Trolley cost?

How much to get it going?




It would need new trucks and controller where would one get the parts to fit such a trolley and how much $$$ would it cost?

for a full restoration like that, you can't declare a cost by some photos. you'd have to go through and thoroughly examine the trolley, make a list of everything it would need, and find suppliers for everything. it'll more than likely cost well into the tens of thousands, but if you have the motivation, the dough, and the resources, i say go for it!

rough estimate? a million billion dollars. give or take a million billion.

Why don't you give us as much information as you can about the condition of this car first??

Do you have any background on the car? More pictures? That also helps in defining the price of restoration.

Is this car available? Is the current owner looking to donate?

Ted.

If this is the same car I think it is....

It's located in Holyoke, MA at a restaurant banquet facility called the Wherehouse. It's an original Holyoke Street Railway trolley car in preserved but non operational condition. Much wiring, piping, motors, etc has been removed. Under the car, there are no trucks, wheels, or motors. Inside the car, there are no brakestands, door controls, or controllers. Outside the car, there are no poles, headlights, or air compressor. All original interior switches are gone. No interior seating remains. This basically is a trolley body that is in fairly decent shape. The original wood/paint is preserved and can be seen in the pictures. The owner of that restaurant has many interesting historical items around the facility and is well worth the trip or charter for your get together. Check out the page here:

http://www.the-wherehouse.com/pages/the-wherehouse.html

The trolley is not in public view and is somewhat hidden. As far as I know, the owner is not interested in donating the car and has some plans for this car to be included in the banquet facility.

Xian

xtcbct wrote:If this is the same car I think it is....

It's located in Holyoke, MA at a restaurant banquet facility called the Wherehouse. It's an original Holyoke Street Railway trolley car in preserved but non operational condition. Much wiring, piping, motors, etc has been removed. Under the car, there are no trucks, wheels, or motors. Inside the car, there are no brakestands, door controls, or controllers. Outside the car, there are no poles, headlights, or air compressor. All original interior switches are gone. No interior seating remains. This basically is a trolley body that is in fairly decent shape. The original wood/paint is preserved and can be seen in the pictures. The owner of that restaurant has many interesting historical items around the facility and is well worth the trip or charter for your get together. Check out the page here:

http://www.the-wherehouse.com/pages/the-wherehouse.html

The trolley is not in public view and is somewhat hidden. As far as I know, the owner is not interested in donating the car and has some plans for this car to be included in the banquet facility.

Xian

Darn it now other trolley museums are going to try to get it

Ham549 wrote:Darn it now other trolley museums are going to try to get it

Ham or whoever you are... I'm going to go out on a limb here... and say you really don't know anything about the preservation field, do you?

First of all, we all work together. Maybe your museum can't save it, but maybe another can! Preservation is not about your own selfish wants, it's about saving a piece for the most people to enjoy and learn from. Second, it appears you're asking about a piece that's not even a candidate for restoration- it belongs to a private collection, and has little in the way of trolley appliances, so while the body might be in good shape, you've got to more or less find suitable trucks, controllers, and all the mechanical and electrical systems that go with it. A hefty task for even the most well-equipped shop. So far, we have no indication that the current owner wants to get rid of this trolley body.

Kid, quit while you're ahead. Start doing some learning, and in time you could make some valuable contributions.

-otto-

That was a joke
Also I have personely talked with the owner and I have been feeling out the situation. Also that was the condition of our trolley no fixtures no wheels ex ex AND it the body had been exposed to harsh elements sitting outside for 60+ years on a farm and they got it running so this to could be restored.

are you talking about bringing this thing to shelburne falls museum and restoring/running it there? cause that might work. i think (and i'm sorry if i'm wrong) that we were all under the impression that you wanted to restore this on your own time with your own funds etc.

stevo wrote:are you talking about bringing this thing to shelburne falls museum and restoring/running it there? cause that might work. i think (and i'm sorry if i'm wrong) that we were all under the impression that you wanted to restore this on your own time with your own funds etc.

Yes that is what I'm talking about. I am not on the board or in any positions to make deals for the SFTM I want to gather information to give to the people in charge there. I have been feeling out the situation and the guy didn't seem to have any immediate plans for the Trolley so maybe something could be worked out.

Okay Ham, so you didn't mention you actually TALKED to the owner.

So now I'm going to give you a suggested course of action. What you do with it is up to you.

1) You've talked to the owner. If he has no immediate plans for it, see if he would be open to donating it to a museum for restoration. Get him to put his intentions in writing, on an actual letter from him, stating just that. Keep that in your files.

2) Gather up all the information we gave you here about what this car needs to be operable again. All of it. Even nuts and bolts and the flower vase on the dashboard. GET ACCURATE COST ESTIMATES. Find out how much it will cost to transport this body from its current location to your museum.

3) Identify potential funding sources. Before you open your mouth, no, having your tag sale on eBay is not going to do it. I'm talking about donations in the thousands of dollars. Investigate possible heritage grants, for instance.

4) Identify who will do the work on this car. Volunteers? What volunteers specifically? Outside contractors? Who? The carbody, parts and money are no good unless there are people to do the work.

5) Come up with your own written proposal. Outlining how all this will happen. Include your letter from the owner, your cost estimates, suggestions for who can do the work, and anything else you think might be important for your museum's board of directors to know.

Ham... can you do this?

Frankly... the hardest part of this restoration will be procuring the right kind of trucks to go under this car. Everything else is a piece of cake, theoretically.

-otto-

Looks like a Wason or Laconia car. You might be able to finagle a set of trucks by doing a two-fer- restoring your trolley and another museum's car that didn't need major equipment, at the same time. Call around to the various museums.

It's a Wason just like #10 at our museum.
The impression I got from scoping out the scean is that this guy is very busy person and doesn't have time to deal with us. I am 99% shure he also runs a contracting company in addition to the cratering facility. Since we need a new car barn (funds are being raised for it) and we can't take the trolley until we have the new car barn because of lack of room in our current one. I was thinking that the museum could hire his contracting firm in exchange for the car we get the car for free (kind of) and he gets our business and can write off the trolley as a tax dedection and maybe even have an advertisement for his business placed in that car or #10.

Also there was a storey about us on Mass Live (website)
http://videos.masslive.com/republican/2 ... useum.html

Ham - there's an old saying - "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." If you are talking with this guy at all, I would try to strike "while the iron is hot" (to use another cliche'). Restaurants get sold, people disappear, attitudes change. Grab it, tarp it, and work slowly to bring it back. Good luck !

Ham549 wrote:I was thinking that the museum could hire his contracting firm in exchange for the car we get the car for free (kind of) and he gets our business and can write off the trolley as a tax dedection and maybe even have an advertisement for his business placed in that car or #10.

Stop thinking about stuff, and start putting stuff in writing.

-otto-