality of Metro Seattle 656
The War Production Board and the Office of Defense Transportation restricted manufacturing and sale of new trolley buses during WWII. Only Pullman-Standard’s Worcester, Massachusetts, plant was permitted to build them during the entire war; other manufacturers were busy making war material instead. Seattle was able to order 30 trolley buses
Western Pacific 801
Western Pacific 801 is a streamlined baggage car built entirely out of stainless steel. Cars like this were hauled in passenger trains and were used for carrying passengers’ luggage, express freight, and other less-than-car-load (LCL) shipments. This car was built in 1948 for use on the California Zephyr and was
Metra 7658
Metra 7658 is a bi-level coach designed for commuter service out of Chicago. It is known as a “gallery car” because the upper level is divided, with a gap (or “gallery”) down the middle of the car to enable the conductor to collect fares from both levels while standing on
Pullman ‘Pawnee’
“Pawnee” is the very last traditional heavyweight private car ever built new by Pullman. It was constructed in 1930 for Harry Payne Bingham. It was named for the U.S.S. Pawnee, an 1860 sloop of war aboard which Bingham’s grandfather had served during the Civil War. Bingham sold the car in
Chicago Aurora & Elgin 453
Chicago Aurora & Elgin 453 is one of the last traditional interurban cars built in the United States. The CA&E ordered ten modern curve-side coaches in 1941 but the cars weren’t completed until 1945 due to World War II. Cars 451-460 featured lightweight design and newer electric control systems but