Hello everyone-

I know many of us have posted here about the cars located along I-70 in Buckeye Lake (near Newark) Ohio, and the conditions that many of these cars/ bodies are in. With the help of the photos and listings on Mr. Hicks site, as well as notes I took after I had calmed down after running away from a large dog, this is what seems to be there:

1.) Cincinnati & Lake Erie #639- Freight motor built in 1930, later used by American Aggregates.
2.) Cleveland & Southwestern #121- Mr. Hicks notes this is the only surviving CS&W interurban. Hello, NORM?
3.) Columbus Delaware & Marion #500- This is the sister to the famous #501, once restored at ORM, but not sure of status now? Built by American Car & Foundry in 1926, it was originally a interurban parlor car.
4.) Fostoria & Fremont #40- It was built by Kuhlman in 1922. The body is in very poor shape. It was stored at Trolleyville USA in Olmsted Falls, Ohio until sold to the individual with the Farm.
5.) Lake Shore Electric #7- Originally built as a Toledo Fremont & Norwalk interurban in 1900, Mr. Hicks notes that this is one of only 6 electric cars built by Barney & Smith still in existence anywhere. Was LSE from 1901 to 1938. Again NORM? ORM?
6.) Michigan Railways #550/ LSE #C- A McGuire-Cummings single-truck snow sweeper, it was sold to LSE in 1929.
7.) Philadelphia Snow Sweeper #C-142- A double-truck wooden sweeper built by Brill in 1923.
8.) Philadelphia Suburban Transportation (Red Arrow) #63- A center-entrance interurban car built by Brill in 1926. After it was retired it was sold to the North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society, which stripped off the trucks and partially painted it in an inauthentic Trenton-Princeton Line paint scheme.
9.) Pittsburgh Port Authority Transit #4011 & #4012- Both PCC streetcar built by St. Louis in 1949 as a 1700-series cars.
10.) Shaker Heights Rapid Transit #40, #41- Both PCC cars, they was built by St. Louis in 1946 as St. Louis Public Service #1771, ##1769. Acquired by SHRT in 1958.
11.) Shaker Heights Rapid Transit #4663 & #4662- Both PCC's, Originally built as Toronto Transportation Commission #4663, and was built as Cleveland Transit System #4233 respectively.
12.) Toledo & Eastern #40- This half-open box motor has an interesting history: it used to be a full box motor, but during WWII it was ferrying German POW's when it got in a head-on collision. Several people, including some Germans, were killed, and the car was rebuilt with only half of its body.

I do not want to insinuate that this gentleman hasn't taken care of the cars and bodies he owns; he obviously thought enough of them in the first place to preserve them. However, I attended Denison University nearby from 1993-1997, and often came down to check on these, and noted that their condition didn't exactly improve much in the four years I was there. I was recently by there again, and the situation seemed much worse, especially with LSE #7, which has little body left but all the mechanicals. Is it wrong for me to suggest that better homes might be made available for these cars before its too late, if only for parts for other cars needing to be restored? I am a STRONG believer (its comes with being a curator) of not taking in more than you can handle, but many of these cars and bodies deserve better. Surely someone out there can preserve some of them? For further pictures of these cars, please see Mr. Hicks photos at the Link below. I thank Mr. Hicks for the foresight in getting much clearer photos of these than I did, and getting them on the web.

T.J. Gaffney


Traction Preservation Page

tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

> 2.) Cleveland & Southwestern #121- Mr.
> Hicks notes this is the only surviving
> CS&W interurban. Hello, NORM?

I think that at least one museum has expressed an interest in acquiring this car, and has been rebuffed.

> 3.) Columbus Delaware & Marion #500-
> This is the sister to the famous #501, once
> restored at ORM, but not sure of status now?

The 501 at ORM is tarped and slowly deteriorating. Plans to re-restore it have come and gone, but as far as I know it's still tarped.

> 5.) Lake Shore Electric #7- Originally built
> as a Toledo Fremont & Norwalk interurban
> in 1900, Mr. Hicks notes that this is one of
> only 6 electric cars built by Barney &
> Smith still in existence anywhere. Was LSE
> from 1901 to 1938. Again NORM? ORM?

I think that the Buckeye Lake owner has also gotten offers for this car.

> I do not want to insinuate that this
> gentleman hasn't taken care of the cars and
> bodies he owns; he obviously thought enough
> of them in the first place to preserve them.

I would say that he HASN'T taken care of the cars. This isn't a case of someone not doing enough work - it's a case of the guy making way too much work for himself to do. There's no way one person, no matter how dedicated, can ever maintain that many cars alone. A few of the cars, though, have gotten a small amount of attention - one or two have had roof mats put on them to slow water leakage, and some have been partially painted.

> Is
> it wrong for me to suggest that better homes
> might be made available for these cars
> before its too late, if only for parts for
> other cars needing to be restored?

I would agree that some of the cars would be much better off at one of several museums, where they could be stored indoors and possibly even restored. These would include the interurban cars and box motor #40. Other cars, like the Shaker PCC's and #639, have little historic value and would probably not be much better off elsewhere - any other organization would scrap them.

> Surely someone out there can
> preserve some of them?

I hope that the more historic pieces in this collection can be saved somehow, either by sale to a museum or by construction of a storage building of some sort on the current property. As mentioned above, the owner has been offered money for several of these cars and has refused the offers.

Frank Hicks

Preserved North American Electric Railway Cars
fullparallel@wideopenwest.com

By the way things sound, these organization may be better off waiting to acquire from the estate. Who knows what state they will be in by then...

Gerald W. Kopiasz

> I think that at least one museum has
> expressed an interest in acquiring this car,
> and has been rebuffed.

> The 501 at ORM is tarped and slowly
> deteriorating. Plans to re-restore it have
> come and gone, but as far as I know it's
> still tarped.

> I think that the Buckeye Lake owner has also
> gotten offers for this car.

> I would say that he HASN'T taken care of the
> cars. This isn't a case of someone not doing
> enough work - it's a case of the guy making
> way too much work for himself to do. There's
> no way one person, no matter how dedicated,
> can ever maintain that many cars alone. A
> few of the cars, though, have gotten a small
> amount of attention - one or two have had
> roof mats put on them to slow water leakage,
> and some have been partially painted.

> I would agree that some of the cars would be
> much better off at one of several museums,
> where they could be stored indoors and
> possibly even restored. These would include
> the interurban cars and box motor #40. Other
> cars, like the Shaker PCC's and #639, have
> little historic value and would probably not
> be much better off elsewhere - any other
> organization would scrap them.

> I hope that the more historic pieces in this
> collection can be saved somehow, either by
> sale to a museum or by construction of a
> storage building of some sort on the current
> property. As mentioned above, the owner has
> been offered money for several of these cars
> and has refused the offers.

> Frank Hicks


hrrhs@aol.com