At one time, while I was living on the east coast, I was the Director at the Shore Line Trolley Museum, in East Haven and Branford, Connecticut. The museum operates about a mile and a half of historic suburban trolley line laid in 1900 and has one of the largest collections of street railway equipment in the country. The museum was hard hit by back-to-back hurricanes Irene and Sandy in 2011 and 2012, and at elevation 6' above sea level, a significant portion of the operable collection was flooded and rendered inoperable. While I was there, the museum was in the early stages of recovery, and received a substantial reimbursable allocation from FEMA to help fund the motor and mechanical flood damage. After Irene, only 3 streetcars could operate (out of 56 that could pre-flood, from a collection of nearly 100 total vehicles).
On a recent visit back east earlier this month, I was pleased to find that some cars that were toward the bottom of the repair list have spent time in the museum's shop, and the talented mechanical volunteers and employees have managed to bring many antique cars back from the brink. In honor of my Midwest roots, I was thrilled to find Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee interurban car 709, built in 1922, with the pole up and ready for a round trip over the Branford Electric Railway. I had only seen this car outside of a carbarn twice the entire time I worked there (both under tow). It looks pretty good in the sun. The restoration certainly isn't complete, but it's relatively complete and can safely operate under wire again. It can't roll along at 85mph as it once did on the Skokie Valley Route, but it was able to stretch its wheels a bit in the early spring sun.
Enjoy these photos!
North Shore Line 709 brightens up spring
Re: North Shore Line 709 brightens up spring
Thank you GP30M4216 for the nice report and the awesome pictures.