General
4288 was ordered in September 1922 by the Chicago Elevated Railways, a consortium of the three major elevated companies. It and its sisters varied from the earlier steel cars by having a canvas over wood roof with trolley poles and a maple flooring instead of concrete. The center doors were omitted but the car was designed to accept a center door if desired. The cars also had plush fabric seating instead of the rattan used in the earlier steel “baldies” and thus were nicknamed “plushies”. Our car was in the first of four subgroups, with half having two GE 243 traction motors and other half, two Westinghouse 567-R-5 traction motors. These cars were designed to operate independently or in trains with both wood and steel cars.
History
Our car was initially operated on the North side L routes and with the opening of the State Street Subway in 1943, worked in the subway where wooden L cars were forbidden due to the risk of fire underground. After World War II and with the new all-electric 6000 series cars starting to come into service, the 4000’s were transitioned through the Skokie Shops and combined into semi- permanently married pairs with the motor trucks out board of each pair. Door control was also modernized in 1949 so all doors in a train could be opened and closed by one conductor who, as before, stood outside between two cars. Two metal boxes of class lights were added to these outboard ends replacing the metal flags used to indicate at junctions what route a train was to be routed on by elevated towermen. Sealed beam headlights were also added to the roofs on the outboard ends, negating the use of portable headlights hung on the train door. In 1957, cars which would see service on the Evanston line had outboard trolley poles removed, and the two inboard poles wired together to allow the two car pairs to use just one pole for current collection in trolley wire territory. Lake Street 4000’s retained both poles until 1963 when the western end was relocated to the railroad embankment from its surface running.
Narrative
While 4288 is older than our 4451, CTA shop forces did a modernization, replacing the side windows with all new modern sash and the end windows installed in rubber gaskets in place of the original removable brass window frames. While all cars were numerically paired, one car in the pair could have original windows and the other having the new sash. 4288 made a few trips with 4451 when it first arrived at the museum but since it only had one trolley pole it never operated on its own and stood unused for many years. While 4451 was being restored starting in 2018, work started in 2019 on 4288 with a lot of work on the under frame, interior sub floor and new side sheets replacing the old metal. A new canvas roof was installed complete with Ice and Water Shield underneath, planning for the time when it would have to be stored outside. All the side windows were removed for rehabilitation and are currently stored off site. When it was discovered that CA&E 458 needed a new roof, work was suspended on 4288. With its new steel sub floor, it has become a staging point for parts and sub-assemblies first for 458 and now for CA&E 316. All of its seat backs and cushions were reupholstered when 4451’s were done and are in storage. Once 316’s restoration is complete it will be time to consider the resumption of 4288’s restoration. Since it faces the opposite direction that 4451 does, it will make an authentic two car L train as well as being able to run independently.
Author: Joseph Hazinski, Curator