From the Rohrbeck book, here is the work car

Why Scranton?

The interest in Scranton streetcar #505, and Scranton in general among rail historians and preservationists, is not accidental. Scranton holds a unique place in railroad history, and while many cities with similar ties lost their rail culture before the preservation movement took hold, Scranton did not. 

Yes, the city is often the butt of jokes. And yes, it has had it's share of challenges. An honest look reveals a former hub of the industrial revolution that may not have bounced back as vibrantly as Pittsburgh, but certainly hasn't come close to falling to the depths of Detroit. And yes, those are fair comparisons as at one time early in the industrial age, Scranton was as important to our country as those other two cities.

There is a charm to Scranton, a charm of middle class, industrial communities which has faded much slower than in other parts of the country. A friend, Scranton native and fellow RYPNer has said that when the world ends, he wants to be in Scranton.... because everything happens 20 years later there. The kernel of truth in that statement is a positive attribute.

Scranton, much like Allentown and Pittsburgh, lost significant rail infrastructure in the 1960's and 1970's, but the passion for trains remained. These were "hard core" railroading areas where stores still sold Lionel and people still accepted the railroad as part of their culture well into the disco age.

Scranton, and neighboring Wilkes-Barre, suffered brain drain as young citizens left the valleys, but the traditions and values of true working class America remained. When I moved to Scranton for college in 1986, I was thrilled to find communities nearby where people didn't lock their cars or their houses. Coming from New Jersey, this was totally foreign to me. In many ways, walking into a town like West Pittston  was like walking into a Happy Days episode. It was wonderful.

When Steamtown came in and later the trolleys (first there was the aborted Van Depole trolley museum, then the wonderful ECTM) and preservation-oriented shortline Delaware-Lackawanna, the embers of railroading still burned in the local culture. The men and women who brought these new elements to Scranton blew fresh air on those embers, and the glow attracted more and more like-minded individuals to the preservation scene.

But there's another variable as well... There in the cradle of the labor movement, the epicenter of industrial workers' long road to organize, the middle class values that were still present in the 1980's were absolutely ablaze in the 1940's and 1950's (I am not trying to paint too rosy a picture, we can discuss the red light district, serial corruption and all that, too.) 

But the reality remains that at the end of the streetcar era, an era arguably born in Scranton, the city still looked like what we were raised to think an American city should. There were department stores and bustling streets, with trolleys and cars darting past modern advertising and chromed storefronts. It was the archetype of downtown America.

And into this colorful scene was born one of the most influential rail photographers of the era, Edward Miller. Ed was an artist, not a wedge shot, grade crossing shooter. His images of electric and steam railroading around Scranton preserved, in full color, the vision of the kind of place many of us were raised to believe America was all about. It you weren't sold by his pictures of downtown, could you resist the tree lined residential streets of the Nativity line? Did you not want to jump into his night shots on Prescott,  just to see if the inside of the Electromobile was as warm as it looked?

Jean Shepherd made a career of telling stories about the kinds of places and people Ed captured on film. My brief acquaintance with Ed is still a treasured memory - much like Shep, he gave me insight into era I surely would have loved.

So, I offer to you this notion that Scranton and it's environs will always tug at the heart strings of the railroad and industrial historian. The fact remains, it is still a special area. If you long for the heyday of a working middle class America going about life in the post-war era (or, like me, you imagine what it was like) and you think people should still ride streetcars, sit on their porches and not have to lock their doors at night, it is hard to resist the romanticized world of Ed Miller's photos and tangible flavor of the past that still permeates in Scranton. 

That little Electromobile is a touchstone to these feelings - memories for some, dreams for others. I am not surprised she garners a lot of interest.

Steamtown, ECTM and even the D-L all came to Scranton before the city had a chance to totally forget and bulldoze it's past. Many tried to literally destroy the relics of the city, and some of us fought against it, but in the end, history won. Scranton was the last eastern PA city to bear the scars of downtown mallification and Al Boscov's retail nightmare, but unlike Reading, Allentown and Wilkes-Barre, there was still something special left.

Of course, while many of the surrounding towns still embrace their unique histories and ethnic backgrounds, downtown Scranton is still struggling. Much of the economic redevelopment has happened around downtown, but not in it.

But I defy any lover of the industrial revolution, any historian of labor or any defender of the middle class to stand in courthouse square and not feel the presence of Terence Powderly, John Mitchell or the Scranton's themselves. It's a city that still feels like coal, iron and steam. And thanks to the historians working there today, on some days it still breathes coal, iron and steam.   

Someday, #505 - restored, rebuilt or replicated - will be a welcome touchstone to Scranton's heyday.

