General
This car was used to inspect, repair and construct the overhead trolley wire that is used to power electric railway cars.
History
Built as an express car for the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railroad as a body with control equipment and placed on power trucks from the first series of passenger cars (like Car 20) which received replacement trucks to improve passenger ride quality. #11 and its fellow express cars were often used in pairs as freight locomotives, supplementing the lines electric steeple cab locomotives, to move railroad interchange freight cars for freight customers along the line. In 1947 #11 was selected to replace the CA&E’s worn-out secondhand line car #45. One set of baggage doors were removed and the elevating platform from the old line car was transferred over. After final abandonment of carload freight business, It had been intended to be the locomotive and line car for an attempt to retain a portion of the CA&E Elgin branch as a short line freight operation which was why it was painted orange (it had been red and gray as the CA&E line car) but instead came to the AE&FRE with the other initial equipment in 1962. After the substation was erected, #11 was used to reinstall the overhead on the AE&FRE so museum operations could begin in 1966. Since it has a workbench inside it was in effect the first workshop at the museum. While it is still a solid car it has fallen into disrepair after years of outside storage before the car barn was built and awaits its restoration back to operating condition and is stored inside the barn.
Narrative
While the Aurora Elgin and Chicago and its corporate successor the Chicago Aurora and Elgin primarily used third rail power collection for its cars, the tracks directly into Aurora, Elgin, Batavia, West Chicago, Genva and St. Charles were equipped with overhead trolley wire, as much of this trackage was on city streets where third rail operation would be impossible. Also, certain freight customer sidings and freight branches were also equipped with trolley wire, thus the need for an overhead line repair car on a third rail powered interurban.
Author: Joseph Hazinski, Curator