The East Troy Railroad Museum announced today that it is working to restore North Shore interurban Car #761 and South Shore interurban Car #6.

The museum acquired Car #761 from a Michigan museum in 2001 and started initial work to restore the car soon afterward. Efforts ground to a halt when volunteers discovered structural deterioration on the north end of the car. When a qualified welder joined the volunteer team in East Troy, the Board agreed that it was time to restart the restoration work.

In addition to the structural work, Car #761 needs body work, needs to be repainted inside and out, needs new flooring, needs the seats reupholstered, needs the electrical system cleaned, repaired and tested, needs the brake lines reinstalled to both control stands, needs new doors and new glass installed on the south end of the car, and needs the stairways reinstalled on both ends. The car was built by Standard Steel Car Co in 1930.

Car #6 needs to have its wheels and trucks refurbished, needs two traction motors rebuilt, needs its seats reupholstered, needs new flooring, some rewiring, and much cosmetic work to restore its appearance. The pantographs above the car must be removed and replaced by trolley poles, so the car can run on the East Troy Railway. A new canvas roof will also be installed. The car was built by the Pullman Car Co in 1926.

Work is already underway and much progress is being made. A Charity GoFundMe site has been set up to help raise funds to complete the restorations:
charity.gofundme.com/ss-car-6-and-ns-car-761-restoration

Update on North Shore Car 761 at the East Troy Railroad Museum:

The car is coming along nicely, as the nearby photos show. Structural problems on both ends have been repaired, the interior stripped and repainted, and the exterior recently received the classic Silverliner paint scheme. The railroad does plan to add the skirting common to Silverliner cars too. The hope is to operate this car on the line before the end of the calendar year.

Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing the update.

- Matt Nawn

Very nice update and congrats on your progress. I hear good things about this museum and its people. Regards, John.

Looks like a lot of body work progress in just this year.

When was the last time that the air portions on the car were serviced? If I'm understanding the history on that car correctly, it hasn't run since the North Shore days.

If your South Shore car was really built in 1926, it had 1 trolley pole and 1 pantagraph on opposite ends when new.

Thanks for the comments and questions on Car 761.

The car was built in 1930, not 1926. Our line cannot handle pantographs anyway.

The brake piping was missing on both end of the car and had to be reinstalled and tested earlier in the restoration process this year. We also had to reinstall the brake stands and controllers on both ends. The brakes have been tested, the compressor is in good shape, and we seem to be in good shape on that front.

Steve A W:

You'll have to visit East Troy sometime. We have six operating former South Shore cars. If we can get better wheels for Car 6 we will have seven operating South Shore cars.

Love the colors. Great job guys!

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Car 761 took its first test run last Sunday, April 28th. It performed well on its first trip on its own power since 1963. A few small issues were discovered and will be addressed in the coming weeks. The cars is looking great. We hope to announce a ribbon cutting event to publicly roll out the car soon. More photos can be seen on the East Troy Railroad Museum Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/EastTroyRR/

Beautiful restoration work! Congratulations and thanks for sharing these photos.

Sincerely,
Matt Nawn

Matt:

Thanks for your comments. We have an amazing group of volunteers working on this and other projects. Our railroad opened for regular train rides again last weekend and we had a good crowd of passengers.

Steve Thomas