I live just outside the city, and for the past twenty-plus years, it has not been uncommon to hear a steam whistle in the distance from the goings-on at Steamtown, and more recently to catch a glimpse of one of the Red Arrow cars crossing South Washington Ave while shopping downtown.

To say Scranton isn't an experience would be an outright lie, and I completely get where you're coming from. Even if many who live here take it for granted.

Can anyone who was at Rail City confirm or deny if the work car pictured above was there?

Ran across this in regards to 505, also several photos are posted on their site now, www.ectma.org

As of March of 2012, a "505 Committee" was authorized by the Board of Directors of the Electric City Trolley Museum Association. The 505 Committee is to proceed with raising needed funding for the complete restoration of the 505 to "operating condition". The 505 Committee is to organize a plan for the restoration work to be carried out in the Scranton area by local union crafts and a volunteer work force. The 505 Project theme is "Rebuilt with PRIDE in the Greater Scranton area". Plans are now underway to arrange the transportation of the car body and the two motor trucks, (the wheels), to Scranton. Once the car is moved to "temporary" storage, an inspection of the body frame will be made to determine what can be salvaged and what has to be fabricated. Many skills will be needed for this project to become a reality such as local welders, metal and wood workers, electricians, plumbers and painters. As bad as it looks, the good news is we have the motors, electric controls, air brake equipment, windows and seats. Some of the missing parts are available from the Association's parts inventory. Best of all, we have the original Osgood Bradley Car Company plans of the Electromobiles!

If you are interested in being part of the "Project 505" contact James Wert, Chairman, 505 Project, Electric City Trolley Station and Museum Association, 300 Cliff Street, Scranton, PA 18503. Donations may be sent to: ECTMA, Project 505, PO Box 20019, Scranton, PA 18502. Please make your check payable to: ECTMA-Project 505. The Electric City Trolley Museum Association is a non-profit educational organization and is recognized by the Internal Revenue Tax code as a 501(c)(3) organization. The official registration and financial information of Electric City Trolley Museum Association may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

Getting back on the topic of 324, what's the status on this project?

My God, man... Unless there is a trailer load of parts and a wise person on tap who knows how it goes together... You may have the most challenging restoration I have ever seen, and that includes those Birney bodies Bob Kutella has shown pictures of, and that interurban hulk out west of Salt Lake City at Saltair. If you really pull that off, we may have to go get that Saltair car, lest you leave us looking like a bunch of amateurs! LOL!

P.S. writing this from the Wrought Iron Grill in Owosso MI. Been here an hour and only just now noticed all the pictures across from me are of 1225.

They do have the trailer load of parts, and also some from the Queensboro Bridge New Bedford 601 that was at the Trolley Museum of New York.

The repair work on the trucks went out for bid maybe a year ago, don't know if a bid was accepted or what the status is. Materials were being gathered for repair work, the guys are probably bouncing back and forth between 324 and 5205 (which was showing a lot of progress last time I visited the shop). Don't forget you have an army of two handling all of the repair and maint on the operable cars, plus the restoration chores. They guys do phenomenal work but it is tedious when done right (it is) and they only have four hands between them. From what I recall there was a bit of framing and general poking around work done when I saw 324 a few months ago, they will most likely get started in earnest once the operating season is over.

Quite a lot has happened on the 324 since this thread began, photo credit belongs to the ATRRM website. Trucks and motors were rebuilt by Lyons.

Thank you for the update. There are a lot of museums that are so insular, that no one really knows what they do. After reading your post, I went to the Electric City Trolley Museum Association's website to see if they had any more to share. www.ectma.org
I found nothing. There is a link to Scranton car 505, and a general photo gallery, but not a preservation or progress page.

I also was unable to find your photo on the ATRRM page. The local news doesn't cover this progress. Maybe the museum is waiting for the job to be complete in order to get the coverage.

I guess we all fall into that category one time or another. It's just frustrating that we are this connected at this point in the century only to find that the best source sometimes is the rumor mill.

Just venting for now.

I think it comes down to the limited number of volunteers, and the age of those who are volunteering. The websites of many similar organizations are usually lacking. I am sure that in most cases the cost to design and maintain a proper website is low on the priority list and even when it is not, time passes very slowly with projects such as this one which started resto in 2012. Sometimes there is just nothing to report.

I will say that the ECTMA is fairly active with their newsletter, and it is worth the low cost of a yearly membership if you want to be in the loop. If you were on the mailing list you would know that Third Ave RR car 651 is also coming along, and volunteers are currently working on getting the trucks and motors back in shape. I believe that would bring the total number of cars actively being worked on to four - the 324, 505, 651, and the 5205. This doesn't count the routine maintenance work on excursion cars 76 and 80.


Photo borrowed from the ECTMA.org website

Article with an update on car #324, estimating about one year out from completion:

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/restor ... -1.2137647