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  • Need help identifying these gas-electrics, 1940

  • Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
 #990676  by adpurple
 
I'm wondering if anyone can help me identify these passenger cars, both of which were used on the Hyannis - Provincetown line, roughly 1940. I'm assuming these were Brill gas-electric motor cars, but I really don't know. I'd like to get more information if possible, such as the models, what the interiors were like, and if any vehicles of the same model still exist, perhaps in a museum.

I have attached two images.

The first image is from an online library devoted to the history of Provincetown (http://www.provincetownhistoryproject.com/). The exact link for the image is here: http://www.provincetownhistoryproject.c ... /view/4394. It shows what I think to be a single car gas-electric, and is dated August, 1940.

The second is a still that I lifted from a video. The image, unfortunately, is poor quality. You may have better luck by viewing the video directly (http://vimeo.com/4313157). The scene in question occurs within the first 60 seconds of the video. It shows a single passenger car at the Provincetown rail station. The video is dated summer, 1940.

Given the dates, it seems likely these two images show the same make and model, and perhaps even the same identical car.

I realize these don't give you a lot to go on, but I'd appreciate any information you could provide.

Thanks in advance.
Attachments:
Gas-electric near Provincetown, August, 1940
Gas-electric near Provincetown, August, 1940
gas-electric_provincetown_1.png (132.88 KiB) Viewed 4654 times
Still from video at Provincetown station, dated summer, 1940.
Still from video at Provincetown station, dated summer, 1940.
gas-electric_provincetown_2.png (158.02 KiB) Viewed 4654 times
 #990748  by chnhrr
 
The unit could have been similar to the Brill gas-electric, No. 9105 shown below at North Easton, MA. The book New Haven Power by J.W. Swanberg has a section on these units. The photo is from the book.