One of the three LVT cars I had known about, freight car C15, has seemingly been off of the radar since the 1970's when it was at the Magee Transportation Museum. I know that the museum closed after 1972 when Agnes destroyed the museum, but what does that mean for C15? All of my LVT books are by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the NRHS but all of those books were published before the museum was destroyed. The last notion I had seen related to her was sister passenger car, 801, receiving her trucks. Was C15 dismantled? If not, where is she now?

The car is not listed in the list of all preserved North American electric cars (www.bera.org/pnaerc.html) so there's an excellent chance it no longer exists. Be aware that some cars are in this list because they can--barely--cast a shadow. But if they're totally absent, they're likely gone.

From the roster notes for LVT 801 on the Electric City Museum website:

I might be being falsely optimistic but, I had also seen the absence of several Reading Transit and Light Co. trolleys I know to exist. Could this be a fluke? In the mean time I might have to contact ECTM and settle this dispute.

Actually the PNAERC list generally excludes cars that are either abandoned (or seemingly so) or in use as houses, sheds, etc because I wouldn't consider them "preserved" per se. (Conversely, as you mention Dave, there are quite a few cars in museums in very poor condition that must be considered preserved, if only arguably so.) More info is at http://www.bera.org/pnaerc-details.html

Anyway, regarding C15, I've heard the occasional rumor that the body was abandoned somewhere in the Bloomsburg area after the demise of Magee and still exists but I don't know for sure one way or another.

The last I heard of car C15 was from the late Ed Blossom well over 15 or 20 years ago. I recall he told me that the car was still in the Bloomsburg area, but owned by someone in Colorado. He had a current pictures of the car when we talked and it looked pretty bad. I can not believe that much exists today, but I would be interested to know as well if somehow the car still exists.

On the subject of LVT Jewett cars, does anyone know if car 805 still exists? Last I saw it around eight or nine years ago it was in the Bath, PA area.

Joel

Could someone from up Bath way pursue this? According to my records, 804 was scrapped at fariview carbarn in the 1940's. I cant deny it would be nice if another LVT car was still around. Can I just ask what its used for?

Joel asked about 805....not 804.
For years about 3/4's of 805 was part of a residence just west of Allentown.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peachhead/3543245700

Keith

From what I heard, Railways to Yesterday in Orbisonia tried getting the 805 a long time ago, when it was in better condition. The owner wanted a bazillion bucks for it, with the old schpiel, "it is a one of a kind antique." I think the car has been offered on the market occassionally at some very high price. The scenario sounds a lot like a B&M wood passenger car I know about in northeastern Massachusetts. It seems the only way for this to change is the owner suddenly changes their mind, moves away, or passes on. Perhaps the remains of the C15 and the 805 could be combined to make one display worthy car body, if conditions warrant.

Is #805 the one that was under a tarp behind a car dealer along Route 22 north of Bethlehem 10 years ago or so?

Rob

My mistake. 805 seems like a worthy parts donor for C15. I think the two should be combined to become a freight car, due to the fact 801 is a passenger car. It would be an undeniable miracle if either C15 or 805 could be secured, but even more of one if one could be a donor for the other.

In the late 1960's, I worked for Ed Blossom at the Magee Transportation Museum in Bloomsburg, Pa. We had acquired the body of LVT Jewett No. 801 in 1966, and we also acquired C-15 from PTC in Philadelphia, where it had been a trash collection car on the Broad Street Subway. Not long after C-15 arrived in Bloomsburg, I was one of two people who stripped out whatever control and electrical gear remained on the car for eventual use on 801.

In June 1972, the museum was devastated by the flood waters associated with Tropical Storm Agnes, and in October of that same year, Harry L. Magee, owner of the museum died. His heirs wasted no time at all in selling everything on the property, including C-15. The remains of C-15 were moved to a small lot along Creek Road in 1973, less than a mile from the museum. In 1976, I made another call on C-15, removing the Transite interior material for a personal project.

The last time I saw the car was around 2001, as it sat in the same place. The roof had rotted and parts of it had collapsed into the body, and one of periodic floods on nearby Fishing Creek had washed away the blocking on one end of the car, so it dropped to the ground. The owner of the property where the car had sat for over 25 years passed away in 2005. I haven't been back to the site, but the carbody was visible from I-80's eastbound lanes in recent times. However, a look this morning on Google Earth gives no indication the carbody is still on the site.

Perhaps the folks at Electric City in Scranton have some insights, as 801 and the parts rescued from C-15 eventually wound up there.

Car 805 is the same car that was behind the auto dealership in Allentown in the late 1990's early 2000's. This car has more miles on it by highway trailer in recent years than rail miles, that is for sure.

Railways To Yesterday inc. (Rockhill Trolley Museum) did look at car 805 in 1989 and it was being offered for a bazillion dollars with a comment mentioning that the stained glass would be worth the price of the car alone. The one end of the car when we looked at it (sorry those images are in slides) was removed and it remains that way today, or the last time I saw the car in 2006 in Bath. If you had nothing else to do and a boxcar full of money the car could probably be restored, based on its 2006 condition.

I recall the car had been owned by a lawyer in the Allentown area and I had called him about where to get a set of trucks for the car and he was always too busy to get details or talk. Now he is in jail, so I really don't know who owns the car today.

These pictures were taken in 2006, near Bath, PA.

Joel

After work yesturday I took a drive by where the C15 was last known to be (I only work a few miles away) and I was not able to find any trace of it. The area is right along Fishing Creek and is very prone to flooding so anything that might of been left could of been washed away in flodding over the years or the remains have been scrapped.

Here is a picture from my collection of it in better days.