Lake Shore Electric Museum Folding - Equipment Sold

[polybalt]

Looks like the former Trolleyville collection, now in Cleveland, is being sold off and the Museum dissolved.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index ... ay_in.html

Another big idea for downtown Cleveland derailed before it left the station. A nonprofit group with a warehouse full of old trolley cars is nixing plans to build a tourist-attracting rail loop downtown and a trolley museum nearby. Instead, Lake Shore Electric Railway Inc. wants to put a 30-plus car collection up for auction as soon as July, said Mark Ricchiuto, group spokesman and an executive with Marous Brothers Construction. Civic and elected leaders supported the project, he said. But the economic recession stanched fund raising. The stalled Flats East Bank project hurt as well, he said. The nonprofit group wanted to build a short trolley loop near the east bank and up through the Warehouse District, Ricchiuto said. But Lake Shore Electric can't wait any longer to deal with its debts and mounting costs, Ricchiuto said.

This is an excellent collection of streetcars and interurbans, most in good condition. It will be interesting to see where all these cars end up.

[Montclaire]

I just sent a message to a friend at the Electric City Trolley Museum, hope they can save a couple or at least get some spare parts. I know they need quite a bit for a 1929 Osgood Bradley they're restoring.

[CarterB]

Anyone know who is doing the auction?

[jtbell]

Oh jeez... I grew up in northeast Ohio and rode the "Shaker Rapid" often on visits to Cleveland with my parents as a kid in the 1960s. We also visited Trolleyville once. I hope those cars find good homes. The most appropriate locations for the operable cars that were originally from Ohio would probably be the Illinois Railway Museum or the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. I wonder who will be able to raise the money to buy them, with the current state of the economy.

[Tom6921]

Yeah. I wonder who will get former Toronto PCC 4602? It's in good condition. Maybe Kenosha since they run five of 4602's sister cars.

[Otto Vondrak]

First they get thrown out of their old site, spend all this money to move the cars up to the new site, and the whole thing falls apart... talk about bad luck. Nothing yet on their web site... only optimism...

The Brookins family and the members and trustees of Trolleyville feel it is important for this collection to stay in Cleveland and join other cities such as Dallas and Tampa which have recently opened their own vintage operations in conjunction with their local public transportation systems. We are actively working with local businesses, The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, The Western Reserve Historical Society and other organizations to keep Trolleyville in Cleveland.

http://www.trolleyvilleusa.org/

[Tadman]

This is a collection in excellent shape. Around 1992 I toured the closed shops of the Red Line with GCRTA representatives, and remember seeing their CA&E car equipped with a pan for operation on complex catenary.

[ohioriverrailway]

Any update on this, other than the ex-Pittsburgh car going back to Pittsburgh?

[Tom6921]

I've just heard that they must vacate their location by December 31 2009. I'm assuming it's the warehouse near the Great Lakes Science Centre.

I haven't heard anything more.

[Tom6921]

There's going to be an open house at the warehouse where most of Trolleyville's (Lake Shore Electric's)cars are stored on August 27 and 28.

Someone from the Shore Line trolley museum is helping with the auction.

I just hope the cars in good condition like former Toronto PCC 4602 aren't scrapped.

[byte]

The sealed bids for the auction were placed yesterday, with several museums parting in a "consortium bid" which would be the first bid accepted if the LSE people felt it was worthy. If not, the museums (supposedly) had individual bids for cars, which weren't to be sold in any sort of quantity discount.

The consortium bid was accepted this morning, so the individual bids will not be used. It appears no cars will be scrapped. Here's a list of successful bidders, which will probably grow larger, as posted on the forum at rypn.org:

Fox River Trolley Museum:

AE&FR #304
CA&E #458

Northern Ohio Railway Museum:

AE&FR #303

Fort Smith Trolley Museum:

Cooperativa de Transportes Urbanos y Sub-Urbanos #9

Illinois Railway Museum:

CA&E #36
CA&E #319
CA&E #409
CA&E #451
CA&E #460
Cooperativa de Transportes Urbanos y Sub-Urbanos #19

[Otto Vondrak]

Geez... looks like the IRM is gonna have a lot of Roarin' Elgin cars! Glad none of the cars will go to scrap... the museums will give them the homes they deserve.

[byte]

Geez... looks like the IRM is gonna have a lot of Roarin' Elgin cars! Glad none of the cars will go to scrap... the museums will give them the homes they deserve.

IRM will have forty-two interurban cars once the LSE cars are delivered. Nine CA&E cars, eight North Shore cars (nine if you divide the Electroliner up by both its numbers), seven Illinois Terminal cars, six CSS&SB cars, and varying smaller quantities from eight other lines.

CA&E #36 will be the oldest interurban car in the IRM collection, as it was built in 1902. It'll require re-installation of its traction motors prior to us running it, but other than that, I believe all the cars the museum has purchased - including the open-air streetcar from Mexico - are operable and could operate at IRM later this year, after they're delivered. (not sure I'd want to ride around in the open air car later this year though...) I'll ask around about the cars tomorrow when I'm there.

Also, Shore Line put up a little news item out on the purchase, including a complete list of the new owners of each piece of rolling stock: http://www.shore-line.org/trolleyville_update2.html

[Milwaukee_F40C]

"This is really really f- brilliant!"

The Fox River car belongs on its "home rails" and it is something I hoped would happen some day. I'm also glad to see the gaps being filled in IRM's CAE fleet, especially the 450 series curved side cars. Those kind of have a modern transit car appearance and look good as a matched set. It will be great to have 458 at FRTM too.

Everything being saved is the best outcome from this bad situation.

[mtuandrew]

The Minnesota Streetcar Museum will be receiving a truck for a Birney car from the Lake Shore collection - we're the only museum involved in the consortium bid that wasn't looking to acquire rolling stock, as far as I know. The best part of this consortium bid is, as the MSM brass tells me, the biddees will also cover any and all hazmat disposal costs. Much less hassle for the trustees. I still feel pretty bad for this museum, but Milwaukee_F40C is right that everything that can be saved, will be saved.

There's a possibility I'll be going to Cleveland to help collect some equipment... if so, I'll post pictures. If I don't go, I'll find pictures from those who did go.