Streetcars
Chicago Transit Authority 3142
Description: | Double-end arch-roof car |
Equipment Information
Chicago Transit Authority (formerly Chicago Surface Lines) 3142 was typical of several hundred arch-roof steel streetcars built for the Chicago streetcar system during the 1920s. It was one of 169 identical cars built to pull trailers, like car 9020 at IRM, but car 3142 was never actually fitted with couplers for trailer pulling. Cars of this type were often known as “Broadway-State cars” because of their regular use on that line. In the late 1940s car 3142 was converted for one-man operation. In 1951 it was involved in a traffic accident and was retired, being converted to a storage locker. This use saved it until it could be set aside for preservation in the late 1950s. IRM volunteers completely restored it to its c1950 condition over the course of 15 years in the 1980s and 1990s.
FUN FACT: Car 3142 was missing its motors when acquired and the only place the correct type could be found was Alexandria, Egypt. The museum imported these GE-built motors for the restoration project and when car 3142 was completed in 2001 the Egyptian Consul in Chicago even attended the car’s dedication ceremony.
Chicago Transit Authority 3142 Details
Builder: J. G. Brill Company
Year Built: 1923
Seats: 48
Length: 48ft 11in
Width: 8ft 8in
Height: 12ft
Weight: 46850 lbs
Brakes: Straight Air
Motors: 4 GE 275A
Control: K35KK
Compressor: CP-127
Trucks: Brill 51E2
Description: Double End / Double Truck / Arch Roof / Steel
Arrived: 1973
Condition: Complete / restored / operational
Chicago Transit Authority 3142 Ownership History
1923-1947 – Chicago Surface Lines
1947-1958 – Chicago Transit Authority
1958-1973 – Electric Railway Historical Society, Downers Grove, IL
1973-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL
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