Hospital Tramway

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:14 am

It's amazing to find the places where railroad technology has been applied--in this case, inside a hospital to move meal trays, supplies, etc.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/allt ... e-Dieu.jpg

From a model railroad site (scroll down):

http://www.carendt.com/microplans/index.html

Some photos from the hospital itself; the railway is obviously long gone, but it looks like some of the buildings are still around.

http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=20910

http://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp ... alid=11259

http://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?picid=32447

http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/massic/mh1771.htm

http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/massic/high/3-203-g.jpg

http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/massic/high/3-203-h.jpg

http://www.ahlp.qc.ca/boussole-mp3/h%C3 ... afontaine/

Naturally, this hospital had to be an asylum:

http://coolopolis.blogspot.com/2013/09/ ... etive.html

A bit more:

http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t= ... highlight=

Leave it to the British to write a book on such a specialized form of railway:

http://www.transportdiversions.com/publ ... pubid=5562

Alan Walker · **Posted:** Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:06 pm

This ranks right up there with the London Necropolis Railway as a functional oddity. Hard to imagine a hospital that was so busy as to require an internal railway to move things and people.

I recall reading some time ago about one Australian tramway that serviced a prison facility. They had enough business from the correctional institution (transferring inmates to and from court and the train station) that they had special prison trams built. Those trams were quite distinct with their gray liveries and NO PASSENGER lettering.

Jim Vaitkunas · **Posted:** Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:54 pm

I have been corrected by our Museum's historian, Aaron Isaacs who is also editor of ATRRM's journal Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums.

The Twin City Rapid Transit Co did not have a dedicated/modified prison car. They did transport prisoners to and from the state prison in Stillwater, Minnesota but used a regular suburban car. Stillwater is about 20 miles east of St, Paul.

Thanks!

Joe Magruder · **Posted:** Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:42 pm

In the 1960s the no longer used rails from a similar tram system were in the tunnels that ran between the Oregon State Hospital buildings in Salem. I suspect these systems were fairly common

Frank Hicks · **Posted:** Tue Dec 24, 2013 2:05 am

Jim Vaitkunas wrote:

I suspect several other larger city systems had specially built prison streetcars as well.

Chicago had a car specifically designed to transport the insane and mentally disabled from Cook County Hospital to the notorious mental hospital at Dunning, located at the end of one of the CSL car lines. The car had beds and chairs fitted with restraints. Photo below from the CERA blog at http://cerablog.com. Note the unusual design of the car, with dual-height bumpers and end doors but no couplers.

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 24, 2013 4:39 am

From a discussion forum at "Classic Trains:"

http://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/t/7134.aspx?sort=DESC

From a comment in the thread:

Quote:

Page 77 of "More Classic Trains" [Arthur Dubin, Kalmbach Publishing Co. ca. 1974] shows a picture of Pullman tourist car No. 3195 with barred windows. Barely visible below the windows are Rock Island's initials. The caption states that it was used for aliens and Federal prisoners in the 30's.

Interesting that the car had truss rods although it appeared to be steel construction. If anyone has a Smithsonian catalogue of the Pullman negative collection, (I can't find mine), the car might be listed, though more than likely it was modified by the Rock Island for prison service.

The movie "Prison Train", [Equity Pictures, ca. 1938], shows a group of "Government" prisoners being loaded into a real barred window car and then inside views, (which might be a Hollywood set). If the scene is accurate, the car had a heavy screened wall at one end for the guards. The train supposedly started in New York and headed for the west coast, of course with stock footage of SP and Santa Fe trains enroute - typical "B" movie fare from the 30's...

The film that's mentioned above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceohka14H8

The loading sequence mentioned above starts at about 24:11. And a secondary question: Which railroad station is this? I would guess it's one in Los Angeles, one that predates the current Union Station.

Found something else:

http://www.calnative.com/blog/the-train ... the-world/

o anderson · **Posted:** Tue Dec 24, 2013 10:27 am

500mm gauge (20 inch, roughly) narrow gauge railways were apparently fairly common as internal circulation systems at larger institutions. Thanks for sharing the links, I found them interesting. Here is a description of a tramway that served at a elderly care facility in Vienna until 2011. I wonder if the equipment was preserved….
http://www.ingr.co.uk/vienna.html

http://www.drehscheibe-foren.de/foren/read.php?17,3574956,3574956

Hope you enjoy these miniature tram links for your xmas reading...
O. Anderson
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NG-Traction

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6485

Frank Hicks wrote:

Jim Vaitkunas wrote:

I suspect several other larger city systems had specially built prison streetcars as well.

Chicago had a car specifically designed to transport the insane and mentally disabled from Cook County Hospital to the notorious mental hospital at Dunning, located at the end of one of the CSL car lines. The car had beds and chairs fitted with restraints. Photo below from the CERA blog at http://cerablog.com. Note the unusual design of the car, with dual-height bumpers and end doors but no couplers.

Frank -

Did the car have a number? It looks like there might be one under the Cook County lettering, but I can't tell for sure. Also, what happened to the car after the county stopped using it? Was it just scrapped?

Les