A contingent from the Minnesota Streetcar Museum motored to/from Dallas, Texas several weeks ago to attend the Assn. of Railway Museum spring meeting. On the way to and from the meeting we visited some interesting museums (large and small), locos in parks,and depot museums. We also drove on 17 miles of former interurban right of way between St. Joseph, Missouri and Kansas City!
One of the most interesting sites we visited was the "Heritage Express" which runs on rails down the city streets of El Reno, Oklahoma. For the non-traction fans out there, El Reno was the end point of one of the interurban lines operated by Oklahoma Railways out of Oklahoma City.
The El Reno operation is a little gem and one of the better kept secrets. The line is a little over one-mile in length. The car is a ex-Strafford car, I suspect from the Keokuk, Iowa operation. It was completely rebuilt inside and out by Miner Manufacturing in Iowa and made self-propelled by a gasoline engine and transmission powering one axle. Top speed in the city is around 10 mph altho the operator can push it to 20 if they feel frisky. The line is all single track with the in-town portion looping around a city block.
The trackage is located on some streets that saw Oklahoma Rwys interurban cars until the late 1940s. In one spot you can see the old rails peeking thru the pavement. The car is stored in the barn shown in one of the photos which is right next to the ex-Rock Island station now the town museum.
The three photos were taken by Aaron Isaacs, editor of ARM's house magazine, Railway Museum Quarterly.
Thanks!
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