Cleaning out my house for a move. Sending this book to Goodwill. 1947: The Trolley Car Family. Pa quits when the streetcars are abandoned, the family buys a car body, and goes off the grid in the country.

Nice story, but I suspect the reality was Pa was laid off, and no other work was available in 1930s depression. But it certainly fits the story of so many car bodies we discover out in the woods today.

I think one of my daughters may have a copy of this. They grew up in the 60s and 70s, in Southern California, but they knew about trolley cars because I was and still am a member of Orange Empire Ry. Museum.

There was an other story with this theme.
Pa retires and buys the trolley car just before the end of electric service. He runs it in front of the old house, where they load the family possessions and run the car to the loop at the edge of the city. The milkman meets them with his horse and wagon and an extra horse behind it. The spare horse pulls the trolley car over the rails of the already wireless road side interurban extension to the line side farm with a barn and burnt down house that Pa has just bought. The milkman follows in his wagon to retrieve the horse. Pa explains that after the fire, the trolley company bought the farm for a future amusement park that they might build along their interurban line. Now that there is no longer any public transportation available to the property, they were willing to sell to Pa. Many seats are removed to make room for beds and other furniture in the car, but the remaining ones can be flipped back and forth for group sitting or privacy while studying. The manual folding doors still work when a child steps on the foot pedal.

At the end, Pa has to go into the city to find work to be able to afford to be a farmer. He returns driving the newly established interurban bus on the line side road. Country driving isn't quite as unbearable as city bus service.

Abebooks currently lists about 30 copies for sale. Paperbacks for as little as 3.00, but the hard cover version is apparently collectible, highest listing is over $300.00