Here's a novel idea. If Michigan United Railways #3, the topic of the current brief, should ever be acquired by a museum, why not leave this car body as-is? The pictures illustrate a car body that has been well-maintained, yet still offers enough now-and-then contrasts to be interesting. Rather than destroy this current fabric as part of a future reconstruction for operation, how can the car be conserved and displayed to tell the story of so many others like it that have gone on to serve other alternate uses?Wesley

Keep in mind that the two B&W photo of the car were taken in 1939, according to the caption on the second photo. The only current photo of the exterior shows the front train door (which faces the road and is used as the entrance door) and also a portion of the huge gable roof that now covers the entire car. The gable end, additions, and side of the original car that is still exposed are all covered with split log siding, giving the whole car a rather rustic look. It almost doesn't look like an interurban car anymore.

Admittedly a difficult move, considering the "home" improvements to the car, but this is one of the more unique suggestions I've heard in quite awhile. The adaptive re-use of trolley/interurban/streetcars/cabooses for homes, diners, chicken coops, etc, etc, is well known, but it is an interesting sidelight of our restoration efforts that such use is lost as soon as the labor and restoration dollars can be found to return the car to "like new". Even photos of the interior, such as those in the brief, really only paint part of the picture, it's difficult to really capture the idea in your mind's eye, unless you've been in a home 45 feet long x 8 feet wide.Personally, I think a rare find such as a Michigan Interurban car in any condition is enough to warrant the dismantling of the home (assuming the owners would be of a mind to dispose of same), but it would, as mentioned, take away some 60-70 years of the car's history. Guess it just depends on which side of the fence you're sitting on how to choose !Quite an interesting and informative brief, by the way. I would hope that this might stir some imaginations and remind us all anew to keep that watchful eye for that "something". I know there's no more wooden North Shore Line car bodies, but maybe, somewhere, well,, you know !

There is one museum that has acquired a streetcar but retained its identity as a house: the Fort Smith Trolley Museum in Arkansas has done this with one of their Birneys. It's located off-site, possibly in the same location it was in during its years as a residence but I'm not entirely sure.

Orange Empire has a one-time Santa Fe wooden coach from the 1906 era that was converted into a road side cafe in the 1930s. It is displayed at the Museum in this secondary use and is being restored that way.As a road-side eatery the car body moved three times along the highway north of Perris as the roadway was improved. Along the way it was styled like the UP M-10000.Then when the highway was widened to became a freeway the California DOT acquired the car and its kitchen addition. CalTrans sought to find a home for the car and offered to transfer it to OERM with various requirements. This was not accepted; but several years later it was offered a second time with funds for a foundation and no special requirements. Under these conditions the Board of Directors voted by a narrow margin to accept the car body and the kitchen addition.This preservation of the secondary use of the car appears to be well accepted by the visiting public.

Wasp, Your question raises a hot button issue because my museum is having the same kind of debate. They own a house boat that was taken out of the water many years ago. Showld it retain the changes made by a series of home owners during many years?I say that it is the significance that matters not the number of years! For a maritime museum it is the water born years that count. In our case this a floating summer cottage for rich San Franciscans.For a rail museum it iis the operational years that count. Also the car was varnished woodwork, with polished brass fittings inside. Today the car is white house paint and a roof that is not original.Maybe a restoration village someplace would want to show such a car as it was in its retirement. but the significance for a railroad museum is the operational years.Having said that; perhaps there is a middle ground. How about restoring the car interior and skip the under body hardware? Which is nearly imposible to find, expensive to install and requires replacement of a lot of historic fabric to make the car operational. There are two such cars at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel. They were rescued from lake side cottages in Wisconsin. The interiors are beautifully restored but they only sit carrect trucks, not the rest of the under body hardware.For those interested see the CUZON section of the Soo-Spokane train on the museum's web site.Ted Miles\

This is a great discussion topic. Adaptive reuse is part of our history. Early settlers out west converted pieces of the wagons which transported them into homes, and many an old city house has been remodeled into a modern piece of architecture. As an example of how a conversion has gone through the cycle of change and rebirth, Wisconsin Power and Light of Sheboygan interurban car 26 (Cincinnati, 1908) has now traveled full circle. from 2-man interurban to 1 man streetcar to summer cabin back to interurban. October 7-9 will see this magnificent car roll out for public enjoyment at the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum in East Troy, Wisconsin. This car was restored at the direction of the family who had owned it when it was a cottage on the shore of Lake Michigan. They wanted to have it back in operation as the cottage was no longer being used and thought it would be a good representation of the history of that part of Wisconsin. The following link will give you the background. http://www.easttroyrr.org/car26.htm