On Saturday Feb. 9 the sole Cincinnati Street Railway car preserved intact came back to life at Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Car 2227 has a charmed life, saved by fans when the system quit, kept in backyards and farm fields for years, saved again by Trolleyville USA, and most recently acquired by PTM upon dissolution of the Lake Shore collection in Cleveland in 2009. After an extensive rework of trucks and motors, funded mostly by Cincinnati area fans, the car is once again at its original broad gauge and fully operable. The initial test run late in the day showed things running smoothly and with no signs of bearings running hot, etc. Car 2227 may see some use at PTM during the coming operating season, which begins on March 22. Further information can be found at www.pa-trolley.org on the collection page.

David -

Nice looking car. It had double trolley poles when in service, right? Restored that way?

BTW, I think there is a Cincinnati trolley inside Union Station in Cincinnati, although it has no trucks. I wonder if that is from this same series as the 2227?

Les

The car at Union Terminal is a later series, one which used the "curved side" design. Two other CSR bodies exist at other museums. Seashore TM had CSR 2105 and PTM is providing to them some leftover truck parts from our 2227 project that will eventually help 2105 to become operable.

CSR was the only major North American city that used double overhead with no ground return. 2227 still has two poles, but at PTM it will operate (as it did at Trolleyville previously) on one pole and ground return. The other pole will remain on the car for historical accuracy.

The car as it exists reflects the carbody restoration done at Trolleyville in the late 1960s. PTM's recent work was all below the floor and in the trucks.

What a neat car! Glad it is in a good home at PTM, in a broad gauge environment!