Electric Freight Equipment

St Louis 1925 Chicago South Shore & South Bend 504
St Louis 1925
Chicago South Shore & South Bend 504
Description:Double-truck steel freight trailer

Equipment Information

South Shore Line 504 is a freight trailer that was used to carry express packages, newspapers, and small freight shipments (known as LCL, or Less-than-Car-Load, freight) between South Bend and Chicago. It was originally built as a powered interurban combine for the Indiana Service Corporation and was rebuilt in 1930 as a Railway Post Office (RPO) car for carrying mail. It was converted into a freight trailer by the South Shore Line in 1941.

COMPARE ME WITH: South Shore Line 1100, an overhead line car that was identical to car 504 when it was originally built for Indiana Service Corporation. These two cars were rebuilt by the South Shore Line in very different ways for very different purposes.

Builder: St. Louis Car Company
Year Built: 1925
Length: 64ft
Width: 9ft 6in
Height: 13ft 3in
Weight: ??? lbs
Brakes: AMM
Trucks: Baldwin
Description: Double Truck / Steel Box Trailer
Arrived: 1975
Condition: Complete / unrestored / not operational

Photo gallery

Ownership History
1925-1930 – Indiana Service Corporation #377
1930-1941 – Indiana Railroad #377
1941-1975 – Chicago South Shore & South Bend
1975-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

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